This might be more of a general question than a bambu-studio question, but I wanted to ask it because of a reddit post that I came across. I am printing a model with a domed top (not a helmet, but domed in a similar manner), and I am noticing that when I upload the model to bambu studio, these polygons are visible on the model’s surface.
I converted the .obj file I had to both .step and .stl, but the polygons remain visible on the model in Bambu Studio, regardless of file type. Does anyone have any tips/recommendations for how to increase the resolution of the model? I don’t know if bambu studio has an option to increase polygon count or quality, but my searching hasn’t yielded any results thus far. I would prefer to avoid post-processing of the model if I could when it comes to smoothing the surface. Thanks!
You should play with your settings more, there are plenty of settings to achieve better results, however if you start with crappy files you will have crappy prints
It wont do the job for very big polygons (first picture) but it will be ok for your pink sample, increase this value until you get a clean smooth surface in sliced preview and G1 g-code replaced by G3 & G2.
EDIT: or to see/understand immediately what this parameter do, try a high value at first, like 4mm, then after find the lower value that still give you a smooth surface.
You know, what you see is what you will get. Looks like your STL file has a low mesh. Check your converter settings or use another software. The best printer cannot transform into Merlin
The difference between .step and .stl file is more relevant, if you exporting the model from the 3D program. To export from the 3D modelling software as .step file makes the real difference. I’m using OnShape and it can export as .step, .stl file and much other file formats. But others should be able to do this too.
The problem is that CAD software represents curved surfaces as an equation, it’s parametric. So the software can compute the precise location of the surface for any point along the curve. But when you output to STL, the model has to be broken down in to polygons that approximate a curve, and the “detail” about the curves themselves is lost. So even if the original CAD file was a STEP and curves were parametric in that file, the information was lost when the STL was generated and you can’t go back to parametric from an STL. You need the original parametric CAD file, where you can increase the “polygon subdivision level” to make the approximated curves more smooth.
It might be counter intuitive, but if you increase the “resolution” parameter, the smallest feature size the printer can print will increase and that might round out the polygons on this model a bit. At a cost of loss of definition for features you still want to be sharp.
