3.01 - Strange problem: Holes are getting closed

[tenaja]

The errors dont come from exporting out of any one particular cad software. The errors come from the guy making the model.

HA! You have CLEARLY never used Alibre/Geomagic Design!

[SvenZHB]

So you did not get what I want to say.
Slic3r 1.1.7 reports 212 errors for one .STL-file. Slic3r 1.2.X only reports 1 error. Why?
Or to be more explicit:
Who guarantees me that the problem is the model and not the import filter of the slicer program? How should I know if the errors reported by a slicer program really exist and are not generated by the slicer program itself? The example regarding Slic3r 1.1.7 and 1.2.X shows the problem. Why does a program report 211 errors less if there was not a problem withthe import filter before?
How can I be sure that the errors reported by Simplify3D really exist? I think it is not a good idea to test a program import filter with the program itself. If another program that is not related to Simplify3D in any way reports that error I would believe this but until then it could be also a bug of Simplify3D who knows? Did you get my point now?

[jimc]

The errors dont come from exporting out of any one particular cad software. The errors come from the guy making the model.

HA! You have CLEARLY never used Alibre/Geomagic Design!

haha yes your right. never used those.


sven, yes i do understand what your saying but what i am saying is it really should not matter since the model you bring into any slicer should have zero errors. if the model was built right and its 100% watertight on export then it will be 100% solid on import. a slicer is there to slice. its main gig is not to analyze and repair your model. those functions in a slicer, atleast currently aren't going to be as full featured and precise as a piece of software that was specifically designed to do that task such as netfabb, etc. really if its a model you built you should not need netfabb either assuming your using a professional solid modeler. a surface modeler like sketchup....well thats another story lol. been using s3d for 2.5 years and sliced probably thousands of models. never has it caused and error in the model when its brought in. i can't speak for slic3r but i would bet that is the same deal as the slicer should not alter the model in any way when its brought in unless its asked to. because slic3r gives you a different error count for one version to another doesn't mean the model actually has those # of errors. that just what its picking up when it analyzes it. maybe they made changes on how precise that function is. who knows. there have been models i have run through netfabb and it says its ok when its done and there are still some minor errors in the model which it doesn't pick up. the cloud svc is really pretty good though. i don't even use the local app anymore.

[SvenZHB]

Your online tool helps indeed, thanks for the link but I still do not know how much errors are really inside the model as I tested it and Simplify3D finds more errors as exists and damages the parts. So we are coming back to the topic of this part of the forum: Bug report.
My second point is that free software like Cura until Version 15.04 as well as Slic3r can use these models and they do not close holes and the software for which I have paid much money suffers from this problem. That is making me sad. Do you understand this?
But I have no alternatives as FreeCAD is really not perfect and has many problems regarding the design of parts so I cannot do very much to prevent this. And I do not know a good free alternative for Linux.

[jimc]

hmmm yeah i don't know what cad software runs in linux. i don't think there are many. I'm a mac guy mostly but i threw together a pc with windows just for modeling and my 2d design software because there aren't too many options for mac either. as for the models, you can't judge any slicer by if it slices a bad model or not. you might run a model through slic3r and it won't slice it one time but s3d will then another model s3d won't but slic3r will. a model with errors is just a shot in the dark. remember that old computer programming saying....garbage in garbage out. sometimes it may work other times not.

[SvenZHB]

I understand you, but I am sorry to say that but all other free programs can handle those files much better then Simplify3D. As I paid much money for this program I can expect that it has many advantages compared to free programs. This trouble started with Version 3 as well as support that is partly in solid areas. That makes me really sad that the newer version is worse than the previous version. This is the Bug report area and I did not had holes that got closed in the previous version and also the support structure was not in solid areas. I am happy to still get a better surface and I have a better support mechanism.

On Windows there is DesignSpark for example and AutoDesk Fusion360. Both a great programs ven though I like DesignSpark more. I even like Windows 10 that is on my machine but it is not my main OS as I like Linux more for some reasons. I do not know if I should give up and switch to Windows for designing reasons.

[SvenZHB]

The problem still persists even after fixing the .STL file. But it happens even though not that much anymore.
So if I try to print the attached factory file with a layer height of 0.2mm (my favorite) and rotate the part on the z-axis by 45° I get slicing issues. And again: Simplify3D is the only slicing program where this problem occurs so in my eyes this is definitely a software fault and this should be fixed. All freeware programs can handle this problem - ALL.

[JoeJ]

Your model has a bunch of self-intersecting surfaces. If you go to the Repair menu, the software will identify it for you.

[SvenZHB]

But I used the online model repair service. What else? And why all other programs do not have any problems with that model?

[jimc]

every slicer is different and how each one handles errors is different. if the errors are small then some slicers may not pick them up and some others might. there is no bug causing this but yes s3d is more sensitive to errors than others. build a clean and proper model and you wont have this issue.