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Should I Get ChiTuBox Slicer Software for Resin 3D Printing?
CHITUBOX has quickly become the go-to slicer for resin 3D printing. It features a basic but easy-to-use interface that allows you to carry out all the essential functions in preparing a resin print. You may be familiar with its interface as various versions of its core makeup ship as the default software included with new resin 3D printers from the likes of Creality, FlashForge and Peopoly.
The CHITUBOX software is a slicer platform that allows you to effortlessly import and add essential build features. This includes adding drain holes, creating a support structure, shelling, and exporting printable files, all within one software package. If you’re still looking for further insights on the CHITUBOX software to understand its fast-growing popularity, you’ve come to the right place.
If you’re unfamiliar with CHITUBOX, look no further because, in this post, I’ll take you through an in-depth overview of CHITUBOX and how it can help you get the most from your UV resin printers, including DLP, SLA, and LCD resin 3D printers.
Background
The CHITUBOX 3D printing slicer software was developed by Shenzhen CBD Technology Co, Ltd. It’s an easy-to-use, powerful and free software that makes it easy to comprehend the 3D printing user interface. Thus, it’s often considered an ideal choice for beginners to resin printing and offers enough settings to keep more experienced users happy.
CHITUBOX software has become one of the most popular picks for resin printing software. This isn’t any surprise as you also enjoy superb control over 3D printing settings while using this 3D printing slicer software. You can use the free version of this software on multiple operating systems, including Linux, Windows, and Mac.
User Interface
The CHITUBOX 3D printing slicer software has an easy-to-use and straightforward interface despite still being powerful. This makes it not as hard to use, even if you’re still new to using 3D printers. Here are several aspects about this software’s interface you need to know;
- Basic Tools: This software has editing and positioning tools on the center-left. At this point, you can scale, rotate, mirror, and translate the imported models onto the build plate, usually at the screen’s center.
- Main Interface: Right after launching the CHITUBOX software, you’re met with its main interface. You’ll then notice the main menu on the top toolbar and other often used tools.
- Support settings: Another exciting thing about the CHITUBOX software is its support structures control or support settings. This comes with a whole tab set aside to this feature, enabling you to automatically or manually position these structures.
- Model list: After importing models, they’ll appear on the right side as a list. You’re required to select a model for placement and editing, achieved by either clicking the build plate directly or clicking on the name in the list. The settings button is found below the model’s list. It directs you to the printer settings window. You see printing parameters such as exposure time and layer height, all of which can be adjusted manually.
- Slice button: This button gives you a glance at the individual slices for each layer while preparing the models for printing.
CHITUBOX Features
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M479IHs836g
The CHITUBOX slicer software boasts some excellent features that make it a favorite among many 3D printing enthusiasts. Here’s an overview of some of the exciting features you’ll enjoy using the CHITUBOX 3D printing slicer software.
Supports Multiple Common File Types
One of the best features of the CHITUBOX software is that it accommodates many formats that you can export of prepared parts. Thanks to this, you enjoy excellent flexibility regardless of the software being used. Some of the storage and export formats available include:
- FHD (*fhd)
- Object file (*obj)
- Photons slicer (*.photon)
- WoW (*,wow)
- STL file (*.stl)
- CHITUBOX project (*.CHITUBOX)
- Zip compressed (*.zip)
- CHITUBOX Slicer (*cbbdlp)
Profiles
CHITUBOX software allows you to create a separate print profile. This handy feature makes sharing this 3D printing slicer software a lot more convenient without having to worry about your work. The ability to import and export these profiles makes using this software a lot simpler.
Hollowing/Shelling
The stand-out feature that you’ll enjoy using the CHITUBOX software for 3D printing is how it’s capable of making drain holes and hollowing out imported models. This feature is quite handy as it saves how much of the relatively expensive photocurable resin you use.
The Hollow Tool integrated into the CHITUBOX software helps in defining the overall wall thickness. Thanks to this, the whole core of the subsequent 3D model gets emptied of the material accordingly. There’s also a Dig Hole tool that enables you to specify the manual location of the drain holes and their exact size. Drain holes allow the flowing out of resin from the inside, ensuring the 3D model is only left with a cured shell.
In some instances, the hollowed parts end up very fragile, more so when needed to be used for applications where rigor is necessary. The CHITUBOX software addresses this shortcoming by producing infill patterns to decide the wall thickness and infill percentages.
