Cura 2.5. Why so messy?

Discussion of Ultimaker's open-source Cura software
User avatar
LePaul
Reactions:
Posts: 3966
Joined: February 7th, 2016, 10:26 pm
Location: Bangor, Maine USA
3D Printer(s): 24 - Yes I have a problem!
Contact:

Cura 2.5. Why so messy?

Post by LePaul »

I've been using S3D a lot lately and wanted to give Cura 2.5 a chance

Pretty much default settings for Ultimaker 2+ Extended. Set to Fast Print and 0.2 layer.

First layer looks kind of ugly

Trying to be the "lazy" customer. Just using Ultimaker filament and all. I have no idea why this is coming out so awful
IMG_6742.JPG
User avatar
Izzy
Reactions:
Posts: 604
Joined: February 12th, 2016, 2:29 am
Location: England
3D Printer(s): Ultimaker 2

Re: Cura 2.5. Why so messy?

Post by Izzy »

It's done all the outer edges first but haven't z lifted between movements, does look just a little messy, how did it look in S3D?
User avatar
LePaul
Reactions:
Posts: 3966
Joined: February 7th, 2016, 10:26 pm
Location: Bangor, Maine USA
3D Printer(s): 24 - Yes I have a problem!
Contact:

Re: Cura 2.5. Why so messy?

Post by LePaul »

Cura
IMG_6755.JPG
Cleaner
IMG_6756.JPG


I have two printers making the part now. One from Cura. One from S3D. It'll be interesting to compare
Anders Olsson
Reactions:
Posts: 415
Joined: February 8th, 2016, 8:37 pm
Location: Uppsala, Sweden
3D Printer(s): UM2 UM2E, UM2Go, UM3, Delta Tower, Form 1+, Form 2
Contact:

Re: Cura 2.5. Why so messy?

Post by Anders Olsson »

Cura does all sorts of tricks to save printing time. What you see in your print is one of them which I think is not justified, since it saves very little time and the result is rather messy.
It is called combing in old Cura and means that when the head has to move without printing, it moves over surfaces that is (or is going to be) a part of the object without retracting or Z-lifting.
It does cause ugly surfaces and underextrusion after long moves (since material leaks from the nozzle during the combing), I am a bit surprised Ultimaker still uses this function by default.

I am considering to try S3D too by the way, I need something that does less tricks than new Cura, but old Cura is a bit primitive sometimes and it seems difficult to deactivate all tricks in new Cura.
User avatar
nilrog
Reactions:
Posts: 438
Joined: February 24th, 2016, 4:48 pm
Location: Örsundsbro, Sweden
3D Printer(s): UMO+

Re: Cura 2.5. Why so messy?

Post by nilrog »

Anders Olsson wrote: I am considering to try S3D too by the way, I need something that does less tricks than new Cura, but old Cura is a bit primitive sometimes and it seems difficult to deactivate all tricks in new Cura.
Glad to hear even experts can feel that the new Cura is difficult to play with...that helps amateurs like me :P

I moved to S3D a month ago using a profile that Neotko helped Frederiek to prepare. And with that as base I feel that I have more power than the new Cura...while I still have the same feeling of control like I had with the old Cura...and I can do really (for me) advanced things without feeling overwhelmed :)
User avatar
LePaul
Reactions:
Posts: 3966
Joined: February 7th, 2016, 10:26 pm
Location: Bangor, Maine USA
3D Printer(s): 24 - Yes I have a problem!
Contact:

Re: Cura 2.5. Why so messy?

Post by LePaul »

I've really fallen in love with Simplify3D's support method.

Even for all the gray hairs I have given Neotko, the program does a lot of things really, really well. I am still trying to fine tune the outline overlap issues I have on prints that have holes. (see that thread)

Frederick's profile is really well tuned and the only change I made was Neo's suggestion on the nozzle width, going from 0.4 to 0.35.

Cura has the benefit of being (or supposed to be) a simple way to slice and print on the Ultimaker without too much thought (is that a nice way to say it?) But I can tell you, from printing 10 hub pieces recently, the support from Cura was a nightmare to remove. On S3D, the support broke away when you remove the part from the build plate. Amazing.

I have pics comparing the prints, uploading in next post
User avatar
LePaul
Reactions:
Posts: 3966
Joined: February 7th, 2016, 10:26 pm
Location: Bangor, Maine USA
3D Printer(s): 24 - Yes I have a problem!
Contact:

Re: Cura 2.5. Why so messy?

Post by LePaul »

Cura
IMG_6773.JPG
S3D
IMG_6774.JPG
User avatar
Neotko
Reactions:
Posts: 1142
Joined: February 7th, 2016, 7:02 pm
Location: Madrid
3D Printer(s): UMO+ x2.5
Contact:

Re: Cura 2.5. Why so messy?

Post by Neotko »

I think the most concerning issue I see is that the Cura version shows polygons where s3d stays more true to the file without simplifying it. That ofc, if you print too fast means that the um2 board can stutter the buffer by sending too much moves/sec.

I think s3d great thing is that it actually let's you decide what improve and how. Cura has way too many automagic options to deliver something precise. For me repetition and speed (because I can tune everything to speed up the print without loosing quality).

Cura (old) is a great starting point to understand how this printers work, but to 'extrude' more of them you need to have as many parts under control as possible. And indeed s3d is more complex (specifically the parts the options that affect one to the other).

