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Made in ch
Regular Dakkanaut




Cananda

Whatever you don't buy the anycubic mono x. Every print failed due to the sensor not recognizing the z-axis, not t. The last test print I did also failed but then punched a hole in the FEP, ruining the screen forever.

I'm in the process of returning it through amazon. I'm lucky I bought it through amazon they tend to just throw things out without the hassle of checking it. Nearly had an 800$ paperweight.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/06/11 15:08:13


 
   
Made in us
Courageous Questing Knight





Texas

Yes, that Mars 3 looks like a super tasty printer and also look at the deals on the rest of the Mars series on their webpage - wow.

My Novella Collection is available on Amazon - Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi - https://www.amazon.com/Three-Roads-Dreamt-Michael-Leonard/dp/1505716993/

 
   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka




I got my 3d printer. Uniz Ibee. After 3 days buying it, I finally tried it out. Made to many mistakes, first print was a failure. Not even sure what I did wrong lol.

Back to Google and YouTube now and learn what to do.

Anyone know how I can use third party software like lyche (spelling?) or the other popular one (name eludes me at the moment) and then transfer it for Uniz Ibee?

So much to learn. Now I see why this is a hobby unto its self.

Agies Grimm:The "Learn to play, bro" mentality is mostly just a way for someone to try to shame you by implying that their metaphorical nerd-wiener is bigger than yours. Which, ironically, I think nerds do even more vehemently than jocks.

Everything is made up and the points don't matter. 40K or Who's Line is it Anyway?

Auticus wrote: Or in summation: its ok to exploit shoddy points because those are rules and gamers exist to find rules loopholes (they are still "legal"), but if the same force can be composed without structure, it emotionally feels "wrong".  
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

First up save yourself a lot of resin and do calibration prints first

https://ameralabs.com/blog/town-calibration-part/

Ameralabs town is a great one. Print it - clean it - cure it - show the 4 sides and top for feedback from people. It can greatly help you dial in settings right and saves you a lot of time and resin over printing models that might or might not fail.

2) Make sure your temperature for the environment is at least 20C or above (from what I can gather over 20 is mandatory for resins to work right; up to 30 results in improved performance; over 30 and things can start to tail off and at 35 things go wrong for some resins but it varies resin to resin)

3) The two popular support and slicing software packages are Lychee and Chitu. Chitu has recently released their improved pro-version, however its a very costly option right now. Lychee is much cheaper and to get started you likely don't need pro (it just unlocks full support adjustments and removes the banner add when you slice).

I can't say about working them with Uniz Ibee

A Blog in Miniature

3D Printing, hobbying and model fun! 
   
Made in gb
Leader of the Sept







Uniz Ibee isn’t supported on my install of lychee.

Please excuse any spelling errors. I use a tablet frequently and software keyboards are a pain!

Terranwing - w3;d1;l1
51st Dunedinw2;d0;l0
Cadre Coronal Afterglow w1;d0;l0 
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

You could create a supported model in Lychee, saving it as a lys (which keeps supports and model separate for easy editing) and then export it right after (file menu just below saving options) as an STL. I'd assume that would retain all the supports and it would just be an STL file then which Uniz could read.

A Blog in Miniature

3D Printing, hobbying and model fun! 
   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka




An update, I am trying to use Lychee Slicer 3. It does have an IBee setting and will be trying that now to see if it works.

Any benefit to buying the pro version? What am I missing by not using the pro version?

Agies Grimm:The "Learn to play, bro" mentality is mostly just a way for someone to try to shame you by implying that their metaphorical nerd-wiener is bigger than yours. Which, ironically, I think nerds do even more vehemently than jocks.

Everything is made up and the points don't matter. 40K or Who's Line is it Anyway?

Auticus wrote: Or in summation: its ok to exploit shoddy points because those are rules and gamers exist to find rules loopholes (they are still "legal"), but if the same force can be composed without structure, it emotionally feels "wrong".  
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

Pro Lychee has a few bonuses that I recall

1) You can use advanced mode when adding supports. This basically means you can do whatever you want with them. By pressing spacebar (enables advanced mode) you can move the start end end point of the "joints" of the support; drag them around, shift things. You can even make a support go to "nowhere" which can be useful as you can then branch off lots of little supports from that.

2) A few raft types including the very popular line triangle raft

3) No ad when slicing

4) A few other features that I can't recall.

Honestly its a tiny cost per month and the more you get into 3D printing the more the advanced features will become useful.

The basic free version does most of what you need when getting started and if you're using pre-supported models you don't have to have pro at all.




A Blog in Miniature

3D Printing, hobbying and model fun! 
   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka




Thank you very much Overread. Greatly appreciated.

