Peace in our time. Good news, everybody, you can stick your head out of the trenches again. CBD-Tech (maker of the ChiTuBox slicer and associated mainboards) appears to have resolved its public spat with the desktop resin 3D printing community and Mango3D, maker of popular third-party slicer Lychee.
As of fall last year, newer high-resolution LCD 3D printers carrying ChiTu mainboards were subject to ChiTu patching up holes in its walled garden. This move locked third-party slicers out from producing printable files for these popular machines, including the Elegoo Mars 3, coming right around the same time the company introduced a paid subscription tier for its slicer–a conflation that caused dismay to many.
The move, affecting many popular printer manufacturers and a large number of imminent flagship printers, including the Elegoo Mars 3, Elegoo Jupiter, Phrozen’s Sonic Mini 8K and Mega 8K, as well as Epax and Peopoly machines, essentially locked these devices to only ChiTuBox Basic or the pricey ChiTuBox Pro, a perceived infringement on users’ right to slice files wherever they want.
The latest update of the Lychee slicer (version 3.6) brings a pleasant surprise then, with unbounded compatibility with the recently-locked CTB file type. In a statement, Mango3D said “after a long period of development time and collaboration with CBD-Tech company, we finally integrated the new encrypted CTB file format,” meaning Lychee Slicer is fully compatible with those new printers and respective mainboards. The move follows CBD-Tech releasing an SDK that allows third-party software to write the restrictive CTB file format.
According to an Elegoo blog post, the company played mediator in brokering this deal. Seemingly quite happy with the outcome, the company crows that it aims to “provide the best printing experience possible” and hopes that the “joint efforts will advance the entire technology and make the world of 3D printing a better place.”
So, for those who partook in the many discussions online about whether or not CBD-Tech’s fencing-in was the right move or felt restricted in their creativity when working with one of those encrypted printers, it doesn’t matter anymore. They can, once again, tend to their 3D printing with their preferred alternative slicer.
To see what else is new in Lychee 3.6, check out Mango3D’s release notes. In addition to the above, we spy new goodies like a 3D model fixing tool, community-created resin profiles, plus two-stage motion control (TSMC) mode for power users that like to go vroom with their printing.
Are you happy to see Lychee make a comeback for the new printers? Were you even bothered before? Let us know in the comments below.
(Lead image: Mango3D)
License: The text of "CBD-Tech and Mango3D to Bury Hatchet Over Slicer Feud" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.