Coordinate display in S3D?

Have questions or comments about Simplify3D, Slic3r, Cura, Reptier, etc? Or wondering about which CAD software to use...discuss it here...
thecadman99
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Coordinate display in S3D?

Post by thecadman99 » Thu Apr 24, 2014 8:19 pm

I'm probably overlooking this, but is there a way to display the x,y coordinate of the mouse in Simplify 3D Creator?

Toby
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Re: Coordinate display in S3D?

Post by Toby » Thu Apr 24, 2014 9:08 pm

Not sure what you mean exactly. Do you want to know the XY coordinates relative to the bed when the mouse is in the 3D view window?

In general that's not well-defined since the mouse is in 2d and the view is in 3d. The software has no way to unambiguously link the two coordinate systems. It would make sense in an orthographic view though (top, front, or side in the S3D view menu). So displaying the coords in mm relative to each of those views could be nice. Maybe cause for a feature request on the S3D forum.

I've sometimes resorted to counting the grid lines on the bed in the 3d view in order to estimate how much clearance I had. You can figure out the distance between lines since you know the size of the bed.

Depending on what you want this for, a really dorky work-around could be to model the reference points and lines you need in a cad program and import it into the S3D environment. Just be sure not to print it along with your model :)

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jimc
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Re: Coordinate display in S3D?

Post by jimc » Thu Apr 24, 2014 9:09 pm

not that i know of but i havent searched around for it. i know that now they have it where you can set the seam on the model it sure would be handy to just put the pointer at the spot, see the location then you can enter that into the process. time for a feature request!

jsc
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Re: Coordinate display in S3D?

Post by jsc » Thu Apr 24, 2014 10:08 pm

What would be helpful is if someone could model the M2 logo with the right offset so that it prints aligned to the lettering on the bed. Then you could use that as a guide for various purposes...

thecadman99
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Re: Coordinate display in S3D?

Post by thecadman99 » Fri Apr 25, 2014 12:16 am

I'm looking for a quick way to precisely use the new S3D feature that lets you locate the start point for layers. Just a 2D overhead display would work.

jsc
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Re: Coordinate display in S3D?

Post by jsc » Fri Apr 25, 2014 1:21 am

Here's something that may help you for that. It's simply a grid of 0.5mm x 0.5mm lines at 10mm spacing, 200mm x 250mm. Turn off "Center and arrange models after importing" to use. Just drop the grid in your project and count squares. Exact coordinate is the lower left corner of the intersection of the lines making up a grid square. I've included the trivial OpenSCAD script used to generate it so you can mess with the spacings or whatever. Remember to remove the grid before printing.

Actually, a better idea would be to make the grid lines 0.25 mm, or some other dimension well below the extrusion width you are likely to be printing at, so that they don't ever get sliced... Okay, so I've done that, and it works. You can just slice away with the grid in place and it won't appear in the gcode.
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Toby
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Re: Coordinate display in S3D?

Post by Toby » Fri Apr 25, 2014 2:01 am

jsc wrote: Actually, a better idea would be to make the grid lines 0.25 mm, or some other dimension well below the extrusion width you are likely to be printing at, so that they don't ever get sliced... Okay, so I've done that, and it works. You can just slice away with the grid in place and it won't appear in the gcode.
Very nifty. Now we just need to put some numbers at every five grid lines along x and y and model them so they're off the bed and just under it so they won't print either.

jsc
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Re: Coordinate display in S3D?

Post by jsc » Fri Apr 25, 2014 2:08 am

I'm not sure you can view things in that location. Haven't tested though. In any case, can't do lettering in OpenSCAD, at least not without some effort, so I leave it to someone with a modeler that does text.

Toby
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Re: Coordinate display in S3D?

Post by Toby » Fri Apr 25, 2014 3:28 am

I checked that you can view things below the bed provided they're off the edge. Also, if you model the object as just a flat surface with no thickness then it doesn't show up in the slicing no matter where it is.

I started modeling the numbers but problem is the grid lines that S3D has on the bed make it look confusing. There is a way around it- there's this feature in tools->option->machine where you can automatically load a startup model whenever you start s3d, and you get to choose the color of it. So you can preload the grid with the same color as the S3D bed grid lines (I checked and it works), but then the problem is you want the new grid be a subdivision of S3D's grid, and they have an unfriendly division of the bed into a 14x14 grid. So the numbers don't work out nicely.

At that point I quit. But if anyone wants to go to the trouble I think you could make it work by modeling your "startup object" to include a flat rectangle that covered the S3D bed, then put your grid lines, numbers (and M2 logo while your at it) on top of it.

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jimc
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Re: Coordinate display in S3D?

Post by jimc » Fri Apr 25, 2014 3:34 am

ok you want an easy way to make this whole thing work? model a small cylinder maybe a couple mm dia and say 10mm tall. keep the stl with your models somewhere. when you get your model on the platform, drop the cylinder/pin and drag it to the corner or area you want the seam. double click the cyl and it gives you its x and y coords.

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