The red areas indicate the overhang area that needs support. The model on the left is shown in the solid mode. For example, at a value of 0° all overhangs are supported, while at 90° no support material is added. The overhang angle influences how much support material is added. The model on the left has support everywhere, while the model on the right has support on the build plate only Overhang angle Everywhere: Support material is printed below every part that needs support, which means that it can also be placed on or inside a model.Touching build plate: Support material is only printed from the build plate up.This setting defines where the support structure is printed. This model has been sliced with the default tree support parameters. The default of 0.2mm works fine, if you wish a 'smooth' tree support finish a higher resolution may be applied Tree support collision resolution: The X-Y resolution to check the loaded model and avoid collisions.A bigger angle increases the branch’s bottom width Tree support branch diameter angle: The growth angle of the branch.Wide branches are stable yet hard to remove, thin branches are less stable yet easy to remove Tree support branch diameter: The diameter of the branch where it touches the model.Tree support branch distance: The distance between the endpoints of branches, for example, where they touch the model.An overhang angle of 40° is considered reliable Tree support branch angle: The maximum overhang angle the branches may use to print sideways.The following parameters control the way the supports grow. These supports are hollow and can be designed to follow different angles. Instead of printing supports up in straight lines from the build plate, we can use tree support to print tree-like structures that support models. The model on the left has 'normal' support, the model on the right has 'tree' support.Ĭaution: While 'Tree support' has advantages, the system has not been tested throughout and does not include profile-specific parameters. The benefits of this alternative include reduced print time and less scarring of the model. The 'Normal' support generates supports directly below your 3D model and is used in all Ultimaker printing profiles.Īs an alternative, 'Tree' support creates branches that grow around your 3D model. Ultimaker Cura offers two techniques to generate support called 'Normal' and 'Tree'. The support interface extruder is indicated in red. The first layer support extruder is indicated in red. The support infill extruder is indicated in red. To make use of this feature, you can specify which parts of the support are printed with which extruder. Support extruderĭual extrusion machines offer the possibility to create water-soluble supports. This can be achieved by enabling “Generate support”. In this case, you must print a support structure under the model to prevent the plastic from falling down. Some models have overhanging parts, which means that parts of the model float mid-air when you would print the model.

Ultimaker cura support settings