Hi there,
I love your program but I've never been able to get the slic3r engine to work in the 6 months I have been using it. In the previous versions it would just crash, but in the latest versions when going to the layer view or preparing to print I get "Slicing error. Please review your slice settings."
I'm running the Me3D version of 1.4 on a Windows 7 64bit machine.
Any help would be great!
There is a current known bug in MatterControl when Slic3r is the slice engine selected.
Essentially, the Slic3r.exe executable file that is installed with MatterControl by default is invalid and will not work. We're working on a fix, so you can either switch your slicer to MatterSlice or CuraEngine (Settings & Controls -> Options -> Application Settings -> Slice Engine) or revert back to a previous version of MatterControl (http://wiki.mattercontrol.com/Release_Notes) and wait until the bug is fixed with the next minor update (should be ready in a week or two).
Cool, looking forward to that update very much.
MatterSlice works well for the most part but Slic3r has some nice features I'd like to use. First Layer temp for example - I'm sure I remember this being available to use in MatterSlice earlier on but not anymore? Any plans to add this in?
CuraEngine - I've also had problems with in the past. I'm using the z-offset variable in my start code, but when I have attempted to use cura it has always positioned the nozzle too low driving it into the bed when it starts to print.
First layer temperature is probably not going to be added in to MatterSlice, namely because it's not necessary. There's really no reason we're aware of to vary the extrusion temperature in the first layer vs. the rest of the print.
For Cura, if you were serious about using it as your slice engine within MatterControl then you'd probably need to adjust the printer's Z height manually, either through firmware or the LCD interface (if present).
Don't need first layer extrusion temp, but first layer printbed temp would be helpful.. I turn up the bed temperature to improve adhesion of the base when printing with ABS, but even the standard recommended temperature of 100C results in warpage of the first 10-20 layers (no corner separation from the table, but the bottom layers show noticeable distortion).. If I use a lower temperature- about 70C, the distortion near the base is eliminated, but larger objects tend to separate from the base as they cool,
What I've found works manually is to set the initial printbed temp to 100C and print the first layer, then go to the manual controls and turn the temp down to 60C for the next few layers (the actual bed takes a while to cool down), and then once I've got 10 or so layers, I'll crank the bed temp back up to about 80 or so, depending on the size of what I'm printing.. This tends to keep the object stuck to the base, but eliminate the warpage around the base and It would be nice if the slicer could put in these commands automatically..
@Chris That's an interesting concept. I'll make a note for the development team to review as they add new features.
Has this Slic3r problem been resolved in any way? I just updated to Version 1.4.0.5367 to start printing again. My current hardware and process are still tied to features in Slic3r so otherwise, I'll probably back up a release if it is not.
MatterControl 1.4.0.5367 still has issues with Slic3r, so you'll probably want to back up until our next release which should address the problem.
Thanks for the reply. I am impressed with Mattercontrol and intend to totally swap to your native slicer when I get a new dual extrude printer within the next few months. Until then, I need post-processing of gcode to overcome a physical problem in my current hardware, so am sticking with Slic3r. I don't know if there are sufficient users of post-processing to make it worth your while to include it as a feature in your slicer, but I, for one, would benefit.
@rvanee Thanks for the feedback. I'll let the development team know there is interest in post processing for MatterSlice.