IdeaMaker weirdness

[0xdeadbeef]

I played around with IdeaMaker as a general purpose Slicer (i.e. not for a Raise3D printer) lately and stumbled across the following issues:

1) You can't export/import a printer profile. It's stored inside config.xml and that's it. Would be nice to be able to import/export.

2) You can only export/import slicing profiles as binary files. No manual editing possible. Why aren't they stores as XML?
Also the whole duplication behaves strange. I.e. you can't seem to duplicate your own ABS profile as PLA profile (only via export/import).

3) The Start/End G-Code is part of the Slicing profile while it should be part of the printer profile.

4) You can't set a Z offset (only X/Y). Only 1st layer height and that is always the 1st model layer. So no influence at all on the 1st raft layer.
-> I guess it would make sense to have a global Z offset.
Besides, you can't edit the X/Y offset in the printer profile after creation (well only directly in the config.xml) while all other parameters remain editable.

5) You can't suppress the M1001/M1002 start/end markers. So you have to filter them out in the created G-Code for all other printers. Same is true for the M221 command, but at least that is a documented one.

6) When changing Z coordinates in the G-Code, the slicer always changes X/Y before Z (with separate commands).
This seems to be the wrong way round. Wouldn't it be safer to move the extruder up first and then move it to a new X/Y position?

[John@Raise3D]

Thanks for your feedback. ideaMaker is not designed for 3rd party printer at this moment so some features are not optimized for this purpose as well.
The things you mentioned here:
(1) It is possible but not a priority at this moment.
(2) We are working on optimizing this now.
(3) It is not only printer related but also material related so it is better to leave it like this.
(4) z step is very accurate and won't need offset amount.
(5) This is for our printer only.
(6) If move Z first, the material will ooz out and create a little dot on every layer, which will make the surface quality bad.

[0xdeadbeef]

Thanks for the quick reply.
Re #4 and #5: I see your point, but IdeaMaker is described as "compatible to most FDM 3D printers".
Putting proprietary commands like M1001/M1002 makes this statement questionable, as it's likely that these have to be removed manually for most printers.
Also while Raise3D printers may not need a Z offset, this statement is not necessarily true for other printers. Letting aside that it's sometimes desirable to move the nozzle closer to the bed for better 1st layer adhesion (so preferably it should be adjustable in the slicing profile).
I understand that support for other printers is not a priority, but I guess neither the Z offset nor the option to suppress proprietary commands would involve lots of work.

[Vicky@Raise3D]

We have add Z offset function to our work plan. Will open it in coming future.

[0xdeadbeef]

Thanks, great!

[neslekkim]

The things you mentioned here:
(1) It is possible but not a priority at this moment.
(2) We are working on optimizing this now.

Is it possible to export config, templates etc as xml? (or something readable)
I want to be able to version templates, and to compare them (as I mentioned in another thread, but I think I was misunderstood)
I want to setup various profiles on my E2 for the filament I have, and want to be able to compare/see what I edit for each revision, so I can go back if I make something wrong.

[Vicky@Raise3D]

We have adding text version export into developing list, but haven't decided whether we will use .xml or not.
It currently only supports using Compare Templates under Slice to compare the settings.