Improvements
1. Major Update – Support SLS (Selective Laser Sintering)
ideaMaker now officially supports SLS technology, achieving a technological leap from FFF and DLP to SLS.
1) Exclusive Slicing Engine for SLS
Our self-developed laser scanning algorithm for powder bed fusion accurately generates high-performance laser paths, ensuring the mechanical strength and surface quality of the printed parts. Click to view the Raise3D SLS Slicing Beginner’s Guide.
2) 3D Packing Function
- Automatically arranges parts at high density in 3D space, significantly increasing single-print throughput.
- Supports rapid filling of the build space, significantly reducing operation costs and time.
- Click to view the Introduction of the 3D Packing Function.
3) Printability Detection Function
- Real-time collision detection: Monitors part spacing in real time during the packing process to avoid printing failures.
- Model interlocking self-check: Automatically identifies physical interlocking between parts to prevent them from becoming inseparable after sintering.
- Click to view How to Check Slicing Results Using ideaMaker.
4) SLS Dedicated Path Preview
The laser scanning trajectory is analyzed layer by layer, and the sintering path can be viewed.
5) Slice Report
Provides detailed material consumption, part density, and estimated time to improve production management.
Click to view the Introduction and Guide for Slice Report (SLS) in ideaMaker.
6) Slicing Template Management
Pre-configured Raise3D RMS220 printing and powder material templates for industrial-grade SLS printing:
- Raise3D PA NEXT Black V1, a high-toughness, high-density powder for bend-resistant, crack-resistant functional parts with isotropic strength in all direction
- Raise3D PA11 Black V1, a tough, impact-resistant powder for complex geometries
- Raise3D PA NEXT GB Black V1, a high-toughness, high-reusability glass bead reinforced powder for rigid, heat-resistant functional parts with superior cost efficiency
- Raise3D TPU 86A Black V1, a high elasticity powder for soft and flexible functional parts
- Raise3D TPU 86A White V1, a high elasticity powder for soft and flexible functional parts
- Raise3D PA12 Black V1, a general-purpose powder for high-strength, low warping, functional parts and small-batch end-use parts
- Raise3D PA12 GB Black V1, a powder offering high rigidity and thermal stability, suitable for precision structural and industrial applications
Click to view the Print Settings for the Raise3D SLS Printer.
7) The New Project File Format Significantly Reduces Project File Size and Speeds up Project File Import and Saving
- New project file format: ideaproj
- Comparison of old and new file icons:
- Compared to the original project file format, the new project file format:
○ Significantly reduces file size
○ Significantly improves file opening speed
○ Significantly reduces file saving time
- For a large number of identical models, the project file size is reduced to less than 5% of the original.
- When the number of copied models increases, the project file size only increases slightly.
- For dissimilar models, the project file size is reduced to less than 25% of the original.
2. FFF New and Optimized Functions
1) Added Calibration Function for PA Pattern
2) Added Seam Painting Function
- Supports painting the location of seams on the model.
- Access: Main menu (Model), toolbar, right mouse button, left-side model list panel.
- Provides three brushes: Circle, Sphere, and Line.
- Model List Panel Access: If seam information has been painted on the model, a seam icon will appear on the corresponding model. Clicking it will take you to the Seam Painting function.
- Menu bar View -> Show Painted Seams: When enabled, the painted seams will be visible in normal mode. It is disabled by default.
Note: The display of seams can easily overlap and affect the display of multi-color painting, so it is turned off by default. In this case, the painted seams can only be seen within the Seam Painting function.
3) Color Painting Function Upgrade
- Supports text color painting
- For FFF, the colors in the Color Painting panel are synchronized with other interfaces
When colors are added or removed from the panel, the following interfaces will be updated accordingly:
○ Prepare to Slice panel -> Main Template -> selectable quantity from drop-down lists for Infill Extruder, Support Extruder, etc.
○ Prepare to Slice panel -> Group Settings -> selectable quantity from drop-down lists for Infill Extruder, Support Extruder, etc.
○ Model Info panel -> Extruder
4) Added Z Hop Types: Spiral, Slope
- Added Spiral and Slope as Z Hop Type options to reduce stringing and ink leakage and improve surface quality.
- Spiral: Ascents to target height -> moves to target position -> descends vertically.
- Slope:
○ Moves diagonally to the target height at a certain angle (default 3°) (XY coordinates are in the middle) -> moves to the target position -> descends vertically.
○ If the movement distance of part of the path is too short, causing the slope path to not be generated at the specified angle, it reverts to using Normal.
5) Wipe Tower Supports Relocation
The XY position of Wipe Tower can be moved, and the slicing results will be generated according to the new position.
6) Added Setting: Retraction Amount before Wipe
- Controls the retraction amount before Wipe to effectively improve overflow and stringing at the start of wiping.
- Uses the standard retraction speed before Wipe.
- Uses wipe speed to retract during Wipe.