Support For Different Languages
When searching for a 3D printing slicer software, it’s essential to have one should you experience any issue, hence get the needed assistance. The CHITUBOX software offers you precisely this as you can get support in different languages, including;
- English
- German
- French
- Greek
- Italian
- Spanish
- Korean
- Turkish
- Portuguese
- Traditional Chinese
- Russian
- Simplified Chinese
Therefore, you shouldn’t worry about not getting any help if you speak these 12 languages.
Auto-Layout
Another exciting feature integrated into this software is the Auto-Layout tool. This feature allows you to automatically arrange several parts in the build table as it simultaneously optimizes the space. Also, the CHITUBOX slicer software integrates support structure allocation that allows for efficient and dependable automatic placement. It also features intuitive manual placement tools.
Preview
After you’re done configuring and the slicing has been processed, you want a display of the preview. The CHITUBOX software allows you to get a simulation of the actual print. This is achieved thanks to the vertical leveler that regulates the simulation’s height, as shown on the split-screen. As it does this, the single 2D slice being cured at a particular time and the 3D model on the left side.
On the preview, you can see details such as materials quantities, including weight and volume, as well as the projected build time.
Recording
The CHITUBOX boasts a unique in-built screen recording tool at the toolbar’s top. Using this recording tool, you can record an actual video that you can later export as a GIF. Moreover, this software allows you to take a screenshot of its primary software, which can be edited using the tool.
Anti-Aliasing and Slicing
In addition to slicing models, the CHITUBOX 3D printing slicer software also incorporates various slicing profiles. The generated slices often cause issues to the 3D printers, for instance, when the Y-axis is scaled incorrectly. But despite such a limitation, this software allows you to get an idea of several aspects such as;
- If you should print the model at a lower resolution
- Whether the printer’s resolution is enough
- If to use the anti-aliasing and whether it makes any difference
Supports Different Operating Systems
The CHITUBOX 3D printing slicer software is popular because it works well with different operating systems. This is ideal as it doesn’t limit you to use a specific operating system that might not be your preferred choice. The different compatible operating systems include;
- Linux (Fedora/Debian/ Ubuntu)
- MacOS X10.6 and the later
- Windows both 32 and 64 bits
Advantages of CHITUBOX
CHITUBOX provides you with many benefits compared to proprietary slicers that make using it worthwhile and exciting, including;
- Free of charge
- It makes working with various 3D printers simpler
- It boasts perfectly well configurable support structures
- It’s a powerful 3D printing slicer software
- Quick slicing speed
- It features a great UX
- It incorporates the hollowing command to be used for hollow creation
- Has exceptionally well configurable support structures
- This slicer is compatible with almost all kinds of resin 3D printers
- It boasts capabilities of robust supports generation that have an ideal density
Disadvantages Of CHITUBOX
- It has quite a boring and unexciting design despite working as expected
- You must create an account before downloading this 3D printing slicer software
- It doesn’t include an “Undo” function when making edits
Takeaway
CHITUBOX is a practical 3D printing slicer software that incorporates a broad range of editing capabilities. If you weren’t sure if CHITUBOX is the right choice for you, highlighted above are essential details to help you in your decision-making process.
Knowing these insights, you can now understand why the CHITUBOX has drastically impacted the Resin-based 3D printing industry. And with continued updates, the potential of this 3D printing slicer software only keeps getting better.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How can I download CHITUBOX?
You can download CHITUBOX for free from the website: https://www.CHITUBOX.com/download.html
You will need to either login or register a new account by hitting the sign-up button.
Is CHITUBOX open source?
In later versions CHITUBOX plan to open the API interfaces which will allow you to develop your own plugins and extensions to customize CHITUBOX for your specific needs.
What files can CHITUBOX open?
CHITUBOX currently supports the following file formats:
stl, obj, cbddlp, photon, photons, zip, slc, wow, fhd, cwS, ctb, phz, svgx, lgs, chitubox, cfg
And support for more file formats is constantly being added.
How do you hollow CHITUBOX?
After importing your part, simply select the ‘Hollow’ option and specify your desired wall thickness. Be careful to choose a thickness value that will be strong enough for your geometry.
Select your desired precision. This represents the smoothness of the finished surface, the lower the number the rougher the finish.
What’s the difference between CHITUBOX Free and Pro versions?
The pro version of CHITUBOX is not yet released, but when it is it will have more features with an improved GUI that is easier to use. The underlying algorithms that make CHITUBOX work will be more intelligent to give even better results.
