I do not think that requiring a real picture for just the print profile is cutting it. There are too many low quality, untested, and lazily designed models floating around. A lot of them, I would consider almost impossible to print on a FDM printer.
If someone can not go through the effort of printing their own model. It should never be posted in the first place.
There is an issue under discussion several times before.
The thing is that MW explicitly allows this, particularly on contest entries which are supposed to be the best models from designers. It’s one of the reasons that I lost much interest in contests.
Another related issue is the use of renders or AI images as the cover (thumbnail image). They shouldn’t be allowed. These two types of images are deceptive. We all know that something looks great in render can look bad when printed. It’s the reason for the uproar against hueforge uploads that only show the renders.
Since the cover is the first image that users see, it must be the photo of the real printed model so users know what they will actually get without being tricked into giving attention and engagement numbers to the model.
Designers can use render or AI images for other purposes such as illustration of how the model works, but not as the cover image.
At launch (or beta) it was hoping to become the central repository for all 3D models. People were encouraged to add profiles for other printers like the Crealilty range.
Many did.
It is worth noting that this was in part the reason why anyone can add print profiles rather than the now more logical wish that only the designer should be able to add profiles or at least be the guardian of profiles being added to their models.
Since then, the place has moved to be a place for Bambu Lab users to find models. For those who do not believe me, try and find a print profile for a an printer Bambu Lab doesn’t create. My guess is it is well below 1%.
For this reason, a minimum requirement should be:
Provide a photo from a Bambu Lab printer with your model AND your profiles.
I am sorry if this stops those who do not have a printer yet, but MW isn’t a site for those. It is to support sales of the Bambu Lab printers and the users that purchase them.
There are many sites that are not tied to a brand that allow models of any type and without any print profiles for such users.
It is just not a place for all models of printer to have a print profile for. This would simply just clutter everything up. But that is also why it is important that stl files are provided as well.
Even if the model is not printed on a BL printer. Most people will just post a profile for a BL printer anyways.
What is stopping them from posting on cults, thingiverse, etc? There are so many other places to post these models if they want to. When they are posted on MW, it is just annoying.
I also really want to see a success story of someone using the point system to get their first printer.
the amount of times ive opened them up and see the creator screamcrying at comments over the fact that the ai image looks nothing like the actual model in the file and insisting it isn’t that big of a deal is ridiculous because to be frank (hi – i’m frank) it takes zero effort to whip out your phone and just take a photo of it even just on the print bed.
Don’t confuse not making a print profile and not printing the model.
I agree that all published models should be test printed, but that doesn’t imply the need for a print profile. You can always add the picture directly in the publication.
And even beyond that, you can’t even assume that not providing a make image means not having test printed the model.
In my case, for example, at the start I didn’t have many colors available (for economical reasons), so my test prints were mostly grey even for multi color models, I was ashamed of them (and didn’t take pictures of them), but since the color doesn’t really impact the print at least I was certain it was printable.
As long as the image isn’t deceptive, I don’t see an issue with using an render/… image as the model cover.
If everyone would post only makes as the cover, the appeal/visual look of the whole site would drastically reduce as prints are never perfect. It would also drastically increase the work for creators as they would need to strive for the best pictures possible.
Like you, I don’t care for MW contest either, not allowing remixes was already a deal breaker from the start for me.
Being the central repository for all 3D models was never truly an objective in my opinion. At the start of MW it was brand new and tried to make its new print-profile system a thing, therefore they smartly encouraged users to publish profiles for points (for the first one). Now that nearly everyone publishes their profiles directly, this doesn’t make much sense anymore, but at the time, all these models were mostly simply copied over to MW from printables, thingiverse, … .
It was always a place for mostly Bambu Lab users, but third-party users weren’t and shouldn’t be pushed away. It’s clear that they always were an extreme minority however.
Profiles are, however, really important for the (bad) evolution of MW into a hyper-casual user site were they are only required to press a button without any 3d printing knowledge. So it might be required in the future, but it would be a bad thing, after all, as it slowly gains a monopoly, it can slowly make more and more unfriendly decisions like these.
The main (/only) appeal of MW is the points you get for publishing models, profiles and ratings. While not being able to partake in everything, third-party users can at least publish models and thus gain some points for, in turn, free filament. It’s similar to my case, as while I have a P1S, being in LAN mode blocks me from rating things but I still benefit from publishing models and profiles.
Says the guy with no published models …, I can assure you it takes a bit of time already (at least if you don’t want a garbage picture) and it would be much worse if we followed the idea of the users above to make the cover the make image.
Indeed, it would require reprinting the models more times and making professional-level photos of the models, not “just whipping your phone out”.
Around 850 models in 18 months, each with a profile, often 7, each of those with at least one photo, usually more, the main model often has 4+ images, often 10+, each one with photos, never renders, each with custom artwork, each one with a different font, each description is different, all photos are staged.
Most of which is done from my bed due to illness and disability.
Yeah, it is tough to take one photo.
I appreciate you have your views, but they are not the same as most and they appear to discount the reality of many.
I don’t mind a render as the cover if it’s done for a reason. Randomly took the first model I came across to show you what I mean…
But getting that GIF done takes as long as taking a decent photo. Also the images after that are followed by pictures of the real print. I’d say your cover image is like the Bic Mac at McDonalds you see on the menu. You can certainly make it look nice with additional text and whatnot.
However, I do agree that the majority of model pictures ought to be of actual prints of the model. As far as print profiles go, there should definitely be real prints required. Especially, if you got cases like this where the one claims to be a .2 nozzle profile but just copies the .4 image. There are STLs that have enough detail that raisin printer resolution would make a difference, others the .2 will not make much of the difference because of the quality of the str file to begin with.
I don’t see any harm in providing printable models on MakerWorld without the enforcement of first having to buy a Bambu printer. My first models were uploaded without owning a Bambu printer and without adding print profiles but with adding photo’s of prints made on other printers.
As a designer I don’t like the idea to only be able to provide models for users of the same type of printers. Yes, if you provide a print profile you should have tested it on that type of printer. But for the model, anybody should be able to upload these, whether they bought a Bambu printer or not, provided it is FDM printable.
But I am in favor of the requirement to provide a photo of the print, however shitty it may look because you still do everything on a Mendel.
Statements like that is exactly why Engineers don’t get to run Marketing campaigns. Of course it’s not a depiction of reality, but neither is
The cover should stand out and showcase the model and then reality can hit you on pages 2 onwards. Soap is not there to make you clean, it is there to provide a feeling of… [put marketing slogan]. It’s like a company’s vision statement. Nothing actionable about it and you don’t wanna buy stocks based on it… that’s what balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows is for (i.e., page 2 onwards as far as model pictures.)
No need to discuss this any further as people will be either in one camp or the other. But there is a reason why I have a camera and a light source in Blender in addition to my model. That said, this is not a site for 3d artists to showcase their work, this is amateur hour (which I don’t mean in a derogative way) so here a Big Mac simply looks like an eBay picture of a McDonals burger. MLB and little league are two different things.
