Re:Show HN: iTunes for 3D printing
by marcosscriven on Tuesday July 02, 2013 @01:54PM
(#5979565)
I don't think they are providing a 'proprietary' format as such, it's just gcode tuned to different printers.
Reverse engineering the head paths to produce a mesh would be pretty difficult (though not impossible)
Re:Show HN: iTunes for 3D printing
by marcosscriven on Tuesday July 02, 2013 @02:34PM
(#5979844)
I think the reason they give you the opportunity to download another file is simply so that the gcode can be tweeked (for variable such as layer height, hotend temp, max acceleration of head etc.).
It could be, for instance, that with your particular filament the gcode doesn't tell the hot end to get hot enough, and you end up with layers splitting. Or worse, a huge tangle of melted filament.
Re:Show HN: iTunes for 3D printing
by tlrobinson on Tuesday July 02, 2013 @02:28PM
(#5979812)
That language I quoted implies you're only allowed one successful print per purchase.
What you're buying is a single-print, so what you're saying is correct. If something's gone wrong, you can re-print as many times as needed, but once the product is complete, then your print is done.
Re:Show HN: iTunes for 3D printing
by marcosscriven on Tuesday July 02, 2013 @05:10PM
(#5980761)
But that's nothing to do with the file format though right? I mean, it's just the end user has to be honest no?
EDIT: "We guarantee that if your print fails, you will be given as many opportunities as needed to re-print and get it perfect. L2L allows us to track the completion of every print."
So I guess the purpose of a proprietary format is to restrict the number of times you can print a file? That's not going to work very well when you're interfacing with open source printers. I imagine it's trivial to slurp the gcode off the serial connection to the printer.