Agies Grimm:The "Learn to play, bro" mentality is mostly just a way for someone to try to shame you by implying that their metaphorical nerd-wiener is bigger than yours. Which, ironically, I think nerds do even more vehemently than jocks.

Everything is made up and the points don't matter. 40K or Who's Line is it Anyway?

Auticus wrote: Or in summation: its ok to exploit shoddy points because those are rules and gamers exist to find rules loopholes (they are still "legal"), but if the same force can be composed without structure, it emotionally feels "wrong".  
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

No problem - Lychee is a powerful tool and the developers of it are pretty active and reactive to feedback on their discord channel.

I often think Chitu is more like software made by someone who tells you what features you want/need whilst Lychee is made for what you need. Which represents itself in differences in how the software works, what features there are and even what's behind the pay-wall (eg chitu locks "better" auto supporting behind their pay wall)

A Blog in Miniature

3D Printing, hobbying and model fun! 
   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran





Elegoo Saturn is awesome. If you can afford even bigger get the Jupiter
   
Made in us
Courageous Questing Knight





Texas

Yeah, the Jupiter seems awesome, but just not sure I need it that big until resin prices get cheaper. It would take $40 just to get enough resin in the vat to print!

I recently jumped in on a Saturn a few months back and it is such a great machine. I abused my Mars (basic 2nd series, not a Pro) for almost two years and had nothing but great prints, albeit a few LCD replacements, which were cheap and easy. But I probably had 600-700 print runs during that time.

I will say if you did go with the Mars 3 with the higher resolution and all to make a mostly minis, that was a super solid choice. While you may not be able to fit the 30-40 minis on a build plate you can on the Saturn, you should get better prints and have a solid machine.

My Novella Collection is available on Amazon - Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi - https://www.amazon.com/Three-Roads-Dreamt-Michael-Leonard/dp/1505716993/

 
   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran





The Mars is awesome. I can print a few dozen marines. Or I can print a super heavy tank. It’s amazing the stuff you can fit in the build plate. And the quality of the prints is excellent. You may have issues sometimes but it’s because you didn’t orient thing rights or didn’t have enough supports. But you cannot go wrong with it.
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




I've been researching this the past several weeks. Like most I was bouncing between Anycubic, Elegoo, and Phrozen. I eliminated Anycubic because aftermarket issues seem to be handled poorly, ie they are out of stock in replacement parts and you're SOL til they get them. I can't remember why I eliminated the Phrozen, perhaps because the cost didn't justify a higher price or there was something that seemed like a good design idea but in practice was annoying. Either way I landed with wanting Elegoo.

Now, do I want the Mars 2 Pro, Saturn, or new Mars 3? Well, I don't expect to be printing hundreds of mind's, massive figures, or in a rush to get stuff done so Saturn is out. I've watched several comparison and review videos regarding the Mars 3 and the ONLY notable difference in end result is time to produce. Everything else is fluff. Minor larger build plate, 4k vs 2k. This doesn't affect quality of the mini, proven in the comparison videos on YouTube. You want better quality, go smaller layers .03mm instead of 0.05mm. And that's for looking under a microscope or very slight improvement. The Mars 3 won't be available until November if you didn't pre-order, I spoke directly with a rep.

So what do you get for $60 more, slightly larger build plate and faster build time. Oh and if you want the sleek look. The rest is numbers that you won't care about a couple runs in. Thus waiting til November, the noted z axis wobble, and the fact that if you want a cleaning and cure station you need the new X model to fit the bigger build plate instead of the plus, which is two machines instead of one (up to you if that's positive or negative), might as well go Mars 2 Pro.
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

Just note that with a 3D print there are 2 axis of resolution. There's the Z axis which is what you mean when you talk about using a smaller layer; and then there's the X/Y which are controlled by the resolution of the screen and light setup underneath.

For example the Sonic Mini 4K gets to around 0.035mm in X/Y resolution (often said as 35um). Companies don't make this as apparent as the screen resolution itself in marketing, mostly because smaller prints would always appear better compared to bigger ones (4K resolution at 6 inches is going to be finer than 4K spread out over 12 inches).


There are some Z axis issues with the Mars 3 and one person I know has noted that the build plate wobbles side to side a bit in its housing. Phrozen seem to be getting their Z axis sorted out with an upgrade (I assume new machines from them will come with it and its being sold as an aftermarket upgrade kit going on sale end of October or you can buy it direct from them right now but shipping is not cheap).


