Orca Slicer vs Bambu Studio: Which is Best for Your 3D Printing? | New Calibration Explained

[@Warpig639]

I hope someone makes a step-by-step tutorial on how to use bamboo studio software. I am a beginner plus I am an older gentleman 74 just started with 3-D printing and it’s daunting to me. So I hope someone makes a tutorial that starts from the beginning and I mean the very beginning don’t miss anything. It’s always been that way for me. If somebody just gives me an open door, I can usually build on that. Thanks all you guys who make these videos to watch. Thank you so much.

[@andrewjeon7505]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qIvLqmOAZdKLeKcsi=hQd-4egIU-ZnyJuM

[@uskeeze2131]

ItsMeaDMaDe has a pretty good multi video guide if you’re still looking

[@DebianDog]

before the latest updates, I have been pretty much using orca slicer, but for consistency and random shutdowns I have moved back to Bambu Labs slicer. The AMS seems really herky-jerky with the new version of Orca.

[@lendizzle77]

I did not experience that but Orca is a little buggy.

[@craigfisher146]

I've also had a couple shut downs but oddly I've got a couple stalls. One thing that I have really noticed though, when I would send a job through OS, sometimes the cloud would be seriously slow downloading my model. It's pretty instantaneous for me now. Could be a coincidence but I've definitely noticed.

[@Pjiggy]

I just use bamboo studio and everything comes out fine with their presets

[@Gert-DK]

Me2. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

[@bsimmons00]

Ok, after going through this process with 4 filaments I had in the AMS it does seem a bit odd how it all works. The Flow Dynamics not being stored with the filament profile is just odd. It should all be stored in one place. When I put a spool in the AMS, I choose a profile either from the printer or the app. That should then set everything in the slicer to match. It's just very disjointed instead of being easy to have a profile setup for a filament and just choose that when you load the filament.

[@GTW-1807]

I agree that this is a odd and confusing way of doing things. I know of no way of seeing what the printer settings are for the filaments I calibrated and don't even know if it's using the correct one. Really needed to have both in the filament settings. Don't know what they are thinking on this one!!

[@huntliba]

I would like to know, how build plate type can influence your filament flow rate and K factor... both are affected from filament not the plate you print on :D these miniscule differences between cool plate and PEI plate are lidar/your own margin of error from the reading...

[@lendizzle77]

The build plate temps being different would be my guess. (35 vs 55)

[@fbombtehgr3at]

The point @huntliba made is: just calibrate with one plate, but use the results for all plates when printing. No need to put the plate type in your filament profile name. Intuitively, that would be my opinion as well, but I have no first hand experience.

[@joeking433]

Is there a way to hit a button in Bambu Slicer and have the printer print slower but better looking prints? Or do I have to figure out how to change all the slicer settings which doesn't seem too simple to get right?

[@SquintyGears]

on the layer preset dropdown (where it says 0.20mm lenny setup @4:21) you'll find a number of presets if you don't know what you're doing with all the numbers. most of them clearly change the layer height as their main feature, which is a part of the quality~speed thing you're asking about, but some of them area clearly named 0.2 default vs 0.2 quality. So you can try them and see how you feel about the results. you can also always run the printer in silent mode, at 50% speed. this will only improve the quality for defects that appear because of the motion system or cooling directly. but it's a huge time loss. there are better ways to get more details than going slow. smaller nozzles and/or Arachne slicing. if you just want them to look better and don't care about print time buy a 0.2mm nozzle. no need to hit a button or change anything else. there's a limit to getting quality out of just the software that comes from the physical reality of that hole size. it really depends on what you mean by better looking. what is the problem you're seeing?

[@craigfisher146]

I'm always curious about this. Is it worth doing it by color? The thought of doing this for every color I have is a little daunting. But every mgf/filament type totally makes sense to me.

[@lendizzle77]

I’m not sure it is necessary for each color

[@kenlucas5849]

@@lendizzle77I second this. I do it by manufacturer and material type. If I run into an issue with a specific color, then I’d create a separate profile for it.

[@Omniverse0]

Different colors are accomplished by different additives. It's hard to say how those additives might affect the end result of your print. I'd calibrate for every brand/type - and then by color if that's not enough.

[@spongecounter]

Nice video, Len. Thanks. A follow on video, which would be welcome, is how to organize all the filament, nozzle diam, plate, layer thickness, and speed combinations. My Orcaslicer list is getting big and confusing. What is the best way to organize all the combinations? Is there a good way? Thanks again.

[@lendizzle77]

Great idea. Let me think about that.

