Favorite Slicer?

[zav3nd]

Polls are weird. Whats your go to Slicer and Why?

Edited March 2 by zav3nd
yep super weird. Sorry.

[Titus A Duxass]

I moved from S3D to Orca and have never looked back.

I like the direct connection to the printer.

[MrSprinklz]

I've used all of the above, but stuck with SS. Started with S3D because work had it. Never loved it, tried Cura and loved tree supports. Had some strange issues with Cura that I no longer remember, moved to PS for a short time, saw SS and loved it even more and gave perfect results with Ellis profile from day 1. I go back to PS rarely if I really want organic supports (though they are getting merged into SS soon). Orca was fine and I like the direct connection, but just haven't wanted to spend the time learning the intricacies yet when SS works so well for me.

[GarthSnyder]

I really liked SuperSlicer, but it's a one man show and that man is really busy. SS constantly lags PrusaSlicer by multiple releases. In the near past it was abandoned for nearly a year, although development seems to have resumed recently. I have reluctantly returned to vanilla PrusaSlicer. It's just impossible to have a reasonable expectation that SuperSlicer will track the upstream releases and that bugs will be fixed. Unfortunately it's difficult to use both PS and SS because their profiles and macros have diverged over time.

[SuperBoppy]

I’ve used Cura since I got into 3D printing over seven years ago. I like the plugins, and am very used to the accordion-style menu that seems to drive a lot of people nuts, It seems to do a good job slicing. I am not against learning another app like Orca or Super Slicer, but I question whether it is worth the effort to switch. It would be nice to hear from someone who has switched from Cura to another app like Orca or Super Slicer and why.

Edited March 3 by SuperBoppy

[zav3nd]

I'm in the same boat with Cura. Messed about in SuperSlicer a few weeks back, but wasn't in love with the UI. Its hard to leave Cura just because I've used it since the start. I think when my build is done I'm going to mess with SuperSlicer or Orca and see if I can get more into one of them. Or maybe here in a few days when all my parts are printed.

[geekandi]

I cannot stand the UI for OrcaSlicer (and Bambu Studio). Guess over time I just got used to PrusaSlicer with working dependancies between print profiles/settings -> machine, and filament -> machine.

I used PS for my Prusa machines and SS for my Voron machines for quite a while but when SS went to sleep for over a year I moved back to just abusing PS for everything. I sometimes miss some of the controls for items that are not in the configuration for PS but I am still getting fanstastic output overall.

[claudermilk]

I'm torn right now. I like SuperSlicer and all the options; I've got my Trident all dialed in on it. But, as mentioned earlier in the thread, it lags on features from Prusa and Orca. I'm using Orca for my V0 and getting used to it. I want to switch completely over, but that means making the time to move the Trident settings over, then tweak them to be happy on Orca--which I haven't done yet.

[geekandi]

39 minutes ago, claudermilk said:

I'm torn right now. I like SuperSlicer and all the options; I've got my Trident all dialed in on it. But, as mentioned earlier in the thread, it lags on features from Prusa and Orca. I'm using Orca for my V0 and getting used to it. I want to switch completely over, but that means making the time to move the Trident settings over, then tweak them to be happy on Orca--which I haven't done yet.

I had found a repository that had a python script that can allegedly get your current SS configs into OS and I played with it a bit but as mentioned, the lack of dependancies between settings -> machine and filament -> machine does not happen so it is easy to get all messed up if you have more than a couple of printers.

[CM5280]

I started with SuperSlicer because, well, the step after building the Voron 2.4 is to check out Ellis' Print Tuning Guide and SS profiles exist!  I used SS for a few months and while it's very functional (and at the time overwhelming given the number of "knobs and buttons"), the lack of development turned me off. A couple months into and I then switched the Prusa Slicer as the big thing was organic supports and I just *needed* those supports as a newbie.

I briefly tried Cura and the UI didn't jive with me so, short-lived.  Simplify3d was on my radar as a paid product but given the cost and perceived minimal development, I said no thanks.

Then I heard about Orca Slicer (fall 2023?) and was totally pumped.  I downloaded it and started cloning profiles I had in Prusa.  What I quickly found out was that, while a great tool, it's missing some basic stuff, like being able to re-order parts to change the print order.  I still use it regularly for the calibration goodies, which is sweet to have a set of these tools in one slicer, but it's not quite there yet for me. 

So, Prusa Slicer has been my daily driver going on 6 months now out of my 12 month 3d printing journey.  Now that I've figured out all the bells and whistles, it does what I need it to do. I do occasionally run into a problem with Prusa (happened yesterday) with support blockers not always blocking supports.  Minor annoyance and not sure how to fix in Prusa.  Workaround - fire up Orca and slice it with the same support blockers - works perfect.

I'm keeping a close eye on Orca as I'm sure it'll continue to improve.  I like the UI, I like the calibration toolset included and maybe it's just perception, but the Orca prints (specifically the top-layer) look better.  Perhaps I'm missing a setting in Prusa but the profiles between the two are mirrored as close as they can be...

[DocFoFo]

Orca at the moment but SuperSlicer is back in development so I'm watching that pretty close atm. I'm hoping that SS moves to be more like orca as far as the GUI is concerned and maybe even gain the Device screen. IF so then i'll go try and move back to SS. 

