Clip of one of the map scenarios I use for testing my work on fixing edges with 4 faces (overused edges) nonmanifold.
Click the image to view the animation.

3D map generation update (click the image to view the animation):
A comparison of "before" non-manifold 3D cells and "after" manifold 3D cells that have their corner vertices nudged to eliminate the edges shared by 4 faces non-manifold issue. This issue is described in more detail in https://www.printables.com/@ansonl/activity/30224

The "after" cells follow a deletion and translation of vertices so that edges are never shared by more than 2 faces to maintain a manifold 3D mesh no matter how the neighboring cells are arranged.

This non-manifold issue doesn't cause issues when slicing but performing 3D operations on a non-manifold has a high chance of unexpected results. Improving the mesh of 3D maps lets you "cut" and post process them easier.
I expect these more manifold 3D meshes to be easier to make into "low poly" styles like the released low poly Colorado map.

Sorry for the potato quality animation, @Prusa3D, please add animated WebP support for images!

Proud to share the new Fixed Ironing Angle feature in the released OrcaSlicer v2.3.2! Your posted makes of my maps and feedback inspired this.

I added this setting to make ironed top surfaces more uniform. This eliminates the "tiger striping" that may be undesirable on models with large flat surfaces where consecutive layers reflect light differently. Great for 3D printed maps and other prints where an ironed surface needs look even under bright light!

When the ironing angle is fixed (absolute angle):
- Ironing angle is the same on every layer and does not alternate like top surface line direction
- Ironed surface finish is more uniform
- Ironed surfaces reflect light in the same direction
- Ironing surface effect between adjacent layers is similar to Monotonic surface finishes because the lines are not offset

OrcaSlicer 2.3.2 - https://github.com/OrcaSlicer/OrcaSlicer/releases/tag/v2.3.2
Fixed Ironing PR - https://github.com/OrcaSlicer/OrcaSlicer/pull/11195

I know! I said I was busy in my last post 10 minutes ago, I contributed this feature last year but it's just become available to the public in the new 2.3.2 release!

I am still planning the fix for another edge cases I discovered earlier in the year that led to technically nonmanifold map models. The theory is figured out but the implementation is not in — yet. Sorry to keep you guys waiting, I have been very busy recently!

When there is a "dip" down to Z=0 at just the right width to create a single edge along the bottom, an edge is created that has more than 2 faces attached. In this situation, the edge is shared by both sides of the "valley" which is 4 faces, 2 faces on each side. (click the image to see the animated version, the nonmanifold edge is highlighted in yellow)

It's obvious to where the interior volumes of the mesh are and the face normals are still correct, but 3D mesh software such as Blender and slicers are strict and mark it as nonmanifold. Slicing the model is successful but mesh softwares warn about this nonmanifold edge and using the automated mesh repair built into them has unpredictable results.

This is a relatively minor issue and occurs only on models with thin slivers along the coast, but I want to get it right before releasing new/improved maps based on this new third iteration (V3) of the process — only the best! I call this V3 since the current release of USA maps were made with V1 in 2023 and V2.2 in 2024. ( https://ansonliu.com/maps/release-notes/)

This type of multi 3D mesh generation with 2.5D constraints isn't being researched and developed anywhere else as far as I know (at least as open source like this). You can keep up to date on my progress on the technical side of this, by reading Chris Harding and my collaboration notes at https://github.com/ChHarding/TouchTerrain_for_CAGEO/pull/111#issuecomment-3830323784.

As always, thank you for your continued support! You guys motivate me to continue experimenting and "Making the Uncharted".

New vs old map model generation comparison. Hopefully it is clear which one is new. The map shown is District of Columbia (DC) scaled up 5x to make the imperfections more visible.

- The borders of the map are smooth lines instead of a stair stepping pattern.
- The interlocking river object has a smooth height transition to the land next to it instead of a one layer height step.
- Better top surface geometry likely due to dynamic triangle rotation and new elevation processing.

