How about that. Some in-house development to reduce print and material usage, how true can that be?
https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/20/makerbot-print-process/
Sing reducing cost as simple as letting people use cheap filament? Not trying to be snarky, just saying
Brook
Was exactly what I was thinking @Brook_Drumm …
Infill decrease -30%, raft still there. 
The time reduction from not having to print so much infill is a nice feature. Granted you can do multiple processes in S3D, but it’s nice to have it done automagically.
Slic3r has had that feature for years. Though the Makerbot algorithm may be more advanced. Still. nothing groundbreaking from what I can see.
http://manual.slic3r.org/expert-mode/infill-optimization
“Only infill where needed - Slic3r will analyse the model and choose where infill is required in order to support internal ceilings and overhangs. Useful for reducing time and materials.”
All criticism aside, these little improvements do move the needle over time. It’s probably a sign of a long term commitment. I’ve done hundreds of little improvements over the years… none of them news-worthy, but 20/20 hindsight shows a big difference over time.
Brook
@Jason_D OK, so what does that look like?
Slice a file with that option enabled and check it out. Slic3r is free. Not trying t be a smart ass, just seeing the layer by layer preview will give you a much better idea than a screen shot or two or me trying to describe it. I rarely use it myself, as most things I print are mechanical parts and I need strength in all directions rather than just using infill where needed to “support the roof”
There’s sure a bit of a difference between what Slic3r does and Minfill. Minfill looks nice but indeed nothing ground breaking. If it works like advertised it’s still something that is not yet implemented in any other software that I know. The big difference to slic3r should be that makerbot adverts to analyze for stability not only (like slic3r) looks where it needs to support for overhangs, ceilings and stuff.
But what I’m more surprised of is the low quality of prints they show in their video. Warping (closed to the end) and really bad print quality (shortly before) is something that would completely get me away from that printer.
I just tried Slic3r’s. It seems to work, but it doesn’t look anywhere nearly that nice or efficient. So I’m calling this a pretty clear advancement. Still don’t recommend MB products though.
Useless for me as no slicer knows the intended use and load bearings of my printed parts.
I suppose it would be nice for figures or purely decorative pieces but that’s not what I print
Wasn’t that the point? If you need strength, why would you choose “minimum infill”?
@Nathan_Walkner Why would a designer spend time manually adding that on a prototype if they can click a button? Even if it only takes five minutes (which is a low-ball number IMO), five minutes vs. click seems like an easy choice. If it saves a round-trip to Meshmixer, that’s an easy choice too.
30%. Is that as accurate as their claims about the original print heads?
Or as reliable as their treatment of users’ creations on Thingiverse?
So 30% is a magic number?
dont work on 2x and you cant print directly any more… unless you have a new printer, its a waste of time!
@Nathan_Walkner Previous version would let you print from a computer to the 2x … or the SD . This new version will only let you save to SD… and don’t add any of the new features for printers like 2X without the so called “intelligent” print head…LOL