Version V1308 Released

The latest version is released. The most important changes are summarized:

1. Support objects are unified into 1 object for all beam/node like supports, improving speed and quality.
2. Bracing of supports is overhauled and improved. Supports are better braced together.
3. Editing of supports is simplified and improved.
4. The autosupport generation, including UI, is completetly rewritten.

We've recoded a quick update video that highlights the most important changed. Video (apologies for the bad audio/spelling mistake). The content of the video is also highlighted here.

Unified support objects

Unified support objects. Previously the support objects would live as separate objects under each part. You would see up to thousands of support objects in the treelist. This was getting too slow and problematic. Not only with editing but also with selection in the 3d view. We’ve rewritten the support objects from the ground up to be very fast and generated only on the GPU. Conceptually each individual support type still has it’s own settings. But the moment you add the support to the part it will be joined together with the existing supports. When you still have old project files and import them they will be automatically converted.

Bracing

The second point is the bracing of supports. As we now have 1 single support object we can more easily search for neighbouring columns to brace. Also when placing different support types. In each type setting you can turn bracing on/off.

Editing of supports

Third point is the editing of supports. The unification of the support object does mean that editing of individual support objects is not possible anymore. Therefore we now have a separate edit command that allows you to select all or a subset of support items to edit these individually. Lets demonstrate that. You can see when I change the selection the amounts in the command will update automatically. Also changing the values will automatically show in the 3d view. During editing you can also use the new viewmodes. Tip only, first beam only or entirely. When you rotate the viewport it will automatically switch to first beam only.

Automatic support generation

The last large item that has been completely updated is the autosupport command. From the start of the software we had various layouts and setups The biggest changes in the autosupport generation are the following; We’ve split the ‘where’ we place points and ‘what’ we are going to place better.

1. What: You can see the 2 dropdown boxes dictate what structure is placed and what foot.
2. Where: is basically this first tab.

Furthermore:

• We’ve added a new method of placing points on non-critical surfaces to further improve print stability.
• For the critical minima we’ve also added a multiplier to strengthen tips for where the minima of the model starts. To further reduce print failure rates.
• Next to that we’ve improved and added various point sampling strategies. From hexagon, skeleton, offset patterns and circular patterns.
• You can also decide if you want to separately sample the border of the surface with or without offset.

Version V1165 Released

After some months of work we've completed a new release. There have been many changes under the hood which can all be found in the release notes. Here we highlight the most important changes and new functionality for the end user.

Nesting algoritm rebuild

The original nesting algoritm we used was developed in 2018 and had some shortcomings and a lot of numerical robustness problems. We've rewritten the nesting algoritm from the ground up including any low level geometric algoritms. This time we choosen numerical robustness as a priority and have done the entire algoritm in integer logic.

The challenge with irregular shape nesting (sometimes called true shape) is that each shape can be highly detailed. But in order for an algoritm to run fast it needs to have a maximum of say 20-30 edges. Our new algoritm simplifies the outline by applying just a little offset to the model to get down to 20-30 edges. This is a trade off between speed (usability) and accuracy. If you need more accuracy and speed you can also select to only use convex shapes. Addittionally the new algoritm has the following extra options:

• Placement of parts inside each other
• Placement of parts around floor columns
• Partial nesting of only selected parts, around already placed parts.
• Entry of any number of custom rotation angles per part

Added mesh and support joining

We've added 2 commands to better be able to manipulate supports and part with each other:

1. Join supports(s) to part: This command allows you to join supports on a part to the main mesh of the part. This allows you amongst others to place other supports on the supports that are added to the part.
2. Join part as suppor to other part: This command allows you to join pre designed supports (in stl) to another part as a support. The software can then treat the support as a real support in further processing.

Added a text command

With the new text command you can added text to your mesh easily. Just select 2 points between which you want to place your text and hit enter. You can select various font families, size. Engraving will perform the boolean substraction during the slice process. Embross will perform a boolean union during the slice process. In case you are working with negative moulds we have added a mirror option to mirror your text in reading direction.

Added a non linear output filter

For any machine getting a uniform light intensity should be a priority to increase model accuracy. Usually resins have a certain lower threshold of light exposure below which they will not solidify. By tuning the gray scale levels of your slices you are able to better control the pixel growth in all directions, with the end result of more accurate models. You can use a formula or a data table to manipulate the output.

New formula editor and macro's'

The software supports 300+ printers. To keep supporting new printers we've improved our output of variaous types of text files. You can now add any combination of formula including loops over your slices during slicing. This allows you to export custom json, xml or gcode. Formatted in any way you need including the correct variables. Additionally you can format the numeric output to any cultural format needed. Using comma's or points as decimal seperators for example.