Frankz
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Nov 05, 2014 8:39 pm

Feature Request: Better support generation

If I have two parallel bar one over another and they are quite long and quite far apart, the current support just run from the bottom one straight up to the top one. Actually this is not very efficient.

Current support:

===================================== top edge
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===================================== bottom edge

My suggestion:
Use some pattern to generate as less support as possible to reduce print time but still achieve the same support effect.
The following is only an example of the pattern.

(In the following drawing, consider the underlines as empty space, the vertical line is support column. It is hard to draw here. But you get the idea. )
===================================== top edge
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___||__||__||__||_____||__||__||__||
______||__||__||__________||____||
________||__||______________||||
_________|||_________________||
_________|||_________________||
_________|||_________________||
_________|||_________________||
===================================== bottom edge

The above drawing shows at least 70% of time reduced by not printing those unnecessary support.
User avatar
BaronWilliams
Posts: 159
Joined: Tue Jul 15, 2014 8:30 pm

Re: Feature Request: Better support generation

Hi Frankz,

I like this bridge/tree style support concept. This is quite interesting. I haven't seen this type of support used in any slicer. This would greatly reduce infill needs, especially for large spaces. This is perfect when you need a good top outer layer support, so it prints without sagging, but you don't really care about internal strength.

Note: If you format your suggestion in CODE blocks it will be easier to view because CODE blocks use a fixed width font, and spaces are maintained, such as this:

Code: Select all

===================================== top outer layer
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 ||| ||| ||| ||| ||| ||| ||| ||| |||
  |||||||||   |||||||||   |||||||||
   ||| |||     ||| |||     ||| ||| 
    |||||       |||||       |||||
     |||         |||         |||
     |||         |||         |||
     |||         |||         |||
     |||         |||         |||
     |||         |||         |||
     |||         |||         |||
===================================== bottom outer layer
I would love to see much more infill options available in the software. This is a weak point in Simplify3D. Hopefully the developers are taking these talks about infill seriously. I know they are not as popular as things like supporting mm/sec as an option, but for me, more infill options are far more important for the final printed object. There is no one infill style that's optimal for all prints. Sometimes you needs rigid strength, sometimes you need strength with flexibility, sometimes you just need a good top layer and don't care about strength, sometimes with translucent prints, you need a beautiful infill pattern, etc.
User avatar
jimc
Posts: 1124
Joined: Wed Aug 28, 2013 11:02 pm
Location: mullica, nj
Contact: Website

Re: Feature Request: Better support generation

The support you have pictured like a tree seems very similar to what meshmixer does. It looks really cool but i also dont know of anyone that tries it and sticks with it over the long haul. Thats not to say it couldnt be improved. S3d i think has great support generation but the solid interface layer on top would be fantastic
User avatar
KeyboardWarrior
Posts: 480
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2014 5:02 pm

Re: Feature Request: Better support generation

Frankz wrote:If I have two parallel bar one over another and they are quite long and quite far apart, the current support just run from the bottom one straight up to the top one. Actually this is not very efficient.

Current support:

===================================== top edge
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
===================================== bottom edge

My suggestion:
Use some pattern to generate as less support as possible to reduce print time but still achieve the same support effect.
The following is only an example of the pattern.

(In the following drawing, consider the underlines as empty space, the vertical line is support column. It is hard to draw here. But you get the idea. )
===================================== top edge
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
___||__||__||__||_____||__||__||__||
______||__||__||__________||____||
________||__||______________||||
_________|||_________________||
_________|||_________________||
_________|||_________________||
_________|||_________________||
===================================== bottom edge

The above drawing shows at least 70% of time reduced by not printing those unnecessary support.

Interesting idea. If your part has a lot of support, using the Print Spare Support every 2 layers option tends to work very well and saves a lot of time.
laird
Posts: 103
Joined: Wed Sep 18, 2013 1:20 pm

Re: Feature Request: Better support generation

They did something a bit like this in version 2.2 - you can set dense support layers at the top of support, and less dense support below that, so you spend less material overall, but provide fine support against the bottom of the part where it's needed.

Yay!
dryeti
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2014 8:18 am

Re: Feature Request: Better support generation

I would really like support of this kind:

Code: Select all

===================================== top edge
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
___||__||__||__||_____||__||__||__||
______||__||__||__________||____||
________||__||______________||||
_________|||_________________||
_________|||_________________||
_________|||_________________||
_________|||_________________||
________||__||______________||||
______||__||__||__________||____||
___||__||__||__||_____||__||__||__||
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
===================================== build platform
If we have this broadening also on the bottom side it would ensure that the support sticks well to the build platform.
mr_cg
Posts: 32
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2016 6:24 am

Support structure "growing like a tree" from build platform

I want to ask for the following feature:
Currently the support structure is only growing vertical. I some cases the support is put on outline structure whis is impacting the model surface quality.
My idea would be the option "support structure growing like a tree from build platform" to overcome this problem.
The support structure should grow from the build platform with overhang of max. 30-45° ... also code from ooze shield to grow around the model could be useful here.

Clear benefit of this feature is not to impact the surface quality when putting support structure on top of outline.
See example attached.
Attachments
Example ... Support structure growing like a tree from build platform
Example ... Support structure growing like a tree from build platform
Velleman K8200 / BCN3D Sigma
AreDigg
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2015 1:04 pm

Re: Support structure "growing like a tree" from build platf

It would be great if s3d would support this. I use Autodesk Print Studio for such support.
port513
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2016 7:05 am

Tree like support etc

Hi,

I would like tree like support so I can minimize filament use on models that needs alot of supports.
And more intelligent calculation for support would be good.

This software is $149 so it should at least be better than FlashPrint from FlashForge ;)


/Henke
d353rt
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Dec 08, 2015 2:08 pm

Re: Tree like support etc

CraftWare can kind of do it too. This would be a really nice feature!

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