Matter Control Software

[geneb]

Man, I really gotta print me one of those soon...

g.

If you've seen one you've seen them all.

I believe it's "If you've seen one, you want to see them all".

This.

g.

[johnoly99]

+1 ^

[JohnStack]

A couple of years ago when SeeMeCNC was just starting up, I bought an H-1. I wrote the manual for the H-1 and Steve and John sent me a few packages of goodies to test. I opened one with my wife standing watching and out popped a flesh colored version of that sculpture that they sent me! That took a little 'splain'n

Cheers,
Michael

Makes me think of something evil.

Easter eggs and pranks embedded in STL files - so small you can't see them via a printer manager and if you don't open them up in software that can actually see it, you end up printing it. You sure could have fun during a class or with friends.

[geneb]

Infill jokes.

g.

[mhackney]

There are some innocuous ones out there. I've seen infills with company logos (MakerBot for one). They add a lot of time to the print so I try to eradicate them.

[Captain Starfish]

Mmmkay.

I was trying hard to like MatterControl, really I was.

But the lack of a GCode preview just cost me two hours of printing after a Cura slice (with 45º threshold) decided to give up on supports after 10 layers, built the verticals fine, then just started randomly spewing noodles everywhere at the top/end of the job where there were big overhangs.

Not blaming MC for this, it's Cura being a dumbo. But after all the crappy support structure issues I've had, if I'd been printing in Repetier I would have reviewed the print and known not to kick it off until I'd changed something. Like my choice of slicer for this job.

Grrr. Back to Repetier + Slic3r for now.

[mhackney]

Agreed about the lack of gcode preview. You could use http://gcode.ws - it is a web based gcode viewer and quite nice. Adds an extra step but it works.

[Batteau62]

Double Ditto, I don't print anything without previewing the paths. Thanks to mhackney for showing me "gcode.ws", which I use if I'm not in KISS. That "model + paths" view is perfect for seeing what's going to happen. Maybe with enough chatter here, we can get MC to integrate something like it.

[mhackney]

KISS's display is nice, I use it all the time.

It's exactly like CNC machining, always look at or simulate the path before running the gcode. When things go wrong on a miil, you can get killed. We probably won't die but can waste a lot of time (which shortens your life)!

[kevinepope]

Part of the MatterControl dev team here - I can confirm that 3D gcode visualization is high on the priority list of features to be implemented. Thanks for any feedback!

[enggmaug]

Part of the MatterControl dev team here - I can confirm that 3D gcode visualization is high on the priority list of features to be implemented. Thanks for any feedback!

Haha, I came to this thread to ask this very question : how do you visualize GCODE in MatterControl... ?

Now, I have my answer...

To me, the interface of MatterControl is not very intuitive. I feel like I'm in front of an Apple Software. The lack of GCODE visualization made that feel even stronger. It's like you are not in control of anything. BUT after a time using it, I'm sure I will get used to it.

After you select the advanced user option, you still have access to all of the slicing options, and I did not see that in the first glance.

I am not sure, but I believe I would do it the other way : give access to all options, but hide them if you tick the "Noob" option box. I mean, 3D printing is not yet a technology my grandma could manage. It's still a hobby where you need to get your hands dirty.

Or maybe, a good alternative would be to ask upon install whereas you want full control or not, with the possibility, of course to show or hide expert options like it is now...
Just that I believe the fist look you give on something makes your stronger opinion. If I hadn't read good comments about the software in this post, I probably would not have tried it long enough to realize you can still control things, that it's more than a good looking GUI.

I think, there's a lot to improve, but you guys did a very good job until now, you're on the right way.

[kevinepope]

Thanks for the feedback enggmaug! In the next version of MatterControl we'll be moving to a new more responsive layout which uses the available space better and one of our goals with the change is to make things a bit more intuitive and familiar for people like yourself that already have printing experience.

[Captain Starfish]

I like the interface. It's a little bit too Windows 8 for me personally, but that's apparently the way things are going these days so I'll just shut up with my old timer rants. I think it's a lot cleaner and clearer than Repetier Host, for example, once you know where things are at.

Bringing in more Cura etc settings would be handy (maybe three levels of detail "newbie", "power user", "control freak" or something like that).

Not being able to cut and paste into the custom GCode fields on the Mac version is a royal pain in the tits. Occasionally when I start it up and go to open an STL file, the open dialog won't let me select files until I command tab out and back in again.

Otherwise, it's really growing on me. Good effort, guys!

[McSlappy]

Speaking to the Win 8 style theme of MC. While I quite like the 'look' of windows 8 and MC (I really do, it 'looks' great). I don't think it's actually a very useful interface in the long run. Once the awww factor of the interface wears off and you need to get down to business, it lacks something. There a good article about the usability of Win 8 from a UX designers point of view (http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-8-ux ... power-user) and I think there are some good points there.
I feel kind of torn really, I like how it looks - it's pleasing to look at those colored squares of Win8.. Or those nice even boxes of MC. But MC really needs some separation of the visual elements. The color palette is too monotone and it all tends to look like a wall of white text on dark blue.
I know this is still in development, and I appreciate the devs being here (which is why I mention this now). MC guys, I like where MC is heading - keep adding those features, and tweak the UI to help your users with a better visual hierarchy. Do this and you'll become VERY popular.

