Pan hotkey customization on laptop

[SoLongSidekick]

Hey all,

So for some reason S3D decided to remove the ability to fully customize what keys/buttons do in v5 in favor of a far simplified "pick from these 3 button configs". For example, I previously changed the pan hotkey to alt + left mouse button because I'm using a laptop on which the physical mouse buttons don't work - only the touchpad, so there's no way to pan. Double tapping and swiping rotates the view, pinching zooms, however double tapping (the way to right click everywhere else in Windows) does nothing. So thanks to this change I can no longer pan at all because there's not even a button to do so in the interface!

Does anyone know a way around the newly introduced restrictions? Or will I be forced to just go back to v4? Thanks in advance.

[parallyze]

Tools -> Options -> 3D View

viewtopic.php?p=72025#p72025

[SoLongSidekick]

Tools -> Options -> 3D View

viewtopic.php?p=72025#p72025

Thanks for replying, but that's the section I was talking about where the only options available are control schemes from other programs and doesn't allow changing the hotkeys individually. All it would allow me to do was make another control inaccessible instead.

[parallyze]

Hi,

Thanks for replying, but that's the section I was talking about where the only options available are control schemes from other programs and doesn't allow changing the hotkeys individually.

oh, okay. As mentioned in the other thread I am not using v5 and was very interested in
knowing if exactly this possibility got removed - but judging by the answers it did seem like
it was still possible to fully customize key bindings.... :-/

Sadly I didn't find any real screenshots of the v5 interface, nor a proper manual so I could
"see" for my self.

But if they removed this feature, that's a bummer.

Just for clarification:

This is all that's left in v5 (from their 5.0 feature list):

compared to v4, which did allow for complete custom mappings:

And there's no other way to replace combinations you're saying?

By now I'm wondering what's longer. The list of features added in v5 or the list of stuff
removed since v4... ^^

[SoLongSidekick]

Hi,

Thanks for replying, but that's the section I was talking about where the only options available are control schemes from other programs and doesn't allow changing the hotkeys individually.

oh, okay. As mentioned in the other thread I am not using v5 and was very interested in
knowing if exactly this possibility got removed - but judging by the answers it did seem like
it was still possible to fully customize key bindings.... :-/

Sadly I didn't find any real screenshots of the v5 interface, nor a proper manual so I could
"see" for my self.

But if they removed this feature, that's a bummer.

And there's no other way to replace combinations you're saying?

By now I'm wondering what's longer. The list of features added in v5 or the list of stuff
removed since v4... ^^

Yeah I would have NEVER upgraded let alone PAID to lose features if I'd have known they did this. And unless someone knows a workaround you bet you're ass I'm demanding a refund. This is just pathetic and an extremely obvious sign that they wanted the money from forcing people to upgrade their licenses without putting in all the work necessary. You couldn't imagine a more perfect example of corner cutting in order to rush a product out as a cash grab than this. And it sounds like you've heard of even more features they killed; what else is there? I can't wait to hear about what else has been taken from me.

Yeah the v4 setup is exactly what you'd expect out of a company selling an expensive product in a sea of excellent freeware alternatives: complete and absolute customizability. Honestly I've lost so much respect for S3D as time has gone on and they continue to expect people to pay them when they finally JUST added more than like 3 infill options when gyroid has been the community favorite for ~5 years at least, and STILL doesn't have organic supports while still laughably boasting about their support system.

Here's a screenshot of the 3D View menu:

And the pathetic options offered therein:

If I hadn't wasted money on it it would be hilarious; S3D has become the Internet Explorer / Edge of slicers, but even worse because even Microsoft isn't insane enough to try to charge people for IE/Edge. They've slowly but surely been absolutely eclipsed when it comes to the featureset they offer, with literally not a single one that I can think of being unique to S3D or above what would be considered a standard feature.

