Non-Manifold Slicing Behavior in V5

[KOPrinting]

I was hoping to get an explanation for the differences between the three Slicing behavior options under the Advanced tab:

• Discard Invalid Segments

• Close and Heal Segments

• Thicken Invalid Segments

I specifically was curious about the Open loop Thicken Width option given under the "Thicken Invalid Segments" option, since that is new in V5.

Any insights would be appreciated.

[S3D-Jason]

I can give you a quick explanation of how those options work. Like you said, the "Thicken Invalid Segments" is the main new option with V5. That will basically take the surface of any open loop paths and thicken it to create a thin enclosed shape centered on that surface.

For example, imagine that you had a fully enclosed 3D cube, along with an open loop "T" shape on top that was made up of just 2 triangles. The cube at the bottom would be treated like a normal solid since it is completely closed. However, the "T" at the top would have created issues in V4 since there is no way to create printable geometry from just 2 crossing triangles. The thicken option will actually create a thin surface that you can then print to create the actual "T" shape that you want.

We see a lot of STL files that have surfaces like this that are not completely closed and are intended just to define the centerline path for an extrusion. So the new option in V5 gives you a way to do this.

[KOPrinting]

I can give you a quick explanation of how those options work. Like you said, the "Thicken Invalid Segments" is the main new option with V5. That will basically take the surface of any open loop paths and thicken it to create a thin enclosed shape centered on that surface.

For example, imagine that you had a fully enclosed 3D cube, along with an open loop "T" shape on top that was made up of just 2 triangles. The cube at the bottom would be treated like a normal solid since it is completely closed. However, the "T" at the top would have created issues in V4 since there is no way to create printable geometry from just 2 crossing triangles. The thicken option will actually create a thin surface that you can then print to create the actual "T" shape that you want.

We see a lot of STL files that have surfaces like this that are not completely closed and are intended just to define the centerline path for an extrusion. So the new option in V5 gives you a way to do this.

Thanks!