+1 for STL export of textured parts
I am an engineer; I develop prototypes. What good is printing a prototype on a Form machine if I cannot also send that same model file to be printed in another material/process by an external vendor?
3 Likes
More about colors.. sometimes the color showing what’s wrong (support, minima, etc.) is too faint and hard to find. Making the under-supported areas in a brighter corresponding color would help. For the examples below, I never could find what areas were not supported. Thanks!
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Hi !
Again : the possibility to save supports settings for a type of printing .
regards .
3 Likes
I don’t know if this was mentioned before but the ability to add multiple drain holes in a row before applying the edits instead of going back and forth. Also the settings you selected for a drain hole is forgotten again. So you have to set the diameter again if you want to place another one.
I’m guessing we are mostly talking about the desktop version. But regarding the Local API PreForm server when calling the print validation endpoint it would be nice to be able to specify which print validation. In a certain stage of my current workflow I only want to detect cups for a few hundred models but it needlessly calculates other possible issues increasing computation time.
Also the support settings in the GUI don’t match the those form the Local API.
2 Likes
Would be really great to see a thread feature similar to solid works. Where you select a leading edge of a hole or cylinder and adjust based off some thread presets!
6 Likes
Pleased to see all the innovation lately on the software side of things.
It would be great if we could somehow hint to the software which faces are aesthetically critical (i.e. no-support zones), and have the Auto-Orientation tool take that into account. After 15 years I still occasionally find myself playing the “Auto-Orient” lottery until one comes up that’s close enough to what I want. More often I just ignore that button altogether and orient manually, but I’m sure I’m leaving some optimization on the table that the software could improve on for me.
Alternatively an option for the software to suggest minor orientation tweaks that are somewhat proximate to the current one would be equally (or maybe even more) effective.
8 Likes
Adding local access to the Form 4L’s camera feed seems like a no-brainer. Why should it have to communicate over port 443 rather than the existing connection over port 35. Being able to monitor local network printers visually as well as retain the snapshots and timelapses would be very valuable in an industry setting with sensitive models.
5 Likes
- The ability to measure the diameter of round holes.
- Once a model is sliced, having it remain sliced to send to multiple machines to save time on uploading programs to machines.
- Have the option to automatically print the machine serial name on the finished print plaque.
- An option to send 1 program out to multiple machines.
3 Likes
Hello all. First of all, thank you very much to your team for all the excellent recent improvements.
Sorry if it was already mentioned.
1. Improvement of Auto-Orientation If users could highlight critical surfaces to prevent supports from being placed on them, PreForm would be able to position the parts more effectively.
2. Support Structure Optimization If PreForm could take into account the weight and dimensions of the parts, it would be able to suggest more efficient support structures. Smaller or bigger points of contact. More or less supports.
Could you tell us if it would be possible?
Thanks!
3 Likes
For the Fuse… a “thermal break/band” indicator.
Right now, the majority of the Fuse users we know have created a “standoff” model that we load into the bottom of the chamber in PreForm so that we can stack our parts above that point in the chamber. If they are smaller parts, we can also sometimes put a row of them below and above that thermal break/band line in the chamber.
It is very likely, you will always get a “bulge” or shift along the thermal band inside each chamber a few inches from the top/start. So much so, that it is not worth the risk of putting a parts at that point in the chamber.
It would be just convenient, for PreForm to show that line in the chamber versus us loading in our standoff part every time.
4 Likes
Would it be possible add to the materials tab when the tank/resin got into use? Might be handy when storing older tanks/bottles for a longer period and you suddenly get print issues with it, then you can backtrack.
1 Like
Hi @Mr_Solissa, Form 3 tanks will read the fill date when inserted into a printer, but Form 4 tanks no longer have time-based tank lifetimes, so as long as your tank film remains undamaged, you can continue printing with them. Resin cartridges will read the production date on a sticker from the bottom as well as a lot number if you ever need to diagnose with our support team.
I’d love for either the support algorithm to not make “captive” parts, that is, not to build support all the way around a strut or thru-hole, or a way to create “no support may cross this boundary” zones. Often, if I have parts with support struts, or a lot of large thru holes, support is tough to remove. Another handy feature would be to have a checkbox for internal supports not to connect to external support structure, as this is often another source of difficult removal. A support structure will pass through a hole and link up with internal supports, making a mass that you either have to pull through the hole, or cut off in chunks, usually the latter.
4 Likes
not to refer too much to outside software, but it would be GREAT to be able to just highlight a group of things on the deck, and print ONLY those things… this is VERY helpful in other production software…. so i might have 10 pieces of a product IN the file.. but i highlight 2, print them, even leave some one the deck, and some off the platform to the side….
this would speed up setup and prep..
3 Likes
You can do this by toggling the visibility. Window select or shift select the parts you want to “turn off” and then toggle the visibility of one of them. This will toggle off all the selected parts. I discovered this by accident, as they don’t really do much explanation of the visibility toggle anywhere I’ve seen.
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Splitting with different type of connectors 
so you can finally print larger parts directly in PreForm.
5 Likes
Working in a single PreForm file with differents projects, sometimes I have a lot of parts in the same project, then a I need to create 4 or even 5 different PreForm files to allocate all of them efficiently. It would be amazing to unify all of this files since I have to switch these parts between these PreForm projects to find the fastest program.
3 Likes
I want to see what I already mentioned on forum I mean.
- Automatic serialization/adding serial number to parts (on same plate and another new plates)
- Feature Request: Straight Line / Curved Line to create supports
- Linux version of PreForm Server for x86_64 and RPi ARM - #5 by jakabasej4
- +1 for STL export
Most important - add some features (as example - supports) available for form 4 also to form 3
you still have quite big user base for those printers who will use them to the end of support.
One more thing - profiles for support customizations (similar to resin profiles)
BR, Sebastian
2 Likes
I don’t know if it has been proposed before, but…
It would be great to integrate the printer status on PreForm, like the status of the machine before printing (e.g., the printer is heating and what temperature, etc…). Sometimes I have to wait for some time before the printer starts printing, and I need to move between office and laboratories to check the status 
Thought of something I’d really like to see… for PreForm with the SLS and Fuse.
I spend an extreme amount of time and trial an error trying to position my parts so that the layer lines are minimized and where they cannot be I try to situate the part to play off those layer lines/steps in the part to add to its character in a more uniform way.
While you provide the slice slider to see each layer it is hard to visualize…
I’d like to have the ability to turn on a view mode that shows or even exaggerates this layer lines in the part, in PreForm…this would greatly help in the orientation of parts.
I’d like to be able to see where these layer/lines and steps in each part is visually while building out my Chamber in PreForm.
1 Like