V0.3 Extruder State Quality Settings

Here you can control when and how Octolapse triggers a snapshot based on the current state of your extruder. You can force Octolapse to lift and retract while taking snapshots, or put limits on when snapshots can be taken based on what your extruder is doing.

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Lift and Retract

Here you can enable lift and/or retract before Octolapse movements, or restrict snapshots to be taken ONLY when z-hop (z-lift) is detected.

Trigger on Z-Hop Only

If this option is enabled, Octolapse will monitor the gcode looking for Z-Hops, and will only trigger a snapshot while lifted, according to your Print Profile settings.

The lift distance is calculated by looking at the z height of the most recent extrusion. If this is equal to or above the Z-Hop print profile setting, a snapshot can proceed, else Octolapse will wait for a z-hop before triggering a snapshot

If you use this option incorrectly no snapshots will be taken. For example, if there are no z-hops in your print, and this setting is enabled, no snapshots will be taken. However, if there are a LOT of z-hops, this can improve quality.

Retract Before Move

Enabling this option will cause Octolapse to retract before moving to the snapshot position, and to detract after returning to the print position. Retraction happens before lift, if both options are enabled. Octolapse will detract after the snapshot movement is complete and after returning to the original z height.

To configure the retraction distance and the retraction/detraction speed, go to your printer profile within the Octolapse settings screen. You want to set 'Retraction Length', 'Retraction Speed' and 'Detraction Speed' to control this behavior.

Lift Before Move

Enabling this option will cause Octolapse to lift, if possible, before moving to the snapshot position, and to detract after returning to the print position. The Lift movement happens after retraction, if both options are enabled. Octolapse will return to the original z-height after the snapshot movement is complete, and before detracting.

To configure the retraction distance and the retraction/detraction speed, go to your printer profile within the Octolapse settings screen. You want to set 'Retraction Length', 'Retraction Speed' and 'Detraction Speed' to control this behavior.

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Extruder Trigger Requirements

Here you can tell Octolapse to wait for certain extruder conditions before taking a snapshot. This can improve print quality. If used incorrectly, you might not get any snapshots at all. There are three options for each extruder state:

• Ignore - Do nothing in this state. If ALL extruder states are set to Ignore, Octolapse will take snapshots without consulting the current extruder state.
• Trigger - If the extruder is in the given state, allow snapshots, unless it is also in a forbidden state.
• Forbidden - If the extruder is in this state no snapshots will be taken under any circumstances.

For example, if you are printing a spiral vase and you have the 'During Extrusion' requirement set to 'Forbidden' you won't get any snapshots.

Each extruder state can be true or false. Here are the available extruder states:

• Extrusion Starting
• During Extrusion - This is also true when 'Extrusion Starting' is true
• On Extruder Primed - True if there is currently no extrusion or retraction
• Start Retracting
• Retracting - This is also true when 'Start Retracting' is true
• Partially Retracted - This is true if there is some retraction, but it is below the 'Retraction Length' in your current printer profile
• Fully Retracted - This is true if your extruder is retracted by at least the 'Retraction Length' in your current printer profile
• Start Detracting
• Detracting - Also true if Start Detracting is true
• On Detracted - True when the extruder had some retraction, but now does not. Primed is true when On Detracted is true.

In many cases you'll want to set all of these to either 'Trigger' or 'Ignore'. This is usually true for spiral vases, or prints that have no retraction at all. In other cases you'll want to trigger snapshots only when the extruder is fully retracted and lifted. This is also possible.

There are currently many combinations that don't make any sense at all. I would like to compile a list viable extruder states for the various scenarios so that I can add some presets.