From what I've seen in the blog post, this is underselling it a bit. They did improve on the color mixing model, and they're launching filaments to match to make it an end-to-end product.
No this isn't rocket science, and there's definitely a vibrant FOSS community actually pioneering this and that is probably the best place to be on the true frontier, but there is productization effort here. Considering people always advocate for Bambu for "making it easy to buy", Prusa also deserves credit when they try. They certainly get knocked when they don't.
As someone deeply embedded into the FOSS community myself, it's sometimes really annoying when we sabotage the better players. It only helps the worse ones.
PrusaSlicer is used as a base by some others, they’ll get this.
Version 3 is coming soon, they’ve promised good things. I’m curious what shows up.
They also open sourced their color mixing model so if people think it’s better they can switch. And they’re using and adding their stuff to the open print tag database they’ve already cooperated with others on.
This seems like all upside to the community to me.
> They did improve on the color mixing model, and they're launching filaments to match to make it an end-to-end product.
For what it's worth, CMY filament bundles have been available forever and they're well characterized for use with HueForge there are open databases with measured color and TD values. It's great that Prusa is launching their own bundle with their own measurements. I'm just trying to point out that this all exists and has existed for a long time, and there are multiple resources available for it.
> As someone deeply embedded into the FOSS community myself, it's sometimes really annoying when we sabotage the better players
Not trying to sabotage anyone, just trying to help the community with some more information.
The big thing for me is this plus the INDX from Bondtech. And at least for now they are the exclusive partner for that (you can still buy on your own and add to any machine).
INDX already has fast color changes and produces far FAR less waste than an AMS. And that’s what sold me.
Then the coloring mixing stuff started coming from the community. Now you don’t need to buy 30 colors of filament for many uses. Thats a serious upside. And it really benefits from multiple toolheads.
It’s a great confluence of events if you’re in the Prusa ecosystem or just don’t want a Bambu or U1.
> It’s a great confluence of events if you’re in the Prusa ecosystem or just don’t want a Bambu or U1.
I'm excited for INDX too, but like you said it's not a Prusa exclusive system. I think this is great news for people who like to play entirely within the Prusa ecosystem, but I also think it's good to let people know that there are a lot of options outside of that ecosystem.
The INDX upgrade for the Core One costs more than the entire Snapmaker U1 printer. I think of them as targeting different price points.
I guess I've been in 3D printing long enough to not consider myself in anyone's ecosystem. I'm jumped between printers and had multiple printers at home for years and never felt tied to any one ecosystem.
Oh yeah. But since I already had the Core One the INDX is the obvious upgrade path for me. I also only got the 4 head version.
I started with a MakerBot Thing-O-Matic when it was new. After leaving the hobby for a while I got a MK3(S?) because it seemed the most reliable to me at the time.
I’ve stuck with Prusa since then since I’ve been happy and I’m used to their stuff. I had a MK4S because I could upgrade my existing printer to it. The next time I was interested I didn’t see anything I was more interested in so I stuck with what I liked. There is also a “known quantity” factor in the company since I’ve dealt with them a few times now.
I would leave them if I saw something I liked better, but haven’t at a time I was buying. I do like the look of Bambu printers much more. I looked at their printers for a minute when I wanted to replace my MK4S but didn’t like it enough to bother. I didn’t get a Core One until after the INDX was announced, and that was a big part of why I decided to upgrade.
If I was starting over the U1 would be a VERY big draw for me. Price/capability is very impressive. Prusa’s low end is quite lacking as far as I know.
The AMS doesn’t cause the waste, it’s purging the old filament out of the tool head. The H2D and X2D can print two colors with an AMS without needing to purge and the H2C can do 7 without purging. You still need a prime tower when switching tool heads, but that is significantly less than a full purge. But I believe the INDX has the same restriction.
I do agree though that direct feeding each tool head offers the best experience vs the AMS approach.
I’m glad to see Prius’s catching up to Bambu on the color mixing front, Bambu has had CMYK filaments for a long time and has supported color mixing in their slicer for at least a month.
> You still need a prime tower when switching tool heads, but that is significantly less than a full purge. But I believe the INDX has the same restriction.
INDX no longer needs a tower. They say there is 13 milligrams of waste (which they call less than a grain of rice) on each filament change. So a print with 1,000 changes wastes 13 grams of filament. Details:
I'd kind of considered printing a rather small thing (seriously, 3x3x3 cm or so) in grey using this technique (using white and black filament). It told me it'd require 140 (== number of layers) filament changes and it'd take 5 hours. (In fairness, if I wanted to print 10 at once it'd probably take a similar time.)
So... honestly it's kinda silly IMO. If I wanted to mix colors in a hacky way I'd just... wait, hold my beer.
WCMesh in California covers a few hundred miles of southern California on Meshcore.... That isn't flat. It really just depends on buy-in in the local region.
Another anecdote: Started using a password manager in 2017 (8 years) and today I have 520 credentials, using it for everything from my normal accounts to environment variables, configuration and a bunch of other stuff. Only thing I handle myself outside of it is ssh and GPG keys.
Real-ID is such a farce. I have had an ID since I was 15, and presented my birth certificate and ssn as a minor to do so. There is no instance where I am not "real".
I have a US Passport that took less effort and paperwork to get than a Real-ID. I will never submit.
The passport card is also an option, one that’s small enough to fit in a wallet. It can be used to cross land borders, and to fly domestically (but not internationally).
Unlike most driver’s licenses, a passport card doesn’t expose one’s address. This makes it a great form of ID to use in non‐airport situations as well.
> Unlike most driver’s licenses, a passport card doesn’t expose one’s address.
Coincidentally, this is also how it works with German passports. You're legally required to have either an ID card or a passport (or can have both.) The former has your address and comes with a bunch of ever-changing digital signature/ID features (that you need a special reader or app for). The latter is just a biometric (still RFID but well) passport, with only the city (issuing authority) listed.
There's also no need to get a real id drivers license in that case except for convenience and reduced risk of losing the passport, since every identity verification circumstance which restricts allowable drivers licenses to the real id version also allows a passport.
You're totally right that drivers license and passport ought to be sufficient documentation to get a real id, at least for US passport holders or for foreign passport holders when suitable evidence of lawful status is physically present within their passport. But that's not how the real id rules are written, since two proofs of the address of residence are also required. Not all non-real id drivers licenses prove residence (as opposed to for example mailing address), and at most, driver's license plus passport will provide one such proof and not two.
Documentation of the Social Security number, such as a Social Security card, also used to be federally required. Although this requirement was removed, nothing forced the states to remove the corresponding requirement in their own state-law rules, and some states still retain that requirement. Providing any Social Security number you have been assigned is still federally required, and the number is still verified against SSA records, but the feds no longer require the applicant to provide proof that it's their number.
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