CuraMultiSlice

A plugin for the slicing software Cura by Ultimaker. This plugin allows the user to load, slice, and export gcode files for a series of model files. Model files are found by the plugin based on an input directory and a regex file pattern.

Every model will be sliced with the settings that are currently applied in the main window of Cura.

TODO

• output log signals are currently broken under Windows

Installation

UNIX-based systems

# clone the repository and change directory
$ git clone https://github.com/Badgie/CuraMultiSlice.git
$ cd CuraMultiSlice

# setup the directory structure in the cura plugin directory
# on linux systems, this is usually ~/.local/share/cura/<VERSION>/plugins
# note that it is important to make both directories
$ mkdir -p /path/to/cura/plugins/MultiSlice/MultiSlice

# copy the necessary files to the plugin directory
$ cp __init__.py /path/to/cura/plugins/MultiSlice/MultiSlice
$ cp MultiSlice.py /path/to/cura/plugins/MultiSlice/MultiSlice
$ cp MultiSliceView.qml /path/to/cura/plugins/MultiSlice/MultiSlice
$ cp plugin.json /path/to/cura/plugins/MultiSlice/MultiSlice

MultiSlice is now installed, and can be found in the "Extensions" menu item in Cura.

Windows

• Download and extract CuraMultiSlice
• Locate your Cura installation (usually C:/Program Files/Ultimaker Cura <VERSION>)
  • In this folder, under plugins, make a folder MultiSlice with a folder of the same name under that, such that C:/Program Files/Ultimaker Cura <VERSION>/plugins/MultiSlice/MultiSlice exists.
• From CuraMultiSlice, copy __init__.py, MultiSlice.py, MultiSliceView.qml, and plugin.json to C:/Program Files/Ultimaker Cura <VERSION>/plugins/MultiSlice/MultiSlice

CuraMultiSlice should now be installed.

Usage

To access MultiSlice navigate to Extensions > MultiSlice > Configure and run in the toolbar menu. The following dialog should pop up:

File name pattern

The file name pattern should be a regex that defines the name of the files that should be searched for.

Leaving this field blank will default to using .*.stl, i.e. every file found with the .stl suffix.

Root directory

The root directory is the directory to search for files in.

Output directory

The output directory is where the .gcode files are written to.

Follow directories

The Follow directories checkbox will enable/disable traversal of sub-directories when searching for files.

Checking this option will enable two more options; Max depth and Preserve directories in output

Max depth

The Max depth field will take an integer between 0 and 9 (inclusive). This value denotes the maximum depth of nested directories that MultiSlice will traverse.

Leaving this field blank will default to using 0, i.e. only the root directory will be searched.

Preserve directories in output

The Preserve directories in output checkbox will enable/disable preserving the same directory structure in the output directory as it was in the root directory.

Example

For the following, assume

• a regex file pattern some_.*.stl, i.e. any .stl file prefixed with some_
• /some/input/directory as the root directory
• /some/output/directory as the output directory

Also assume that /some/input/directory contains

/some/input/directory
--- some_nested_directory
|     --- another_nested_directory
|     |     --- some_doubly_nested_file.stl
|     |     --- another_doubly_nested_file.stl
--- another_nested_directory
|     --- some_nested_file.stl
|     --- another_nested_file.gcode
--- some_file.stl
--- some_cooler_file.stl
--- another_file.stl

Running MultiSlice without further settings would produce the following

/some/output/directory
--- some_file.gcode
--- some_cooler_file.gcode

Follow directories

Running MultiSlice with Follow directories enabled and no further settings will produce the same result as above.

Max depth

Running MultiSlice with a max depth of 1 will produce the following

/some/output/directory
--- some_file.gcode
--- some_cooler_file.gcode
--- some_nested_file.gcode

and a max depth of 2 will produce the following

/some/output/directory
--- some_file.gcode
--- some_cooler_file.gcode
--- some_nested_file.gcode
--- some_doubly_nested_file.gcode

Preserve directories in output

Running MultiSlice with Preserve directories in output enabled and a max depth of 1 will produce the following

/some/output/directory
--- another_nested_directory
|     --- some_nested_file.gcode
--- some_file.gcode
--- some_cooler_file.gcode

and a max depth of 2 will produce the following

/some/output/directory
--- some_nested_directory
|     --- another_nested_directory
|     |     --- some_doubly_nested_file.gcode
--- another_nested_directory
|     --- some_nested_file.gcode
--- some_file.gcode
--- some_cooler_file.gcode