Just a week ago I found out how to effectively remove the blobs of any print (with calibration) at high speeds. Thanks to an option on s3d and ofc the zge (because directdrive shows everything that happens on the extrusion). Without this tricks printing flexible for my shop would be just impossible (because the speed I need).

I did post some about this on my twitter but as soon I get time I will write it down, is very interesting to discover that you never retract the same you extrude (in mm) because the torque vs speed vs stepper.
User avatar
GrueMaster
Reactions:
Posts: 522
Joined: March 15th, 2017, 8:46 pm
Location: Oregon
3D Printer(s): Hictop 3DP-17, Hictop CR-10S

Re: Cura 2.5. Why so messy?

Post by GrueMaster »

I have been playing around with various different apps, but I seem to only do real printing with the older Cura 15.04. Being a Linux guy and big supporter of the open source ideals (I have my own program on SourceForge), I have a hard time paying $$$ when there are a lot of apps that are either equally capable or close enough to matter when compared to proprietary software. I'm not sure I like the direction Cura 2.x is going (I have tried both 2.4 & 2.5, plus I have the source tree to dive into when I get spare time). The focus (justifiably) is more towards Ultimaker printer users, and less on general users.

Craftware seems a bit more capable and I really like the customizable supports. But it is thus far closed source and 32bit only (on Linux). They still haven't responded to my forum post asking for 64bit (and hopefully source).

Being impatient with a lot to print and just jumping into the whole 3D printing scene, I still have a lot of experimenting to do. I haven't looked at Slic3r or RepetierHost (I have both downloaded).

I won't even bother with apps that I have to pay more than the cost of a spool to get. I just can't see the justification, especially given the industry has its roots in open source.

Next winter (and when I have another printer) I'll take time off work so I can do some serious comparisons. Until then, I am keeping a mostly open mind, but going back to what is tried and true when I want to do serious printing.
nallath
Reactions:
Posts: 267
Joined: February 16th, 2016, 3:12 am
3D Printer(s): Ultimaker

Re: Cura 2.5. Why so messy?

Post by nallath »

GrueMaster wrote: The focus (justifiably) is more towards Ultimaker printer users, and less on general users.
I'd love to see more people helping out in that regard. FieldOfView is doing an amazing job and the guys from AlephObjects are also pulling their weight, but a lot 3D printer companies are only "consuming" the open source stuff, without providing anything back. The more people in the community do that also benefits Ultimaker, the easier it is for me to argue that I can spend time on stuff that's not directly beneficial for UM.
User avatar
LePaul
Reactions:
Posts: 3966
Joined: February 7th, 2016, 10:26 pm
Location: Bangor, Maine USA
3D Printer(s): 24 - Yes I have a problem!
Contact:

Re: Cura 2.5. Why so messy?

Post by LePaul »

nallath wrote:
GrueMaster wrote: The focus (justifiably) is more towards Ultimaker printer users, and less on general users.
I'd love to see more people helping out in that regard. FieldOfView is doing an amazing job and the guys from AlephObjects are also pulling their weight, but a lot 3D printer companies are only "consuming" the open source stuff, without providing anything back. The more people in the community do that also benefits Ultimaker, the easier it is for me to argue that I can spend time on stuff that's not directly beneficial for UM.
I know the Folger Tech guys were extremely happy to see their printer in the Other option. I have asked a couple of the guys with stock builds if they can provide any addition settings to help make it work better.

That said...

Will upcoming Cura builds offer us the ability to place supports manually? That's big on a lot of people's wish list!
nallath
Reactions:
Posts: 267
Joined: February 16th, 2016, 3:12 am
3D Printer(s): Ultimaker

Re: Cura 2.5. Why so messy?

Post by nallath »

It's high up the list (in the same ballpark as variable layer height). But as always; amount of work > amount of people to do the work.

We're also making small steps to make it easier to install & distribute plugins. We're getting more and more people that want to hook into Cura, so we also need that.
User avatar
GrueMaster
Reactions:
Posts: 522
Joined: March 15th, 2017, 8:46 pm
Location: Oregon
3D Printer(s): Hictop 3DP-17, Hictop CR-10S

Re: Cura 2.5. Why so messy?

Post by GrueMaster »

Any chance of having printer monitoring work in Linux? One of the main reasons I prefer the older Cura is the Pronterface printer control.
I do really like the mesh merge functionality in 2.x. That makes it easier for some of the models I download, especially when they were uploaded as split pieces.

I'd offer to help where I can, but I am already pushing 50+ hours a week at work, and I maintain my own opensource application (Win32DiskImager). As such, I get 3 hours/night (if I'm lucky) to play with my 3D printer.
nallath
Reactions:
Posts: 267
Joined: February 16th, 2016, 3:12 am
3D Printer(s): Ultimaker

Re: Cura 2.5. Why so messy?

Post by nallath »

AlephObjects are working on it. I've also seen FieldOfView working on it, so there is a good chance that it's going to be in there at some point in time.
appletart76
Reactions:
Posts: 1
Joined: May 11th, 2017, 9:29 pm
3D Printer(s): Ultimaker 3

Re: Cura 2.5. Why so messy?

Post by appletart76 »

I am experiencing the same issues with this first layer stringing. I recently got my Ultimaker 3 the other day and ONLY used Cura 2.5 so I have no idea if older versions are better. Let's just say I'm not too pleased with the print quality. I have lots of unnecessary extrusion and blobs. Would anyone be willing to share their profile for S3D, I think I will be purchasing this weekend.
Post Reply

Return to “Cura”