Services, Software updates
MakerBot Software | MakerBot Desktop 3.8 – 30% faster!
Nov
At MakerBot, we are continuously developing our products to give our customers the best possible 3D printing experience. The latest example is MakerBot Desktop 3.8, which allows you to print objects 30% faster and with stronger infill structures.
UPGRADE TO MAKERBOT DESKTOP 3.8 NOW!
“MakerBot’s latest software update allows our customers to turn their ideas into physical objects faster by combining high-speed printing with one-click 3D printing,” said Nadav Goshen, President of MakerBot. “MakerBot’s leading 3D printing ecosystem combines hardware with software and applications to provide a seamless 3D printing experience unlike any other in the industry today.”
Better and faster 3D printing
MakerBot Desktop offers several different fill textures, allowing you to optimize your prints for strength or speed. With MakerBot Desktop 3.8, the “Diamond” fill texture has also been added. In tests with this texture, most designs (e.g. Brilliant Cut Diamond by Cymon) became firmer and printing time was reduced by 30% compared to MakerBot Desktop 3.6.*
MakerBot has an in-house team that is dedicated to continuously improving print speed and quality through new slicing algorithms. Slicing is the process that converts 3D designs into 3D printable files. The product of this teamwork is the new “diamond” filling structure, which allows the extruder to move faster when making turns and curves. The “diamond” infill structure is also printed more consistently than other infill structures, which also makes it structurally stronger.
The improvements in print speed are a result of the “diamond” infill structure combined with the variable layer heights introduced in MakerBot Desktop 3.7. With the variable layer heights, the interior/infill of a 3D print can be printed with a higher layer height than the outer layers/shell. The higher the layer height of the infill structure is set, the faster the overall print will be.
Better print time calculation
Want to know when your 3D print will be ready? MakerBot Desktop 3.8 also includes a new, improved algorithm for print time calculation, so your print will now be ready when you expect it.
One Click 3D printing
MakerBot Desktop 3.8 optimizes the print flow with one-click 3D printing. You no longer have to wait for the slicing process to complete before you can start printing. Your 3D print will now start immediately after slicing. So this release is all about getting you from design to 3D print faster.
Update details
Do the MakerBot Desktop Update today if you have a MakerBot Replicator, Replicator 2, MakerBot Replicator 2Xor one of the 5th generation MakerBot Replicator 3D printers (MakerBot Replicator Mini, MakerBot Replicator or MakerBot Replicator Z18).
Thing-O-Matic users: You should stick with MakerBot Desktop 3.7 or earlier.
After you have installed MakerBot Desktop 3.8, you should also update your 3D printer with the firmware 1.8. . Take advantage of the fact that MakerBot 3D printers can be connected to Wi-Fi, this allows you to update future firmware versions directly from the 3D printer.
Firmware 1.8
- Pressure-flow improvements (“clear build plate” before slicing)
- Cancelled/Completed status for 3D prints
- Firmware update from the 5th generation 3D printer LCD interface
- New easy-to-read printer “logs/log-files”
- Extruder error reduction (esp. error 65 and 1032)
- Print performance improvements
- Pressure suspension revised
About MakerBot Desktop 3.8 and firmware 1.8
MakerBot Desktop offers a complete, free 3D printing solution for discovering, managing and sharing your 3D prints. From MakerBot Desktop you have access to more than 1 million free designs in MakerBot Thingiversethe world’s largest 3D design community.
The MakerBot firmware allows you to take advantage of the latest developments and improvements to your MakerBot 3D printer.
*Only applies to 3D printers with infill structure.
