You Simplify3D users out there… I’m still trying to get used to this software which is basically delivering good results but i’m totally confused about how to use the profiles and auto configuration for Material/Quality the right way.
My main issue is that some settings like Speed, Fanspeed and lots of other stuff seem to not be related to the selected Material/Quality which means if you’re only using one printer profile per printer (which somehow sounds logical) you always “have to” print with the same speed - no matter if you select to high quality (let’s say you have set that to 0,05mm layer height) or low quality. It also means you would “have to” print your flex filaments the same speed than your ABS or PLA. This doesn’t make so much sense.
So i wonder what your way is to deal with that - have several printer profiles? Change settings prior to each print?
I’m quite used to using Slic3r and Cura from Repetier Host which both have quite a nice profile system (though i like the Cura approach in Repetier Host the most).
You would use multiple different profiles. Remember, in Simplify3D you are not limited to printing 1 thing at a time at 0.2mm layer height. You can print one object on the bed at 0.1mm layer height, another at 0.2mm layer height, one with supports, another without, etc. — All in the same print.
sure thing, but i was still wondering how to do the basics first. so you go with several printer profiles then for different speeds or what is your approach/workflow?
I tweak the speeds before every print job. (Same with extrusion widths, shells, etc.) And I typically have 2-3 profiles per printer for things like “fast draft” and “high quality” or different materials.
I use a number of profiles per machine as a starting point, and once loaded for a job, custom tweak as needed. I try to cram all the high-level important stuff in the name like so:
rep1_pla_speedMed_qualityHigh
rep1_pla_speedFast_qualityMed
rep1_ninja_speedMed_qualityMed
cbot_pla_speedSlow_qualityHigh
etc
_
Where:
machineName : Important if you have multiple machines
filament type: pla, abs, ninjaflex, woodfill, etc
print speed : slow\med\fast, based on the characteristic of your machine. For example, on my rep1 it’s 60\90\120 (in mm\sec), while on my cbot its 30\45\60.
*quality : low\med\high. mainly layer height. On my rep1 I have this set too 100,200,300 micron. Cbot it’s 250, 500, 750 micron.
And of course there’s a lot more stuff I set in there like infill, print temp, bed temp, retraction, shells, etc etc, but most of that stuff is pretty locked down unless the print is really unique.
Again, these are all just rough starting points that I know work well based on a bunch of trial and error using calibration cubes and other test shapes. But based on new filament types\diameters, etc, they all need additional tweaks usually.
You can hand edit the .fff files to give you more control over what parameters get changed when you select material or quality. It’s actually easier to see what’s going on in the file, it’s pretty explicit about what is configured per material and what is set globally. That’s the only way I’ve been able to use the autoconfigure settings, too many of the settings are material dependent. I still end up with a bunch of profiles though.
