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Print with dozens of colors: Our new open-source ColorMix for PrusaSlicer

blog.prusa3d.com

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Re: Print with dozens of colors: Our new open-source ColorMix for PrusaSlicer

#11

Post by MBCook »

Aurornis wrote: post #6

There's a growing community around the OrcaSlicer - Full Spectrum fork that started all of this, which is attributed in the article. It's a cool technique and I expect all of the mainstream slicers will have it soon. You could already do this technique with OrcaSlicer with Prusa printers or cheaper options like the Snapmaker U1 The "Prusa ColorMix Cones" model is not what I'd recommend. I don't know why they made it…

What’s wrong with not using the community model for their internal tests? I’m sure they have a good reason. It can’t possibly be just NIH.

Yeah they’re focusing on their filaments but that’s their product. It would be weird if they didn’t start there. Plus they’re working with the open filament database that as established to go with the open source NFC tags they cooperated with other companies on. That seems sand too.

Ok they’ve only done PLA so far, is that such a big deal? This is an announcement not a release. They’re still working on all of it.

And it seemed to me like they did a great job giving the community credit in the post. They made it clear it all came from the community, including the entire idea, and they’re building on that and giving back.

Re: Print with dozens of colors: Our new open-source ColorMix for PrusaSlicer

#12

Post by MBCook »

rented_mule wrote: post #5
sailfast wrote: post #3

This looks awesome! Exciting to see what happens in this space.

I can imagine filament vendors making bundles of filaments with interesting mixes of colors. CMYKW is an obvious one, but there must be other color combinations that will mix in interesting ways.

They also mentioned that they hadn’t started testing sparkle filament, glowing filament, etc. yet.

I bet people somewhere find some very interesting special effects all this could bring with the right odd combinations.

Re: Print with dozens of colors: Our new open-source ColorMix for PrusaSlicer

#13

Post by MBCook »

sailfast wrote: post #3

This looks awesome! Exciting to see what happens in this space.

I’ve always liked the idea of multi-color. But one of the big mental stumbling blocks for me was needing so many colors. I’m not the kind of person who does a lot of 3-D printing and can justify having a wall of different filaments just to put a different colored label on top of a part.

When I first saw this pop-up in the community it was clear this was a fix. No it’s not as good as owning a roll of some specific color, but for a ton of use cases it’s absolutely good enough or maybe even perfect.

It made me want an INDX all over again, now thinking I should buy more heads. I knew they’d jump on, I’m glad it’s this early so it will be available by the time mine arrives.

I’m sure this is a huge boon for them, Snapmaker’s U1, and the new Bambu with more than 2 heads. HUGE value add just through software. Speed difference between those and MMU/AMS is now more important than ever if you want this.

Re: Print with dozens of colors: Our new open-source ColorMix for PrusaSlicer

#14

Post by WillAdams »

It would be nice if additional colours would be supported, à la Hexachrome by Pantone (this was a 6-colour ink system which covered more than half of the PANTONE spot ink colour space and made quite vivid photo reproduction possible).

Even better would be a mechanism like to Cerilica's Truism which would allow one to use arbitrary filaments and preview how they will blend when printed.

Re: Print with dozens of colors: Our new open-source ColorMix for PrusaSlicer

#15

Post by MBCook »

WillAdams wrote: post #14

It would be nice if additional colours would be supported, à la Hexachrome by Pantone (this was a 6-colour ink system which covered more than half of the PANTONE spot ink colour space and made quite vivid photo reproduction possible). Even better would be a mechanism like to Cerilica's Truism which would allow one to use arbitrary filaments and preview how they will blend when printed.

They’re not limiting you, the community work this is based on doesn’t either. Yeah they’re going to sell sets for easy use but it’s just color mixing. If you know the filament colors, which is what the filament database is for, you’ve got all the info you need.

And you’re only limited in quantity by how many filaments you can load at once. A full INDX setup on a Core One is 8. I thought you could daisy chain Bambu AMS units on their printers, which would let you get your 16 maybe? I’m not very familiar with their offerings.

Re: Print with dozens of colors: Our new open-source ColorMix for PrusaSlicer

#16

Post by rblatz »

MBCook wrote: post #9
Aurornis wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was already available in an OrcaSlicer fork (the one they used as an inspiration) which works with Bambu and Prusa printers. They're just putting the technique into their branded slicer which should make it easier to access for people who don't like using OrcaSlicer.

The big thing for me is this plus the INDX from Bondtech. And at least for now they are the exclusive partner for that (you can still buy on your own and add to any machine). INDX already has fast color changes and produces far FAR less waste than an AMS. And that’s what sold me. Then the coloring mixing stuff started coming from the community. Now you don’t need to buy 30 colors of filament for many uses. Thats a se…

The AMS doesn’t cause the waste, it’s purging the old filament out of the tool head. The H2D and X2D can print two colors with an AMS without needing to purge and the H2C can do 7 without purging. You still need a prime tower when switching tool heads, but that is significantly less than a full purge. But I believe the INDX has the same restriction.

