Exposed Gyroid infill  

RE: Exposed Gyroid infill

Thanks agree.   The exposed gyroid infill is also very useful for; filters, racks, grips plus conformable 3d objects in TPU.  I've been using the slic3r experimental version mentioned above for a number of projects.

This would be much more accessible to most users by being  able to switch off the gyroid liner caps in the PrusaSlicer GUI.

RE: Exposed Gyroid infill

add this as a feature request on the github

RE: Exposed Gyroid infill

i have also been trying to utilize the interesting gyroid infill as a artistic element i want to make a lampshade and have printed one but it is covered with a lot of individual filament strands is this the "cap" function

RE: Exposed Gyroid infill

FYI below is an image of a  prototype bike grip I  printed in firm tpu on a mk3. This was done with no caps on the gyroid infill sliced with the experimental version of slic3r referred to above.

It's surprisingly comfortable to use in all weather conditions!

RE: Exposed Gyroid infill

Below is an image of a breathable fruit tray  printed in  PETG with  exposed gyroid infill. This was sliced with the experimental slic3r discussed earlier. Not having the end caps enabled consistent mechanical properties and efficient printing.

RE: Exposed Gyroid infill

Here is an illustration of the issue: PrusaSlicer 2.2 made this endcaps, vertical walls at the outer perimeter of the infill. An some strange, useless horizontal single extruded lines at the inner perimeter, which are also not necessary (and not visible in the image)

RE: Exposed Gyroid infill

@venti

The caps on the perimeter of the gyroid infill make sense when there are perimeters to help them adhere. I agree, though, the caps shouldn't be there when the infill doesn't abut against perimeters.

I added this comment and referenced this thread on github issue number 1451 which, while old, is still open.

RE: Exposed Gyroid infill

If you want the old behaviour but with all the current features (plus a few more) then Merills fork of Prusa Slicer (Slic3r++) over at https://github.com/supermerill/Slic3r/releases   has a tickbox on the Infill screen for 'dont connect' which turns off the connection of the infill to the perimeters for the art effects. 

I just checked it on a calibration cube with gyroid infill and it does seem to be removing those outer lines and leaving just the infill.

RE: Exposed Gyroid infill

Thanks for the tipp, much appreciated 🙂 Indeed, it works. In expert mode there is the "don't connect" option and works as intended.

RE: Exposed Gyroid infill

@neophyl

Is there anyway to install this on Mac OS !?

RE: Exposed Gyroid infill

I dont have a Mac but there are links on that release page for Macos and Linux versions.  

RE: Exposed Gyroid infill

@neophyl

Yes, I saw the link for MacOSX but the procedure is above my paygrade :

Building Slic3r++ on Mac OS

To build Slic3r++ on Mac OS, you will need the following software:

• XCode
• CMake
• git
• gettext

RE: Exposed Gyroid infill

@thepixelmaster

Look through some of the earlier releases such as https://github.com/supermerill/Slic3r/releases/tag/2.2.47.1   there is a macos build from what I can tell for that version.  The dont connect function has been in there for quite awhile.

RE: Exposed Gyroid infill

@neophyl

Thank you for taking the time to point out to the right direction.

It's baffling as the current PrusaSlicer has this glaring omission for a feature that was tested and proved successful and artistically useful.  

RE: Exposed Gyroid infill

"then Merills fork of Prusa Slicer (Slic3r++) over at"

Is this a separate slicer that can be used as an alternative to PS?

Is it simply a matter of downloading it and importing an stl file?

I'm interested in the capless infill for artistic purposes and not terribly savvy with github.

RE: Exposed Gyroid infill

@bob-h9

You use it exactly the same as Prusa Slicer and it should be immediately familiar to you if you use PS.

Merill's is a 'fork', Its built on whatever the current version of Prusa Slicer is at the time.  So its got all the capabilities of the recent Prusa Slicer builds and a few more too.  Its already got surface ironing in for example and more options for controlling brims (inside/outside/ears) etc.   There are loads more usefull additions too, things like enhanced bridge options, an extra infill option, more seam position settings, different first layer speeds for perimeters and infill are just a few examples.

The positions of the settings are arranged slightly differently to stock PS (actually with the latest versions you can customise this somewhat) but they are all there (and more).

If on windows you just extract it to a folder and you can run the exe directly, no need to install.  It uses its own folders for configs etc so you can run PS and Slic3r++ side by side.  The profiles are also the same.  You can export a Save config bundle from Prusa Slicer and import the config bundle into Slic3r++ to get all your Print, Filament and Printer profiles in too.

Saved projects can also be opened in one another except with the last couple of versions if you save a project in ++ and try to open it in PS2.2.0 it will error.  PS2.1.1 will open them fine though and if you save them in 2.1.1 they will then open in 2.2.0.  There's a bug in for that already that I hope gets fixed soon as its really useful to slice the same project in both and see which one gives the best results for a model.  You can save a project in PS 2.2.0 and open it in Slic3r++ though.

I love all the work that has gone into and functionality of Prusa Slicer and its one I use a lot of the time and ++ totally  builds on all of that work but sometimes its nice to have some extra options, even if some are a bit experimental.  

RE: Exposed Gyroid infill

@neophyl

That's awesome ... for Windows users. I navigated through subfolders and found a mention for " MacOS use "  in a text file. As I said before creating an MacOS installer from the provided resources on git is above my paygrade. 

Let's just hope Prusa is going to add this feature to PrusaSlicer on the next release

RE: Exposed Gyroid infill

@neophyl

I'm fascinated that you know so much about ++.

How did you learn all this? By just reading github and tinkering with the software?

RE: Exposed Gyroid infill

I wouldn't say I know a huge lot about it, more that I know it exists lol.  I do try and report issues I find over on the Prusa Github, so I tend to browse them in the morning before I start work to see if there's anything interesting been reported.   I saw a post that Supermerill made on the Prusa Github ages ago and found the link to his fork of Slicer.  So I downloaded it to give it a try.  I now also post any issues I find on his version on his github.

You do pick up stuff though if you read the issues raised on Github.  For an example of this one of the previously annoying things in Prusa Slicer was resizing modifiers.  You place a box and then grab one of the side handles to stretch it and it stretches out both sides.  This behaviour can be really annoying.  However it turns out if you hold shift (I think its shift, could be cntrl) down it stretches out only on the side you are grabbing.  This tidbit is buried in the list of shortcuts now but its still not generally known that it can do that.  As the documentation is still in a state of flux that's true for a lot of things.  One of the developers mentioned it did that and ding, was like a lightbulb going off.  Its now much easier to manipulate modifiers once you know.

If you create a free account on github you can subscribe to releases for projects too.  So now if either Prusa or Merill do a new release I get an email from github.  That way I can try out all the versions before they are proper releases and help with the testing effort in a small way.  I don't go out of my way to test everything, more along the lines of if I find something while using it normally I report it.