 

[therm_virtual0y]

Being new to printing, I started with Cura on my Ender3 and learned it pretty well.  When I built my Voron I wanted to use and learn other slicers, so tried SS and used Ellis  profiles,  I never really got the hang of it enough to love it so tried Orcaslicer and only use it now.  The Ender had some tweaking with speeds, but everything prints really nice and fast.  

[Lusanagi]

I really want to like Orca, but it misses things like inner X-Y compensation and the time estimation is WAY off (and the author said it won't be addressed); yeah, I know they are really small things but with compensations of -0.10 on outer walls and -0.15 on inner walls for really accurate stuff kills it for me

So my go to is still SS, unless I want to have prints with tree supports (here's hoping the developer can get the merge soon )

[geekandi]

15 hours ago, Lusanagi said:

I really want to like Orca, but it misses things like inner X-Y compensation and the time estimation is WAY off (and the author said it won't be addressed); yeah, I know they are really small things but with compensations of -0.10 on outer walls and -0.15 on inner walls for really accurate stuff kills it for me

Oh I didn't even realize that wasn't there. Eeek

So, interface that is 'difficult' (opinion), lack of dependencies, removal of 'find' option from PrusaSlicer for settings, and now X/Y compensation. I'll stick to my choice of not using it though I'll keep checking it out anyway cause so..many..people..rave..about..it even if I don't understand. Kind of like squash soup - I keep trying and I still walk away with a nasty taste in my mouth.

[Titus A Duxass]

On 3/15/2024 at 12:17 AM, Lusanagi said:

I really want to like Orca, but it misses things like inner X-Y compensation and the time estimation is WAY off (and the author said it won't be addressed); yeah, I know they are really small things but with compensations of -0.10 on outer walls and -0.15 on inner walls for really accurate stuff kills it for me

So my go to is still SS, unless I want to have prints with tree supports (here's hoping the developer can get the merge soon )

There is a X-Y hole compensation setting, but I don't know if it is hole specifc as the name implies or if it's a general compensation factor.

[Lusanagi]

On 3/16/2024 at 3:07 AM, Titus A Duxass said:

There is a X-Y hole compensation setting, but I don't know if it is hole specifc as the name implies or if it's a general compensation factor.

Yeah, but it only applies to that: holes; if you have a geometry different from a circle then it won't compensate

THAT is one of the things that makes Super Slicer... super (badum tss)

[therm_virtual0y]

I am trying to delete some trial profiles and filaments using the config file from the help menu but they always come back once I start orca again.  Where else would they be loading from in this temp folder?  

C:\Users\<myuser>\AppData\Roaming\OrcaSlicer\user\3282369461\machine

[mvdveer]

13 hours ago, therm_virtual0y said:

I am trying to delete some trial profiles and filaments using the config file from the help menu but they always come back once I start orca again.  Where else would they be loading from in this temp folder?  

All you profiles will be stored on the Bambui labs cloud. What I have found, is that I have to log out after deleting/ adding a profile, then re-login. The other problem is that if you use orca on different devices - laptop and desktop - this process may need to be repeated on the secondary device. I.e delete the profiles on that device, log out and re-sync.

[therm_virtual0y]

8 hours ago, mvdveer said:

All you profiles will be stored on the Bambi labs cloud. What I have found, is that I have to log out after deleting added a profile, then resend. The other problem is that if you use orca on different devices - laptop and desktop - this process may need to be repeated on the secondary device. I.e delete the profiles on that device, log out and re-sync.

OrcaSlicer uses Bambu Labs Cloud?  I guess I wasn't aware of that.  I'll look into it thanks.

[mvdveer]

3 hours ago, therm_virtual0y said:

OrcaSlicer uses Bambu Labs Cloud?  I guess I wasn't aware of that.  I'll look into it thanks.

From the release notes of the latest release:

Quote

 

Tweak the home page in OrcaSlicer by @SoftFever in #4602

Add a new preference option to explicitly and easily enable/disable the Bambu network plugin.

Show/hide the user login panel in the Home tab automatically according to the new option. This should give users who don't use Bambu machines or accounts a clean startup interfac

 

 

[claudermilk]

Hmm. I have just been running the Perl superslicer_to_orca.pl script to transfer my profiles over and it's putting them in C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\OrcaSlicer\user\default then under filament, machine, and process. I'm not logging in to Bambu cloud and specifically have not set up an account. I'm guessing that number string relates the logged in account to your local install?

[zav3nd]

Having used Orca for a while now, I see why the majority are using it. I was used to Cura UI and where things were, it took a while to get used to Orca.

 

Orca seems to offer more options/control. I didn't really pay attention to calibration prints until recently. But having a temperature tower made to my specs on demand is sweet. If they add Ellis' Pressure Advance to calibration would be amazing. I haven't even touched scarf joint seams, yet.

 

The only things I think Cura did/does better is Tree Supports and Auto Arranging Objects. Orca trees are really hard to remove (probably something I could fix, but I rarely use supports). Orca will also take 4 identical rectangles and put 3 in a row and 1 in a row on its own.

 

So you can -1 from Cura and +1 to Orca for me.