[@AndrewAHayes]

On a YT video I saw a calibration print that had a larger pattern on the left hand side of the calibration print yet I cant figure out what it is for, do you know Len?

[@sonub5401]

I was curious, do you have to put glue down on the cool plate for the calibrations?

[@elidari60]

Hi, I noticed that you are using orca and that’s why the reason I subscribe to your site one question I have I cannot personally save that many filament in one screen. How do you do this every time I save one it changed the name and change all the numbers, the same as the first one or the second one. How do you do this, thank you

[@VectorRoll]

I have a P1S and am currently having issues with the K-Factor saving and updating when selecting between filaments. Heck I even noticed that when I switch slots in my AMS when loading Bambu Spools that their RFID Chip do not seem to select the Proper K-Factor when they are loaded. They only load the type and color. Not sure what the deal is there. When I do the manual dynamic flow calibration calibration in Bambu Studio I noticed that I am able to select between Line and Pattern as the method but after the calibration is done I do not have an option to name the result nor manage any results like what is shown in this video. It just says that it saves it to the printer, yet they do not change when switching between brands and types. So I have to question that as well. I am at a loss as to what is going on, but it is annoying having to manually change it every time time. If I had to guess, I would say that when I do the Dynamic Flow Calibration for a particular slot that it clears out all the saved K-Factor presets for that slot and only uses the last result from the calibration. That would explain why my K-factors are not changing when I switch filaments. Anyways...I will just have to make a spreadsheet for each of my filaments and their K-Factors for now.

[@DatMammut76]

Gotta ask. How the heck does the plate effect flow rate lol. Been tuning for a long time but if I’m doing something wrong I’d like to know.

[@lendizzle77]

Build plate temps are different. If that didn’t affect anything with printing, then why would they be different? My guess

[@Placekeeper1985]

Because you can save energy with the cool plate, for example. Theoretically, PLA does not even need a heated bed. In the end, the temperatures are all about the adhesion or the material that needs more adhesion and heat. Therefore it is not necessary to perform different calibrations for the same filament with different build plates :). If the results differ, e.g. when calibrating the flow rate, it can be assumed that there are deviations in the diameter of the filaments. However, the plate or the temperature has nothing to do with it. Best regards

[@johnnyrocko7105]

Thank you Len I've been holding off updating my firmware for my X1C as well as the new Bambu Slicer Your review was what I needed There's been a handful of hiccups with Bambu so I rolled my Firmware back and have been using Orca for a while now

[@lendizzle77]

Glad the video helped you!

[@johnnyrocko7105]

@lendizzle77 absolutely it did I printed a few test Benchys after the caliberation at 0.12, 0.16 and 0.2 mm Everything looks great so I'm currently doing a print in place van from Fab365 I like it so far

[@davidfarris1332]

great video as always! My filament type I created and calibrated isn't wanting to show up on the AMS like yours did. odd.

[@lendizzle77]

When you save flow dynamics, it saves on the printer and you select it when editing the roll in there from the printer (super dumb). The flow rate shows up in Studio under the filaments. IMHO, these should both be under the filaments.

[@davidfarris1332]

@@lendizzle77 thanks for the help! That is odd. I did check from the printer as I followed your video instructions but still couldn't find it. I will fiddle with it some more later as I love the idea of being able to calibrate multiple filaments for one print! (Never tried orca)

[@paulmyfinger]

​@davidfarris1332 its a little k with an edit pencil icon where you would choose a slot and colour. Step 3 I think along the top tabs under device

[@RobertONeillPhotos]

is there a way to push the name from Studio to the AMS?

[@rebootnut]

I liked the Bambu Studio until I saw Orca Slicer's measuring tool. Game changer if you're someone who resizes things and want to check sizes.

[@bsimmons00]

Do you need to have glue on the cool plate for the calibration? It doesn't look like you do and I don't think adhesion is really an issue. I just never used the cool plate and only use the textured PEI so I figured I'd ask.

[@adamjelinek4111]

When you calibrate do you only calibrate for tip size, brand and type of filament and not color?

[@lendizzle77]

Some people may want to calibrate for each color. I'm not sure it is necessary

[@JohnRuckart66]

Is this only available for the X1c because of the lidar? My P1s hasn't arrived yet but I am trying to get fully educated for when it arrives. Thanks for the great videos!

[@lendizzle77]

You will need to do the manual tests for the ones that use Lidar.