7) Added Hybrid Support Type
Added a new Support Type: Hybrid.
- When choosing Hybrid, both tree support and pillars that are manually added will appear in the slicing result
- When choosing Tree, only tree support will be generated and appear in the slicing result. Pillars that are manually added will not appear in the slicing result.
8) Skirt Start Point Optimization
The Skirt start point will be affected by the start point slicing option (when start point type is fixed or auto), shortening the path from Skirt to the model start point, preventing overflow during long-distance movement, and optimizing the first layer printing.
9) Added Brim-related Slicing Settings
- Brim Type: Controls the location where the model’s Brim is generated. Options include Inner Only, Outer Only, and Outer and Inner.
Note that this will not affect the generation of brim for support, wipe tower, and wipe wall.
- Support Brim Width: Controls the generation of support brim.
- Wipe Tower and Wipe Brim Width: Controls the brim for wipe tower and wipe wall.
- Remove tile setting: Add Brim on Internal Regions.
- Location of the new settings:
10) Support Brim Generation Algorithm Improvement
- The first layer of the support will be regenerated by adding a support brim based on the original support structure.
- The outermost support loops in the image below are equivalent to the support brim.
- The support settings will be used uniformly to print the support brim.
- The upper support layer can be printed on top of the first support layer brim to increase the stability of the support, especially the tree support.
11) Added Slice Setting: Travel Short Distance Acceleration
- When the nozzle moves along the outer wall’s travel distance, and this travel distance is less than the corresponding nozzle’s Minimal Travel of Retraction parameter, a lower acceleration is used for this travel.
- Effectively reduces ringing.
12) Added a Function to Force Wait When the Single-layer Printing Time Has Not Reached the Minimum Time
- When the single-layer time is less than the specified minimum time, the nozzle will move to the park position after printing this layer and wait for a period until the minimum time is reached before printing the next layer.
- Ensures that the current layer has enough time to cool down.
- Wait 5347 milliseconds before continuing to print the next layer.
- The function will only be triggered on layers with relatively short printing times.
13) FFF Layer Settings Support PA
- Layer settings support modification of Pressure Advance related settings.
- PA settings in layer settings do not distinguish between left and right nozzles. Once enabled, within the height range specified in the layer settings, the PA values related to the left and right nozzles will be output according to the values set in the layer settings.
- Example:
○ Main template PA Type = Fixed, PA = 0.05
○ Layer settings PA Type = Fixed, PA = 0.12
○ Inner shell outputs the corresponding overall PA value of 0.12
14) Bridge Structure Detection and Optimization
Optimize the detection of bridge structure orientation and the handling of some gaps.
15) When Slicing Models with No Wall Thickness, No Solid Fill or Gap Fill Will Be Generated
16) Override Settings of the Unused Nozzle’s Material Should Not Be Applied to the Template
17) Areal Travel Path Optimization Caused by Multiple Modifiers
- For independent areas caused by multiple modifiers, the travel path should be as close to the interior as possible to reduce stringiness.
- For areas that are only filled, the travel path should be as close to the interior as possible to reduce stringiness.
18) FFF Slicing Template Update
- Updated slicing templates for Raise3D E3, removing High Quality templates and adding Standard templates for the following materials:
○ Raise3D Premium PLA
○ Raise3D Premium ABS
○ Raise3D Premium PETG
○ Raise3D Premium ASA
○ Raise3D Premium PC
- For E3 and E3-0.6 mm nozzle printer models, the start gcode and end gcode of all templates have been updated and standardized.
3. DLP New and Optimized Functions
1) Support Lift Z Above Raft: Minimum Value Limit Relaxed to 0
4. New and Optimized General Functions
1) Model Grouping Functions
- Supports grouping and ungrouping operations on selected models.
- Access: Model list panel -> right-click; main interface -> right-click; main menu -> Model.
- The old version’s split and merge functions have been renamed to avoid confusion with the group and ungroup functions.
○ Auto Ungroup has been renamed to: Split – Split to individual meshes
○ Merge Selected Models has been renamed to: Merge into one single mesh
- Added new function: Split and Group
○ Split to individual meshes: Splits the model into multiple different meshes.
○ Split and Group: After a model is split into multiple models, they are merged into a single group.
- Supports the transfer of group information when saving and opening projects.
- For ungrouped models, select multiple models to perform Group operations.
- Select an ungrouped model, then select a group, and Group/Ungroup Models will be available.
- Select an ungrouped model, then select a model that is already in a group, and Ungroup Models will be available.
- Select models within a group, and Ungroup will be available.
- Select a group, and Ungroup will be available.
- When selecting a group, you can uniformly modify the properties of the models within that group:
○ Model visibility
○ 3D Packing
- The packing of the model has higher priority than the packing of the group.
2) Support Assembly-related Functions
- When slicing with FFF, the contours of models within a group are automatically merged.
