Features desperately needed in Simplify plus some others

[nerys]

Some of these are tantamount to bugs/flaws in the software that need to be fixed.

First. Air Printing. Simplify really loves air printing solid layers by stopping the solid layer "short" of an infill line or perimeter line when you have one shape on top of another shape.

the solution is NOT more infill. that is a huge waste of plastic, mass, and time. huge amounts of all 3

for "PURE" air printing you would need 85% of higher infill to have a good degree of success of Capturing those air prints. a 1/10th pound object could easily become a 3 pound object at that rate.

when simplify prints a top layer that layer should GOTO a perimeter or nearest infill line so its not dropping the end of the line in mid air in the "gaps" in the infill. it only needs to do this once per instance because even a sloppy bridges layer fill is enough to support the next layer.

this is also a problem when you have a shape protrude INTO an object and the "overhang" and "airprint origin" are INSIDE the mode inside the infill.

simplify should be smart enough to "add support" from lower layers (an overhang lower down the wall of the object on the inside) so by the time it gets to that point it "has" the support it needs to build what would otherwise have been an airprint.

even 50% infill is not enough to capture that kind of thing and I want to print at 5% infill not 50%

you would need 85% or higher to fix this manually when it would only take a gram or two of plastic for the software to fix it all by itself.

creating multiple processes is a work around to add solid layers but its a less than stellar fix since its a serious pain to do with complex models and it again wastes tremendous amounts of plastic, mass, and TIME.

adding the needed 9 extra processes to my discovery habitation sphere added over 9 HOURS to the print. 9 hours! and add 25% more mass to the object! Ouch!

if the software built its own internal structure inside to support the sphere I could actually reduce infill to ZERO and just use 4 shells for 90% of the model then add a solid layer and some infill to support the roof of the sphere.

to keep it from effect the model accidentally limit it to areas that would otherwise be "infill" and have a way to let users ADD it to "hollow" objects.

this 1 pound sphere would go down to maybe 1/4 or 1/8th of a pound and be just as strong!

---------------------

Another feature I would like to see added. this one is not fatal but it would make life easier.

let us MOVE processes up and down in the list. IE change the visual order.

thankfully the process SLICE order by start and stop height. so you can make the process in any order you want and it will correctly put them in their proper place. but OUR lives would be a lot easier if I could move processes up and down in the list to change their order on the screen.

it would also be nice if the slicer let me "see" the process layer changes and maybe even let me "shift" processes up or down so if I decide this process should be up .2mm I can just move it up .2mm. not a big thing but a "would be nice" thing

------------------

in the slicer view slave the ARROW keys to those buttons on the bottom right. the ones we use to move up and down layers in the sliced view.

each press moves one layer hold and it moves fast.


--------------------


Custom support. let me "drag" a selection box to mass remove support I don't want. going individually can be a real pain on some models.

---------------------

Allow VASE mode in multi process situations. in most cases I have seen there is no reason I can see to disallow it. Just start the spiral at whatever level the printer is at especially when doing multiple parts that all start from the bed.

---------------------

a way to click on a region in the slicer preview and have the software tell me what is happening at that point.

for example. I have a print problem (making new thread about that) that I am 99% is a slicer setting. I have "gaps" in the print and those gaps line up perfectly with "red marks" in the slicer preview. IE what "IS" that red zone. ie what is the printer actually
DOING for that segment and which "settings" effect it. IE I would like the software to tell me that.

OK here we are speeding up or slowing down and this is why. this setting and that setting etc..

----------------------

A way to insert PAUSES in the gcode so I can have the printer stop at a pre programmed layer height so I can change filament and then resume the print.

----------------------


That's what I have for now.

the inside protrusions into solids and air printing support and the air gap solid layers REALLY need to be fixed. Please work on those.!!

You can see the top layer issue here in detail

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5t3KNcpukY

and this video (uploading should be online by Midnight EST) explains all of these issues in more detail with examples and drawings etc..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiJVkVWF3qI

I hope you guys can fix this it would really make a huge difference and fix a glaring flaw in the slicing.

[TMeyer]

+1

I also already created a feature request to ask the developers to make the arrow keys on the keyboard able to switch between layers.

[Lagbert]

+1

I agree the air printing issues definitely need more attention.

In nerys' example of a small box being printed on top of a large box, another possible solution would be to project the perimeter of the smaller box down to the next lower solid layer and build a foundation below the small box. This would give the top layer of the large box something to attach to.

A procedurally generated gothic arch infill/support would be a great fix for air printing of indented features. Used an algorithm similar to the overhang detection used for the removable supports, but have it generate a support that builds away from the wall at a user definable angle to create the proper support.

[nerys]

support from solid lower layer is a bit of a waste when its as simply as make one solid layer OR project the air dropped line to the next vertical support of an infill. lot less plastic lot less time.

yes on the gothic arch. exactly. and it can do whatever it wants to do this since whatever it does is on the "inside of infill" so it won't effect the model.

[nerys]

added two more feature requests to the list.