▼ Why I am not upgrading to Simplify3D V5
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- Опубликовано: 18 ноя 2024
- Please, after watching this video, use the like or dislike button to give your opinion about Simplify3D and if you feel confident enough to buy their slicer, or if you are going to use one of the other slicers.
Also, please comment on this video, telling me what you like or dislike about Simplify3D, Cura, and Prusaslicer (or any other slicer you might use).
Hi Brian, happy new year !
I've used Simplify3d for a very short time about 6 or 7 years ago when I got my first Sailfish based printer that used the binary file format - But I never felt in control and at some point just added the encoder step into Repetier-Host and that's been working ever since.
I've never bought in to using one slicer for everything and I'm still switching back and forward between Slic3r and Cura on a daily basis. Even Skeinforge is still in the mix for me. Thats where Repetier-Host cuts it for me, and I can have all my printers in there.
Back then, when Simplify3D was new there was a pretty active community around it, but that seems to have moved on right now - all I remember it for was having a pre-defined printer profile for almost everything on the market back then, and you'd be printing a bit faster than with other software.
I'm also not a particular fan of these license deals, because it's so hard to keep a company running on that - I really prefer to pay a cheap annual fee for support and updates, because I know that keeps a software company running, and it's an incentive for that company to do a good job. Like with LightBurn for example.
Thanks a lot for your video! I'm a long term Simplify3D user but don't 3d print too often (maybe every few weeks or even months) and your video opened my eyes. I'm just downloading Cura now while I'm typing this :) Let's see how this one compares to V4 of S3D (the one I have).
Most of us pay 150€ for the software...and now you need to pay 60€ for update....i don't trust in the company anymore.
I just bought the update for $60. I was hoping that it would have a profile for my printer, and also be improved over the last version. I simply couldn’t get it to work. I’ve used this software in the past, I bought the original license probably six or so years ago. What a disappointment. Now I am contacting them to try to get a refund. I’m not gonna hold my breath because I bet they won’t refund my money.
I'm happy with S3D Ver. 5. I got a Genius and used the profile what they recommend. Done. With other slicers it takes days for the same result. Days for 39 Dollar? Also the UI are more intuitive as other slicers, my opinion and it is faster too.. I agree, the delay for Ver. 5 are not okay, but finally they did. Again, I'm happy with it and will continue.
I am glad to hear that you are happy with it.
As stated in the video as well, I was very happy with version 4 and for the price I don't see a reason not to upgrade.
It's just my trust in this company that made me decide not to upgrade at this moment.
I was stupid and paid for the upgrade to V5 and its not worth it at all. Still no support for filament profiles and the UI is still garbage, making the switch to Prusaslicer.
I regret spending 11 minutes of my life on this. Guy keeps telling you:
- Simplify ignored customers’s questions for the past years
- Therefore, they're no longer trustworthy and that’s why he's not upgrading
- Other companies offer slicers for free
It’s all about trust and price issues. That’s it.
Can you help me making a RUclips short about Simplify3d? You seem to be good at it.
Simply try to avoid being repetitive in what you already said. That should do it :)
@@tjyrinj Good tip, thanks for your input. :-)
Hello. I'm the new guy. :-)
I try to print with my sidewinder x1 and simplify V4.
I had them for years, but suffered from vision trouble, I couldn't see sht.
I import stl , when I click préparation à l'impression, in english, it could be prepare to print, bottom left of the window, the print simulation shows only the supports and skirt, not the object, if I send to print, it print only support and skirt.
Can someone tell me wich parameter is wrong?
Great channel.
Resolved.
I just needed to login. 🤣😂🤣😂
I paid £46(exchange rate was good with usd) which i did think was cheeky But the added benefits over v4 are amazing brian.
I love the user interface on s3d and struggle with other slicers hence my reason to upgrade.
Also i had a question regarding a feature in v5 and swnt them a email and had a reply back within 10 hours.
Updates will be regularly and free.
But at the end of the day its entirely upto you and others if you dont want to
Fool me once works for me, they won't be getting more from since I have moved on. Free upgrade to new version, unless we take 3 years to build it, so then charge for the upgrade.They got my $125 for V4, then darkness. So no confidence whatsoever in their business model/methods. I choose S3d over Cura because their UI made sense. Due to V4 being essentially abondoned I moved to PrusaSlicer, a decent ui with functionlity that I need. Bottom line, zero intent on paying S3d again.
