CURA - Tree Supports vs Standard Supports 

You make such great videos and are so clear and concise in how you communicate your knowledge. I really appreciate it, I have learnt so much from you!

There is really no other channel which is explaining this so clear and understabdable. Only with your videos I learned so much about 3D printing and the magic numbers. Thank you so much and greetings from germany

The tree support looks cooler than the piece itself. xD

Thank you for this tutorial. I wish I had found it before beginning a print. I am about 4 hours into a 24 hour print. Changing the support to Tree Support would have saved me about 8 hours and a fair amount of filament, but it is printing smoothly and I don't want to rock the boat by trashing it and starting over. I will just sacrifice the extra filament and time, but do better next time. I am using clear PETG and I am new to 3d so just learning what works. I will search and study more before my next print.

I'm a Professional Technical Trainer for a big automotive software company. I can't convey enough how effective these videos are. I target assisting in moving information into Executive Function. I've learned more on how to train and assist my people more from here than the dozen books and certifications I hold. Well done.

This is the Clearest tutorial for the subject by far. Thank you CHEP

Thanks for this! I was originally kinda confused when the original print was sliced with tree support, but the video totally explained how it is better than normal supports!

Love this, your tip last week about ironing is superb its really made a massive difference, thanks for taking the time to make these videos, they are wonderful, have a great weekend.

To replicate in Cura 4.4.0: Support Wall Line Count = 0 Support Interface Thickness = layer height (0.2 in my profile) Support Interface Density = 75-80% Support Roof Pattern = Concentric

You know it's a good day when CHEP uploads.

I've learned so much from your vids. I'm new to 3d printing, but from day 1 my prints are looking perfect thanx to you.

Hi, am new to 3D printing. but since starting have watched many videos but yours are the most productive and informative. i have learnt quite a lot in a short space of time. loving ya videos and look forward to future productions.

Looks like tree support has changed since late time I tried iy out. Thanks for the updated info.

Chuck, thank you for this video/information. Using the tree setting, my print time was cut by three hours. WOW !

Subbed because you made my 3d printing adventures much less of a headache :)

Just retired and starting 3D printing, so much to learn and not always easy but you helped me a lot with that video, thank you very much!

Man. I've been looking for the support floor feature for days. In situations where you've got a lot of small, separate supports that build up directly from the build surface, it can be a huge pain to get good adhesion across the entire plate. Thanks for pointing this out, even though you didn't quite see the need for it! Great vids always sir keep it up!

Another great video I learn more by watching filament Friday than almost any other show thanks chuck

Thanks to your video I got the best possible media configuration. My pieces come out perfect, practically without marks and I was having a hard time getting it right before. In fact, the tree support is exceptional! Congratulations and thank you!

Been using tree supports with miniatures for a while now and love it. Great video.

Thank you Chuck, this helped me a lot. Just got my printer and one of my first challenges was a 20mm diameter T-piece pipe to replace a part from my garden coldframe. First attempt - no supports - resulted in a plastic mess! Second attempt - conventional supports - unusable since the dense support material could not be removed from the inner of the T-piece!. Then I saw your video and tried the experimental Tree support - it used much less material, printed quicker and the support was much easier to remove from inside the pipe. Thanks again!

I have never used tree supports before but thanks to your very well explained video I will give it a try thank you.

I really enjoy all of your videos! I really needed to know this great information! I hate the messy nerds I kept having! You always solve all of my problems and answer all of my questions every Friday! Thank you for everything, Chuck!

Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for. I hated the way supports screwed up the base of the models I was printing. I appreciate this!

Like me the tree support method. Recently discovered the roof support and boy has that made a difference. Thanks Chuck!

Tree support is really good, I love it when I print models and busts. Thanks for sharing

was a bit skeptical about tree supports, but you changed my mind. Very informative!

The most informative 3D Printer video I've seen for some time. Great job!

Great video as usual, thank you! I'm using the 'Support Roof' feature for a while now and that has been a game changer: easier to remove supports and much smoother surface.

Really nice Chuck. I didn’t know that tree support option exists. I’ll definitely try this out. Please go on with your great work. Nearly every week i learn something about printing that i did not know before.

i learned something new here. for years i have manually added in angle supports and legs. this tree support seems a reasonable sacrifice for better quality prints with less time customizing.

After watching videos from your channel, i realised that there's a whole lot of cura I didn't explore yet (hidden). Thank you :)

Another great video Chuck! I would also add a couple more things when using tree supports. 1) Increase the Support X/Y Distance a little bit so there is no chance of contact with the model at the bottom. 2) Check off the option for Enable Support Brim. This will allow the tree supports to stick better to your build plate as the default of just the one outline sometimes doesn't stick too well and then you will have the supports breaking free and causing a mess.

