Rayforge 1.11.0-beta1 - Sketcher Tools, Physical Burn Model, Auto-Configuration
A while back I ran a vote asking where I should focus next. You spoke clearly: sketcher improvements came out on top, CNC second, and a better 3D preview third.
This cycle delivered the sketcher work you asked for -- and I went ahead and built the better preview too, even though it wasn't the runner-up. (CNC folks: you're on deck.)
Sketcher: Mirror, Duplicate, and Circular Arrays
The sketcher picked up several new tools this cycle.
- You can now mirror the selection vertically or horizontally across its center.
- Ctrl+D duplicates the selection in-place, and the arrow keys nudge selected entities around.
- The headline tool is the new circular array (polar pattern). Drop a guide circle, set the count and angle, and copies are generated parametrically. The dialog is non-modal with a live preview, the guide circle's radius resizes the whole array, and double-clicking it reopens the editor.
- Rectangles got a small upgrade: they now auto-create a center point, and Shift-click draws the rectangle symmetrically around the start point -- matching the ellipse tool.
A bunch of undo/redo and text-editing bugs were fixed, and Ctrl+S now saves the document instead of accidentally triggering the symmetry tool.
3D Preview: A Physical Burn Model
The 3D preview no longer floats engraving as a flat overlay on top of the stock. Laser raster and vector ops now char the stock itself -- the preview actually shows burning, using a physically motivated model that accounts for your laser's wavelength, optical wattage, and spot size, and the material's absorption at that wavelength.
- It works for rotary too -- engraving bakes into the rotary stock.
- Stock also got smarter: the material manager now guarantees a default stock material, and new stock assets and layers pick it up automatically.
A caveat: the burn model is physically motivated, but it's not yet well calibrated. To get the charring to match real materials across different lasers, I need your help. If you can run a material test grid and send me a photo of the result along with your machine data (laser wavelength, optical wattage, spot size, speed, and the powers/depths you tested), that data lets me tune the model to reality. More samples = a more accurate preview for everyone.
Auto-Configuration: Plug It In and Go
I've been chipping away at the setup friction. The wizard now does a lot more of the work for you.
- On first launch, the machine configuration wizard opens automatically and discovers nearby devices -- over USB and over the network. OctoPrint servers and ESP3D boards now appear in the wizard alongside USB serial devices.
- Discovered devices are matched to built-in profiles when possible, so you often just pick your machine from the list instead of filling everything in by hand. GRBL dialects and OctoPrint/Smoothieware settings are detected automatically.
- The wizard also checks serial-port and camera permissions before discovery starts. If something is missing, a new first page explains how to fix it on your platform, with commands you can copy with one click.
One more detail: USB serial ports now sort ahead of hardware ports in the port selector, which gained a two-line row showing the device path plus a short description. A configured but unplugged port stays pinned to the top so it doesn't fall off the list.
Fixes and Minor Improvements
- The laser and aux outputs are now turned off when a job is stopped or aborted, so a stuck "laser on" command no longer lingers after an interrupted cut
- Slow GRBL serial handshakes with grblHAL fixed
- New
--scriptCLI flag runs Python at startup so scripts can register plugins and template functions; built-in text-box template functions (date, time, uuid, etc.) are available out of the box .rfssketch files now record a schema version for forward compatibility- New right panel display mode setting
- Refined app icon
- Updated translations (de, es, fr, pt, uk, zh_CN)
- raygeo upgraded to 1.47.0
This beta was 70 commits, 460 files, and around 20k net lines of code.