I decided to install extra apps in my Creality Ender 3 V3 KE 3D printer. The main (and only) reason I have for that is to make nice timelapses of my prints. Really, that’s the only reason for me to do it.

DSC_3740

I chose to go with Mainsail, a nice looking web interface to control and monitor the printer. Installation requires a few steps:

  1. Update the printer firmware via the touch screen, the latest version as of this writing is v1.1.0.14.

  2. Root the printer. For that, go to printer settings and click on “Root account”. You need to “read” the disclaimer and accept it. Congratz! You’re groot now! The password for my root user is Creality2023, it may be different for you.

  3. SSH into the printer. Either do it with PuTTY or with ssh in the terminal if you are on Linux, WSL, or MacOS. One way to get the IP address of the printer is in the network tab of the settings menu.

  4. Download the installation script, after SSHing:

    $ git clone https://github.com/Guilouz/Creality-Helper-Script.git /usr/data/helper-script

  5. Now it is time to install it! Still in the terminal, run the helper script:

    $ sh /usr/data/helper-script/helper.sh

    Select 1 for the Install Menu, then 1 to install Moonraker and Nginx, confirm it. This may take a while to complete, don’t rush the script.

    After the installation is complete, you’ll be back into the Install Menu. Chose option 3 for Mainsail (or 2 for Fluidd).

Done! That’s all to install Mainsail. You can now open your browser at http://<printer-ip>:4409 and see Mainsail there.

Now I want my cheap non-Creality webcam to work. For that we need to install Entware and the webcam support. Back in the Install menu, choose 4 to install Entware, then 13 for the webcam support, and finally 11 for the timelapse plugin. Mainsail should find the webcam automagically.

The default settings in Mainsail should be enough for most users. But may not be for you. To configure the timelapse plugin, go to Settings (the gear icon in the top right area), find the timelapse menu in the left, and configure for your liking. If you want the timelapse in layermacro mode, you need your slicer to add a TIMELAPSE_TAKE_FRAME macro to the G-code on each layer change. For hyperlapse mode you don’t need the G-code instruction.

To configure OrcaSlicer to add the G-code: go to the printer profile, edit preset, Machine G-code (second tab), scroll down to Before layer change G-code, and add TIMELAPSE_TAKE_FRAME one line above the G92 E0 instruction.

Enjoy.

“Camera support timelapse”