I have found the red shading of problem areas on models in the Preform software extremely valuable for detecting areas with issues, that I had overlooked during the modeling process. I think it would really help a lot if there was a way to get a little more information on why a section of a model may have returned red coloring.
Usually I figure it is angle related, regarding supports that would be needed, but lately I have come across some situations where I am having trouble determining exactly what the problem is with that particular area of the model, as it appears to be fine.
I’ve noticed that as well. It seems that some areas tinted red are actually problematic, but others print just fine. Maybe there should be a third color (purple?) as well, to delineate down-pointing areas that definitely need support. If those areas could be given priority when generating supports, builds would be more likely to succeed.
It seems that the support generation works okay if there’s a direct vertical path to the base, otherwise problem areas are ignored, red or not. If there was an option for a bent support rod that would go around any interference, then there would be a lot more assurance that a build would actually print. Failing that, if the software could simply affix a support end to problem (purple) areas and allow a re-export of the mesh as STL (instead of only saving in .form format), then we could add bent supports manually in another program and bring the completed file back into Preform for printing.
