OK – so I thought I was done with the What’s New in Simplify3D Version 4 series …. seems not! When I made that series I skipped over one of the new features, “Improved Mesh Reduction”, simply stating I don’t use Simplify3D for mesh reduction. That was a bit of a cop out and I was asked to do a video of the feature. So here it is!
Category: 3D Printing (page 1 of 4)
The previous video was supposed to cover both Starting and Ending G Code but it was getting a bit long, so I decided to cover the Ending G Code in a separate video – this is that video! In the first video I covered some G Code basics and where to set the starting and ending G Code in Slic3r, Simplify3D and Cura. So if you want those details see the previous video here.
For all your G Code goodness, see the RepRap Wiki page on G Code which lists all the commands.
The video covering my auto shutdown add on can be found here.
I recently received a message from a subscriber who was having issues with their starting G Code and asking if I could send mine to them. I explained that Start G Code is fairly unique to a specific printer and the user’s requirements. So I created a video, linked above, detailing where custom start G Code can be set in Slic3r, Simplify3D & Cura, together with a description of the kind of things to look out for and insert in this start G Code.
I refer to the RepRap Wiki page on G Code, which can be found here. This lists pretty much all the commands you are likely to come across in a G Code file.
I also mention a list of some common placeholder variables that can be inserted in custom G Code – to be replaced during export with settings from your profiles. That list of Slic3r, Simplify3D & Cura common placeholder variables is here. Please note that, apart from Slic3r, support and documentation from the slicers is poor to non-existent.
I will be covering the Custom End G Code in the next video as this first video on the subject was getting long due to having to cover the basics of G Code and the differences in the slicers.
Everyone knows that getting your first layer right is 90% of the battle to getting a successful 3D print. Even if your temperatures and everything else are correct, if your nozzle height is off you will get bad adhesion on the first layer.
Setting it up is actually pretty simple, but it can be confusing. In this video I explain, in very deep detail, what all the parameters and settings do that control nozzle height on your first layer so that you can get perfect first layers. In this video I am using a Cartesian style machine, a Prusa i3 MK2, and Marlin as the firmware – but the principles will remain constant for most printing systems.
I have come to the end of the new features in Simplify3D Version 4! The last feature I will be covering is called “External Fill Customization” and allows you to specify the angle at which top & bottom layers’ infill are printed.
This is useful if, for aesthetic purposes, you want all the external surfaces of your print to have a uniform or specific direction of filament, even when those surfaces are at differing heights. It could also be argued that you could increase the strength of a part by dictating the direction of the filament on the external layers. Simplify3D allowed you to set the internal infill layer directions in previous versions, so this new feature brings you the option to do that with the surface layers too.
In this video I take a look at the changes Simplify3D have made to vase mode in Version 4. As the name of the feature implies, you can now use multiple processes in vase mode! :O
In Version 3 this wasn’t possible at all – so no comparisons can be done, but I run a print that uses 3 processes to mix vase mode and solid structures.
Simplify3D Version 4 has brought some decent changes to the way it handles bridging. Some of these are changes that take effect with all bridges and some others come through as additional options you can set in the profile settings.
In the video above I go through the changes that have been made since Version 3 and see what effects they have, both in a theoretical preview and in real-world prints.
The results are noticeably better.
In this video I try out what Simplify3D refer to on their website as “Strong Foundations”. What this actually means is that in version 4 they have added a couple of new settings to improve the bed adhesion and overall strength of support material.
I look at what these new settings do and what that could mean for support structures – especially if you have ever had issues with the supports lifting off the printer bed.
In the fourth video showing the changes in Simplify3D I look at two new features that both rely on one main change – the ability for Simplify3D to attempt varying the extrusion width dynamically.
The first feature, “Variable Extrusion Sizing”, permits you to attempt to print features that might otherwise just not print at all, where the total feature size is very small. I demonstrate that this works to very good effect.
The second feature, “Dynamic Gap Fill”, comes in very handy where you have features that in the past left gaps between perimeters and infill, or between two perimeters on very small features. It fills in these gaps with filament which is extruded at a smaller width that your general settings allow.
The third video in my series on the changes in Version 4 of Simplify3D runs through the added functionality to use multiple processes on multiple parts when printing them one after the other, sequentially.
This feature will greatly assist those that sequentially print multiple parts that need their own individual split processes.
I also show the new feature in Version 4 which allows you to simply drag and drop the order in which the split processes are printed. If you got this wrong in previous versions it meant having to delete them all, starting again and creating them in a certain order. This too is a great time saver.
© 2023 Jules Gilson