Is it better to upload 3MF files, or STL files, or both (to MakerWorld)?
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I think both and I wish folks would include .stp (step) files as well. Most people know that step files provide a much cleaner and better product. But to answer your question, Both 3MF and STL are nice because that lets people choose if they want to print the file as created like the maker did it or customize the print their own way. paint or split on different plates etc.
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I only upload 3MF files.
If anyone wants an STL file they can get one from BS.
You simply right-click the object(s) and export as one STL.
This is more powerful as it can create an STL from Assemblies and parts.
Update
I have just seen your K-cup dispenser. The biggest problem with uploading just the STL file is it has no print profile attached.
Without a print profile, users canāt print from Bambu Handy. They will not know which settings you used to guarantee a successful print.
Upload the 3MF.
I sometimes upload multiple 3MF files for models I have created with different sizes, and colour choices (two, three, four colours) for example.
This comes with a two-colour version and a single-colour version. The ability to choose colours makes the userās
journey easier. I do not mean red or blue, I mean one part is one colour and another is a different one.
Whilst that is an OpenSCAD project, it also has three 3MF profiles. Each one has a different version. This lets users print directly from the Bambu Handy app. It also means they do not have to change any settings, they can use a pre-designed version that will suit their needs.
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Your choice, 3MF files contains the STL files plus additional information and folks can pull the STL files from the 3MF information if they want to.
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With a 3mf file, users browsing the models at MakerWorld can view a projected 3D render, rotate it around, and even experiment with different colors while deciding if they want to print.
Also, some features like support, brim, infill, or even print orientation for best strength, etc, are only able to be preconfigured in the 3mf files. As the others noted, any special things needed for a successful print can be preconfigured in the 3mf file so users can just send it to the printer. With only the stl files, users have to sort all that out themselves which duplicates effort you already did, wastes plastic, etc.
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Thanks for looking at my āthingā. Iām still having problems with the verbiage. And it seems some of the terms have more than one meaning. You said the STL file has no print profile attached. Does that mean that a 3MF file will actually set BambuStudio so that the heat settings, print quality level, heat settings, etc. will automatically be adjusted for the person using 3MF files to print my k-cup dispenser?
On my k-cup page, it says ā+ Add first print profile to earn pointsā. What does that mean? Iāll eventually get there by trial and error and by asking questions. Iām just a little slow.
By the way, I did upload STL files in a separate folder.
Iād appreciate it if you check me over again and see if you can find anything else thatās hurting my chances that anyone will want to print my model.
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Iām beginning to understand now. Thanks!
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Itās probably been a couple of year since I watched a YouTube video about how much better an 3MF file was. But, until now, I had no idea why. Leaving my two Ender 3s and coming to the Bambu ecosystem has opened a whole new 3D printing world for me. Thanks for your help.
I did add a folder to my project with matching 3MF files.
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Welcome aboard. Iām going to copy and paste your post to Google translator, but I need to know what language.
Some basics, based on your question and leaves out currently unrelated information.
- STL contains the model geometry
- 3MF Contains the printer profile, plates & STLās
Imagine you designed a cube, a stunning cube, a cube with all sizes of 100mm. You would create that in your CAD software of choice.
To print it for yourself, you would launch your slicer (Bambu Studio in the case), import the STL and place it on a plate.
You would then tell the slicer a few things:
- Printer you wish to send it to
- Wall thicknesses
- Infill percentage and pattern
- Which filament
- Temperature things
- and so on
You would then send it to the printer and wait a while. Eventually, a cube is born, slice by slice. (Babies are made in the exact same way).
You should save that sliced file with STL model inside ad those useful printer settings - this way you can make more babies, erm, I mean cubes! This creates the 3MF file.
Now, you think your cube is fantastic and you wish you share it (brag about it) and so you decide to upload it to the internet.
Now comes MakerWorld, full of shine and promise. It asks you some questions. You tell it you have something you have designed and it asks for any files.
It is here you should select your 3MF. You are asked for some pictures to prove you successfully printed your model and to let others know what they will be getting.
You are asked for some marketing information, provide all that.
So far you have given the thing that will be printed and the instructions on how it should be printed. The next screen will ask you specific information about the profile you already uploaded. Remember, it was part of the 3MF file you already gave. So all you need to do here is OPTIONALLY provide different photo(s) and OPTIONALLY provide profile specific description.
Remember, earlier I told you a model (this means the shape you uploaded) can have more than one profile. The optional things allow you to differentiate one from the other.
It is likely you will not need more than one profile for any model for a while as you learn so donāt worry about it now.
If you didnāt upload a profile or wish to add another profile, you add one by pressing the menu button for your published model. Choose the option, provide the 3MF and answer the questions.
Recommendation
You should be reading the wiki to help you get from a to be. There are lots of videos and tutorials that are well produced and well written.
Look at the published models of other designers to see how they have marketed their models.
See how they have used pictures, content with formatting, bullet lists, headings and more.
Work out what you want to write before you are ready to publish. Format it, bold is your friend, not your lover, use it sparingly. If you have a list, step-by-step guide then use bullets and number lists.
Do not try to be perfect, do not aim to get it right first time.
I am about to break the 400 uploaded model mark ad I a still thinking up new ways to ask things better.
You are clearly transitioning from crawling to walking. Do not vein a hurry to learn to run. Walking is a learning experience and one you canāt ignore.
Test, test and test again.
Itās Chinese.