I am either not updating, as the S3D 5.00 is no really improvement to 4.xx and especially not where Cura is for free and even better.
Exactly!
I agree with most of what you say, but tell me, how would day make money if they dident charge for the software ? Prusa can give away their software because they make the money from selling printers. Simplify3d dosent make printers s far as I know?
Thank you for your response.
To answer this properly, I have to break the question down into segments, because that's what actually happened.
For starters, when they sold the licenses as I bought them, I bought a lifetime license to install on TWO computers, and you paid quite a lot of money for that (149 Euro per license). Whether that was a good choice or not at the time remains to be seen, but that was what they were selling when I bought my licenses (I have 3, for 6 computers).
I get that they want to make money, but that is still possible. There are a few possibilities for this, which they have not used:
- They can still sell new licenses with different terms and conditions. Then the new users will receive a new license, as they sell it now. It is more expensive than the license was when I bought it, and the current license can only be used on 1 computer, so for people who want to use the software on multiple computers, the price is even higher.
- They can sell plugins for additional functions that are really different from the ones already in the slicer. So a new profile for a different method of using infill, that's not a new feature, but making it compatible for Clipper, for example, they could sell that as an actual new feature, so as an Add-on.
- They can make licensing deals with other companies, as they did with IDEAMaker for example. That software is completely built on the engine of Simplify3D and of course that brings money in the cash register.
To be clear, I'm not against making money, and I think a software company would do very well selling limited-life licenses. However, if you have already sold something and promised that it was a lifetime license, then you should not say afterward that this is no longer valid for a new version of the software. Then they should have just called the software completely different, made a different user interface and made a different product out of it, a choice they clearly didn't make.
I'm confident that if anyone takes legal action against Simplify3D, it will also be won, simply because they don't keep the promise they made when they sold the old licenses.
And for Prusa. He is using an open-source engine, so there would be no possibility for him to sell that, as this would be against all rules of open-source software.
@@3dPrintCreator Read the fine print? Most software when you buy a lifetime license, you don't buy lifetime updates along with it. However some software companies do give out free courtesy upgrades to existing customers. This was the case say with Mixvibes software, upgrades from V1 till V3 were free for like decades but V4 no longer a free upgrade. The Mixvibes lifetime license was always technically valid for one version and all major versions that release within a year of purchase, plus all bugfix-releases and minor feature updates to the last major version that you own, but they upgraded all owners previously regardless to newest versions. I wonder if it was similarly the case with Simplify3D license conditions, did they promise free lifetime updates at all?
Of course a difference is that Mixvibes software actually costs under the market going rate for competitor software and the update is on the scale of a minor expense, while Simplify3D is expensive!
Curiously there are massive parallels. Both are developed by microscopic companies. Both have handed out free updates as long as they had an actively growing userbase and could cover their expenses thanks to that growth. Both license out their software core to hardware companies to serve as hardware specific companion software. Both have made missteps that contributed to the growth collapse, say Mixvibes got distracted into developing mobile apps which brought in some money but didn't have staying power and user retention unlike their lineup of PC software, but once point-updates on headline software get stalled for too long, people start dropping off and switching to something else because they lose confidence, and these are your fairly dedicated customers which have their workflow tied to the software alongside expensive hardware.
I'm having exactly the same battle as you. Simplify3D 4.1 was good. It consistently delivered great results on my CR-10s and even as late as 2020, I often went back to it when something didn't work as expected in SuperSlicer or Cura. Now, I have a Voron 2.4 and have started from scratch in Cura and SuperSlicer, and I'm tempted to try S3D 5 out, but I just don't know if it's going to do anything better than those two, and I also don't know if S3D will leave us out to dry again at some point in the future. Trust is easily lost and very difficult to regain, and they just haven't been acting as a company I can have enough faith in to go through all the optimising with the risk of them stopping updates again. If V5 was clearly better than Cura or SuperSlicer in some way, I might pay the $59 upgrade and give it a try, but there's nothing compelling enough and I just don't trust them enough.
S3D 4.xx was already outdated ... you can also get today good results with S3D ... but as pro-user there are several features missing. And all since several years when Cura and other get rapidly stronger.
