

Show HN: iTunes for 3D printing - jschwartz11
https://www.layerbylayer.com/

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ecopoesis
This seems a bit stupid. There are dozens, if not hundreds of different 3D
printer varieties, each of which requires its own tuned slicer settings. Hell,
I have to use different slicer settings depending on the filament
manufacturer.

What advantage is there in delivering a presliced models? Everyone has
standardized on STL files for a reason.

~~~
tlrobinson
I agree they should offer STL models for people who want to do the slicing
themselves, but I do like the idea of providing presliced models that are
tuned/tested for popular printers.

EDIT: "We guarantee that if your print fails, you will be given as many
opportunities as needed to re-print and get it perfect. L2L allows us to track
the completion of every print."

So I guess the purpose of a proprietary format is to restrict the number of
times you can print a file? That's not going to work very well when you're
interfacing with open source printers. I imagine it's trivial to slurp the
gcode off the serial connection to the printer.

~~~
marcosscriven
I don't think they are providing a 'proprietary' format as such, it's just
gcode tuned to different printers.

Reverse engineering the head paths to produce a mesh would be pretty difficult
(though not impossible)

~~~
tlrobinson
That language I quoted implies you're only allowed one successful print per
purchase.

~~~
BeccaCory
What you're buying is a single-print, so what you're saying is correct. If
something's gone wrong, you can re-print as many times as needed, but once the
product is complete, then your print is done.

~~~
marcosscriven
But that's nothing to do with the file format though right? I mean, it's just
the end user has to be honest no?

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lukejduncan
It's an interesting approach. As a nerd my initial reaction to revolt at the
idea of DRM'ed 3D printing. That said, I get it and it's a novel approach. As
someone else in the comments pointed out it's also probably really easy to get
around with open hardware / open source 3D printers. But maybe that's a
problem you want to have at this point in the game?

Kudos on the launch

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olalonde
_Somewhat off-topic:_ it would be cool there was an app to play "3D printer
roulette". You would click a button and your printer would randomly print a 3D
model fetched from the web. I bet I could spend hours playing that game.

~~~
marcosscriven
If chat roulette were anything to go by, I'd imagine ending up with lots of
rather rude objet ;)

~~~
marcosscriven
Actually, that idea is genius. Isn't, erm, 'adult' material what's credited
with getting VHS off the ground?

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marcosscriven
I started one of these 3D file sharing sites a couple of months ago now
([http://www.fabfabbers.com/](http://www.fabfabbers.com/))

But having done it, I'm not sure it's really the way to go. There's a
proliferation of them now, and people are still preferring Thingiverse,
because it still has that inertia.

I think perhaps the next step is really more tools to make it easier to design
things in 3D - as I think that's really the hard part for most people.

~~~
snom380
Actually, I think a good idea would be a 99designs kind of service. Maybe not
today, but as 3D printing matures, there's going to be more people who just
want to print somehthing custom or some broken part, than there are people
willing to learn 3D modeling.

~~~
marcosscriven
Hmm yes that's a good idea too. The more I got into it though, the more I
realised that really it's nothing about 3D printing as such - most people
don't care any more about 3D printers than they care about injection moulding.

Right now it's much more about getting something either customized or unique
in some way, and printed on a professional SLS (or similar) printer. It's also
more about useful materials such as metals and ceramic - that's where
Shapeways have got it right I think.

~~~
snom380
Your right, Shapeways has got it right. I think this idea is more like Bill
Gates trying to sell his BASIC to the homebrew computer club.

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fudged71
Calling it the "iTunes of 3D printing" is going to have big problems for you.

iTunes means different things to different people. Some love it, some hate it.
Some see it as a marketplace, others see it as a way to store their music.

iTunes is not an MVP or a starting point. Choose a better way to communicate
your product.

------
joshdance
Probably a rookie question, but what is the difference between a print and a
file? I assume people doing 3D printing will know, but the distinction is lost
on me.

~~~
ecopoesis
You start with a model: usually a STL file. People make these themselves or
download them from Thingiverse.

You then slice the file. This creates a gcode file, which is a set of
instructions telling the machine how to move and when to print. Gcode
instructions are semi-standardized across printers. Depending on your material
and your printer, you often need to change the settings in the slicer to get
gcode that will create a good print on your printer.

You can then use the gcode to print if you printer is connected to a computer.
Or you can put it on an SD card and put that in the printer if it's
standalone. Some printers (like MakerBots) require further processing of the
gcode file into their own formats.

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jheitzeb
I wrote a post back when they launched to help explain how they differ from
markets like Shapeways and about some of the user experience problems in 3D
printing that they are trying to solve. Check it out:
[http://www.hackthings.com/layer-by-layer-launches-an-
easier-...](http://www.hackthings.com/layer-by-layer-launches-an-easier-
marketplace/)

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marcosscriven
I forgot to add, quite like the name 'Layer By Layer' :)

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AsymetricCom
Why would anyone want an 'iTunes for 3D printing'?

~~~
snom380
I could see why sellers would want it, and by extension customers would want
it if some really beautiful models were for sale. Ref Shapeways vs
thingiverse. I'm not sure now is the right time for it though, just like
iTunes would have been dead in the water before MP3 players became widespread.

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jason_slack
The "iTunes for 3D printing"?

Are you trying to rank your app up with the importance of iTunes?

Or are you trying use iTunes to state your app is essential?

Weird.

~~~
lifeformed
It has nothing to do with the success of iTunes, just the digital storefront
idea.

~~~
jason_slack
I dont read it that way. There are more digital store fronts besides iTunes.
Why didn't OP choose one of those? The idea is interesting but the way the OP
is comparing it to iTunes makes me feel like this is a toy idea.

~~~
snom380
I think the iTunes comparison is that it has DRM and you can only print one of
each item. I think it's a little early for this kind of service though. The
ones who like to tinker with 3D printers will be lukewarm to the DRM stuff,
while the ones who just want to buy things will get superior prints through
Shapeways.

~~~
snom380
I would like to add a big BUT though - if home or even in-store 3D printers
take off and "just works" I believe there will be a huge opportunity for a
marketplace like this. So maybe this will be a prime buy candidate for
Makerbot/3D systems or Shapeways some time in the future.

