Above: Ultimaker Cura Visual Intent profile/Image Credit: Ultimaker
Ultimaker, one of the world’s leading desktop FDM 3D printer manufacturers, introduced the word to new intent profiles with the launch of Ultimaker Cura 4.6 Beta version. These new intent profiles will enhance the user experience and also help extract superior performance from the slicing software.
Ultimaker originally introduced intent profiles in its Cura 4.4 version. The profiles gained huge popularity for the Ultimaker S3 and Ultimaker S5 3D printers as it allowed the users to start prints with the click of a button, forgoing the need for a great deal of configuration steps.
INTENT PROFILES
Above: Introduction to Ultimaker Cura Intent Profiles/Video Credit: Ultimaker/YouTube
The Intent profiles in Ultimaker Cura are specially developed profiles to simplify the 3D printing experience and give results matching a users’ intent to maximise the print success rate.
Ultimaker introduced this new profile feature in its Cura 4.4 version. The version had three intent profiles namely Engineering, Visual & Draft.
Engineering: For printing objects with enhanced dimensional accuracy and improved tolerances to make functional parts like customized tooling – locally and on demand.
Visual: For printing objects with crisp details and smooth surfaces – ideal for concept models and visual prototyping.
Draft: For printing objects in the shortest time possible. Accelerating product development, deliver within user production deadlines, and skip the hassle of complex configuration.
ULTIMAKER CURA 4.6 – NEW INTENT PROFILES
Above: Ultimaker Cura Engineering Intent profile/Image Credit: Ultimaker
The 2020 Ultimaker Cura 4.6 beta version builds on the success of its earlier Intent profiles. This new upgrade brings new engineering intent profiles to include Ultimaker PC, Nylon, CPE, and CPE+ materials.
These engineering profiles, which are compatible with AA 0.4 mm print cores, allow users to simplify your print preparation workflow, produce better output from the printer, and enhance dimensional accuracy, so as to print models with improved tolerances.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
Ultimaker Cura 4.6 also brings new features to its latest version.
Show active post-processing scripts: fieldOfview has contributed an ease-of-use improvement to the post-processing plugin. The number of enabled post-processing scripts will now display as a badge notification over the post-processing scripts icon. A tooltip provides extra information regarding which scripts are enabled, allowing quick and easy inspection.
Hole horizontal expansion: Smartavionics has contributed a new setting that applies an offset to all holes on each layer, enabling the manual enlargement or contraction of holes as needed to counteract horizontal expansion.
Updated installer: Small fixes have been made to the installer. We’ve also updated the images to display an Ultimaker S3 instead of an Ultimaker 3.
Per-model settings: The “Infill only” checkbox has been changed to a dropdown selection: “Infill mesh only” or “Cutting mesh.”
Transparent support rendering: In preview mode with “Line type” selected, support material will render with transparency so you can easily see what’s being supported.
THIRD-PARTY PRINTER COMPATIBILITY
Ultimaker Cura 4.6 adds software compatibility for new third-party printers including:
Flying Bear printers: Added new definition for Flying Bear Ghost 4S Printer.
Magicfirm printers: Added new definitions for MBot Grid II+, MBot Grid II+ (dual), MBot Grid IV+, and MBot Grid IV+ (dual).
HMS434: Updates to the HMS434 machine profile have been contributed by Maukcc.
SECURITY & FIXES
Like always, Ultimaker Cura 4.6 also fixes some of the bugs identified in the earlier version like the 3MF G-code comments bug. It also makes some security improvements by putting a hard limit on backup file size to prevent other files being stored there.
The Ultimaker Cura 4.6 Beta Version is available for download on the Official Ultimaker Website.
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