Simplify was great as you have said. I used it a few times on other peoples machines back around 2016 or so and their software was really far better than anything else back then. BUT - why should we believe they will ever release a version 6? Or even a 5.0.3? Or add profiles and patches. Or track klipper extensions to allow generating optimized code as SuperSlicer does. They do not have a good history of supporting their product. My guess is that someone ran low on cash in the bank and decided to buckle down and try to generate revenue hoping that some "retro slicer" hipster crowd would buy into the myth or be so entrenched in their user interface that they would get the sale. Cura and Prusa are both doing great things, Superslicer is keeping things interesting. Why pump dollars /euros into an outfit that has proven they couldn't care less about their customers. We're on the same page regarding this rewarmed vendor.
NO! You can only have this new version on ONE (1) computer whereas the previous version you could have it installed on TWO (2) computers at the same time. I did not know that fact until I spent the $59.00. I have asked them about this and they have NOT answered me. I am still waiting for my refund. I say it is a bad deal. I will start using CURA more.
I had an issue installing version 5, they replied 2 days later.
Maybe they have changed. I hope so.
I found that support was OK in early days of Simplify 3D. I was when they started working on Version 5 that support started to become bad and is now non existent. I will also not be purchasing Version 5.
I used S3d for many years but got fed up that like others didn’t get response to issues. Now it feels like they want to cash in and reboot the product but that’s all very well but they should have thought about this when all their loyal customers were ignored. It amazes me that suddenly they seem to have woken up so it must be a shock that so many upgrades to the free slicers have taken place. I personally now use cura and yes it was a minefield learning even the basics so now for me to reinvest into S3d again is a ‘risk’ I will not take. Like you i loved S3d and as a starter in 3d printing it did help. The S3D business model is appalling and I worry about all these promises they are making. I personally do not have the confidence that they will deliver. This is my choice and the decision not to buy is down to them for the lack of support they afforded me and many others in the past. I for one don’t believe all their insincerities for one minute and this appears more than an attempt to reboot the slicer and make a quick killing in the $$$ paid by everyone. Sorry S3d but it was your choices and yours alone to ignore your customers … I haven’t forgotten the non existent responses ! Besides the upgrade cost will be better spent on our heating bills a more effective and rewarding way to burn money !
Great approach. They should be ignored. They are pretty much the best scammers for slicers... Based on their support history and behaviour... F them
Feelings are irrelevant. It should be based on the quality of the product.
BS. If I don't feel comfortable with a product or company, for instance, because they have ignored me as a paying customer for 3 years, this is a good reason for not trusting them anymore.
@@3dPrintCreator its silly* to let emotions keep you from taking advantage of the best technology. You're saying if they come out with version 6 with has some revolutionary, cutting edge stuff noone has, you're going to pass it up because of some emotions? Seems immature. You're a tech guy, it's your job to be on top of all the cutting edge stuff at all times. Stay competitive.
For sure if I read that they are implementing ground breaking technology in a future update or upgrade, I will reconsider my thoughts. Yet, at this moment I have Simplify3D version 4 running on 2 computers on only one license and for version 5 I will need 2 licenses, meaning 1 upgrade and 1 full license, to work the same way I am doing no. This won't cost me only the upgrade costs, but also a complete license, and that is ridicules. Then the fact that they are at the moment not even on par with Cura and/or Prusa slicer, made me decide not to upgrade. And because I am a tech guy, and because people might think I will do a review of version 5 in the future, I think it's good to be loud and clear so people know what to expect from me.
That said, I don't think I am very negative about the product in this video. I just say that my trust in the company is below the freezing point, and therefore I am not upgrading.
I don’t know why you would even bother making a comment like that. The entire point is that the quality doesn’t justify the price. As a matter of fact there is no quality at all. It’s not even as good as free slicers. What video did you even watch?
Well spoken.
Sop making reviews with out testing the software....
I think you expect a reviewer to give his or her personal opinion about something he or she is discussing. I give a very clear opinion about a piece of software and also account for how and why I do not want to review this software, without being negative about the software itself.
I think perfectly meet with what you can expect from a reviewer.
I think this is a restart of the former company. Looks like there were internal struggles that only got sorted out recently. Payed for the upgrade could not find the correct printer profile for my printer and send an e-mail. Got a response withing 24 hours with the correct profile as an attachment. We are talking about an two spools of filament worth of investment....