[kevinepope]

Great article. I can certainly empathize with the challenge of addressing the requirements both beginning and advanced users. The original design intent with MC was never to be a 'newbie' oriented tool but rather to be a full featured tool that gives new users an easy ramp. We'll definitely continue to tune the UI and add features - luckily at this point we get to rev more often than Microsoft . Appreciate all the support.

BTW - the best place for posting bugs is on GitHub. Working on the copy/paste bug for Mac; in the meantime, for frequent gcode commands, I recommend checking out the configurable macro buttons (Advanced Controls > Printer Controls).

[enggmaug]

I regularly get error messages "MatterControl stopped working... " when I try to slice.

I did not do enough testing to tell you when it happens exactly, but Iit just happened twice, and the details of the error in windows are (sorry => my windows is a French version.")

Code: Select all

Signature du problème :
  Nom d’événement de problème:	CLR20r3
  Signature du problème 01:	mattercontrol.exe
  Signature du problème 02:	1.0.6.0
  Signature du problème 03:	531a6815
  Signature du problème 04:	mscorlib
  Signature du problème 05:	4.0.30319.18444
  Signature du problème 06:	52717edc
  Signature du problème 07:	e85
  Signature du problème 08:	99
  Signature du problème 09:	System.FormatException
  Version du système:	6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
  Identificateur de paramètres régionaux:	1036
  Information supplémentaire n° 1:	0a9e
  Information supplémentaire n° 2:	0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789
  Information supplémentaire n° 3:	0a9e
  Information supplémentaire n° 4:	0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789

Lire notre déclaration de confidentialité en ligne :
  http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=104288&clcid=0x040c

Si la déclaration de confidentialité en ligne n’est pas disponible, lisez la version hors connexion :
  C:\Windows\system32\fr-FR\erofflps.txt

I can give you more details on my settings, but I tried slicing with Cura Engine.

[edge922]

Even though I am new to all this, I am going to try using MatterControl right from the start and skip Repetier Host altogether since they're going closed source.

I can code in C# so I think MatterControl will be a good fit for me. It sounds like John Oly is recommending it too. I think I'll be much more comfortable and successful in this hobby with the source code available where I can contirbute fixes or make my own modifications etc.

I've suggested a new Sub Forum under software for MatterControl where we can discuss new topics and help each other out.

[McSlappy]

Is there a problem with them going closed source?

I would prefer open source, but I don't begrudge them eventually charging for something as long as it actually is a decent product.

I think going closed source just puts a lot of pressure on them to perform since it increases the chances of competitors and puts the burden of innovation on their shoulders alone.

I'm interested to see where they'll take it.

[edge922]

There is a topic discussing the merits/issues of them going closed here.

In my opinion the market will decide whether or not it is a problem.

For myself, I will be sticking with open source so I have the chance to update it and improve it to meet my needs. If I didn't have the need/desire to tinker and improve things I would have went with a pre-built printer and closed software. Rather I have purchased a hardware kit so that I can learn more and know how things work. The same will go with MatterControl. I feel I will learn more from being able to look under the hood.

[edge922]

@enggmaug Pay attention to what you are doing right before the error occurs. Is there any commonality.

The only things I've found so far regarding those error codes is that One thing I see is that is could be an issue with the regional differences between how some numbers are handled. For example if you are entering number in this format 1,50 in a field and get the error maybe try the other way (1.5) and see if you still have issues.

[enggmaug]

I'll try to look that way.

But basically, I select CuraEngine, and depress the print button.... that's all I do.

I guess that the issue is then from Cura, not MatterControl.... but well, will see when I come back from work.

[kevinepope]

@enggmaug Are you able to successfully 'Generate' the gcode via the 2d layer view, or does that also cause a crash? edge922 is probably correct - there may be a local formatting issue on one of the settings that isn't being handled correctly, possibly by MC, possibly by CuraEngine. If we can get it narrowed down we can get it fixed.

[enggmaug]

generating via 2D layer view also crashes.

I went through all slicing settings in advanced mode, but I could not see anything special.

Could someone send me a set of settings that do work, I will replace the parameters one by one until it works in order to isolate the faulty one ?


I believe it is an error from Cura Engine, as Slic3r does work well.

[edge922]

Could you try temporarily changing your region setting in Windows to:

Format of English (United States)
(Control Panel -> Region and Language -> Formats tab)

Then test with CuraEngine as the slicer to see if it still crashes. If it does not, that would confirm the theory that it is related to regional formating not being handled properly.

[enggmaug]

still crashes...