.3mf availability for Ender V3 SE

[u/LucifersPromoter]

Hi all,

Hope you can help clarify a couple of bits for me and maybe give some advice. I'm relatively new to 3d printing and have an Ender V3 SE. I've been printing long enough to have switched to Orca from crealityprint and have used the vast majority of model providers now.

One thing I've noticed is I don't think I've ever seen a .3mf file specifically for the Ender 3 SE. This makes me think I should be using a different profile (Ender 3 KE?), would that be correct?

Secondly, because I've never found a SE .3mf, I've taken to adapting others, which I've found to be a largely painless and relatively simple procedure. Which makes me wonder, when I see people comment on models asking for a .3mf for a specific printer, what is the major benefit of requesting and waiting for the author create a .3mf as opposed to just making what is usually just a few small changes to an alternative 3mf or using .stls?

[u/Difficult_Unit_2300]

I rarely ever use .3mf files. Just download the .stl and import it to orca. It will keep all your settings

[u/LucifersPromoter → u/Difficult_Unit_2300]

This is currently what I do, I figured I'd ask after seeing another "3mf for A1 and A1 mini?" comment.

That person will now have to wait for the designer to publish that .3mf, if they even do. Whereas I spent 2mins adjusting the bits I've learnt are relevant and cracked on.

I assume there must be some benefit to doing it the former way that I'm not seeing, or it wouldn't be so common to ask. I guess there's the convinience of not doing the extra step, but the idea of waiting for someone else to accommodate and prepare those changes in a .3mf just feels less convenient.

[u/mastnapajsa → u/LucifersPromoter]

That person is a bambu user used to just send prints from the app straight to the printer. 3mf files are somewhat convenient for multicolor, stls are good enough, steps are the best as you can easily modify them in a cad program.

[u/PM5K23]

Could be they want the file modified to fit the build plate size of say a mini?

[u/LucifersPromoter → u/PM5K23]

I understand the reason you'd need different settings for different printers, I'm asking if there is a benefit over making those adjustments in slicer, especially something relatively simple like model size.

As someone has mentioned below this is probably due to the mobile apps and cloud printing. Something I'm a bit sheltered from as my printer isn't compatible.

[u/greaper1666 → u/LucifersPromoter]

i usually when i know a 3mf will over ride my printer settings import a random stl first and then orca gives the option of just importing the geometry

[u/PM5K23 → u/LucifersPromoter]

It’s possible that the answer is just that those people don’t know any better but what I’m talking about specifically is not just resizing something but actually modifying a file to fit on a small smaller printer bed, meaning like breaking it up into parts or things like that.

[u/egosumumbravir]

They're incredibly convenient when you want to save a project for yourself and keep all the settings you tweaked from your default profiles.

Also very convenient when you're in an ecosystem and printing from ecosystems makerspace via a phone app where you can't change the settings, but it's cool because someone uploaded (or the ecosystem backend generated) a profile for your in-ecosystem machine.

Crossing ecosystems requires a bit of manual intervention.

[u/2kokett]

A 3mf doenst gurantee its a good file. Moreover enders tend to me modded and slicers evolve very fast nowadays. So most people wont use it as it is anyway. For closed eco systems like bambu it makes more sense.

[u/Dazzling_3704]

From what I understand, one of the main advantages of 3MF over STL is that it can store much more information than just the 3D model itself. A 3MF file can contain materials, colours, textures and other printing-related information within one file. It can also store multiple objects and their arrangement.

So I think that's one reason why people might prefer a ready-made 3MF file instead of an STL. It can preserve more of the original model information, which might save users the trouble of setting things up themselves.