Nice, okay, very good, la la la la, I like the author. The content is clean and refreshing.
Most mobile devices give you an automatic translation option if you select the text. Most desktop browsers also have this. If not, select the text and copy it to the clipboard. Open another tab and go to Google translate.
Paste the clipboard contents into the left side and are sure āauto detectā is selected. It does it for you.
Thereās so much here to respond to. Iāll respond to your response in bits. Todayās first bit is this: I think any problem in understanding the mechanism of posting a set of files for someone to use (dramatic pause) is in nomenclature. Quite often, the meaning of a word or a term can be gleaned by the context in which it is used. Iāve come to believe (possibly erroneously) that profile when used in the BL ecosystem meansā¦ wait for itā¦ a list of slicer settings for a particular 3D model, nothing more.
If I were sharing an STL file with my buddy who has an Ender 3 and who uses Cura for a slicer, he would open the file (with) Cura which displays the settings he used on his last print which used heat settings (for example) for ABS. Then, he would manually change the settings for my project which is best suited for PLA. And, if heās lousy at choosing settings, the print will fail and he thinks I designed it poorly.
If he switched from Cura to BS (and knew why) he could use my 3MF files. By doing so, the heat settings would automatically change to the exact heat settings I used when I printed the model.
I think most people with hobbies that involve Internet forums, think of a profile as a list of things about oneās self: What you do for a living, where you live, your dogās name, stuff like that. So, maybe profile is not the best word for 3D print settings. But thereās no going back. In this crowd, profile means what I said above (unless Iām wrong).
So now that we know what profile means, how do I apply that to my uploads? Someone on the forum said that they donāt upload STLs, that the user could make his own by converting his 3MF files with BS. That would make it easier for the uploader but, it seems to me, that most folks still look for STL files and may think 3MF files are for some special machine. So, they go back to Thingiverse to look for a K-cup model with STL files. If we were talking money rather than points (whatever that means), I will have lost a sale.
Having posted my K-cup files with pictures and general instructions on how others can make one for their kitchen, Iāve decided that I need to make a change to the design. I need to add some holes (like everyone else did) so you can see how many cups you have left. So, do I edit the files already posted? Or, do I upload the files in the form of a second profile?
No, as I said before, the 3MF contains the models and the printer settings.
The printer settings are irrelevant without the related model. So, they are together in the file.
Essentially yes. If they are not using BS, the 3MF file created by BS will not work with Cura.
You give them the STL file and tell them the important things to set in Cura. The BS terms will likely be similar but, not identical. They should be close enough for your friend to understand though.
Yes.
You have never heard of a vehicleās driving profile? A tyreās profile? I am guessing if you think for a bit that profile is used in many more ways than description of people or pets. Profiles are a set of attributes for something, that could be people, pets, characteristics as many more. You think of it as a set of settings than describes the way something should be seen.
That was me.
Me again. But, you misread what I wrote originally. If you open a 3MF in BS. You can select the model and right-click to export the STL from the 3MF. I also pointed out (more advanced), by selecting multiple objects, that combination can be exported as an STL (same method as above).
Not in my experience, this is usually only those who come from Cura or similar older style slicer) and arenāt used to the significant benefits of having the model and settings in one place.
I donāt think this is true for the vast majority.
No, if they are on MW, they likely have a BL printer and are used to Bambu Handy (BH) & BS or very soon will be.
You are thinking too much that the sky is falling. The sky is not falling.
I told you previously, you are just moving from crawling to walking, get used to walking.
Use the menu button on the āPublished Modelā (see earlier screenshot) to edit the model. Change the answers to the questions or delete the old file as provide a new one.
If you finally upload a profile, you edit that in the next tab over āPublished Printer Profilesā. Locate the menu button for the specific profile and follow the same instructions above, but, changing only the profile details.
No, do not create a second anything to make changes to the first thing. Edit as explained just above.
In MW click your avatar (top right of the screen), click your points (in yellow). Click the rules link.
This tells you how you accrue points.
Points can be converted into things of value like Hardware Kits or vouchers. You can spend vouchers to get free things like filament or if you āearnā a lot, you can get a whole printer for free. It takes a LOT of points for that.
If you want user to be able to print from mobile phone or print properly, use 3mf.
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I blew it with one word. I meant to say print settings which, of course, are dialed up in the slicer. And I shouldāve also mentioned that the profile contains the model which the slicer uses to make the gcode that tells the nozzle where to go. Will you go for that boiled down definition Malc?
Yes.
That is a reasonable summary.
Iād say it boils down to this.
If you are only uploading to makerworld and not promoting your models anywhere then I would just create 3mf files and call it a day.
If you are promoting your models on social media then Iād say add in the stls. Likely youāll get people who have a creality or some other random slicer that wonāt play nice with those 3mf files. They would have to download Bambu studio or Orca slicer to pull the stls out.
So itās up to you. 3mf is nice but I like looking over all the print profiles I download before I send it.
That sounds like good advice. I appreciate it.
Bottom line, if you create a model and publish it to MakerWorld without a printer profile, another person could sweep in, provide a printer profile of their own, and steal your MakerWorld points away. The point breakdown is roughly 3 points for the profile for every 15 points for the model. If you provide your own printer profile for each of your models, you would get the entire 18 points, instead of sacrificing 3 points to an interloper. There are people on MakerWorld who āearnā most of their points by attaching printer profiles to other peopleās models.