Interlocking land and river model work update.
District of Columbia (DC) is one of my test cases because it is a relatively small map that I can debug manually. The interlocking dual object mesh is animated below (click to see the animation). Notable features:
1. Smooth borders that are no longer staircased at rough pixel boundaries.
2. Seamless height transitions between the 2 colors
3. Manifold geometry. You're just gonna need to trust me on that, I swear it is.

There is a lot of control (and pitfalls) when creating multiple interlocking geometries with the newly developed method and it is lighter on memory compared to brute force boolean operations.

Feast your eyes on the first proof of concept generated mesh with borders clipped to a custom boundary. (Click image to view the animation)

Blue = All normals pointing outwards. ✅

A square cell based mesh being clipped by irregular map boundaries. Each color represents a different cell that is normally a square that is clipped by a special boundary. The middle blank area is cells that continue to keep their square shape.

The screenshot is a visualization of the progress made on my future 3D map models.

A screenshot of a test case for mesh clipping.
The irregular shaped object (dashed light red) intersects 4 rectangular cells (dashed orange, yellow, light green, green). Imagine this as an irregular border for a geographic area for a map to be generated.
The solid lines represent the edges assigned to each cell that will have a vertical wall generated in the mesh. This is a top down view so the wall will go "into" the screen in a 3D sense.

Solid lines in the same color are walls assigned to the same cell. As seen, the solid lines do not overlap each other. The walls along the shared sides of adjacent cells are deconflicted so only one cell generates the wall on a shared side.

Ironing Angle effectiveness is primarily a function of its relative offset from the top surface line direction.

Instead of specifying an absolute value that shifts unpredictably each layer, the Ironing Angle Offset setting will represent a relative offset from whatever the top surface direction with consideration for custom directions and rotation template!.

Our work on Ironing Angle Offset setting is now in the nightly OrcaSlicer and will be in the next release (2.3.2?).

 https://github.com/SoftFever/OrcaSlicer/pull/10841

Map improvements continue - Work in progress on smoother map model borders that fit the actual geographic boundaries.

Screenshot (click to view full). No 3D mesh preview for you guys yet.

The diagonal triangle represents a real geographic boundary transformed into real printing coordinates and the square is a "cell", the previous map border's best detail available.

We are usually limited in border resolution by keeping/deleting an entire cell.
I'm working on future map models that fit geographic boundary curves. Smooth borders reduce stair stepping = better quality + interlocking maps.

That feeling when the mesh algorithm you are working on generates seamless interlocking models. (click image to see animated demo)

The improved algorithm for generating map features is faster than my previous method with 1/100 of the memory usage. This is the result of over 2 years of collaboration leading to improved + new maps in less time ⏱, with massive energy savings🍃 (in electricity — not our free time 🥲).

Another successful large design brought to life with elevation contour lines! + meeting fellow creators at #opensauce #thecorridorcrew @Aerocreative

A new region approaches!

@EthanSwanson_1042859

Ready for Rocky Mountain RepRap Festival 2025. See you guys there!

Find me at the event first and take home one of these 4 color maps of Colorado!

The 3D models for these maps of Colorado will be uploaded next week so you can print them on your own printer!

#rmrrf

Add elevation contour lines and color changes to your 3D map with the new Map Feature Modifier script! Download it for free at https://github.com/ansonl/mfm
It is compatible with Prusaslicer, OrcaSlicer, and Bambu Studio.

I have also made a tutorial video https://youtu.be/3BnW-QVdqKM

Dynamically applying multiple color changes to sliced G-code through a Post Processing script. Demo video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VTLWUS8DwPU

I made this script to add elevation contour lines and high snow color to my 3D printed maps and you can use it now, too!

The script is available at https://github.com/ansonl/mfm and all of my free 3D maps on Printables can be used with this script.

More info on the maps can be found at https://ansonliu.com/maps/

The linked demo video showing a dual color dice model that has a green isoline added at repeating heights only on the wall features and not in the infill. The pink base color is swapped for a tan color near the top. This required rearranging G-code on the go to optimized printing "islands" on each layer. The prime tower is also smartly reused during actual toolchanges.