Prusa Slicer is not free. It's being payed for by selling 3D printers. Simplify 3D just makes this slicer. So where's the money coming from.
No, it doesn't have all the thousands of settings like Cura. I don't want them. I want a slicer that gives me good results, every time. S3D does that for me.
S3D 5.0 is stable on my windows machine and I don't experience the horrors others have.
I've tried all the free slicers out there but always came to S3D.
Useless. Not a review at all.
Just your personal opinion about the company - not the new product at all.
I clicked your video to get the opinion of someone who tried the software and could tell me how it measures up to others. You wasted my time.
Then, my friend, you are a stupid A-hole.
It's very clear from the beginning of the video that I don't have the software and I won't review it.
At that moment you could have clicked away, to save your precious time for other things. Instead, you choose to spend even more time, by typing a stupid comment and waste even more of your precious time.
And now, you are reading this... Guess what, that cost you even more time. 🙂Thanks for being a friend.
Since you are a big site, and you can transmit information, SIMPLIFY3D was not dead at all, if you shouf well IDEAMAKER, you immediately recognize the dna of simplify3d, me who am a fan of this software, and who was tired of the prime tower rising to the top when I had no more color changes, I turned to others to test, and that's where I see that IDEAMAKER has absolutely everything of SIMPLIFY3D, but then EVERYTHING, only one thing is missing, I don't really know what, I think I was using scripts to adjust the linear advance in terms of the layer height, so that's why a piece is missing
BRIEF SIMPLIFY3D worked for RAISE3D, necessarily, a machine manufacturer, is not going to have fun creating a high-end slicer starting from the blank page, and this is surely what explains the absence of the simplify3d team completely dedicated to the development of IDEAMAKER
Moreover, IDEAMAKER has a toy that simplify3d does not have and which makes me prefer IDEAMAKER, these are the modifiable areas, you draw a cube and you give orders to this cube by saying 'everything that is in this cube will have these parameters ', it allows to boost certain places in three clicks etc.
BRIEFLY DO NOT BUY SIMPLFY3D, you have it at IDEAMAKER FREE, on the other hand, you have to know a little gcode, and make your own starting files, which you copy on your other slicers etccccc
BRIEF stop, there are freebies and better!
Sorry, but your claim is just not true and it upsets me a bit because all that hype about CURA and PRUSA and other slicer.. theyt do NOT have a functionality that really matters...
Idea maker looks/comes close indeed to Simplify3D, but it is still not ...
It drived me crazy when trying to setup a multi process...
I do not have anything specific for any brand. slicer etc.
Tried all opensource and free slicers....
CURA and PRUSA slicer are absolutely lacking a professional multi part/ multi layer / sequential setup capability: they do NOT allow you to set all the parameters freely at any given moment/layer of any different part: speed, temperature, layer height, width, coolling speed, etc. IT is just impossible! I talked with PRUSA and UM, and one of their commments was: why would you need to have that ???.....
OMG....
They both (well CURA the worst) a Very chaotic menu/option structures.
do some serious stuff. Imagine you need to make a livning out of it.
take a setup of 20 x 20 parts that are about 3 x 5 mm and 10x 15 each. (size is irrelevant, but example)
The first row of 20 parts:
- from 0 to 0.3 mm in 0.05mm at a temp of 230 and speed...5 no coling
- from 0.3 to 1mm in 0.1 mm at a temp of 250 and speed 15, cooling 10%
-from 1.0 to 4mm in 0.08 mm at a temp of 235 and speed 25, cooling 30%
- from 4 to 4.5mm in 0.05 at a temp of 265 and speed15, cooling 20%
The second row of 20 parts:
- from 0 to 0.3 mm in 0.05mm at a temp of 220 and speed...5
- from 0.3 to 6 mm in 0.1 mm at a temp of 260 and speed 15
-from 6.0 to 13mm in 0.08 mm at a temp of 245 and speed 25
- from 13 to 15mm in 0.05 at a temp of 275 and speed15
The 3rd rown of 20 parts:
- from 0 to 0.2 mm in 0.05mm at a temp of 220 and speed...5
- from 0.2 to 1mm in 0.1 mm at a temp of 260 and speed 15
-from 1.0 to 4mm in 0.08 mm at a temp of 245 and speed 25
- from 4 to 4.5mm in 0.08mm at a temp of 275 and speed15
The 4rd row of 20 parts:
- from 0 to 0.3 mm in 0.05mm at a temp of 260 and speed...5
- from 0.3 to 6 mm in 0.1 mm at a temp of 240 and speed 15
-from 6.0 to 13mm in 0.08 mm at a temp of 265 and speed 25
- from 13 to 15mm in 0.05 at a temp of 275 and speed15
Print all parts sequential!!
