Where will we host our 3D files? (Admin update: Slate Forums will host your files)

[r6tn]

Update from admin (post from below):

This site can host everyone’s 3D files. The file attachment system already accepts all 3D print file formats. All users can use this section to upload/share their prints.​

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I’ll break this section up into categories (for better organization/browsing) and then everyone can simply post a new thread for each new 3D print item - with description, images and files attached. And the thread’s thumbnail image will be a preview of the printed part so users can more easily browse and identify parts they may have interest in.​

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One thing that annoys me about 3D printing is the number of sites hosting files. Many of those sites are printer brand specific and filled with their promotions and advertisements and require accounts to download files.

I tend to use search engines to search them all but they go by titles so if I see "Slate dash buttons" on multiple sites, I sometimes have to click them all to see if they're the same thing or just have the same title.

Slate is eventually going to release some of their own 3D files but have they ever said anything about hosting our 3D files? I don't imagine they'd be interested in doing that but it would be nice to have them all in one place so you could browse files for the dash, the bed or the taillights etc.

Is anyone planning a Slate specific site?

 

[Johnologue]

Many of those sites are printer brand specific and filled with their promotions and advertisements and require accounts to download files.

Reminds me, I need to go figure out how to self-host my Bambu Lab printer to get it off their cloud...

If someone is doing a community site for Slate stuff, that'd be cool! Mostly worried about that kind of corporate stuff and lock-in.

 

[BCondrey]

Could you use github for this?

 

[clofan]

Wonder if we could use these forums / attachment system. Seems like it allows STL files.. I'll upload a test to this post.

edit: add project pic (click for big)

 

[bitpop]

Printables is the best. Please don’t use makerworld for anything, Bambu is the dark side.

And yeah side note, lan only mode was very easy to set up and use with the x1c and p1s and orcaslicer works fine, so I don’t have to touch a Bambu website ever again. Keep things offline, just like my slate will be.

 

[SailorDan]

Printables is the best. Please don’t use makerworld for anything, Bambu is the dark side.

And yeah side note, lan only mode was very easy to set up and use with the x1c and p1s and orcaslicer works fine, so I don’t have to touch a Bambu website ever again. Keep things offline, just like my slate will be.

Okay, I just started and Bambu was the first to offer help, so I signed on.
Dark side?
What are my next choices?

 

[clofan]

There will come a day (if it hasn't already happened) where Bambu will require the use of their cloud with no option to roll back firmware and regain the LAN only mode. With the CA (and elsewhere) legislation about 3d printing things are about to get real dumb

Plenty of open source out there. OrcaSlicer as mention, Prusa Slic3r

Bambu makes great hardware at cheap cost. I own three of their printers and sold my old Prusas. But they have sided with the anti-privacy crowd unfortunately, so hopefully newcomers can look elsewhere

 

[SailorDan]

Thanks for the info. I will download orcaslicer and run this slate 3d model through again.

 

[r6tn]

I like printables, that's where I upload my designs, but it's just another site owned a printer company.

I suspect there won't be anything Slate specific and we'll be searching all the sites for Slate stuff and we'll all end up with 10 accounts to all the big sites, if we don't have them already. We'll have to do the search on a regular basis to find new things.

It seems like a missed opportunity.

The Slate truck may be the biggest thing ever released that embraces 3D printing and the 3D sites probably won't even have a Slate category.

The downside is that websites cost money and that means ads. If Slate did it, they could benefit by looking at trends and seeing what people are printing and get ideas for the next truck, plus they could release their ideas and see if people like them before putting them into production. But that may not be worth the hassle.

 

[Johnologue]

There will come a day (if it hasn't already happened) where Bambu will require the use of their cloud with no option to roll back firmware and regain the LAN only mode. With the CA (and elsewhere) legislation about 3d printing things are about to get real dumb

Plenty of open source out there. OrcaSlicer as mention, Prusa Slic3r

Bambu makes great hardware at cheap cost. I own three of their printers and sold my old Prusas. But they have sided with the anti-privacy crowd unfortunately, so hopefully newcomers can look elsewhere

Bambu is also patent trolling and threatening open source devs, there's a whole mess and it's bad. If I could choose again, I'd have gone open source as possible. And yes, I think they locked firmware rollback (IDK for sure, I stopped updating).

Something called Bambuddy is supposed to be a really good feature-rich alternative to their cloud junk, which is what I was referencing earlier with the self-host thing. I need to learn Docker, I just never remember to set time for it.

 

[Rocks]

Ideally Slate would have a github repo with all the officially released STLs.

As for us plebs, proper tagging of the models on Printables and Thingaverse is probably about the best we can do. Tagging on github works better than it should, too.

 

[solartogo]

I suspect there won't be anything Slate specific and we'll be searching all the sites for Slate stuff and we'll all end up with 10 accounts to all the big sites, if we don't have them already. We'll have to do the search on a regular basis to find new things.

It seems like a missed opportunity.

The Slate truck may be the biggest thing ever released that embraces 3D printing and the 3D sites probably won't even have a Slate category.

The downside is that websites cost money and that means ads. If Slate did it, they could benefit by looking at trends and seeing what people are printing and get ideas for the next truck, plus they could release their ideas and see if people like them before putting them into production. But that may not be worth the hassle.

Not sure who is running this forum site, nor how much it costs (nor who is paying for it), nor how long it will live. It certainly has been helpful. If there is a long-term goal/funding/admin perhaps having 3D files here would be OK, but it'd be nice to have an organized files section, rather than searching threads to try to find something. Maybe there can be?

Consider a Telegram group or channel devoted to Slate 3D printing. No fees to set one up, or to access the channel, or to upload or download files. Could be private or public, depending on who (one or more cooperatively) wants to admin it. I suppose there would be resistance from some to downloading the client to their phone, but numbers can be private from everyone except Telegram, and once an account is set up, one can access everything from Telegram Web. Ownership/adminship can be transferred to new people as appropriate.

Telegram supports "topics" in a group, so there could be topics for different types of discussions, and also topics for different types of 3D files.

 

[Administrator]

This site can host everyone’s 3D files. The file attachment system already accepts all 3D print file formats. All users can use this section to upload/share their prints.

I’ll break this section up into categories (for better organization/browsing) and then everyone can simply post a new thread for each new 3D print item - with description, images and files attached. And the thread’s thumbnail image will be a preview of the printed part so users can more easily browse and identify parts they may have interest in.

How’s that sound?

 

[r6tn]

That sounds pretty cool. Give it up for the admin!

 

[Johnologue]

I applaud our mysterious community benefactor!