Quote Originally Posted by GamerDarling View Post
Still totally in budget for the near future.

How much manipulation can you do? For example, it's driving me nuts that on smaller prints I can't just duplicate the mesh so that I can print multiple pieces at once. On another print the original file I found doesn't have a flat bottom, and that's causing printing issues.

Would I be able to do those things with this software?
You can duplicate and print multiples on ALL the slicers I've seen and used. S3d will (it says) optimise the parts for faster printing. I usually do them by hand as I can put them closer together :-)
But yeah duplicating parts is a doddle. (but then it is with makerware, cura and slic3r as well)

The flat bottom thing, yeah sort of. With s3d you can move the model so the base is below the print bed.
You can do that with makerware as will, but makerware still prints the whole mode (weird but true) S3D ONLY prints the part above the printbed.
That's useful.

It all depends what printer you have. If you're printer is normal gcode compatible then cura or slic3r are probably just as good as s3d for 90% of printing requirements.

The biggest issue I have with s3d is the fact that it only prints alternate layers in it's infill. This creates really weak models that snap sideways very easily.
For strength I use makerware, the infill is contiguous. Ie it builds a solid honeycomb within the shell. This is really really strong.
Why s3d can't add in that feature - I don't know. It's the single worst thing about it.