- Organic supports: NO
- Completely custom hotkeys: NO
- More than ~3 infill options: FINALLY
- Ability to make basic changes to the model: NO
- Easy filament changes by layer/feature: NO, well unless you're willing to waste a ton of time with the Variable Settings Wizard and do a ton of messing around with the startup/ending scripts and willing to have each color/material literally be a seperate freaking file.
- Printer control: FINALLY, hopefully you want a hideous ripoff of Pronterface with only extremely basic control; keep dreaming if you want control over things like mesh leveling.
- Basic smart features like, I don't know, having a new process start as a copy of the last one used: HA dream on, instead here's not only completely different settings but also a completely different material selected!
- Custom supports: TECHNICALLY, but up until extremely recently you better be ready to spend an hour placing them one single tower at a time.
- Ability to change support type: HERE'S 3 ALMOST IDENTICAL DIFFERENT TYPES, LIKE IT OR GTFO
- Easy view of internal geometry: NOPE, hope you like a view of the triangles that's so busy on complex models it literally just looks like a solid skin.
- Cross section view: FINALLY
- Adding raised text to models: PSH who do you think we are, Prusa? (god what an embarrassingly low bar to fail; at least Prusa pretends to be open source)
- Sequential printing: TECHNICALLY, hope you like spending a ridiculous amount of time creating and customizing a process for each item, playing the memory game of "is ITEM_FILE_NAME(2), ITEM_FILE_NAME, ITEM_FILE_NAME(4), ITEM_FILE_NAME(3) the correct order again?" which of course it is because of the stupid way S3D duplicates, and no you're not getting the ability to set the horizontal clearances of your hotend.
- Randomly fail to even slice models that work perfectly fine in other (free) slicers: YUP
- Generate thumbnail of model: NOT UNTIL V5 (but you can technically make Slic3r's thumbnail generation/upload feature work with S3D if you put a bunch of lines of code in your post processing scripts and oh yeah download this sketchy EXE adandoned by its creator years ago [probably because they switched back to a free slicer themselves LOL] that you might be able to get working if you slam your head against the wall for a few hours.
- Automatically append tags to the end of your file name based on selected settings changes: WHY ARE YOU EVEN ASKING?
- Responsive to user issues and requests: LOL just try and count the number of feature requests and basic questions that are still unanswered *years* later
- Free updates: YES***** Yeaaaaaaah... we're gonna make you pay the second we think we've added enough basic features to do so without inciting a mutiny.

I mean I couldn't even effortlessly switch from a .4mm nozzle to a .6mm nozzle (an *extremely* common swap) without ironing out a ton of under-extrusion issues. NUFF FREAKING SAID.

I can't be bothered to continue the list but it absolutely does not end there. I honestly have no clue how S3D still (kinda) has the reputation of being a slicer for professionals. The only thing keeping that perception tenuously in place is the fact that you have to pay for it. For a-certain-F-word's sake they tried to act like forcing rectilinear infill and boxy, extremely-cumbersome-to-place supports on us for years is fitting of a top of the line product. It should speak volumes that even though I've sunk a relatively high cost into this software that I'm about to switch back to a free alternative WITHIN A WEEK OF TAKING THE MASSIVE LEAP FROM V4.2 TO V5.1; the excitement that comes with getting something new couldn't even last 5 days. That's about the most embarrassing scenario I can imagine for a paid product.

Sorry for the novel but I'm just realizing how truly disillusioned I've become with S3D. I guess the sunk cost fallacy had me tightly in its grasp. But yeah, it's a complete disgrace what S3D has devolved into. But I'm super curious to hear what features you care about that S3D yanked just to save a few bucks.

EDIT - I just realized they finally removed the laughable add-ins menu that contained exactly... oh yeah, ZERO add-ins. This is turning from sad to hilarious the more I really think about it. I absolutely did not intend for this to turn into an S3D blasting post, I'm just that disillusioned.

[S3D-Jason]

I can try to provide answers for most of these points

- Organic supports: NO

This has been a popular request recently, so it's definitely something we're looking into! Feel free to add your vote in the Feature Request sub-forum if it's important to you.

- Completely custom hotkeys: NO

V5 actually added full application-wide keyboard shortcut customization. Go to Tools > Keyboard Shortcuts and you can change the shortcuts for almost any action in the software. V4 didn't have that ability at all.

- More than ~3 infill options: FINALLY

I believe V4 had 6 or 7 different infill options, and V5 has more like 12 now, including several that I haven't seen in any other program yet. So definitely a big step forward with the latest release.