I do agree though that direct feeding each tool head offers the best experience vs the AMS approach.

I’m glad to see Prius’s catching up to Bambu on the color mixing front, Bambu has had CMYK filaments for a long time and has supported color mixing in their slicer for at least a month.

Re: Print with dozens of colors: Our new open-source ColorMix for PrusaSlicer

#17

Post by londons_explore »

WillAdams wrote: post #14

It would be nice if additional colours would be supported, à la Hexachrome by Pantone (this was a 6-colour ink system which covered more than half of the PANTONE spot ink colour space and made quite vivid photo reproduction possible). Even better would be a mechanism like to Cerilica's Truism which would allow one to use arbitrary filaments and preview how they will blend when printed.

Photo reproduction should be the target here...

And it looks like the software support needs work too - the obvious way to do it is being done able to import a jpeg or png to project or wrap onto the surface, a bit like texture maps in video games.

Re: Print with dozens of colors: Our new open-source ColorMix for PrusaSlicer

#18

Post by Aurornis »

MBCook wrote: post #11
Aurornis wrote: post #6

There's a growing community around the OrcaSlicer - Full Spectrum fork that started all of this, which is attributed in the article. It's a cool technique and I expect all of the mainstream slicers will have it soon. You could already do this technique with OrcaSlicer with Prusa printers or cheaper options like the Snapmaker U1 The "Prusa ColorMix Cones" model is not what I'd recommend. I don't know why they made it…

What’s wrong with not using the community model for their internal tests? I’m sure they have a good reason. It can’t possibly be just NIH. Yeah they’re focusing on their filaments but that’s their product. It would be weird if they didn’t start there. Plus they’re working with the open filament database that as established to go with the open source NFC tags they cooperated with other companies on. That seems sand to…

> What’s wrong with not using the community model for their internal tests? I’m sure they have a good reason. It can’t possibly be just NIH

The problem with their models is that it's a cone shape. The angle is fixed.

The community models are domed so you can see the effect at different angles.

> Plus they’re working with the open filament database that as established to go with the open source NFC tags they cooperated with other companies on.

Right, but they're steering people back their sources when the community sites have more user-submitted coverage and it's what we've all been using successfully already.

I probably shouldn't have said anything given the topic and the audience. I know they gave some credit, but there's a long history in the 3D printing world of this stuff happening.

Re: Print with dozens of colors: Our new open-source ColorMix for PrusaSlicer

#19

Post by Aurornis »

sho_hn wrote: post #8
Aurornis wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was already available in an OrcaSlicer fork (the one they used as an inspiration) which works with Bambu and Prusa printers. They're just putting the technique into their branded slicer which should make it easier to access for people who don't like using OrcaSlicer.

From what I've seen in the blog post, this is underselling it a bit. They did improve on the color mixing model, and they're launching filaments to match to make it an end-to-end product. No this isn't rocket science, and there's definitely a vibrant FOSS community actually pioneering this and that is probably the best place to be on the true frontier, but there is productization effort here. Considering people alway…

> They did improve on the color mixing model, and they're launching filaments to match to make it an end-to-end product.

For what it's worth, CMY filament bundles have been available forever and they're well characterized for use with HueForge there are open databases with measured color and TD values. It's great that Prusa is launching their own bundle with their own measurements. I'm just trying to point out that this all exists and has existed for a long time, and there are multiple resources available for it.

> As someone deeply embedded into the FOSS community myself, it's sometimes really annoying when we sabotage the better players

Not trying to sabotage anyone, just trying to help the community with some more information.

Re: Print with dozens of colors: Our new open-source ColorMix for PrusaSlicer

#20

Post by Aurornis »

MBCook wrote: post #9
Aurornis wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was already available in an OrcaSlicer fork (the one they used as an inspiration) which works with Bambu and Prusa printers. They're just putting the technique into their branded slicer which should make it easier to access for people who don't like using OrcaSlicer.

The big thing for me is this plus the INDX from Bondtech. And at least for now they are the exclusive partner for that (you can still buy on your own and add to any machine). INDX already has fast color changes and produces far FAR less waste than an AMS. And that’s what sold me. Then the coloring mixing stuff started coming from the community. Now you don’t need to buy 30 colors of filament for many uses. Thats a se…

> It’s a great confluence of events if you’re in the Prusa ecosystem or just don’t want a Bambu or U1.

I'm excited for INDX too, but like you said it's not a Prusa exclusive system. I think this is great news for people who like to play entirely within the Prusa ecosystem, but I also think it's good to let people know that there are a lot of options outside of that ecosystem.

The Snapmaker U1 is looking good at $899 shipped for a 4-color printer with no waste https://us.snapmaker.com/products/snapmaker-u1-3d-printer

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