Repairing STL file

[greybeard]

Last year I learned this lesson the 'time-wasted way' (by doing a long print) but was curious if problem was fixed so, I revisited the lesson after seeing others with file repair problems

Imported stl, received manifold problem
Repaired it in s3d and Removed orphaned/duplicate...
Printed it - Result: - bad print!

Did the following curiosity test in step-wise manner:
Imported the same stll, received manifold problem (screenshot One/Two)
Identify self-intersections (screenshot One/Two)
Repaired it in s3d and removed orphaned/duplicate... This made it even worse (screenshots Three/Four)

Repaired it in Netfab (stand-alone verson on my computer) only problem is hole (same as screenshot One).
Exported it, imported into s3d - no manifold/triangle... problems.

Point being, the repair/healing feature is not trust-worthy, thus, worthless (this software should be either Free until they fix bugs, and certainly they should publish fixes more frequently than once/year

[dorsai3d]

Point being, the repair/healing feature is not trust-worthy, thus, worthless (this software should be either Free until they fix bugs, and certainly they should publish fixes more frequently than once/year

*sarcasm on*
I demand that I have 24/7 support with 10 minute turnaround, a public roadmap of all features with daily progress updates, and everything I ask for gets implemented in the very next update!
*sarcasm off*

Model repair is difficult, especially with as crappy of a filetype as STL. Maybe they should do like EOS and say if the model isn't perfect, we won't work with it at all...

Come on, be constructive at least. Most of what S3D does is only good for identifying that a file has problems. The remove duplicate function isn't very helpful because almost nothing actually has the problem that it tries to fix. What it does do, though, is removes very small triangles like the ones highlighted in your second image, which is not exactly a repair (quite the opposite, in fact).

[greybeard]

Normally I wouldn't complain - normally means:
In today's world with so much software free (and can contribute $ if desired)
Has good reputation for addressing bugs and complaints by users
Does not cost $150
Publishes updates after a comprehensive quality control protocol/check
... etc (I actually have a list of bugs that have not been addressed in the almost two years I've been using s3d...)

Only reason I continue to use s3d is the ability to make custom supports - else-wise, Cura is very usable!
So, having paid the $150, I generally feel like I was taken advantage of (ripped off) and, thus, I have no problem posting a sarcastic comment - they seem to not mind taking advantage of users willing to spend that much money for a somewhat 'unbaked' product so, if my comment(s) bother them, well, they can fix it by fixing the software...

What I don't see in the list of ongoing work are the 'bug fixes' - I see only added machine types and new/modified features (so I expect more bugs...) In fact, looking at the lists of all revisions, I can count the number of times "Fixed" appears - only one item per update, all else are 'improvements' and added features... If my tires are flat, it doesn't matter how well my Harley's running, it won't go down the road
My CNC mill uses free software and never fails me...
I have zero problem paying for good software and would not complain if I'd paid $19.95 for s3d but, $150... !!

[Heutinck]

I have to say. that SD# for me has been so worth the $150 price tag. the quality of my prints have gone up so much. SD3 is a slicing software, it is not a crappy model design repair program. If people would just not use free software that leaves holes and mesh errors in their designs there would be no reason to have the STL repaired. You are faulting the slicing software for the crappy design work you download from places like thingiverse. And Yes Cura is a workable free software, but the amount of control you get using SD3 is what you pay for, which I'm my opinion is well worth it.

If you have a problem with the STL file errors then design everything yourself and eliminate all the errors.

Sorry for the rant.

[dorsai3d]

Normally I wouldn't complain - normally means:
In today's world with so much software free (and can contribute $ if desired)
Has good reputation for addressing bugs and complaints by users
Does not cost $150
Publishes updates after a comprehensive quality control protocol/check
... etc (I actually have a list of bugs that have not been addressed in the almost two years I've been using s3d...)

Only reason I continue to use s3d is the ability to make custom supports - else-wise, Cura is very usable!

Then go add customizable supports to Cura - it's open source! The price you pay for open source is only having features that people want to put the time in to create. Me, I'm more interested in making things than programming a slicer.

What I don't see in the list of ongoing work are the 'bug fixes' - I see only added machine types and new/modified features

You gotta read through marketing-speak, they probably don't have programmers writing the release notes. Marketing people generally refuse to acknowledge problems as such. A list of things from the last release notes that I'm pretty sure are 'bug fixes':

• Updated support for latest FlashForge Dreamer firmware
• Multiple process dialog now uses the previously selected processes as the default selection
• More intuitive file extension prompts when exporting toolpaths into different file formats
• Cross-section tool now allows easy selection and editing of internal model features
• Customized profiles created using the Configuration Assistant will now be compatible with the Dual Extrusion Wizard
• Improved retract-while-wiping performance for complex shapes
• Continued improvements to the slicing engine for automatically handling models with slight defects or mesh errors
• Improved filtering for small movements during toolpath generation
• Post-processing scripts can now contain commas
• Post-processing comments in the gcode header will now be maintained to avoid extra line breaks or invalid commands
• New licensing improvements for easier management of software installations

[dkightley]

I have to say. that SD# for me has been so worth the $150 price tag. the quality of my prints have gone up so much. SD3 is a slicing software, it is not a crappy model design repair program. If people would just not use free software that leaves holes and mesh errors in their designs there would be no reason to have the STL repaired. You are faulting the slicing software for the crappy design work you download from places like thingiverse. And Yes Cura is a workable free software, but the amount of control you get using SD3 is what you pay for, which I'm my opinion is well worth it.

If you have a problem with the STL file errors then design everything yourself and eliminate all the errors.

I totally agree....particularly with ".....SD3 is a slicing software, it is not a crappy model design repair program. ...." Let's have the programmers concentrating on making S3D better at what it is designed to do....and not on attempting to cure the issue caused by errors in other software!