Slicer Times in New Makerbot Desktop

[Ryan McCaskill]

I just recently got my new Z18. So far, the printer has been working fine. My hangup is with the updated Makerbot Desktop Software.

I'm trying to print a model I designed that measures roughly 2in x 8in x 16in. After I arranged the STL file in the build area, I hit print. The slicer engine then took almost 2 HOURS to "Prepare" the file. Only then could I see a preview of the print before confirming. This is crazy. This is a step that used to take only a couple minutes with large prints on a Replicator 2 with the previous MakerWare App.

This is an issue because if I see something that is off in the preview, I have to wait another 2 HOURS to generate another one.

It take the same prep time for exporting the file and I've had the same results on both my Mac and PC.

Is anyone else seeing ridiculously long "Print Preperation" times to be able to see a preview and then print?

Thanks,

[Ryan Carlyle]

I find Desktop to be a lot slower than Makerware too. Mostly at the "validating" stage for me.

[Ryan McCaskill]

I've figured out a workaround if you want to validate the layout of a model quickly and get an idea of where the rafts and supports will be placed. While it is obviously not full proof, you can scale your model down to about 10-20% of the original and hit print or export. This way it only takes a few minutes to validate your arrangement before you scale back up and let the software slice the big model, which will still take a few hours it seams, but at least you know you will only have to do it once. It's also a good idea to just export the print file, that way, if you ever want to print again, you don't need to sit through the slicing process all over again.

Really hope MBI addresses this in future releases. While I personally have no need for it, I totally understand the direction the company is going in with the social integration. But please make sure the user experience is a smooth and positive one first. I'm a designer and bought the Z18 for rapid prototyping. There is nothing rapid about sitting around for 2-4 hours waiting for some software to validate a model. Especially when you're looking at a print that is going to take 30+ hours.