I learned the hard way that they will way over support and basically just make a big mess and a waste of filament in some cases. This vid will be a huge help! Thank you!!✌🏼
I'm very new to 3D printing, as in- I just bought the printer last week. I'm learning a lot about supports and this video is a fantastic explanation of what tree supports are and the essentials on how to use them. Thank you. I just started a very big print that I've been wanting to do for a while, about 4 inches tall and using a lot of support (it's similar to your pokemon example), unfortunately I found this video after it's been running for a while, but I'm definitely going to try them on the next print.
This was extremely helpful. I bought my 3D printer a few years ago, but after having only 20% of my prints succeed, I quit for a long time. Only just now got back into it, and actually carefully tuning everything and so I'm getting good prints now. The one thing I was wondering now that I'm getting good prints is how to get better prints for overhang. You cleared up the benefits and gave layman's explanations - thank you.
I used tree supports for the first time on a "caulk tube holder" it completely engulfed the print but it worked great. I had to use scissors to cut away the support structure, but the final item looked great.
ModBot more hard surfaces things, so just things around the house or garage or computer or 3d printer sorts that are not overly complicated. Just printing one thing at a time to make my life little more convenient.
I am 2 weeks in on printing and I was playing around with supports. I did know that you could click on an object to not support. I did not know that you could create a box to skip supporting on a specific area. That is SUPER useful! Thanks.
I LOVE tree supports! For printing larger parts they use far less material, & are far easier to remove from the finished print. I stumbled upon tree supports when CHEP did a video on them.
I have been tinkering with tree supports for months. What I use them primarily for is what MOST people would say, "Just get a resin printer!": D&D models. For those that somehow are in this hobby and don't know, those models are typically on a 1" base and are usually less than 2" high and have a HIGH amount of detail. Maximum resolution is .12mm, and if you have the time and want really clean details, .08 isn't unheard of. With tree supports, the one thing I've finally narrowed in on "minimum support area" vs your X/Y/Z distance. This is where a lot of tree supports fail because either you're entirely too close (which is a problem with any supports), or specifically with tree supports you get "floaters". Floaters will look like support roofing at the tips of the branches......but no connected branches. So, you end up having a bit of filament spray out into the nether and do...nothing. That is, nothing except put a weird nub on the outside of your otherwise decent print. I'm still narrowing down a few other settings, but I have gotten some decent minis. The biggest thing I've learned though is it depends on the mini. I have one GLORIOUS mini I use as a test and does well with tree supports. Curves, negative space, bridging, all that, but nothing too weird. Then, I had a friend who had a monk character doing a side kick. That ankle snapped like a twig (had to do some surgery with the tip of a sewing pin). Latest project: I'm a data analyst and MS Access developer. I'm currently parsing the big JSON file that has ALL of the possible cura settings in it (fdmprinter.def.json) and then comparing that to all the custom curaprofiles that people have put out so I can quickly compare Chep's profiles vs. Fat Dragon Gaming's vs SiePie's profile and find the sweet spot. Hopefully tree supports will be part of that concept as well.
Thank you very much for taking the time to respond with so much detail. I love comments like because they really shed some insight as to others' experience. For starters, I will agree I think you are a mad man for printing minis on an FDM printer but I do know you are not alone. Most of my buddies use resin for minis and will use FDM for things like terrain. Are you using a standard .4 model for these prints or something a bit smaller? That is awesome to hear though that you are at least having luck using them on some models where the tree supports generate correctly. I will have to keep my eyes out for "floaters" I think it is a great habit to always check the gcode to make sure there is nothing weird going on and it sounds even more important with tree supports. Would love to see your project when you think it is in a good place. I am sure others would be interested too. Have a great day and thanks again for all of the info!
@@ModBotArmy Someone just liked the post today, and I nearly forgot about it. As info, my database is nearly done, I just want to gather as many profiles as I can to compare. I managed to parse the JSON file with all the FDM options and also read the .curaprofile content and compare them to the defaults. I'm really excited to be able to look at things with a fine-toothed comb. With the new version of Cura coming out today (4.8), I'm asking the community what profiles they use on their Ender's so I can get a cross section. It's out in the Ender Beginner's group #2 on Facebook.
I didnt really think of that but your totally right. They can weave to where they need to be instead of having to go straight up and down from the surface of the model.
You helped me a lot here. Even with things you didn't explain. I was watching what you were doing in Cura with your mouse and I caught a few things. Been wanting to play with supports for a long time now but have never took the time. Now I landed on a print that needed to be custom supported. Did some research and started playing around but was stuck. Thank you for the video
Thanks Daniel. I just bought another 3D printer after not having one for a while. I got an anet a8 for a steal. I payed $50 for an already assembled one with an extra extruden assembly.
ModBot I bought it local. These people were using it to print mask parts but they ended up upgrading to another printer. They were also moving so wanted to get rid of it.
I usually don't leave comments but, thank you very much for explaining those settings to me. My supports kept failing I kept believing it was my bed didn't reliaze the other settings for supports. I will go back and experiment more on my prints. Again, thank you. Subscribed
Going to try some tree supports today. Thank you so much for this video and I plan on checking out more of your stuff. Just received my first 3d printer, Creality Ender 5, and every print I'm learning more.
For the joker model, you could rotate the model, add the traditional custom support, which will create and angled support that connects from the chin to his chest. Then rotate the bust back to its normal position.
