OpenSCAD 2015.03 has been released!

http://www.openscad.org/news.html#20150310

OpenSCAD 2015.03 has just been released!

This release adds a number of features which has been in development for some time. Most prominent are text(), offset() and list comprehension functionality, as well as a better editor and other GUI improvements implemented during last year’s Google Summer of Code.

The source code, as well as binaries for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux are ready for download.

Lots of thanks go to everyone who have contributed to this release through development, translation, bug reports, bug fixes, documentation, discussions, as well as testing the development snapshots!

A summary of changes since last release follows.

Take care,
-Marius

Summary of changes

Language Features
» Added text() module for 2D text
» Added offset() module for 2D offsets
» Added list comprehensions and let()
» Added concat() function
» Added chr() function
» surface() can now take PNG images as input
» min() and max() can now take a vector argument
» 2D minkowski can now handle polygons with holes
» Variables can now be assigned in local blocks without using assign()

Program Features
» Added Toolbar icons
» New code editor based on QScintilla
» Added Splash screen
» Added SVG export
» Added AMF export
» Added --viewall and --autocenter cmd-line parameters
» GUI is now translated into German, Czech, Spanish, French and Russian
» MDI (Multiple Document Interface) is now available on all platforms
» Color schemes for viewer and editor can be user-edited using JSON files
» GUI components are now dockable
» Added Tickmarks on axes

Bugfixes/improvements
» Performance improvement: 2D (clipper), preview, hull, minkowski, surface
» Performance improvement: Reduce duplicate evaluation of identical expressions
» Better recursion behavior
» STL export and import is now more robust
» Internal cavities are better supported
» New examples
» Windows cmd-line behaves better
» Better mirror() and scale() behavior when using negative factors

Deprecations
» polyhedron() now takes a faces= argument rather than triangles=
» assign() is no longer needed. Local variables can be created in any scope

Good news! Have you also increased the normalisation limit of 4000 elements when using F5 to something larger?

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Quote
dc42
Good news! Have you also increased the normalisation limit of 4000 elements when using F5 to something larger?

Apparently not as this message shows:-
"
Saved backup file: C:/Users/dmould/Documents/OpenSCAD/backups/BottomPlate-backup-qHp12676.scad
Compiling design (CSG Tree generation)...
Compiling design (CSG Products generation)...
Geometries in cache: 35
Geometry cache size in bytes: 470008
CGAL Polyhedrons in cache: 0
CGAL cache size in bytes: 0
Compiling design (CSG Products normalization)...
WARNING: Normalized tree is growing past 4000 elements. Aborting normalization.
Normalized CSG tree has 432 elements
Compile and preview finished.
Total rendering time: 0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds
"

But the new GUI looks great, and I do like the option of putting tick marks on the axis (especially handy when modifying an imported STL). Having local variables assigned is also an improvement, though I suppose we should make our code compatible with older OpenScad versions for a while if we intend to share the design.

Dave

I am not Marius by the way - I just copied the news announcement from OpenSCAD.org

I run OpenSCAD version 2015.04.01.nightly (git 90094ff) in Debian GNU/Linux Wheezy.

Animation has excessive blinking.

Awesome. Another OpenSCAD user.

As I said though, I'm not Marius and I'm not associated with the dev team - I just posted the release notes here because I thought it would be of interest. If you want someone to look into glitches and bugs then there's an issue tracker on github or you can use the discussion forum on Openscad.org - good luck!

OpenSCAD version 2015.04.13.nightly (git 82f85cd) doesn't have the blinking of animation.

That has always been configurable. The default limit has been increase to 100K.

-Marius

I'm trying to modify a carriage mount for a Folger Kossel to add a hole for an endstop adjustment screw. When I import the stl file it both previews (F5) and renders (F6) just fine. If I add an OpenSCAD element such as cylinder(), the preview shows both parts, but the render only shows the new element. If I try to make a hole using difference() it shows nothing. Help?

Import only render


Import + cylinder preview


Import + cylinder render


Difference() preview


Difference render

I've had some successes and rather more failures with importing STLs in OpenScad. I suggest you start from an OpenScad source file of the part you want to modify. I am now using this one [www.thingiverse.com] for my Mini Kossel carriages, it secures the belts better. I had to increase some of the internal dimensions to make everything fit.

Doesn't the other part of the carriage (the part that the one you illustrate screws into, with the wheels on it) already have a hole for an endstop screw?

---

Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Quote
dc42
I've had some successes and rather more failures with importing STLs in OpenScad. I suggest you start from an OpenScad source file of the part you want to modify.

I've had the same experience. It works OK if you only want to scale or change the orientation, but making modifications to an STL is extremely hit & miss. What I usually do now, if there is no OpenScad source code available for the STL, is import the STL but use it only as a visual template to re-create the part as an OpenScad object. Obviously this is not possible if the STL is not essentially a mechanical part (e.g. the STL is a statue of a person or animal etc.)

Incidentally, I found the setting that determines the max. elements to render. Go "Edit" > "Preferences" > "Advanced" and there is the variable "Turn off rendering at XXXXXX elements"

Dave

Quote
dc42
I am now using this one [www.thingiverse.com] for my Mini Kossel carriages, it secures the belts better. I had to increase some of the internal dimensions to make everything fit.

That looks great! Exactly what I need. It complains about missing configuration.scad, but it renders. The preview is bizarre, but it works. Thanks!

Quote
dc42
Doesn't the other part of the carriage (the part that the one you illustrate screws into, with the wheels on it) already have a hole for an endstop screw?

There's a tiny hole there, but I've been using it for spray lube. One of mine was so rough out of the box that the stepper would slip.

I made this with Blender, but I just installed Blender and still suck at using it. The hole isn't parallel to the bottom.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2015 09:16AM by Deguello.

I have this very often.

what helps is to run the original STL through NetFabb first, before trying to modify it.
However, no guarantees!

Thomas

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www.3daybreaker.blogspot.com

Orca V4.4 rebuild to Ramps with Mk8 and E3D, as well as a Rostock Delta Mini and an OLO in backorder :-)