what software do you use to combine multiple prints into one?

what software do you use to combine multiple objects into one print? i wish pronterface had a feature to load multiple STL files and arrange them on the build surface wouldn't that be nice...

I use Blender.

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Solidworks if not all the same if the same then the multiply tab on skeinforge

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Experimenting in 3D in New Zealand

Does anyone have a tool to blend gcode files? Sometimes I'd like to design my own support as a separate .stl, rather than use Raft. Raft can be pretty wasteful when a lot of support is needed.

Dale Dunn Wrote:
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> Does anyone have a tool to blend gcode files?
> Sometimes I'd like to design my own support as a
> separate .stl, rather than use Raft. Raft can be
> pretty wasteful when a lot of support is needed.


You can do this in Solidworks too after importing the STL file.

> You can do this in Solidworks too after importing
> the STL file.

I'm not sure you get my intent. I want to use separate Skeinforge settings for custom designed support, distinct from the part I'm trying to make. I can easily handle the multiple bodies or components in SolidWorks (it's my day job), but if I send them all to Skeinforge in the same .stl file, they are processed with the same settings.

Sometimes I just want to combine a few small STL files for a batch print. If I'm putting together a plate where I want to maximize utilization, then CAD software is great.

But if I just want to batch a bunch of small jobs together for an overnight print, it's a bit inconvenient. Maybe I'm just lazy

I'm considering writing a simple Java program that could combine multiple STL files into one file. It would take in a few parameters like build area, minimum distance between objects and maybe a selection of different packing algorithms.

Anyone else interested in this?

Dale Dunn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > You can do this in Solidworks too after
> importing
> > the STL file.
>
> I'm not sure you get my intent. I want to use
> separate Skeinforge settings for custom designed
> support, distinct from the part I'm trying to
> make. I can easily handle the multiple bodies or
> components in SolidWorks (it's my day job), but if
> I send them all to Skeinforge in the same .stl
> file, they are processed with the same settings.

Yes. I was confused by your reference to the rafts in separate stl files. It seemed to me that if you work with the stl files, then Solidworks or ther sw would do the job.

As far as blending gcodes into one, I would like to have that sw too. It would be great for combining a bunch of parts into an overnight job withou having to rerun skeinforge on them after combining them. Skeinforge (with psyco) takes up to 30 min on some of the STL files that I print.

Thank you all for this thread!

I've been looking for a software like this, too and i had heard that Printrun would include something of the likes. But i've tried in pronterface and never found anything.
So now i looked a little more, and klimet's Printrun (whole software set, it's not just pronterface) actually includes a program to make build plates. It's called "plater.py" and is sitting right next to "pronterface.py"!

So there it is - a quick way to combine stls, but no way (yet) to combine different skeinforge settings in one build (yet).

Cheers!

wow, i'm going to check out plater.py tonight thanks for the tip imitation, this saved me some work!

I've done a couple plates with plater.py, and it works reasonably well for what it's supposed to do. Now two things that aren't quite 100% yet are:
- It slows down to a crawl when handling many (~10) parts, even on my capable desktop machine
- The autoplater is still (very) buggy as it is still new. There's no way to change the build envelope yet (Makerbot or even limited X-travel because of a Wade's) and it has trouble dealing with rotated (mousewheel) parts.
How is performance for you, hardtoe?

performance was pretty slow and my computer is no slouch. the auto plating algorithm is very simple as well.

I'll see what I can do to improve it...I haven't coded much in python though, we'll see.

Meshlab also works for combining multiple STL files into one. Each STL file can be read into separate layers, translated and then you flatten everything into one layer. But I didn't see an interactive way of translating the different parts.

Does Meshlab have some kind of "snap to z=0" feature? I've tried blender but failed when trying to put the individual pieces *on* the build platform.

You can use the Get Info tool from the tool bar and click on the surface that you want to position to z=0. Get the z position and then translate it in the z direction by the negative of that distance.