Can you not use custom supports in conjunction with tree supports? I think I’ve done this in the past. That should allow the joker chin issue to be rectified. Also the extra tree settings would go a long way there. Tree supports also follow other support settings, so you can add extra walls or support brims to make them sturdier.
I sort of figured as much in regards to the other support settings affecting the tree support but just left it all as is with the exception of the 5 settings specific for tree supports. I will have to see if you can combine the customer supports with the tree supports.
I always use tree supports now if supports are need, they are just so very easy to remove and dont leave nibs behind, they just peel off like a onion skin, I cant recommend mend them enough on a FDM
The chin example can be fixed with a thicker branch diameter and a smaller branch distance, it helps with parts overhanging outside the overall volume of the piece...it's an awful idea to use it in places like under the legs gap, tho.
You totally answered my thoughts I was printing an A.B.C. warrior bust and the supports were like welded lol to the bust I didnt know what to do till I seen this video you rock and jeep bringing us more awesome tech
yes have just got my 3d printer .and as i first found the supports were hard to get of and one of my models it broke when i was trying to get the support of. so had to do a new one .so thanks for your video on supports enjoyed and am learning every day thanks again
Just got my first printer (well it's in the mail). I chose the Anycubic Mega-S. Just trying to gain some general knowledge before it arrives. Luckily I stumbled onto your channel ModBot. Easy sub!!
I’ve never used them. I’d be interested if Joker print with default tree support would have printed better than you custom support gcode. It may not always be about reducing material if surface finish can be improved.
It is very possible. I do know that the standard supports would have been terrible to remove based on what they were creating. However, the tree supports may have been fine. I still feel like a small support block was the way to go for this model.
I currently use astro print on my ipad to slice and tried using tree supports once and it failed from the beginning. I'm looking for a laptop at the very least to use a better slicer but as of now astro print seems to be my best option..
Tree supports saved a chess set from Thingiverse with skulls required mass support decided to try tree and it has gone great other then the knight at which I needed custom supports
I am doing a 8 bladed turbine. The tree supports work great for only 6 of the blades. The seventh gets only small partial amount. The eighth blade gets none. I used default settings. I s there setting I am missing?
I need to play around with PrusaSlicer a bit. I have used it very slightly. I may have to pick up a Prusa Mini in the future and then I am sure I will be using that slicer much more. I hope you had a great weekend!
Amazing content! Very thorough info and always so awesome Daniel. Thank you so much for sharing. Hey do you have a timeslot on VERRF this year? I didn't notice any mention on ya twitters. Hope you're doing great 😊 Happy Sunday to ya!
Hey Ashley! You are too kind thank you very much :). So I have said no to just about all events due to the pandemic but I had agreed to go to my fiances Aunt's wedding this upcoming weekend. I had no idea when I agreed to it a couple of months ago that it fell on the same weekend as VERRF. It breaks my heart since MRRF was canceled and the RRF events are really a big gathering of amazing friends. I am going to try my best to catch a bit of it but that is the reason I have not mentioned or posted anything about it. I am hoping I will be able to watch highlights or a recording after. Happy Sunday to you as well 😁
You're so welcome Daniel! I always learn something new from you. Hopefully next year will be an awesome year and everyone will be able to gather for so many wonderful things, including the maker fairs. Congratulations to your family on the wedding☺!
This really doesn't have anything to do with the video, but how are you able to rotate the model so easily in Cura? I regularly use Solidworks and Inventor and the way models rotate normally in those are WAY different than the rotation in Cura. In Cura it's like the rotation point is way off in the distance. When you hit the Ortho or one of the face view options it rotates fine, but as soon as you zoom in and try rotating it, it goes all weird. Any idea what setting to look for to fix that?
You have to the your tree settings so that they're larger and set them to not support small surfaces or only high angles. I almost exclusively use tree supports.
I print protein structure 3D models. Very complex and can a week to print. Tree supports make a huge difference when support removal can take hours by normal supports. However, Cura is getting worse at tree supports. For some reason, it can take an hour to slice tree supports in recent versions. It used to be much faster.
That is definitely something that I would imagine take a lot to support. Removing supports from the Charmander model with three supports was substantially easier than standard. I could only imagine a model like that the time savings. That sucks to hear, I wonder if they need to rework their engine a bit. I will say that on my desktop which is quite a powerful PC it was pretty damn slow in comparison to using traditional supports. Perhaps some optimization is needed to make it run quicker.
My cura doesn't have the add custom supports. That would have saved me an entire roll of filament on a model I messed up last week. lol... I'll have to figure out how to add it to the tool bar, now.
another NEW cura came out just yesteday and i can't find tree .... i type it in, but it wont show. i went into menu to try to turn it on.... but it still wont show?
Hi, for example a detailed hair for gambit X-men from www.malix3design.com/2020/06/gambit-stl-files.html Would you prefer that I put a tree support and rotate the head reversely when slicing? If I do that, all majority of supports would be on the hair, and one of the problems I'm encountering when removing support is that the support is so hard to remove.
How the hell could you remove the standard tree support this easy? I have to spend hours to break it apart from the printed model. I use the default settings in the actual Cura version.
Has anyone used tree supports on a wearable helmet? I have a printer large enough for it but I'd really like to cut down on filiment used and print time because printing with standard supports takes a little over 14 days
I didnt even think of that but that in my opinion would be a terrific use case. I can definitely see you wanting to confirm with something that has attempted this before committing to such a large print.