Thank you so much. This solve my issue with supports, which I rarely use, but now can!

Your content makes my 3d printing hobby a lot more fun :)

Big fan of tree supports. Easier to remove, & they make cool looking sculpture things on their own!

been putting off trying tree supports but after this i will. another great video Chuck! :)

Aaaah finaly a good explenatory on supports.. i have constant battles between me and my prints failing. Specially on figure models with capes of which the (floating) tips would fail again and again because the supports have so little to support the tips in special.. This video makes it very clear on what what setting does exactly! thank you so much hope this works for me..

Really good info Chuck. A real winner. Thanks for all you do.

Thanks for the great info. I agree tree support works really well. I have had some trouble with delicate overhangs. The tree base is too small and the extruder sometimes knocks them down. Outside of that, tree support is my goto feature.

For the very first time, i really undestand how to use the support settings, and omg! tree support will try it right now. Thank you!

What would 3D printing be, without RU-vid and great people that makes grat videos !?!.. Bought my first 3D printer about a month ago (Ender 3) , and i've looked at support with fear until now. Thank you so much for making good videos that i can learn from, and look at the settings you use to get good prints :-D

Thank you! I just tried out tree supports for the first time with a detailed character, the supports came off in one piece, leaving all detail on the mini! I was dreading cleaning this thing up.

Thank you. 3D noob here and I really appreciate these videos. So much to learn.

As a novice getting into this, I find your videos truly invaluable, thanks :)

Thank you for posting this! I've been using Cura for a while with my Ender 3, but I never noticed the experimental options. I really like the idea of tree supports and this video answered all of my questions. Thanks again!

Thanks for this video, Chuck. I really like your deep dives into some of these great-but-not-too-obvious Cura features! Keep up the great work.

Absolutely love your channel! You’re videos are answering all of my questions I have for 3D printing for self designs to sell in the future. One of the best teachers online and hope to learn more from you

Fantastic video im still learning and this is very useful i didn't even know about the tree support thanks for posting

I haven't used Cura yet, but you're very close to having won me over to try it, Chuck! It appears to have surpassed Simplify3D in almost every area, and I think Simplify3D will struggle somewhat to get people to pay for the upcoming (probably still a year away) v5. Great video!

I like your explanation of how to do things using Cura one thing when you are working only with supports & tree support close the rest of the drop down lists so we can focus on the two your elaborating on. Thanks keep up the good work.

thanks for taking the time to explain all the options in setting this up. I know I have wasted so much material failure after failure...this helped SOOO much. Thank you.

I just say supportive words as my printer prints. no need to use cura for it. "you can do this! yeahhhhh! you got this!"

Thank you for this video. I haven't printed anything from a while now because I hate cleaning up supports. I am hoping these types of supports will fix that and I will 3D print a lot more often.

Great tutorial! You are a very good teacher sir! Thank you and happy new year

Thx for this video. Your channel is rising in my opinion, much more direct and helpful tips than many other similar channels provide. Keep it up! 👍

Been following your videos and they have been a huge help!! Just wanted to say thanks. I have also used your affiliate links to buy hardware and fittings. Thanks again and keep up the great work!

If you've got a dual extruder machine, you might use the support floor setting to add a layer of soluble filament at the bottom. Where it touches other parts of the model. Same with the top

Thank you very much. I worked according to your settings and the support came off easily while leaving clean area.

Definitely made me confident to give tree supports a try! As always great informative video Chep!

Excellent video! I appreciate how clearly you communicate things and how you demonstrate what you're talking about in a way that's easy to understand (and to replicate). Outstanding! I'm definitely coming back for more videos/plan to use what you've shown me as a reference for my own prints.

How interesting. I will have to keep this in mind when making my supports. Although, I’m curious what the difference in plastic consumption for the supports.

"Well let's get those nerds!" "Nerds!!" "NERDS!!!"

This gave me the confidence to alter the 'expert' support settings in Cura. Thanks, I needed that to fix my Enterprise 1701 builds at a 45 degree angle.

I started to use tree supports and I love them. They look bigger but uses less materials than standard support. I recommend using brims on these supports and avoid supports on travel.

thanks for helping all of us noobs and diy learners I been following you for a few weeks and your videos are helping me learn and understand cura and my ender 3

Thanx, Chuck! Now I know why I've got no trees with activated "Tree Support" option! Will try it when necessary.

Thank you for another great video. Your instructions are always very helpful.

That was a TREE-mendous video Chuck. 😃

I am new to 3D PRINTER world but I liked your explanation with proof. Keep up the good work.

One of my favourite 3d printing channels!!

Also noticed under the old supports it used 1.77m of filament to print. With Trees it used 1.52. So in addition to being faster you're using less material.