- Ability to make basic changes to the model: NO

I'm not totally sure what changes you're talking about here. Do you mean changes to the 3D model itself, similar to what a CAD program would perform? We aren't trying to replace the CAD package, but V5 did add a new integration that allows it to automatically reload files that were modified in your CAD program. So if you import a 3D model into S3D, but then realize you need to make a change to the part in the CAD software, after you save and export the new file from CAD then S3D will automatically detect it and reload the part keeping all of your existing settings, placement, supports, etc. It greatly speeds up making repeat changes to the 3D models.

- Easy filament changes by layer/feature: NO, well unless you're willing to waste a ton of time with the Variable Settings Wizard and do a ton of messing around with the startup/ending scripts and willing to have each color/material literally be a seperate freaking file.

V5 also added new features to make this much easier. If you want to insert custom commands at a specific layer, you can just add a single line to your layer change script:

Code: Select all

{IF "[current_layer_number] == 5"}M600 ; pause for filament change

That would automatically pause the print and prepare for a filament change right before layer 5 begins. You can use that function to insert all sorts of commands at any layer that you need. It's much easier than the old V4 way of using multiple processes that you described.

- Printer control: FINALLY, hopefully you want a hideous ripoff of Pronterface with only extremely basic control; keep dreaming if you want control over things like mesh leveling.

S3D has had printer control for as long as I can remember, so I'm not sure what you mean by "finally". That said, V5 did add a big improvement by adding integrated support for wireless printing to dozens of different firmware types. The old V4 software only supported USB printing. From my usage, the V5 machine control panel has been quite comprehensive, especially considering there aren't similar alternatives for many machines like FlashForge, MakerBot, XYZ, etc. If there's specific improvements you want to see for machine control, those would be great things to suggest on the Feature Request sub-forum so we can see how many other users want the same change.

- Basic smart features like, I don't know, having a new process start as a copy of the last one used: HA dream on, instead here's not only completely different settings but also a completely different material selected!

There's 2 ways to add a new process, so you can choose which works best for you. If you want EXACTLY the same settings as another process you were already working with, just do Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V to copy/paste that old process. Now you will have the same modified settings, material choices, etc. If you instead click the "Add" button, it will give you a new stock process that uses your last profile, but does not include the unsaved changes. In other words, the "Add" button gives you something closer to stock settings, but copy/paste allows you to have all the modifications you want.

- Custom supports: TECHNICALLY, but up until extremely recently you better be ready to spend an hour placing them one single tower at a time.

From what I remember, S3D was actually the only software that even offered any form of custom supports for many years. Recently, we did make a bunch of new improvements in V5 like you mentioned to make it even faster to add or remove big chunks of supports, since that was a popular request from users. If there's other improvements you want to see, let us know!

- Ability to change support type: HERE'S 3 ALMOST IDENTICAL DIFFERENT TYPES, LIKE IT OR GTFO

V4 didn't include any options to change the support infill pattern. V5 now lets you choose between 4 different infill patterns, add outlines, base layers, and all kinds of neat stuff. It should be a big improvement over the old software. Keep in mind that many of the internal infill types don't work well for supports (gyroid, cubic, etc) so it's expected that there will be fewer patterns available for the supports.

- Easy view of internal geometry: NOPE, hope you like a view of the triangles that's so busy on complex models it literally just looks like a solid skin.
- Cross section view: FINALLY

Typically, if you want to see "inside" the part to look at internal geometry you would use the cross section tool. I believe V4 also had a similar cross section tool, so again not sure what you mean by "finally". However V5 did add quite a few new improvements like a visual gizmo so you can drag the cross section plane into position directly in the 3D view. It has made it a ton easier for me to investigate complex parts.

- Sequential printing: TECHNICALLY, hope you like spending a ridiculous amount of time creating and customizing a process for each item, playing the memory game of "is ITEM_FILE_NAME(2), ITEM_FILE_NAME, ITEM_FILE_NAME(4), ITEM_FILE_NAME(3) the correct order again?" which of course it is because of the stupid way S3D duplicates, and no you're not getting the ability to set the horizontal clearances of your hotend.

