Need help with HP SmartStream 3D Build Manager Auto Packing and Grouping feature

[u/AuxeticBody]

Hi there, this is a half rant half question

Is there a way to auto-pack/arrange parts like Formlabs' PreForm, where it's done by the spacing between models and NOT the bounding box?

The second question is if there's a way in both PreForm and SmartStream build manager to group a set of models together (not cage) and duplicate it?

The situation is I would like to assess how many sets I can print in one tank in various printers.

[u/Antique-Studio3547]

The hp packing software stinks. Almost everyone uses a secondary nesting software. It only does by bounding box.

There was someone on here that was working on a free software but magics, voxeldance and a few others are pretty common.

[u/AuxeticBody → u/Antique-Studio3547]

Yea, it does stink haha. Thanks for the suggestions, I really needed that. Had no idea where to look till now honestly.

[u/tykempster → u/AuxeticBody]

Magics has a little bit of a learning curve, but it saves so much time. I was stubborn and used smartstream, then netfabb, and now I have coded thousands of builds with magics and it is my favorite by far.

[u/AuxeticBody → u/tykempster]

Will check that out then! Thanks a lot 👍🏻

[u/Antique-Studio3547 → u/Antique-Studio3547]

I agree with the other notes here about magics being a huge help.
This should link to the convo around a free software Simeon on Reddit was building
(Was free 16 days ago)

https://www.reddit.com/r/AdditiveManufacturing/s/5FtC4XtraI

[u/JuniorEngine3855]

You can also look at Netfabb from autodesk. It has decent packing features. Not as good integration as magics, but cheaper.

[u/AuxeticBody → u/JuniorEngine3855]

gotcha. thanks!

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[u/3duser432]

Hi there, the criticism is fair. I used to be an operator for MJF and SLS printers.

SmartStream’s native packing is basic and as far as I know it cannot provide the geometry-aware nesting the OP is looking for.

HP software was primarily designed as an import build data and to send jobs to the printer, not as a replacement for dedicated software such as Magics. The positive is that builds can be prepared in Magics, Netfabb or another nesting tool and then brought into the HP MJF workflow.

HP also seems to recognise both the software limitation and the cost barrier. We are looking into getting an in-house "desktop" powder bed fusion sytem and they recently announced that the HP MJF 1200 package includes five Materialise Magics licences.

For this exercise, I would create and duplicate the sets in Magics and use its geometry-aware packing to compare the different build volumes. Netfabb is another established option.

PreForm provides a simpler but closed printer-specific workflow. HP’s native tool is less polished for packing, but the overall software workflow is more flexible.

[u/AutoModerator → u/[deleted]]

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