MakerGear Forum

Thanks! I'll have to check that. My cal cube walls came out undersized, and when I bumped up the extrusion multiplier, it didn't change much (if at all).

This is the first beef I have with PS. They have the some parameters in multiple locations, or over-rides & defaults that can confuse things.

Yup! I still keep going back to the Devil I know..

I'm moderately impressed with my first real PrusaSlicer print job. It was pretty simple, but I spent a good part of a day fine tuning it in S3D to maximize the quality. First try on PrusaSlicer came out pretty good. The variable layer process helped to smooth a tilted top section. It's also missing some annoying artifacts that I couldn't manage to eliminate in S3D. It added some new ones;' but they are pretty minor.

I have tired manual supports yet. This part has a simple horizontal cross-wise hole, and PS insisted on running the supports past the edge of the part far enough that the supports needed support. I think what is missing is an option to limit how far outside the model perimeter it extends the supports. S3D has that, and I could easily get supports just inside the hole.

I've got another job running now that doesn't require supports. I'll see how it does with that one. There's nothing fancy, but it has some skinny sections that required fussing with speeds & cooling in S3D. I've pretty much left the default speed & cooling settings in PS, and I'm curious to see how well the automatic speed & cooling adjustments work.

What is the variable layer process.. is that something that can be configured or just integral to the slicer? I can not find anything in any of the tabs that sounds like that.

The variable layer controls are in the Printer Settings. Under "General", there is a check box to turn it on at the very bottom. Also, under Extruder 1, the second block of parameters are the minimum & maximum layer thickness. Another annoying instance of parking related parameters on separate tabs...

My next effort is to figure out why a print job that takes under 2 hours in S3D is taking ~ 6 with Prusa Slicer...

Ah I see..
As to the length of time.. there are a lot of speed settings and the don't all default to a percentage of the over all speed.. so you have to mess with them all. And you have to decide if you want to enter actual speed values or % or one of the many speed settings..
Not that this is a bad thing, the more configurable a product is the more powerful.. and of course complicated..

I got my second print job done, and it only took a couple hours instead of 4 after I tweaked a bunch of stuff.

I need to fine tune some things. In S3D, I could use copies of the same model, and assign slightly different processes to each one. I have no idea how to do that efficiently in PS.

Also, most of what I want to work on can be determined in the first couple mm of the model. For example, I have text & a logo inset in the bottom, and I only need to print the first 6 layers or so to see what is going on there. In S3d, I can just go in and tell is to stop printing 6 layers up. Again, I have no idea how to do that in PS. I know there are some settings you can add with the vertical slider in preview mode, but the one example I saw was someone inserting custom gcode to pause a print. Even if I want to go that route, I'm not sure how to tell it to stop, and then run my ending script.

I'm certainly not ready to abandon S3D (yet), especially for models I already have worked out to fine tuning on.

I suppose I need to sign up on the PrusaSlicer forum and dig around there for answers like these...

The more I use PS the less I feel like using PS..

It has some features I like, but it's definitely lacking in some features S3D has that I have learned how to take advantage of. I've posted a query on the PrusaSlicer forum, about how to tune your settings as efficiently as I can in S3D, and we'll see what they come back with. I can live without the option of stopping a print at a certain layer by chopping my model up, but I'm used to printing at least 3 and sometimes as many as 9 test prints in one go using multiple processes in S3D. That way I can create a grid of things like varying retraction in the X direction, and varying extra restart distance in the Y direction.

It's particularly problematic in PS because they have parameters spread between multiple settings. I may need to vary settings that are under the Filament tab, along with changes in the Print tab. There may be a way to do it, but it certainly isn't as obvious, flexible or powerful as in S3D.

Gwhite wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 08, 2021 3:04 pm

stop printing 6 layers up

Click the Cut icon over on the left, uncheck Keep Upper Part, click-n-drag the cube in the middle to suit, click Perform Cut, and it's done.

it certainly isn't as obvious, flexible or powerful as in S3D

On the other paw, it's under relentless continuous ferocious development, free as in both beer and speech, and no more weird than S3D was when you first encountered it.

As they say about Club-Mate: "You'll get used to it."