Simplify3D (S3D) settings for the Original Prusa i3 printers  

Re: Simplify3D print settings (August 30, 2016)

This may help you guys.

https://www.simplify3d.com/support/print-quality-troubleshooting/#blobs-and-zits

Re: Simplify3D print settings (August 30, 2016)

Hello to all!

I also made settings for Simplify3D! If you have problems, try my profile.

Until now i only made the settings for PLA with 0.2 layer height. But i think thats a good base to start with!

I tested it by printing the #3DBenchy. Very often... Boats, Boats, Boats, lots of Boats! Around 30 of them! But ok - now i know how the settings effects my 3D prints! 😎

I compared the prints to an reference that i made with the standard Slic3r settings. The goal was to get same results with Simplify3D.

And i had success! And the Benchy made with S3D looks even better and was printed 20% faster!

I have added a make on thingiverse. Take a look!
http://www.thingiverse.com/make:251465

And because i guess you would like to see the pictures in high resolution:
The grey one was made with Slic3r, the bronze one was made with Simplify3D

And these are the G-Code files you can try print it yourself:
http://www.mleke.at/drucker/Simplify3D/3DBenchy_Slic3r.gcode
http://www.mleke.at/drucker/Simplify3D/3DBenchy_Simplify3D.gcode

And finaly - my Simplify3D profile:
http://www.mleke.at/drucker/Simplify3D/S3D_MlePh_20160909.zip

Ok that's it for now. Wanted to share this with you. I was following this thread since it was published. And i tried all kinds of fff-files - but they did not work for me. So i started making my own...

Re: Simplify3D print settings (August 30, 2016)

Anyone had any success with Z-hop at all? If I turn it off, I get marks on the top of my prints. With all three or four of the different brands/ colors of PLA, if I set it to 0.10, I get massive amounts of fuzzy stringing all over the print.

Re: Simplify3D print settings (August 30, 2016)

And because i guess you would like to see the pictures in high resolution:
The grey one was made with Slic3r, the bronze one was made with Simplify3D.

Very nice! Thanks for taking the time to post. There was one area where the grey boat looked better to me, and that was on the deck. Other than that, the S3D print looked better.

It would be interesting to see the Slic3r settings as well as your factory file for S3D to see how the actual configs differed. (temps, speeds, etc.). Is the material the same between the two, other than color? (same brand, etc.)

John

Re: Simplify3D print settings (August 30, 2016)

Very nice! Thanks for taking the time to post. There was one area where the grey boat looked better to me, and that was on the deck. Other than that, the S3D print looked better.

It would be interesting to see the Slic3r settings as well as your factory file for S3D to see how the actual configs differed. (temps, speeds, etc.). Is the material the same between the two, other than color? (same brand, etc.)

John

I did not change the standard Slice3r settings. I just used the prusa3d "0.20mm NORMAL" settings.

I wanted to print both with the same filament. But sadly i ran out of the grey one. So i used the bronze filament. I know thats a bad for comparison. The grey filament was great to see errors, the bronze one is a little bit transparent - thats why the deck doesn't look that good.

The grey filament was from BQ, the bronze from Prusa. I also printed with esun filament and other brands. And they all differ a little...

I think one overall reason for the better quality on the S3D was the more continous printing speeds. With Slic3r they differ more between the layers. You can see this if you open the gcode-files with Simplify3D and change the coloring to "moving speed".

I personally prefer S3D. Maybe it's because i got used to it. The i3 MK2 is my third printer. So i have a little experience with S3D, which i don't have with Slic3r. And i payed for that software - so i want to use it! And it has a few features i really like and haven't seen on other slicers. And i think i'm not alone with this - obvious 😉

Re: Simplify3D print settings (August 30, 2016)

Anyone had any success with Z-hop at all?
I've had some success although I get some strings using PETG which is pretty gooey stuff. I suggest you play with the retraction settings to lessen the strings. Prusa's profiles use 0.8 retraction distance and 35 mm/s (2100 mm/min) speed.

I'm going to print some benchy's to see if I can fine tune my S3D settings. If I find out anything good I'll post it here.

Re: Simplify3D print settings (August 30, 2016)

Got a message from Simplify3D support asking me if I would be interested in testing a profile they made for Prusa i3 Mk2. Said yes, waiting for the profile now.

Re: Simplify3D print settings (August 30, 2016)

Great news. I'm sure there are more users willing to give it a try. Will you post the profile here?

Re: Simplify3D print settings (August 30, 2016)

Yes, sure. They haven't sent anything yet, however...

