Anycubic - which slicer software

[RBrodzinsky]

I just ordered a Photon S, yesterday, and have started figuring out the Anycubic slicer program. I see some of the YouTube videos where people use other slicers, such as chitubox. Just wondering if those of you who have been doing this for a while have switched to another program, or are happy with what Anycubic has?

[Wolf N Works]

I use chitubox it is far better or at least in my opinion

[C855B]

I use chitubox as well.

[narrowminded]

So far I have only used the slicer that came with the Photon.  I don't try to use automatic support features but place each manually.  I have also designed some supports into my parts at the design stage, knowing what I want and where based on exposed faces and such.  I have found that combination to be adequate this far but I also haven't tried anything else so maybe I'm missing out on a good tool.  I should try a different one some day.

When I first got the printer and tried the automatic support feature it was obvious that it would be a disaster both by where they placed the supports and also the frequency of them.  Too many in some areas and not nearly enough in others.  After only one print I realized that and after second or third print where I would look at the auto placement and then edit from there, I have not used any auto features and have just been placing supports as I saw the need.  Size of support, frequency, and clearance for getting at them for removal after it's printed are the areas that I find most important and with just a little experience those become easier to recognize.  I also don't use a raft as often any more but that also depends on the nature of the part being printed.

If nothing else, make sure that you use plenty of exposure time for your first few layers to be sure you are attached to the build plate.  I use eight bottom layers at 115 seconds on everything and then for most resins, 12 to 18 seconds at .05mm build layers.  I've never had any issues with attachment and seldom have any other issues that weren't of my creation using those settings. 

There's a learning curve but it's not bad and the product is really pretty darn good.

[John]

I've been using CHITUBOX as well ..

This guy has a really good channel .. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbv2mDrRqXovPdahRyoCFhA


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[Mark W]

So far I have only used the slicer that came with the Photon.  I don't try to use automatic support features but place each manually.  I have also designed some supports into my parts at the design stage, knowing what I want and where based on exposed faces and such.  I have found that combination to be adequate this far but I also haven't tried anything else so maybe I'm missing out on a good tool.  I should try a different one some day.

This is exactly my method as well.  It's a process that's worked for me since I started, so I haven't had a need to explore alternatives. 

Has anyone used both?  Is there anything specifically one might have that is an advantage over the other, or is it really just two tools that do the same thing?

[C855B]

... Has anyone used both?  Is there anything specifically one might have that is an advantage over the other, or is it really just two tools that do the same thing?

Yes, and I think they're the same code base. The original Photon slicer and previous version of chitubox were in effect the same program. I'm using chitubox now because it's available in a Linux version and the latest Photon slicer is Win/Mac only, with the Mac version requiring MacOS 10.13 and above (I run 10.10).

[narrowminded]

OK, I just viewed some videos and it seems like there could be some benefit to Chitu if you were printing large shapes that would be solids but wasteful of material.  Their hollowing feature may have some benefit for those pieces.  But that one doesn't seem to have anything at all going for it on the auto support, having the exact same issues that the Photon slicer had with missing some areas and then overdoing other areas.  Best to place supports manually with either. 

And even on the hollowing feature it seems that it's not a 100% thing in that there will be internal supports needed at times and that feature does nothing for that.  It may be a little cleaner screen and format in general but I just don't know.  I will probably try it sometime in the future but don't expect it to be anything magic with most of the same critical support considerations required with either one. 

I guess that in summary, as far as I can tell it wouldn't be necessary and has no magic answers to fix prints failing, if that's the user's issue.  Both can fail and for the same reasons.  It may have convenience benefits and might have a true benefit if you're printing lumpy stuff that could benefit from hollowing out.  And the advice on identifying critical support areas as outlined in the Chitu slicer videos I watched are correct and apply exactly the same to the Photon slicer.

Understand, this is just an opinion from using the Photon slicer only but I have used it a fair amount so it's not without some understanding of what the support issues are and how to address them.  This is where the learning curve is needed and don't look to a slicer program to shortcut that for you.

[Mark W]

Oh wait.  Undo!  Does Chitubox have an undo feature?  If so, I'm switching immediately!

[narrowminded]

Oh wait.  Undo!  Does Chitubox have an undo feature?  If so, I'm switching immediately!

You might have something there.   I have done more than a few total do-overs that might have been easily corrected with an undo feature.  But they're generally not that bad although it can be the longest 2-3 minutes of your life.  

This is an example of where I remarked that it seems like it may have some convenience benefits but nothing that's fundamental to getting good prints.  The biggest thing that the slicer is needed for, the supports and their potential for errors, are the same with both as far as I can tell.

[John]

Chitubox is more advanced -- for sure .. It also has a much better interface for moving things around ..  it's also updated fairly often ..

[RBrodzinsky]

Oh wait.  Undo!  Does Chitubox have an undo feature?  If so, I'm switching immediately!

It seems to have a partial undo feature.   Some actions can be undone, but not all.   You cannot undo a delete, for example, but can undo a move or rotate.

Played with both, yesterday.  Even without a printer, I can already see what folks say about auto-support.  For most of the simple parts I was using to test my skills on, both would have failed.  I don't like that Chitubox is telling me all my parts are too small.  I know they are small, they are n-scale!  But, I also know, from most of you, that these printers make wonderful n-scale detailed parts (now, if we could ever get to 1 micron resolution!).   But I do like the way to rotate in Chitubox.   Will have to see

New question -- what size supports do you all use?  Lots of the videos talk about the heavy supports, but those are for much larger models.  Is there a real difference between the supports in these programs?

[John]

The links to the videos where the guy does the supports -- he uses a lot of skinny ones, and only does heavy in certain areas ..

[narrowminded]

The links to the videos where the guy does the supports -- he uses a lot of skinny ones, and only does heavy in certain areas ..

This is one of the the things on the learning curve.  Progressing through the layers (either slicer) shows the plane line and offers a clue to the amount of material being cured at any given point as well as newly introduced, unsupported material, and that's the set of clues to the placement and amount of support needed.   I have found it often took less support than my intuition and all of the horror stories suggested but that's simply a "more than" or "less than" statement that offers no specific information.  Sometimes smaller engagement at the tip but more frequent is the answer but...  Again, part of the learning curve.  Don't be afraid to experiment a little, either slicer.

[CNR5529]

The links to the videos where the guy does the supports -- he uses a lot of skinny ones, and only does heavy in certain areas ..

I have been using those custom support settings with great success. Typically use large supports to anchor big models and add lots of very fine supports that are easy to remove after for the rest. If I am just doing detail parts, I will only use fine supports.

I use Chitubox for placing supports, and then export that stl file to photon workshop. I have found that slicing in workshop has generally given me better results. The same file sliced in both software will sometimes fail from chitubox but not workshop. Still trying to figure out why exactly, but it seems in workshop the parts peel from the FEP and retract faster, and this has caused less failures. A little counter intuitive, but that has been my experience on a number of identical slices in both software.