Cura with Flashforge Creator Pro?

[Joymaker]

Don't use cura to talk directly to the printer. The thing that doesn't read gcode directly is your printer. Makerbots and clones use x3g protocol. Use cura to do the slicing and then use gpx or RepG to convert the gcode to x3g for the SD card. You'll particularly need to get the start and and gcode to be correct for your printer.

I understand x3g for the SD card. But i don't use an SD card (yet), I use a direct connection. Can't see the virtue in handing an extra bit of hardware from one machine to the other unless I needed to take the computer somewhere else. So does your comment still apply?

[Joymaker]

don't think repg has been updated for a decade or two :-)

During the period I was waiting for a 3D printer I tried most of them and liked cura the most.
But simplify3d is hands down the best and if you print more than one thing a week - it's well worth the money.

Aardvark, you have convinced me. I was teetering on the edge and now I'm going for Simplify3d.

[warkmal]

I understand x3g for the SD card. But i don't use an SD card (yet), I use a direct connection. Can't see the virtue in handing an extra bit of hardware from one machine to the other unless I needed to take the computer somewhere else. So does your comment still apply?

Yes, still applies. The printer itself doesn't understand gcode directly over the wire or from an SD card. You can only use printer hosts that understand and send x3g protocol (ie not Cura).

At higher speeds you'll get better results from the SD card because you'll avoid pauses due to serial communication interruption (even 10ms pauses are sufficient to cause a zit on your print). You can avoid passing it back and forth by using a FlashAir and putting things on the SD card wirelessly.

That said, these days I mostly print from OctoPrint running on a Raspberry Pi connected to the printer via USB and upload gcode directly to that. But that's because I want to put as many hours on my plugin as possible for testing purposes.

[Joymaker]

When I tried using Makerware it just kept saying "Connecting..." forever. Console log showed that it was correctly seeing and identifying the printer. Is there some simple trick to this?