support blocker not working
So far, I have had zero luck getting the support blocker to work.
1. It is very difficult to locate the blocker correctly. It jumps all over the place when moved a little.
2. I cannot get it to sit on the print bed. It extends below or above and can't be located correctly. See pic 1.
3. It does not block the support structure. See pic 2.
Cant order pics correctly, Pic1 is bottom, Pic 2 is top.
RE: support blocker not working
The support blockers work rather well. But they must be surrounding the region of the part you want blocked. They do not sit on the bed, they do not even need to touch the bed.
As for jumping around, modifiers move just like a part: in three dimensions. You are probably unaware that a drag operation might move the part Z Y or Z. Use the MOVE controls rather than dragging until you get the hang of 3 dimensional space.
RE: support blocker not working
As you might be able to see, my object is rather complicated. I want to have support only on the bottom flat surfaces. I have built in supports for all the elevated surfaces. The first horizontal surface (at right) sits on the print bed. The second two on the left sit at varying heights.
The first thing I do is to try to find a setting under Print Settings/Overhang Threshold that minimizes supports going to the top layers.
According to the pop up window explanation, setting a low angle prevents a support above that angle. All my upper structures are either vertical walls (90º), supporting ribs (45º), or the flat top (0º). However, there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the angle setting, so I just hunt and peck for a best setting. In the Pic below, the setting is 1º and the only supports I don’t need are at the right end. Any other setting floods the supports all over the upper part, and there is no logical reason the 1º setting doesn't do the same.
So, one would expect a blocker to eliminate those supports. I havent been able to find any detailed instructions for creating support blockers or enforcers, other than brief descriptions of what they do, not how to do it: no details about placement, or surrounding the object (thank you Tim, that works).
However, the sizing and placement of blockers is still poorly implemented. Jumping out of the field of view for a small drag motion is not good.
I do this action all day long in my CAD program and items move as expected. They don't jump off the screen to the side.
Maybe some one can point to a detailed explanation of Support and Blocking Enforcers and how to use them. 👍
RE: support blocker not working
Post your STL (place it in a ZIP file (not gz) and drag it into a text window here and insert it.
0 == automatic, where the software decides what angles need support (my guess is it is biased to 60-65 degrees of overhang).
Any other angle in slicer is simply wrong.
One would think 45 is of course 45; except it is actually 22.5; 90 is 45, and 180 is 90.
RE: support blocker not working
And back to moves - slicer isn't exactly commercial well defined code. When you grab an object to move it, who knows what factors is uses to decide which direction you are trying to move the part. I think it guesses. I only use the MOVE tool now because of the unpredictable nature of drag and drop in the 3D window.
Github logs any defects that have been reported. https://github.com/prusa3d Feel free to log a defect against Prusa Slicer. I've done so many I am tired of taking the time and being ignored.
RE: support blocker not working
As for a manual? That's almost laughable these days. There are none, and I am convinced Prusa thinks the tool tips are enough. They keep promising something after they get the code working; but I wonder if they'll ever get it working... lol.
The few tricks with blockers and enforcers. Enforcers only work when the support option is set Enforcer. Blockers only work when they intersect the surface you do not want supported.
The common mistake is thinking blockers and enforcers work if they sit on the bed. They don't. The modifier MUST envelop the surface to be blocked or enforced. See my dino image - the modifiers envelop the surfaces I want them to act on. Most are floating, like the blocker that prevents support inside the mouth (hard to remove area), and the enforcers for the fins.