definitely no intent here to pretend to be an authority on tri and dual coloring;
here are some observations to share:
some of my best outcomes, the ones where people give them a WOW are tri and dual; mostly tri;
the most intriguing tri that i have used is (PLA) green-purple-copper
(also use the gold-copper-blue, not sure if the color order means anything or it is just marketing);
the dual i like is the black-copper (also use gold-rosered); all are silk versions;
so far it seems the ideal combination is tri-color on 3-sided models (e.g., the cepora tower, a 3 sider)
and also a dual color on an even-numbered sided model ;
using the dual on a 4 sided object results in 2 sides of each color;
using a dual on a tri-sided object results in 1 side of each of the two colors and the third side being a blend of the two colors (so a black-copper yields a black side, a copper side, and a purple/violet side);
using a tri-color on a round object (actually a sphere) yielded ok results, areas, large splotches actually of each color but decent migration from one color to the next;
even as this is being authored i am using gold-copper-blue on the cepora tower base and the results, so far, are mixed: one of the three sides is copper, one is purple but there is no gold at all, instead there is a greenish-blue side; that might be tolerable but there is color-banding, so the purple side has some half-inch copper streaks, subtracts from the overall color effects;
on an irregular shape (dwarf rockstar) a simple 180 degree rotate in cura resulted in copper-purple front, copper side,purple side and green back with shades of purple
becoming green-purple front,copper back, purple side,copper side so the front-back colors largely reversed;
the anomaly is that reprinting from the same spool, same g-code didnt always produce the same result; one time there was color banding, bands about 5/8 inch alternating thru otherwise solid colors;
looks ok but the point is that couldnt be predicted and maybe couldnt be replicated;
i do have to say that i look forward to receiving the newest tri-color that i buy and using it due to that unpredictability ( rather than dive right into a large, long-running print, i test a smaller version first to get a sense of the color outcomes; even so, beware of that potential unpredictability);
if you are using brim buildplate adhesion they can be an early predictor of what the colors of the ‘sides’ will be
Thanks for sharing your successes, personally I have always enjoyed printing things like dice, and busts with them. With the dice it is interesting to see the color change when you roll them, I have been printing dice games for family and friends and they always seem very excited to play it!
I look forward to seeing where this technology goes in the future and how it evolves. For the time being I will definitely have to try printing some of these things that you have suggested!
wish we could attach photos…the cepora tower ( 3 parts: base,center,top) model yielded superior results using a tri-color, green-purple-copper: PLA silk , 0.1 mm; the silk black-copper also produced quite nice results on that same model; both are eye-opening really;
i plan on gifting some of them to special friends and i am sure they will be very well-received
That sounds amazing!!! You have lucky friends for sure.
If you are having trouble with uploading pictures you can always upload them to the cloud with a service like google drive / onedrive and then paste the link here!
ok, good idea on the method to share; i created a folder in Google Drive, uploaded 11 pics after annotating some of them; However when i go to establish the share i dont have a recognizable address with which to share; the email notice to me is sent by a “noreply…” address;
advise ?
doubt that share works seamlessly: below is an example (cepora tower) of the standard tri-color print on the left-front and the anomaly print in the front-right; the copper band is introduced …printing this model with the same tri-color 5 other times always yields the version in the front-left ( each side is a different color but they are consistent);
one thing i am curious about and will test soon; filament-run-out; lets say i have a long-running print and tri-color spool runs out, change spools to new one , same tri-color, same buying source, , resume print…
what happens ? same color schemes ? would guess so, will see
That is an interesting thought! I would guess that there would be quite a few factors that could affect that. Things like, if the batch is different, how the colors were added to the extrusion, the extrusion itself, the winding onto the spool, and feeding the filament into the printer are the ones that jump out at me right away.
This seems like something that could use some experimentation! You might actually be able to create some really cool patters/effects with multiple spools of filament.
desire to manipuate the coloring using tri color (PLA): how about this : let’s say you have a symmetric object, like that cepora tower, then using meshmixer, carve out a “band” from the middle of the object, then export that band as an object and stl into cura, in cura rotate the object, then import back into meshmixer and reassemble , so that middle layer would be rotated vis-a-vis the others, in theory the print would have used a different color in that band
on the general topic of colorizing a print;
let’s say you had some good reason for using two (or More) colors and could identify vertical points on the model where you desired one color to end and another to start;
what you might do is monitor the print progress right up the point of first color change, cut the filament right about the run-out sensor (which should pause the print quite soon), then change spools and resume print;
one example that comes to mind are the models that use a square base, you might desire that base to be a particular color and the main body of the print to be another color
On the topic of changing the colors in the middle of the print, there are actually some ways of changing the color mid-print using gcode settings. Essentially it would be the same thing as what you proposed but with a lot more accuracy and it will stop automatically.
You are able to do it with a single extruder, there is another thread on the forum recently where @sonic.cues has been messing around with it. All you do is tell the printer to pause the print at a specific moment and then you manually change the spools.
I’m sure that @sonic.cues would be able to explain it much better than myself. I have never really messed around with it very much so my knowledge is limited.
sharing more tri-color experience:
while i am very happy in general with the dual and tricolors, they do insert a bit of a wild card on occasion:
the next pic shows color banding where it shouldnt be ; i have printed this model quite a few times successfully with the tri-color; this one was a failure based solely on the tri-color; same printer, same g-code
here is another example: this one shows a successful vase ( spiralized contour ) on the right and the failure on the left ; same g-code, same printer ; same spool of filament;
so even within the same spool there is a ghost in the works