A Blog in Miniature

3D Printing, hobbying and model fun! 
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




If you have a printer you know more than I do as all my knowledge is from reading or watching videos, however I believe the xy for the Mars 2 Pro is .050mm versus the Mars 3 aand Sonic Mini at .035mm. That said, it's a 15 micrometer difference. Your eyes can't pick that up. Again, stats and specs versus reality. If you can show clear quality improvement visible to the naked eye then sure, the lower is practically better, but if you aren't making jewelry casting mold pieces, that 15 micrometer won't matter on a mini.
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

Sadly I've only got the one printer so I can't cross compare things. However finer grained resolutions won't just be about detail levels, but also about the crispness of detail edges and the smoothness of gradients and the like.

We are indeed into areas that are subtle though and not night and day different. 3D printing for the consumer has fasted entered a phase where quality is now small gains rather than night and day differences. Though its interesting to see that projector screen systems are also starting to make an appearance (there's two being kickstarted right now). They appear to show much crisper than even 4K resolution on detail edges; though there's some speculation that they might not yet be good enough on all details (some worry that they are over-sharp on layer lines); but until they are out in the wild its hard to say



Certainly the Mars 2 Pro remains VERY popular as a good quality starter printer.

A Blog in Miniature

3D Printing, hobbying and model fun! 
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




Yes, the DLP hobbyist printer KS almost had me at the point why you see the angry detective ripping down his case files with all the connecting lines off the wall because they arrested the wrong guy who got framed.

Then I realized that as someone who also only wants one printer, I'm not going to buy in on new tech for my first time. Sure, DLP is used commercially but at a whole different level. There will be bugs and kinks to work out. I want tried and true with a wealth of resources as a newbie. I'll let the officianados cut their teeth on the new tech, work out any issues, and maybe join them in a few years on DLP.
   
Made in gb
Leader of the Sept







Then the apparent choice is to go with the Mars 2. Its available, established and the quality from it is plenty good for a first foray into the field.

Please excuse any spelling errors. I use a tablet frequently and software keyboards are a pain!

Terranwing - w3;d1;l1
51st Dunedinw2;d0;l0
Cadre Coronal Afterglow w1;d0;l0 
   
Made in es
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer






HeroesFall wrote:
If you have a printer you know more than I do as all my knowledge is from reading or watching videos, however I believe the xy for the Mars 2 Pro is .050mm versus the Mars 3 aand Sonic Mini at .035mm. That said, it's a 15 micrometer difference. Your eyes can't pick that up. Again, stats and specs versus reality. If you can show clear quality improvement visible to the naked eye then sure, the lower is practically better, but if you aren't making jewelry casting mold pieces, that 15 micrometer won't matter on a mini.


That is correct, 0.05 vs 0.035 on the xy axis.

I'll probably be able to do some comparisons soonish, as my Mars 3 just arrived.
   
Made in us
Courageous Questing Knight





Texas

I can say on my Mars (basic model) compared to my Saturn, you are very correct that it is not necessarily the x/y resolution giving you prints you can tell are better when comparing the .050 v .047 v .035, but calibrating your machine up front based on the resin is key.

I never ran any exposure tests on my Mars and always had what I thought were great prints (they always came out good), which has the .047 res, but with the Saturn and a .050 res (basically the same) I did run exposure tests to dial the exposure time AND the light-off delay time based on my favorite resin - wow, what a difference!!

So, go with the Mars 2 Pro with the mono LCD for long life, settle in on a resin you will predominantly use, run exposure tests (takes literally 2-3 minutes), be sure to learn how supports work and support your models well and you will have a pleasureable and long printing life!!

Welcome to the club!

My Novella Collection is available on Amazon - Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi - https://www.amazon.com/Three-Roads-Dreamt-Michael-Leonard/dp/1505716993/

 
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

What resin you pick certainly plays a big part. Some of the higher end technical resins can achieve levels of detail and sharpness that lower end resins can't achieve even with the best printing machines.


An interesting mix I read of recently from someone else was mixing AMD-3 with Phrozen Aqua 4K in a ratio of 6:1. The AMD-3 is a high end detail/model resin, but is more brittle. Aqua 4K is still a high detail resin, but not as good, however its a far more durable resin once cured. Mixing the two gives you a high performance higher durability resin.

A Blog in Miniature

3D Printing, hobbying and model fun! 
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




I want to express thanks that no one is getting irritated with what I've said. I want to express that I'm not trying to come across as an expert. Just someone who has myself gotten frustrated with so many options and as a technical person, I love numbers. In this case, however it seems to be a rabbit hole of options, as someone else expressed, paralysis by analysis, when you don't really gain much of anything (barring faster print time or larger print area).

Once I get my printer I will 110% be asking you guys for pointers and help. I'm elated to see this section of the forum. Like water washable resin. I read that supposedly it shrinks more, but all the videos I've watched of people printing with water washable NONE of them said they had to rescale their minis to achieve 32mm or whatever scale they were going for. Another example, exposure, no idea what, how, or why I need to optimize that.