V5 actually added a new Variable Settings Wizard option specifically to make sequential printing easier. If you have 10 parts on the bed that you want to sequentially print, just go to Tools > Variable Settings Wizard and select the new "Different settings for different models" option. That will automatically create a separate process for each part so that no further changes are needed and you can just click "Prepare to Print" to do sequential printing automatically. It took it from 30+ clicks in V4 to just 2-3 clicks now in V5, so a big improvement. Of course, you can also use this option if you want to customize the print settings for each of these parts too.

- Randomly fail to even slice models that work perfectly fine in other (free) slicers: YUP

V5 actually has several new repair options to help with bad parts like this. There are new auto-healing modes that in my experience can handle pretty much any bad model that I throw at it. V4 didn't have any of these modes, and I can tell you from working with customers that V5 has definitely gotten better in this regard. This article explains some of the new options more if it helps:
https://www.simplify3d.com/resources/ar ... sh-errors/

That being said, I know that automatically healing and slicing every messed up model out there is always an ongoing challenge. I'm sure the team will continue making ongoing improvements in this area.

- Generate thumbnail of model: NOT UNTIL V5 (but you can technically make Slic3r's thumbnail generation/upload feature work with S3D if you put a bunch of lines of code in your post processing scripts and oh yeah download this sketchy EXE adandoned by its creator years ago [probably because they switched back to a free slicer themselves LOL] that you might be able to get working if you slam your head against the wall for a few hours.

Correct, we now have integrated thumbnail embedding with V5. We actually support far more thumbnail formats than any other software I have seen, which means you can use it to create thumbnails for all sorts of different printers, not just Klipper or Marlin, but also FlashForge, MakerBot, Qidi, Creality, etc.

- Automatically append tags to the end of your file name based on selected settings changes: WHY ARE YOU EVEN ASKING?

This sounds like a great feature request that you could make! I know you can already adjust the filename to include things like total print time, material usage, etc, but if there are other options you specifically want to add to the filename then we'd love to hear them!

- Responsive to user issues and requests: LOL just try and count the number of feature requests and basic questions that are still unanswered *years* later

From a quick look on the forum, I think we've done pretty well responding to user questions and issues. I know we also do a great job keeping up with emails that we receive directly from customers, and are usually able to get back to everyone within 1-2 days. I should also mention that we don't necessarily use the age of a feature request as any kind of indicator for how important that feature is. Instead, we usually look at which request are the most popular to try to prioritize what to work on next. We added tons of highly requested changes in all of our releases this past year, so I think they've done a pretty good job prioritizing this feedback.

I mean I couldn't even effortlessly switch from a .4mm nozzle to a .6mm nozzle (an *extremely* common swap) without ironing out a ton of under-extrusion issues.

We swap nozzles quite a bit on the printers that we have in our office, and typically the only change I need to make it setting the extrusion width to auto if it isn't already and then adjusting the nozzle diameter. That automatically changes the extrusion width which automatically increases the amount of plastic flow. I've helped many customers do the same with good results, so there typically isn't any kind of additional extrusion adjustments needed. That being said, if you are trying to print faster with the larger nozzle, sometimes there are additional speed related changes that are needed. Trying to print a lot faster can require higher temperatures or increased plastic flow. If you're still having trouble with your settings, maybe provide a few screenshots so that other users can offer suggestions.


And finally, I'll add a few more thoughts on the original questions raised in this post. With V5 we changed the 3D view options to make it easier for customers to quickly match their favorite CAD software. We had seen that this was the main reason customers were using that setting in the first place - they were already used to a specific CAD package and they wanted the 3D view in S3D to work the same way. Now that's done with one simple click instead of having to change all of the options separately which we had seen was confusing for most customers. We added 5 different control schemes which should cover the vast majority of users, but if there's additional schemes you want to use, that would be a great thing to propose on the Feature Request sub-forum so we can see how many other users want the same change.

It seems like the thread is starting to get a bit off-topic so I'll stop there, but please feel free to add Feature Requests for some of the items I mentioned above. That's the best way that we can track features and prioritize them based on user input.