Setting changes with multiple processes and layer count

[Ayres3D]

I've searched the forum for a definitive answer for this and have found both possible answers; which didn't help terribly...

I have a print which has three processes, these are to vary extruder and infill percentage. I want also to have different bed temperatures, but not related to the processes but to the absolute layer.

I know that I can specify temperature by layer but is that the layer count for each process, or for the print as a whole? I can see pros and cons for each possibility so the answer isn't immediately obvious.

So, if I specify a temperature of 110C for layer 1 and 100C for layer 2 in the first process, what happens 8mm later when process 3 starts? I can see that the temperature settings aren't duplicated (which makes sense if I want to have different temperatures by process). This is further complicated by the fact that process 2 is a different extruder printing text within the vertical limits of process 1, so layers of process 2 occur at the same height as layers of process 1.

Can someone explain this definitively?

[dkightley]

If you look at the print preview and run the layer range sliders, you will see the layer numbers being indicated at the bottom of the window. Surely that will not only reassure you as to what the answer is....it will answer your next question..."How do I know what the layer number is?"

[Ayres3D]

If you look at the print preview and run the layer range sliders, you will see the layer numbers being indicated at the bottom of the window. Surely that will not only reassure you as to what the answer is....it will answer your next question..."How do I know what the layer number is?"

Thank you for your response, but it still seems more than a little ambiguous. As the slider is for the whole print then I think you're saying that the setting also applies to the whole print. However, if that were so then I would expect a change in temperature in one process to be reflected in all. if not, how does one know which process takes precedence?

For example, If I set two processes, one to use the right extruder and the other the left, I can specify a bed temperature in each. i could set one to be 110C and the other to be 0C. How do I (and more importantly, the printer) know which setting to use? It gets still more complex if I then set different temperatures for different layers as there's even more chance that they'll go out of step.

Is it me being dim, is it simply that the software isn't that clever, or is it that there is a logical reason that it's set as so (which comes back to me being dim, I think :-/ )

Thanks,

[Ayres3D]

Actually, I think that the "me being dim" bit is that I didn't group the processes? Although having played with that it then looks as if I can't then have multiple processes at a later layer.

[Ayres3D]

Having now read the "tip of the day" posts again, I can see that this says that both temperature and fan settings are counted per-process. So, I can assume that this is definitive, but is presumably over-ridden if the processes are grouped.

I played around with grouping the processes today and that seemed OK. However, the seems to be a clear conflict between the Dual Extrusion Wizard and the Variable Settings Wizard as each tries to create groups but they don't fit well together. Although I'm not sure that there's an easy solution to this.

I also think that I discovered a bit of a bug. I grouped processes together and one had a raft and the other didn't (as it was above the first) Even after the grouping they stayed different and my first layer tried to print itself within the raft! Once I changed the raft setting, the two grouped processes then followed each other correctly.

[joaojoao]

I´m strugling with this too..I need a dual extrusion print (both extruders work at each layer), and at the same time I need a variable settings because I need diferent tool change scripts (for both extruders) for the first layer, and for the rest of the print..
Once I group objects with the Dual Extrusion Wizard, how can I set a variable setting wizard for both processes grouped?

[OwenSparks]

Only slightly on topic but I was impressed with the clarity of the narration in the support videos.

To paraphrase when editing grouped processes "things that are the same will stay the same, things that are different stay different"

So if we have:-

Process A extruding at 270 dec C
Process B extruding at 270 dec C

and we change A to 250 deg, then both change to 250.

However if
Process A extruding at 270 dec C
Process B extruding at 300 dec C
and we change A to 250 deg, A changes to 250, but B stays at 300.

Similar deal for rafts etc.

Owen S.