Version 5 Announcement

[Jbc]

I hope so. I just sub'd Fusion 360 and their slicing/support/additive process would rock if they made it work like S3D....and the updates would be often.

[Printerman]

I'm on the fence to buying the (student) version of S3D because I need some very specific functionality, but this whole v5 topic holds me back from doing so.

What's the status on the upgrade from v4.1 to v5, especially if bought now. Will I have to pay anything or will it be free because I'm within this "1 year period" (what if v5 takes more than a year for it to be released?).

Can I return the Student version within the 2 weeks as well or would you recommend to buy the normal version, return it and then buy the student version if I was happy with it?

[S3D-Jake]

I'm on the fence to buying the (student) version of S3D because I need some very specific functionality, but this whole v5 topic holds me back from doing so.

What's the status on the upgrade from v4.1 to v5, especially if bought now. Will I have to pay anything or will it be free because I'm within this "1 year period" (what if v5 takes more than a year for it to be released?).

Can I return the Student version within the 2 weeks as well or would you recommend to buy the normal version, return it and then buy the student version if I was happy with it?

On V5: V5's release date has not yet been announced. So we can't be certain that you'd qualify for a free upgrade.

On students being eligible for refunds: The same 2 week return period is available to students.

[Jbc]

I'm on the fence to buying the (student) version of S3D because I need some very specific functionality, but this whole v5 topic holds me back from doing so.

What's the status on the upgrade from v4.1 to v5, especially if bought now. Will I have to pay anything or will it be free because I'm within this "1 year period" (what if v5 takes more than a year for it to be released?).

Can I return the Student version within the 2 weeks as well or would you recommend buying the normal version, return it and then buy the student version if I was happy with it?

V5 was expecting a release date of late 2019. That got pushed back to early 2020.
We are now late 2020 with little in the way of updates or progress.

S3D is a great program I've used for years. If you consider buying it do so to utilize its current features, not for the hope of getting a free upgrade.
The updates/communication have been poor over the last year sadly but the program has some nice utility.
If you are new to FDM 3D printing you might want to look into Cura or Prusa slicer (others?) to cut your teeth on those. Learning to design and successfully print simple things first should be your focus. Then, when you know your printer more and start designing complex parts come back to S3D and make the decision then.
Good luck.

jbc

[Printerman]

V5 was expecting a release date of late 2019. That got pushed back to early 2020.
We are now late 2020 with little in the way of updates or progress.

S3D is a great program I've used for years. If you consider buying it do so to utilize its current features, not for the hope of getting a free upgrade.
The updates/communication have been poor over the last year sadly but the program has some nice utility.
If you are new to FDM 3D printing you might want to look into Cura or Prusa slicer (others?) to cut your teeth on those. Learning to design and successfully print simple things first should be your focus. Then, when you know your printer more and start designing complex parts come back to S3D and make the decision then.
Good luck.

jbc

I'm 3d printing for roughly two years now, first with Cura and then switched to PrusaSlicer. Currently I want to print a self-designed part in vase mode (doesn't need to be vase mode but at least no travels within each layer...) and find both Cura and PrusaSlicer lacking. The part CAN print without travels as it was specifically designed for that, but in normal mode they both travel randomly and in vase mode I can't make solid top and bottom layers with either of them.

Saw a Youtube Video of someone using S3d and separating a part into different processes and I think that's exactly what I need to fix my problem, printing bottom and top "normal" and the middle part in vase mode.

With S3d being close to 2 years without update I'm afraid it lacks in other areas (either Quality of Life wise or in features), missing OctoPrint support is one example and I have no idea what else I might miss that I'm used to now. The pricing is steep if I find S3d useful just for this one part though and if I can't make it my go-to-slicer I might instead slice it in one of the others and copy+paste top and bottom separately, like processes but manually.

Thanks for your comment though, I will give it a try and see how it does over the next 2 weeks.

[th0mpy]

At this point I would not drop any money on Simplify. I'd ask the question what it is that you need and do other slicers provide it. At this point I am hard pressed to find a feature of Simplify3d that doesn't exist in other slicers like Slic3r, which is free.

I've dropped money on Simplify, with no benefits that are claimed, such as free updates. When I purchased it 5.0 had been announced which meant that I'd get it when released, in 2019. Not one update has come, not even a service pack. Now I'm faced with the fact that I'll likely have to fully re-purchase. Like you, I purchased because of the fact that I'd get a free upgrade. Well, guess what?

Unless I get a free upgrade I will not be using simplify 3d any longer. Frankly not using already since Slic3r has been updated and does what I need. I'll take the money I would have spent and donate it to Slic3r.

[Omikron]

TLDR: Don't even think about buying it until V5 is actually, factually, available.

Until we see what happens with S3D moving forward, I can't recommend it for new users. There have been countless folks left in the lurch over the past couple years since V5 was "announced", and V4 development pretty much stopped cold. As someone else in this thread noted, there haven't even been any fixes or service packs released. Even the built-in printer profiles for popular printers and filaments are sorely lacking in usefulness.

S3D's behavior and communication surrounding V5 has also been abhorrent, as can be seen in this thread and the selective nature of S3D's replies to posts. It's all fluff and deflection, with no substance. At this point, V5 better be god's gift to 3D printing because there are SO many free slicer options available that I would have a hard time overlooking the last several years of neglect S3D as shown its customers.

Don't get me wrong, I very VERY much hope that V5 will be released soon and will be amazing...but I'm having trouble remaining positive considering the hard facts.

[Printerman]

Thanks guys, I will find workarounds until v5 is available and then look forward.. the communication really is what is off-putting me.
Just wanting to clarify with that I don't mean S3D-Jake or anyone else here on the forums as they are probably telling us as much as they can and it's the company policy at this point to keep it as vague as possible... I have worked under circumstances like that and know what a suboptimal position it is to be in.

[RoboDLC]

S3D 4.1 is not junk guys.
If you are new to the club and CURA (and slic3r!) bends your brain, S3D is a great program. Hellova lot faster than CURA and much better at doing dual filament handling.
When I need exotic supports, I use CURA. Run-of-the-mill supports are still best with S3D, the gap is narrowing.
Neither CURA nor S3D handle profiles very well - hoping the S3D 5 makes that better.
S3D with a little custom scripting does a brilliant job with dual-filament prints. They just work. CURA is confusing in how it handles that.
Multi-process complex prints are still king on S3D.

We are all disappointed waiting for 5 to come out, but it doesn't mean that all of the sudden, 4.1 is crap.

Lets keep some perspective here.

DLC

[TheBum]

4.1 is not junk, but it's not without its issues. I occasionally have to quit and relaunch when parts of the object display start disappearing. It also tends to not honor all custom support removals, requiring separate processes to work around it.