For reference, here are the videos I was referring too regarding the Mars 3 vs Mars 2 Pro. If you plan to print a lot of minis, I 100% think getting the 3 over the 2 Pro is a good idea (assuming the z-axis movement is resolved in the production run). Grats to the person that just received theirs.

Hellstorm Wargaming:
https://youtu.be/d8-FEJW2-1I


Uncle Jessy:
https://youtu.be/1pXK0EY9AlA

VOG:
https://youtu.be/PxYBfWP_sDk
   
Made in us
Willing Inquisitorial Excruciator






HeroesFall wrote:
I believe the xy for the Mars 2 Pro is .050mm versus the Mars 3 aand Sonic Mini at .035mm. That said, it's a 15 micrometer difference. Your eyes can't pick that up.

You absolutely can tell the difference. It's not a direct comparison because of mono screen versus not, but I have some side by side comparisons on my thread. OG Photon vs Sonic Mini 4K. Pictures aren't the best but the most glaring difference for XY resolution increase is in the small details. Much sharper on the Mini 4K prints.

   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




If you went to a mono screen from an RGB screen, I'd say it's clearly the reason, which I dont think anyone would debate mono does better than RGB in detail. If you did have a mono on the first as well, disregard.


That said, looks like you used a different resin. Were all your parameters on the same except xy? Otherwise it's an invalid comparison. The videos I posted were same resin, same parameters, all on mono screens.
   
Made in us
Willing Inquisitorial Excruciator






HeroesFall wrote:
If you went to a mono screen from an RGB screen, I'd say it's clearly the reason, which I dont think anyone would debate mono does better than RGB in detail. If you did have a mono on the first as well, disregard.


That said, looks like you used a different resin. Were all your parameters on the same except xy? Otherwise it's an invalid comparison. The videos I posted were same resin, same parameters, all on mono screens.

The prints that I have pictures of aren't a 1:1 comparison, and I said that, but I have seen a 1:1 in the flesh.

You 100% can tell the difference in 35um vs 50um XY is really all I wanted to point out. My point still stands, even if my example wasn't the best support for it.

For the rest, enjoy the ride. You seem to be massively over-analyzing to me, but you do you. You will settle on something eventually and then you will find out what a rabbit hole this hobby really is. lol

Personally, I'm waiting until DLP is a bit more commonplace for my next toy. The Solus was a nice printer but really pricey. Anycubic's new offering has me interested but cautiously so. Having said that, the Sonic Mini 4K is excellent for miniatures, available right now, and would be my recommendation for the time being.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/09/25 01:20:47


   
Made in gb
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





UK

Just in case anyone else is in the market for a new entry level printer, I'll throw in a recommendation for the Voxelab Proxima. It's basically the same spec as a Mars 2 or Photon Mono in terms of resolution, size and screen, but at least in the UK on Amazon it's usually £40-60 cheaper. I got one a few weeks back to replace my dead Photon and it's an excellent machine giving me very reliable and high-quality prints even with settings eyeballed from my Photon ones rather than properly calibrated. The screen might be ever so slightly less powerful than the competetion (printing at 3.5s at 0.04mm versus the 2.5ish I often see quoted for the Mars) but it's still printing almost twice as fast as my Photon was and the consistency is superb.

Surprisingly, given it's cheaper, you also get a metal vat instead of the plastic one I believe the Mars 2 and Photon Mono come with, and the build quality in general seems very robust. I can pnly assume the price is drawn from a) the fact that Voxelab (a part of Flashforge, actually) are able to build them cheaper, or b) a deliberate attempt to get into the market undercutting the two bigger players.

 
   
Made in es
Inquisitorial Keeper of the Xenobanks






your mind

Valuable thread. I will be checking this thread in the next months as I gear up get in. Anyways just want to post thanks for the discussion. I hope that people will continue to post and update…

   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

Just keep in mind its a very rapidly changing market. In 6 months the best printer might be something else entirely.

A Blog in Miniature

3D Printing, hobbying and model fun! 
   
Made in us
Courageous Questing Knight





Texas

That is right, as there only seem to be incremental changes at the price point casual hoobyists want to pay. The more expensive ones do leap a bit more and you pay for it. As the technology gets older, it gets cheaper and other printers will follow suit with features and benefits only on costly machines now.

I am super happy with my Saturn right now with the build size and print quality. Sure, there are some a bit bigger, slightly better printing, but will hold any upgrading for quite some time until the laser DLP printers get as big a build area as the Saturn at the sub-$500 price (I will be waiting for a while I think, but you never know!)

My Novella Collection is available on Amazon - Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi - https://www.amazon.com/Three-Roads-Dreamt-Michael-Leonard/dp/1505716993/

 
   
 
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