In the world of 3D printing not all slicing applications are compatible with every printer. If you have been using other 3D printers in the past you may be unfamiliar with the software for your new Bambu Labs 3D printer. Bambu Studio is a versatile slicing software which is necessary to use in order to send prints to your Bambu printer.
The interface may seem a little overwhelming but typically there are only a few settings you need to know to have successful prints. Let's take a look at the interface and go through the steps one by one.
Getting Started with Bambu Studio
Download the latest version from Bambu Studio for Bambu Labs website.
This guide is intended as a quick guide to the bare minimum settings needed to get a print sliced for the printer, for a more in depth guide see this article.
Bambu Studio Interface Overview
Let's take a look at the interface in Bambu Studio and introduce each section
Nav Bar: Home(Shows previously printed designs), Prepare(Prep space for printing), Preview(Automatically slice and preview outcome), Device(Manage printers), Project(Manage 3MF files and include notes) and Calibration(Calibration options for your printer and filaments). "Slice" and "Print" buttons.
Tool Bar: description from left to right - Load file, Add Plate, Auto Orient, Arrange all objects, Split objects, Split Parts, Variable Layer Height, Transform tools: Move, rotate, scale, Cut, Mesh Boolean, Support painting, Seam Painting
Machine select, platform type and printer settings.
Filament settings
Slicing settings
Steps for basic slicing of a 3D file for printing
Firstly, we need to check that the correct printer profile is selected with the correct nozzle configuration.
To load a 3D model, select the cube with a plus icon from the tool bar. Bambu Studio accepts many file types including standard .Stl, .Obj and .3MF files most commonly associated with 3D printing.
Once you've loaded a model and selected it in the viewport, you'll notice all the icons on the toolbar are no longer greyed out. From the toolbar you can perform the standard rotate, move, scale operations to the model.
Once you have scaled and oriented the part as necessary, the model may need support if it has unsupported 45 degree angle features such as the sharp downwards facing point on this Makers Empire trophy.
To add support select the support tab on the left hand menu and make sure "enable support" box is ticked. change type to "tree auto" this type of support is usually the easiest to remove.
Now the model is prepared for printing we need to send it over wifi to the printer or export it to be printed from USB.
First click "slice plate" to start the slicing process. Once completed the software will tell you how long the print will take and how much filament will be used.
To print over wifi, click print plate otherwise if you are printing from USB click the down arrow button next to print plate and select "export plate sliced file". Save the file to your USB, and put it in the printer and select the file and start the print.