[@JohnRuckart66]

​@@lendizzle77thanks

[@heroflying]

One reason to use Orcaslicer over Bambu Studio for tuning? Apparently none of the Bambu Studio tuning works with any nozzle other than the 0.4mm nozzle. You'll just get "invalid nozzle diamenter". Why on earth Bambu even allows those as options if it doesn't work is beyond me.

[@lendizzle77]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing

[@swdw973]

One comment, The manual flow tests stick very well for me on the GOLD textured PEI plate

[@RS474]

If you enable Developer mode in Settings in BambuStudio some of the missing features get displayed such as Seam Gap. It may also be worth noting that when you ask for a 60C bed temp you only get around 55C when checking with a temperature gun. This could impact your build plate adhesion🤷🏼‍♂️

[@Printed_Visionz3D]

hate that I cant customize the printable area in bambu slicer like you can do in Orca slicer

[@Hafezco]

Am struggling to calibrate eSun pla LW, any suggestions

[@lendizzle77]

What issues are you having?

[@nickp385]

Would you be able to check something in Orca Slicer for me. At the top of the settings panel you can click on User Presets. When I click on My Klipper it turns the Work Plate to a very light gray color. The regular plate is black. Is there a way to make the My Klipper Plate black?

[@pimmja]

Hey Len, thanks for this video. Didn't realize I wasn't a subscriber of your channel, so I fixed that. One question: Given that I have an X1C and just recently added a P1S, do I need to build printer specific profiles? The whole "save to printer" vs. to filament profile thing seems a bit confusing especially now that I have 2 Bambulab printers.

[@lendizzle77]

Thanks for the sub. No. The flow dynamics is sent to the printer. The user presets will change when you change from X1C to P1S nozzle in the slicer.

[@pimmja]

@@lendizzle77 Ok, appreciate the quick response. Keep up the great content.

[@lendizzle77]

Thanks for watching!

[@WhatTrigger]

If I understand your question properly. Yes I would do the calibration for each printer (and named) and save the settings in the slicer. Reason been each printer would have its own mechanical properties that could effect these flow dynamics your trying to tune. Simple explanation - No two engines of the same make off a factory floor will produce the same horsepower.

[@Omniverse0]

@@WhatTrigger Comparing the HP output of an engine to a simple structure as a nozzle and heating element is way off. There are literally 10's of components within an engine resulting in HP numbers and even then the difference is still not exceptional in any way. You don't drive off the lot with a Hellcat wondering if you got 50HP less than the other guy with the same car...

[@fistouille23]

to mess with settings like you said, its the best way to learn and understand your printer

[@mitsuracer87]

Bambus auto K calibration comes up with completely wack results. Just use the Orca PA tower for best results. Bambu also wont let you manually change the K value after its done the auto calibration, and that incorrect setting somehow gets saved on your printer as well and theres no way to delete or change it. Talk about annoying

[@kmkessler]

The flow rate values are completely out of wack as well. I autocalibrated some new ASA I just got, and it gave me a value of 1.1. Printing a tolerance test, and nothing lower than .25 mm moved. I manually calibrated it in Orca, got .89 as the flow rate, and all knobs of the tolerance test worked. I'm sticking with Orca and manually calibrating my filaments.

[@L1S9D7M3T]

@@kmkessler - if i calibrate my filaments using Orca (since it calibrates better) - can i somehow then save those calibrations into BS?

[@kmkessler]

@@L1S9D7M3T You can put the Flow Rate into the Flow Ratio field in the filament settings that you got from the Orca Slicer Calibration. The same is true for Temperature, retraction, Max Flow Rate, etc., but, because of the goofy way Bambu Slicer keeps the Pressure Advance setting in the printer itself, I don't see a way to copy the number from Orca to Bambu Studio. I just use Orca Slicer all the time, and one of the main reasons is they sanely put all the setting in one place, instead of keeping some settings in the printer and some in the slicer like Bambu Studio.

[@L1S9D7M3T]

@@kmkessler - thank you for responding

[@grampafpv8013]

I have a p1p printer with no ams unit and when i go to calibrate i only get manual calibrate anybody know why i dont get automatic calibration

[@lendizzle77]

No lidar?

[@guythejedi]

And a new contender enters the arena, look at Galaxy Slicer

[@lendizzle77]

I'll check it out!

[@ashfox2012]

Orca knocks spots off both Prusa and bambu slicer lol there’s not even any competition.

[@timtomnec]

how in the world is this able to be called a "vs" when all you do is a flow calibration.....

[@barenekid9695]

Bumboo Slicer IS buggy /unreliable. .. long proven. Orca2 is not.. Enough said