Orcaslicer's response to Bambu's policy Change

[Ed Street]

I wanted to post this here.  It is a copy/paste and also an attachment to the original posting.

FYI, to those who do not know, SoftFever is the lead developer of Orca Slicer.

- Begin paste -

After carefully evaluating Bambulab's recent policy change, we have concluded that their proposed integration method would not provide meaningful value for OrcaSlicer users. Therefore, we have decided NOT to support Bambu Connect for the foreseeable future. We believe simply launching a separate standalone application falls short of true integration. Without direct access to printer functions, we cannot create the seamless workflow our Bambu printer users expect and deserve. This limitation severely restricts our ability to implement meaningful features and improvements for their printers in the future. We encourage Bambulab to reconsider their current policy. Users should have full control and choice over the hardware they've purchased with their hard-earned money. We remain open to work with Bambulab if they choose to provide proper API access and support for third-party integration. Meanwhile, for current Bambu printer users, we advise NOT upgrading their firmware and to keep their printers in LAN-only mode for security reasons. In the meantime, we will continue focusing our own development efforts on features and improvements that deliver real value to the community.

- end paste -

[Kurt The 3D Printer GUY!!]

Very Interesting Indeed!!!

-K

[newmo...@gmail.com]

A sad development, but I am even happier now that I went with all-in with a Prusa XL privately and a MK4 at work. The whole "closed garden" and cloud service requirement was what ultimately made my team leader say "nope" back when we choosing between a Prusa and Bambu. I've seen A LOT of angry youtubers going after Bambu in the last couple of days, though something tells me this is just a minor inconvenience for Bambu. As one youtuber said, probably about 80-90% of Bambu users wont care that much about this issue. 

[Matt Saeger]

Why would I not just keep using bambu studio. 

[newmo...@gmail.com]

You and probably 90% of other Bambu users will just keep on using Bambu Studio. I think the outrage from the remaining minotiry of Bambu users is the impact that the changes will have on 3rd party software and hardware. But then again, it was always clear that Bambu was not open source 

[Ed Street]

If you sat down and compared the Bambu slicer with the Orca slicer, you would very quickly find that the Orca slicer has more features, higher usability, easier bug fixes, easy contact with the dev team, and faster updates, including new features, bug fixes, and the like. 

I posted the original not to persuade anyone to use slicer A over B but to show what is going on and how badly these changes will affect the community.  Also, there has been a significant uptick in users going to X1 Plus firmware.

If someone wants to stick with the Bambu slicer, that is their choice, not mine.  Keep this in mind, it is a CHOICE. I knew from the start that using a Bambu product would likely be not a long-term solution but an intermediate decision. :) Besides, it has helped me immensely with work and with skills that make me diverse. I think that most uneducated users would not care about this change at all or even fully understand the changes and what they mean.

Also, Spaghetti Monster, Bambulabs CEO,  has stated in his blog that Bambu is more modeled after Apple. I think we all know how closed Apple is. It is also very dangerous and extremely horrible to get changes made with Apple.  

[Mark Napier]

FWIW, we just bought a Bambu X1C combo at work.  It is a fantastic and *fast* machine for the money.  I know I'm not saying anything new but it is marvelous to me to see the thing work.  I'm using generic filament with Orca slicer.  The box takes a little while to calibrate flows, print the 1st layer and then check it over with LIDAR.  Finally it starts printing in earnest and boy does it go.  The same mold box that took 3 hours on a Prusa M3 this thing does in 30 minutes and it looks great.

We have decided not to connect to anything.  Just copy onto SD cards.  I know that tosses a lot of functionality but it eliminates the security problems.  Not having to deal with IT, priceless.

Mark Napier

[Ed Street]

One of my clients is a foundry; they recently bought an A1 mini to print batch tags for the carts for sand-casting cast iron.  They also make molds from ABS prints.  Currently, the X1c is the only machine that has been jailbroken

[David]

If I were a betting man, I'd bet that keeping with SD cards will in future iterations be phased out altogether in lieu of keeping everything cloud based once system updates are applied. Essentially, they locked the market and now are narrowing down their user base. 

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[Kurt The 3D Printer GUY!!]

Hey Mark,

Great to see your posting! And, yup - I did same at VisionMiner on their X1C - just used the micro-SD card to load my print jobs onto the printer. They ALSO did NOT want it connecting to the cloud!

And, yeah - I've watched it print - and it can be Hella Fast! - ESPECIALLY on the Infills!

-K

[Kurt The 3D Printer GUY!!]

David - I disagree. 

Generally, for all printers - you MUST Allow an alternate method to access the printer. And, for almost all printers - an SD or Micro-SD card is that alternative. Although, on my Ender - you can even connect to it via USB-C, and run in a tethered mode. I just doubt that they would remove SD can all together.

Especially since, if someone was getting Tech support on a Bambu printer - one way to support the printer is to flash the firmware via the SD card - and I'm sure they would not want to get rid of the SD card access completely - for that reason...

-K

[James Fackert]

Bambu filament in pet and tape are really good too, and there's a really big discount and free shipping if you buy 4 at a time.

The type is really really good.

[Ed Street]

Bambu does not make their own filament; they subcontract that to Polymaker and Esun. ...

As for Kurts' comment, " You need to allow an alternate method to access the printer. "  Does Stratsys do this as well? Just drop in any sdcard and print from any slicer?  

[Kurt The 3D Printer GUY!!]

Ed - yeah - SSys probably does not do that. But, then again - that's a totally different ballgame - as SSys machines are WAY More expensive and right up front Demand you play completely in their Sandbox - with WAY Overpriced filament, and even build plates that they used to insist you use only Once! Which is pretty Cra-cra. 

Whilst, Bambu is really aimed at hobby level people, although now also at smaller companies. And, their filament usage is open. The printers NOT Expensive enough to even force you to buy a support contract. Which I HAD to do when I owned my Mojo. But, along with that - when I had a problem - they would actually send a Tech guy to my house to repair my printer. That would NEVER EVER Happen with Bambu - not at that price point. 

As such, I don't think it's a true apples-to-apples comparison...

Just sayin'...

-K

[Ed Street]

No, it's not entirely apples to apples on that level.  However, it IS the same on the level I was referring to.  Both make 3d printers for the community, are closed-source machines, and both restrict and hinder your creativity.  On this level, it would seem plausible that Bambu could become like that with future generations of printers.  

[Kurt The 3D Printer GUY!!]

OK - maybe so. Yes - both are close sourced machines. 

Still - from a Tech support standpoint - - to wall off the machine completely - if a user has a serious problem and needs to Flash the machine - they would then be FUBAR on the Bambu without an accessible port or card reader device. So, yeah - this is from the standpoint of Bambu being able to support their machines. Where as - since SSys machines are so pricey and pretty much require a maintenance support agreement - and that agreement/payment affords a Tech going to the location of the printer - that's why SSys can really lock people out. 

Tech support for hobby level printers is really a different ballgame - and Bambu MUST Consider that part of their business. 

Anyway...

I still say - I kinda doubt they would go so far as to not have a card reader in future machines. Just sayin'...

-K