- The main menu now includes the Import Models from Folder function, which automatically imports models contained within a folder and creates a group as an assembly.
3) Bounding Box Selection: Supports Selecting Multiple Models
- Bounding box selection is available in the following modes: View, Pan, Move, Rotate, Scale, 3D Packing.
- Shortcut: Hold down Shift while pressing the left mouse button, move the mouse to select the models within the bounding box, then release the mouse button, and the models within the bounding box will be selected.
- During the bounding box selection process (while the mouse button is still pressed), the models within the bounding box will be displayed in a relatively lighter color for distinction (if the model’s original color was close to white, the color will be relatively darker).
- This is a general function and does not differentiate between different technologies.
4) Instance Management for Identical Models Significantly Reduces the Size of .idea Files and Avoids Rendering Stuttering When Dealing with a Large Number of Identical Models
- When copying a large number of identical models:
○ ideaMaker memory usage is significantly reduced to less than 10% of the original.
○ Frame rate is increased by more than 3 times (frame rate may decrease on Intel integrated graphics cards).
○ VRAM usage is significantly reduced to less than 10% of the original.
- Model copying efficiency is increased by 5 times, and the operation time required for copying models is reduced to less than 20% of the original.
- The time for opening and closing project files is reduced to less than 10% of the original.
5) Model List Management Optimization
- Model list control adjustment: The model’s functional attributes are directly displayed in the list.
○ Visibility: Click to toggle visibility.
○ Extruder (FFF only): Select which extruder to use for printing the corresponding model; it will dynamically adjust based on the printer model when switching printer models.
○ Text: Click the icon to directly access the Text function.
Under FFF, if text is added to the model, child nodes of the text will appear.
○ Support Painting (FFF only): Click the icon to go directly to the Support Painting function.
○ Color Painting (FFF only): Click the icon to go directly to the Color Painting function.
○ 3D Packing settings (SLS only): Modify the model’s 3D Packing settings.
○ FFF:
○ DLP:
○ SLS:
○ Removed the original Only Slice Active Models option.
○ Removed the display of the number of vertices and faces for the model.
- Model List Optimization
○ The model list menu now includes the option to Show All and Hide Others.
○ Hidden models will have their file name displayed in gray when not selected.
○ Add icons to menu items in the model list menu.
6) Model Arrangement Optimization
- Added spacing control and rotation permission for model arrangement.
- Model spacing is synchronized with parameters in preference settings.
- Other controls are adjusted according to the new layout.
- When Rotation is locked:
- When Rotation is not locked (default):
7) Other
- Simplify the name display of Raise3D materials.
- Disabled right-click action activation in the right-click menu and the menu in the model list panel.
- When multiple models have dimensional issues, an Apply to all items option has been added to the dialog box to process all models at once.
- Added an Edit access to the Prepare to Slice panel, under the Materials – More menu.
- Changed the default shortcut for multiple selection in Preferences to Ctrl to match multiple selection in the model list (for users who newly install ideaMaker only; for users who have already installed ideaMaker, they need to modify this manually).
- Added a Repair function access to the right-click menu.
- Removed the unused preference setting: Confirm save project with scaling models in the world coordinates.
- Modified multiple material compatibility warning texts.
- Added an option to the Preferences dialog box to control whether the software automatically merges multiple solid parts into one part or splits them into multiple parts when importing a .step file.
- For the menu items under the Main Menu – View, some items may be hidden depending on the technology process.
- After a model has been painted, the selected color (default red) will not be displayed after the model is selected.
- When importing a model, both the model file and the project file will be visible. Filtering and selecting project files are allowed.
5. Performance Optimization
1) Significantly Reduce the Time for Importing STL Files
The new version has the algorithm improved, significantly increasing loading speed by an average of 3 – 4 times.
2) Significantly Improve Interface Performance and Reduce Interface Lag Time
Under DLP and SLS, the following scenarios can reduce interface lag time when processing a large number of models:
- Switch to a printer using the same technology process.
- Add, copy, delete, or cut models.
3) Significantly Optimize Model Thumbnail Generation Speed
The speed of generating model thumbnails during slicing and saving project files has been greatly improved (reduced to 10% of the original speed).
6. Bug Fixes
- Fixed the issue where a solid core was generated inside a hollow model after hollowing.
- Fixed the issue in FFF where a brim was not generated when the brim type was set to inner only.
- Fixed the temperature display issue in gcode preview.
- Fixed the text display issue on the panel for different screen DPIs.
- Fixed the issue where seam positions were not related to the model’s bounding box.
- Fixed the software crash issue caused by importing problematic .step files.
- Fixed the issue of Belt Printer sliced parts disappearing and the software crashing when enabling Belt Raft for slicing.
- Fixed the issue where models could not be displayed after importing them into ideaMaker on some computers with AMD graphics cards.
- Fixed the software crash issue on macOS.
- Fixed the issue where dense support would be generated even in unsupported overhanging areas after support painting.