Re: Simplify3D print settings (August 30, 2016)

Hello to all!

I also made settings for Simplify3D! If you have problems, try my profile.

...

And finaly - my Simplify3D profile:
http://www.mleke.at/drucker/Simplify3D/S3D_MlePh_20160909.zip

That's awesome, I was hoping someone would have shared a more recent FFF, I will try it out today 🙂

(I've been happy with all of my S3D prints apart from one last night that was so blobby it was unusable even if I sanded it. I figured the temperature was set too high but I think also needs better retraction. I will see if your FFF helps 🙂 )

Re: Simplify3D print settings (August 30, 2016)

Guys, let me ask if the Simplify3D profile is already good enough to make a transition to it from Slic3r? Is the ZHop already supported in the profile?

Re: Simplify3D print settings (August 30, 2016)

Guys, let me ask if the Simplify3D profile is already good enough to make a transition to it from Slic3r? Is the ZHop already supported in the profile?

Forgive me for being ignorant, what is zhop?

Re: Simplify3D print settings (August 30, 2016)

ZHop or Z-Lift is where the nozzle is raised during non-printing moves.

This prevents the nozzle hitting anything and damaging small parts.

Peter

Re: Simplify3D print settings (August 30, 2016)

@ruben.h Yes, I would say that the S3D profile is ready for prime time. I use it exclusively and with ZHop set at 0.2mm. Here's my version of the current (RC4) Prusa S3D profile. I am printing in PETG (and PET+) currently so those numbers are the "best" in this profile. I have the ZHop set at .2 and retraction up a bit at 0.95 to help reduce the stringing that PETG is prone to.

Re: Simplify3D print settings (August 30, 2016)

For some reason Simplify3D profiles does not store each filament diameter, density and price on the separate materials, but on the machine profile. This can be changed, this way you can store for instance one roll of PLA as 1.73 and one as 1.76. Price and density should also be stored individually.

Here is an e-mail I got explaining how to do it.

Many profiles have different parameters that change for each autoconfigure. Generally, the extruder and temperature settings are saved per-material. Many printers have significantly differing settings for temperature and extrusion across multiple materials, so we do not share materials across machine profiles. The autoconfigure parameters are listed and editable in the XML of each profile. You can view and edit the XML of a profile by going to File > Export FFF Profile and opening it in your text editor of choice.

I've made and included a profile identical to the newest release (RC4), but I moved the Filament diameter, price and density to be stored individually for each material.

http://bit.ly/2cGEC3b

Use it directly or look at it for an example 🙂

Re: Simplify3D print settings (August 30, 2016)

I've made and included a profile identical to the newest release (RC4), but I moved the Filament diameter, price and density to be stored individually for each material.

http://bit.ly/2cGEC3b

Very nice! Thanks.

It is hard to wrap your head around how Simplify3D separates configurable items when you start off learning Slic3r.

On my first printer, I started with Slic3r, but pretty much tweaked everything to my liking. I moved (on that machine) to Simplify3D, as the Slic3r/Repetier-Host combination I was using was pretty weak on the Macintosh, whereas Simplicy3D was quite good.

Now, with the Prusa Research shipped version of Slic3r, and the wonderful Slic3r configurations they have build, I'm not yet ready to move to S3D for this printer.

John

Re: Simplify3D print settings (August 30, 2016)

If you want to have Simplify3D do ZHop, all you need to do is set the "Retraction Vertical Lift" variable on the Extruder tab. I have mine set to 0.42 and I have no problems.

Re: Simplify3D print settings (August 30, 2016)

Folks, thanks for sharing your experience and profiles. Just wanted to understand the Simplify3D a little bit better before I do the move.
From what I understood is that S3D has a combined profile for filament and the printer. Is that correct? Is yes, should I mimic the filament settings from Slic3r for other filament times to S3D?

The reason I wanted to move to Simplify3D is that on some of the STLs the slicing produces errors and discontinuities. For example one of the files is here: http://www.thingiverse.com/download:2432479 . The model seems file in the viewer. It feels like to be a problem with the slicer. I'd appreciate if any Simplify3D owner could just give it a try and see if the preview shows normally in the S3D. Thanks.

Re: Simplify3D print settings (August 30, 2016)

Folks, thanks for sharing your experience and profiles. Just wanted to understand the Simplify3D a little bit better before I do the move.

Simplify3D has a series of good instructional videos. Here are a couple on this topic that might be useful:

John

Re: Simplify3D print settings (August 30, 2016)

If you are having troubles with a thingiverse STL, I strongly recommend you check it out in either MeshMixer or NetFab cloud.