Soooo. Finally tried Kisslicer

[McSlappy]

I like it a lot!

Here are my first two prints - an e3d / prometheus mount I made. This one is setup for the e3d...

[img]http://i.imgur.com/nuI5LYL.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/mxdBrpk.jpg[/img]

I am still tweaking (you can see there are some gaps in the walls and the surface isn't nice and flat yet, but I really like how it infills. I spent ages with Slic3r tweaking and testing, but in the end I would still watch it move and be thinking "Why the **** did it choose to travel over there and then back here!" - it's pathing is dumb.
Probably the single best feature is that it properly infills small areas. This has pissed me off for over a year with slic3r... Get a narrow section and slic3r decides that it doesn't need infill or it infills without touching the walls (it seemed to have trouble getting infill to meet walls anyway). KISS managed to not only infill these, but to do it beautifully. And how is it so freaking fast?

I found the interface a little daunting at first - I spent ages looking for nozzle diameter and the terminology is all whack.

Thanks Mhackney for uploading your settings, it made it MUCH easier! Now it's time for me to tweak them and then wonder why it doesn't print well anymore.

For anyone on the fence - download it, get Mhackney's settings and print!

[Eaglezsoar]

Yes, Kisslicer can be awesome but I can't help but think how great it could have been if the creator didn't go AWOL.

[McSlappy]

The main reason I didn't try it earlier was this very reason. I didn't want an unsupported product. Oh well.

It's actually kind of sad that KISS and an AWOL dev has better slicing software than something that's currently being worked on :/

[Polygonhell]

The only real missing feature is bridging, which would be a nice to have.
People unfortunately get distracted by life.

[McSlappy]

Ah bridging... Yes..

I did hear a rumor around the forum that the dev has woken up and is working on it again... Hopefully.

[mhackney]

Bridging and multiple extruder enhancements - especially being able to use a different extruder for infills vs perimeters.

McSlappy, since the original post on the google forum back in late March (near enough to April Fool's Day to have people speculate it was a joke) there has been absolutely NO input from the developer. The only change is that Jonathan changed the forum link on the KISSlicer site to point to the google KISSlicer refugee camp group. Not one other post on his site saying "I'm working in the next release" or anything. Either you are too busy/have personal issues to do anything at all or you could at least spend 30 seconds and reply in person on the group or add a blip to your web site. It is just damned odd!

[joecnc2006]

How does Kisslicer compare to Cura?

[Polygonhell]

How does Kisslicer compare to Cura?

Depends what you are printing, and what you need.

In general I think it's still better than the latest Cura with some caveats.
KissSlicer has better support and more infill selections, slicing speed is comparable, wipe helps control stringing better (don't understand why this has not been copied by the other slicers), it has a seam hiding feature, which can work well, but not always, and it's seams are predictable which is a win for a lot of parts. The UI is better IMO especially if you commonly swap filaments.

Cura supports bridging, though the newer slicer in it doesn't seem to be as good at identifying it as the old Skeinforge based one, the comb feature cuts down on the number of boundary crosses, so if you happen to have stringing issues they show up less often, and support for Brim, which can save some hassle if printing large flat pieces with square corners. It's also less sensitive to bad models that KissSlicer most of the time.

[mhackney]

KISS has the awesome round infill. Cura has concentric shells. If I had 1 slicer that could do both I wouldn't have to stitch gcode from different slicers together!

[Batteau62]

KISS has the awesome round infill. Cura has concentric shells. If I had 1 slicer that could do both I wouldn't have to stitch gcode from different slicers together!

When you say "concentric shells" are you talking about the ability to print shells at different speeds? I don't use Cura much, and I really wish KISS had "Brim" support

[mhackney]

No, I mean it goes around and around instead of back and forth.

[McSlappy]

This is from the Kiss google group (I'm not a member, so this was copied and pasted from someone who is)

Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2014 09:36:31 -0700 (PDT)

From: "lonesock (Jonathan)" [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Message-Id: [email protected]

Subject: KISSlicer 1.5 preview (and I'm not dead!)

Hi, everybody!

As you know, I have been offline due to some life-craziness for an extended period. The craziness is slowly receding, and I want to just say a huge 'Thank You!' to everyone here for your care and concern, and for helping each other out while I was away. I also apologize for my lack of response to emails and such.