Never heard of a support roof. Thanks, I need this setting!

thank you for making these videos, youve helped me get well under way to printing my first few items today, already had a couple small prints and improved them already!!

Check, check and check again that you clicked the "generate support" option off when you use tree supports. I didn't and ended up with normal + tree supports and that combination was almost stronger than the model itself! Lots of swearing and working followed to clean the model.

This is an awesome find! Gearing up to print with the tree setting and the CHEP settings, thanks for the knowledge.

How cool would it be to have hand support, so the treeparts are actually pieces of hands who you could use as little parts for a d&d scene or boardgame. Or maybe some neat pillars. Do people make their own support which is also a fun print instead of just (recycle-able) junk filament? Or is it to inacurate/lot of work

I love these tree supports. So much easier to remove

Thanks your videos are the best to someone depressed like me.

I print a lot of scan the world sculptures, and they can be a nightmare to clean up so this has a TON of potential. Thanks Chep!

Took me a while to find tree support under Cura 4.0.0. It is under 'experimental'. I have just started using Cura with my new Creality cs10s 5s. Been used to tree support in Flashprint. Although tree trunks and branches in Flashprint are a lot narrower than those in your test prints under Cura.

Thank you for this. My wife and I think tree support will work great for our next print!

Cool! Thanks for sharing your settings and experience with this. Will update my printer profile.

There is a hidden setting in the software called «Limit Support Retractions» which is enabled by default. This basically overrides the retraction option, and is responsible for the following stringing you see between the supports. Before I knew about this, it caused numerous failures for me. If you’re not printing very brittle or flexible material, I would recommend turning this option off.

Great exposition as always. Tried the tree support on some figurines recently (really nice chess pieces with Egyptian themed tops, by user Zorum on Thingiverse) and I was very impressed, both in the print results minimising cleanup, and the reduction in print time/plastic waste. A different trick with structural models like this that I've used before and been very happy with, is adding to elements to the model to turn the overhangs into bridges (can't remember who I picked it up from, sorry). In this case it'd be rectangular towers under each floating end, attached one-wall thick along the outside edge at the top for reasonably easy separation with a craft knife (I use OpenSCAD which is a bit niche, but they're also easy to add to an STL manually in Windows 10 3D Builder). There's a whole bunch of relatively new bridge management features in Cura and along with decent part cooling this can give very good results for minimal waste plastic.

I've been experimenting with trees while printing tabletop minis. You would not want the regular supports, as they would usually need to be placed on the base, and worse, on the miniature. No nerds, aside from us around the table. :) Thus far, works quite well.

Great video thanks. Made a big difference in a part I was struggling to print and also my learning curve in 3D printing

in the start i didn't know what nerds ment XD (Loved the video) (:

Great information Chuck! Thank you!

Thanks for the info! I would suggest showing how to activate those settings a little earlier though; I was like "where are the checkboxes he's talking about?" Until the end when you showed how to activate those settings lol

Awesome Chuck! Thanks for the info !

Clearest video of this I’ve ever seen.

Thank you! I saw another video on the exact same topic but you explained it much more clearly, very newbie-friendly.

Hi, you mentioned doing a brim around the whole thing, or just under support, but, didn't show how to choose between those options. I'd like to learn this. Thanks! :)

Great video chuck, I love tree supports for some of my prints. I've found however the main drawback of tree supports is on larger models. The supports tend to be less rigid than zig zag and as they get taller they start to get wobbly and fragile. They also get incredibly intricate towards their top which makes for lots of fast micro-movements on your printer. Not a problem if you're printing on a stable surface but the steppers could get noisy. As with anything, there's no silver bullet support structure, gotta figure out what suits the needs of each individual model. If anyone has different experiences with tree supports, do share!

Sure am loving your filament friday videos, lots of great insight here! Can't wait to try those new retraction settings too you showed...thanks for the great videos!!

I'm using standard supports and I find that often the supports are so thick and so attached I either can't get the off or half my manager comes with it! I have one miniature that the supports is so thick I can't get a snap around it. And I can always see maybe a third of the miniature poking out at the top. I've seen online supports that are like a crisscrossed sin rounded support. It looks like we're just snapped right off. Where are they how do I get them and how they hard to integrate into the system? If anyone wants to help I have to warn you I just got my printer I'm about as I'm text savvy as they come. But any help would be appreciated.

Damnn tree support saves a ton of material for me! very informative thanks :)

thanks for the vid. Real helpfull for a newly 3dpriter

I had a friend tell me that tree supports were a lot better. I'm new to 3D printing and I've printed a few things and they turned out good and some didn't because I didn't have supports. I'm going to try one again using tree supports.