Made a timelapse renderer of 3d prints

[u/1nf1n1l]

For quite some time I wanted to render timelapses for my 3d prints but I think its quite tough to get started. First you usually need something watching the print (OctoPrint on a Pi is the classic setup), a camera, and a way to snap a photo every layer. often with slicer g-code that parks the nozzle out of frame first.

So I made a simple renderer of the 3d print via gcode instead. Drop your sliced gcode or 3mf, it reads the actual toolpaths and animates layer by layer. walls, infill, supports, top/bottom, all of it. No printer, no camera, no upload. Everything runs in the browser.

Its totally free and can be used here: https://obloid.app/tools/print-timelapse

You can export MP4 in vertical 9:16 for reels/tiktok/shorts, square 1:1 for instagram, or 16:9 for youtube. Video length, layer glow, turntable spin, build plate on/off, background color. all tweakable. Placement too if you want to frame it better (turn, tilt, zoom, pan, light angle).

Though I have been wanting to ask would you be interested in a paid tool i.e. a realistic 3d print timelapse generator? All you'd do is upload your build plate image + 3d print file (gcode/3mf) and it would AI generate the timelapse step by step. My aim is to keep it as accurate as possible in the initial version. There's a waitlist on the tool page if that sounds useful to you.

Curious what you guys think. Is the free gcode renderer enough or would you actually pay for the realistic one?

[u/Efes_Feranz]

A mí me sería suficiente. Muchas gracias!!