No slicer can do this except S3D : even idea Maker is still lacking a good setup.
And by doing it I mean: straightforward: no Gcode manipulation or completely stupid menu's that make absolutely no sense at all.
I assume you understand the real value of why such settings...
95% of the "modern" slicer functions are nice to have , but they do not offer any real productivity emhancement, neither an absolute free control of speed, temperature, cooling at any position in a part at any time at any order of print and under a sequential printing process, as printing all at once is not the most smartest one can do when trying to make real quality multi part prints.
SO: what is there to get, aside the now 200US dollar solution for S3D ????
Tell me: what ??
I do not see anyhing workable yet.
@Alex Jaspers Both a thumbs up, and a heart from me.
This is all true, and indeed no slicer comes even close to this mentioned multi part or batch functionality, period.
That said, I can do all of what you described with S3D version 4, the version I already have for many years and it is stupid that no other slicer company has included any of this functionality into their slicers, although for Cura, there are some third party plugins that come close, but still it's not the same.
Yet, as a RUclipsr and tech blogger, I think I have to explain to my followers why I am not investing in version 5, so there will be no review from my point of view (I don't receive the software for free).
The reason is that the NEW functionality in version 5 is not groundbreaking and the added value for me is not there. Also, I have 2 computers running the software, and it's not possible with version 5 to run it on 2 computers as the license doesn't provide in a second installation without purchasing a second license. This means, 2 x 200 Dollar, or 1 upgrade and 1 full license. These are small, but relevant changes that add up to the fact that when I bought the software years ago, they said it was a once in a lifetime purchase, with endless updates. I you take this all in consideration including the fact that I, as a business, rely on updates and up to par software, and they ignored me as a paying customer for 3 years, not even answering emails... Then you hopefully understand why I am not upgrading at this moment.
I still have S3D V4 for multi part usage, and I still use that slicer for the above mentioned reasons, yet 99% of my viewers ar hobby users that don't ever do multipart printing with different settings, and for almost all of them, the functionality of Cura or Prusa Slicer is more than enough.
Thanks for your thoughts on this matter. It's very much appreciated.
@@3dPrintCreator Hi Brian,
Well, then u are damm lucky you have the 4 version... I studied and could try out their sofware at a bussiness client and could slice some multi process parts, so i could print them and study their gcode.
Even with S3D it seems to be a hassle to make e.g. a 120 pcs multi part sequential setup as you need to mannually combine all the parts and processes by hand...hours of work. Has this changed in V5??
My business is in a very difficult state, running my own company on buss dev for PVD machine sale that looks in Europe already for 2 years like nobody can invest seriously here, and I lately started to use my 3D printing tech knowhow to develop industrial process systems also using 3D printing parts with high crystaline polymers, i run marlin and repetierhost and slice with Cura/Prusa or Slic3r, but my god , these slicers are a hell for MPP.
The money: yes maybe it sounds a lot, but honestly: what do you expect for a service for a great tool that you paid 150 Euro once (right?). Is it really that important to have customer service when it is that cheap ....in the light of having a pro tool i mean....
I will buy it as soon as I can, I but from what I noticed on some reviews on U-tube, there seem to be still some annyoing bugs in the V5 but from multiprocess point it looks there are some real improvements.
I can imagine some frustration but, 1. good stuff is not free and needs to be paid well, 2. if I where you, don't let your emotions run away with it. What the hell with their response... for 150 Euro using the tool for 4 years .. People spend 60 bucks on a time wasting gaming software many times a year..... so look in perspective to this and make a decent review of it. That is what you do right?? and not only when you get the stuff for free... you can get it for 60 Euro's ! then sell it to me please !! 😂😂😂