I do not have a great deal of time yet, so my plan for the short-term is to link to this forum from the KISSlicer website. I am spending what time I do have on continued KISSlicer development, and the current result is attached to this post:

KISSlicer 1.4.x is the pre-release of the upcoming 1.5 version, and features: Multiple-material objects KISSlicer now supports 4 extruders If you have a multi-extruder machine (and a PRO key), you can now (hopefully) print a single object with multiple materials! Selecting multiple files in the [Open] dialog will import them all as a single model sub-meshes in a single STL file will also be recognized clicking on the model tile will bring up the Extruder Mapping Window (do this before slicing!) you can now set an X & Y offset for extruders 2-4. I do not have a multi-head machine, so I can't test this yet! Improved translation support there had been multiple controls where the translation did not get applied there is still more to do here, notably the other windows Some bug fixes various Some new bugs added with multi-material objects, the loops and infill paths sometime don't print in the right order already-sliced objects don't get 'reset' when you change the number of extruders in the machine, or the default model extruder You can work around this by updating the extruder mapping window...even to the same values other unknown bugs...this build is heavily untested, so please go easy on it and me! [8) This post should have the Win32 build attached. I will try to get some other versions out in a while, hopefully after some feedback so I'm not just compiling cross-platform versions of show-stopping bugs. [8)

I also plan to make a discounted PayPal Buy Now button to post on this thread, as a thank you, and to open the field to people testing the pre-release builds.

thanks, Jonathan
END-OF-MESSAGE

[mhackney]

Yup, I see it on the group - this was posted after I made my post above.

[McSlappy]

Yeah I figured - my earlier post was also made before I found out about this too.

[Eaglezsoar]

I thank God that Jonathan is not dead. I really believed he was.

[Eaglezsoar]

This is the attachment that Jonathan posted to the Kisslicer Refugee Camp.

KISSlicer 20140423a - multi-material way-pre-Alpha.txt

(606.15 KiB) Downloaded 621 times

The attachment is marked as a text file - IT MUST BE RENAMED TO .ZIP and then UNZIPPED.

This is necessary because this forum would not let me upload a .zip file.

Enjoy Jonathan's latest Kisslicer

[mhackney]

I downloaded and installed it last night. Running it on Windows XP. Still pretty "raw", I won't be switching to it for awhile.

[Eaglezsoar]

I downloaded and installed it last night. Running it on Windows XP. Still pretty "raw", I won't be switching to it for awhile.

I haven't looked at it yet, I am just so relieved that nothing bad happened to Jonathan. I still feel that what he did was wrong, but I am happy that he is alive.
A very curious feeling, anger and happiness at the same time. I will get over what he did but I will never understand it and I will always remember.

[wildideas1]

******** Jonathon Is BACK*******

Hi, everybody!

As you know, I have been offline due to some life-craziness for an extended period. The craziness is slowly receding, and I want to just say a huge 'Thank You!' to everyone here for your care and concern, and for helping each other out while I was away. I also apologize for my lack of response to emails and such.

I do not have a great deal of time yet, so my plan for the short-term is to link to this forum from the KISSlicer website. I am spending what time I do have on continued KISSlicer development, and the current result is attached to this post:

KISSlicer 1.4.x is the pre-release of the upcoming 1.5 version, and features:
Multiple-material objects
KISSlicer now supports 4 extruders
If you have a multi-extruder machine (and a PRO key), you can now (hopefully) print a single object with multiple materials!
Selecting multiple files in the [Open] dialog will import them all as a single model
sub-meshes in a single STL file will also be recognized
clicking on the model tile will bring up the Extruder Mapping Window (do this before slicing!)
you can now set an X & Y offset for extruders 2-4.
I do not have a multi-head machine, so I can't test this yet!
Improved translation support
there had been multiple controls where the translation did not get applied
there is still more to do here, notably the other windows
Some bug fixes
various
Some new bugs added
with multi-material objects, the loops and infill paths sometime don't print in the right order
already-sliced objects don't get 'reset' when you change the number of extruders in the machine, or the default model extruder
You can work around this by updating the extruder mapping window...even to the same values
other unknown bugs...this build is heavily untested, so please go easy on it and me! [8^)
This post should have the Win32 build attached. I will try to get some other versions out in a while, hopefully after some feedback so I'm not just compiling cross-platform versions of show-stopping bugs. [8^)

I also plan to make a discounted PayPal Buy Now button to post on this thread, as a thank you, and to open the field to people testing the pre-release builds.
EDIT: Here is the PayPal link: $24 (instead of $42), and for a limited time...not sure how long, but don't want to offend people buying it from the website either!

KISSlicer Refugee PRO Key ($24)


thanks,
Jonathan

[wildideas1]

didn't mean to re-post after MCslappy comp didn't refresh and show the 1st update.

[Print_This]

ye very happy/glad he is back and not "dead' but he did kinda leave everyone hanging, but past is past, he is human, lets just see some of the important options come to light like the bridge support. sequential printing, i still prefer kiss and hope my pro key purchase goes along way! im testing 1.4.1 now,