Placing manual support along a path using anchor points

[WillemWever]

While I appreciate the numerous features of S3D, there is one thing that I really can't get used to: Manual Support Placement.
I'm working on two big prints that we had to re-work numerous times and every time we have to re-do the slicing, manually placing the support structures is by far the biggest pain in the ***.

The prints are quite big yet require meticulously placed support structures, for a number of reasons the automatic support placement doesn't work well with these models.
This means that we have to manually place the support pillars with a support resolution no bigger than 3-4 mm. This means that for each revision of each model we spend multiple hours manually placing supports...

Speak your mind, peasant!
Well what if we would be able to define the footprint of the support structure using a path based on anchor points. We would all save a tone of time AND give us the option to design precise, silky smooth supports rather than the jagged square supports we have now.

The workflow could look like this:

1. Place the model, center and arrange, whatever.
2. Tools > Customize Support Structures > Draw support from footprint
3. Bottom view is activated, showing the "footprint" of the placed model above. The footprint is basically a "drop shadow" of the model and NOT just the part of the model that touches the print bed.
4. Only within this footprint we get to set anchor points, defining the outline of the support we want to create.
5. With these anchor points we can draw a path, as soon as the path is closed it becomes the base of a new support structure.
6. A diolog box opens, giving you some options:
- Smooth path with the option to define a corner radius, live preview when adjusting the radius.
- Create support from build plate untill the first encounter with the placed model, or;
- Create support from build plate up to the top of the model.
7. Hit "Generate support"
8. A message appears: You have just saved yourself a sh*tload of time using this awesome S3D feature! Feel free to donate to the man with the plan using this paypal link.

Even if we were to skip the last point, which would be rather unsportsmanlike off course, I would still be happy to receive this update...