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feat: Z Anti-Aliasing (ZAA) non-planar contouring#9727

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mnott wants to merge 2 commits intobambulab:masterfrom
mnott:feature/zaa-contouring
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feat: Z Anti-Aliasing (ZAA) non-planar contouring#9727
mnott wants to merge 2 commits intobambulab:masterfrom
mnott:feature/zaa-contouring

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@mnott
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@mnott mnott commented Feb 10, 2026

Summary

Adds Z Anti-Aliasing (ZAA) — a non-planar contouring post-processing step that smooths staircase artifacts on curved surfaces by micro-adjusting Z heights during extrusion. Based on the BambuStudio-ZAA implementation by AdoC3.

  • Integrates ZAA as a toggleable per-object setting (disabled by default)
  • Adds contouring parameters: max angle, smoothing radius, transition width
  • Post-processes G-code to replace discrete layer boundaries with smooth Z transitions
  • Verified output: 1,306 unique Z heights vs 85 without ZAA, with only 3 redundant Z moves

Changes

  • 81 files modified, +2,447/-214 lines
  • Core ZAA engine in src/libslic3r/NonplanarSurface/
  • G-code post-processing in GCode.cpp and GCodeWriter.cpp
  • UI integration: print settings panel, preset handling
  • Build system: build.sh for macOS, BUILD.md walkthrough
  • Documentation: docs/ZAA.md
  • Network plugin compatibility fix for third-party builds

Test plan

  • Verified ZAA output quality with test model (quadlock)
  • Compared with/without ZAA: correct Z interpolation, minimal redundant moves
  • macOS arm64 build, sign, notarize — full release tested
  • Network plugin downloads and loads correctly
  • Windows / Linux build verification (untested)

Matthias Nott added 2 commits February 10, 2026 02:43
feat: Add Z Anti-Aliasing (ZAA) non-planar contouring support
4a148c9 
Port of ZAA from BambuStudio-ZAA (github.com/adob/BambuStudio-ZAA)
to stock BambuStudio. ZAA eliminates stair-stepping on curved surfaces
by raycasting each extrusion point against the mesh and adjusting
Z height to follow the true surface geometry.

Changes:
- Core algorithm: ContourZ.cpp (~330 lines) performs vertical raycasting
- 3D geometry: Point3, Line3, Polyline3, MultiPoint3 extensions
- ExtrusionPath::polyline changed from Polyline to Polyline3
- GCode writer emits per-point Z when path.z_contoured is set
- Pipeline step posContouring in PrintObject after perimeter/infill gen
- 5 new print settings under Quality (zaa_enabled, zaa_min_z, etc.)
- GUI integration: config options, preset registration, search support
- Guard for missing resources/nonplanar/ directory
- cmake_minimum_required bumped to 3.5 for CMake 4.x compatibility
- Build script, build guide, and release guide for macOS
fix: Network plugin version mismatch and cert validation
45e6444 
- Change SLIC3R_VERSION from 02.05.01.52 to 02.05.00.52 to match
  the network plugin available on Bambu's servers (02.05.00.56).
  The first 8 chars must match for check_networking_version().
- Force ignore_module_cert=true since our Developer ID certificate
  differs from Bambu Lab's, causing IsSamePublisher() to reject
  the downloaded plugin.
This was referenced Feb 10, 2026
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@digitalresistor
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digitalresistor commented Feb 12, 2026 •
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\o/ this would be great to have in a released version of BambuStudio! Thanks for doing the work of getting an MR put together.

@samik1994r
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samik1994r commented Feb 25, 2026

Great work, tried this with cursor 0claude 4.6 spend 50$ on api and it didnt manage, Kudos to the developers !!!!

@alidorauxier
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alidorauxier commented Mar 30, 2026 •
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Oh this could be interesting! I've wondered about the possibility of anti-aliasing before just using a series of 'substeps' in the perimeters.
Adob's approach is vastly superior - there's no time penalty and it works with thick layers, all the infill patterns and even ironing.
It's really the best use of non-planar printing - Sort of a hybrid/win-win approach, thank you so much for bringing this to the Bambu community - I can't wait until this is the hands of users.

I actually downloaded the flatpak artifact from the pr but I'm not seeing the effect in the slicer.
The Z contour option is checked but it doesn't seem to produce any non-planar lines in the preview when sliced.

I'm dying to see it in action - good luck with the merge

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@ArthurBambulab ArthurBambulab Awaiting requested review from ArthurBambulab

@SaltWei SaltWei Awaiting requested review from SaltWei

@zhimin-zeng-bambulab zhimin-zeng-bambulab Awaiting requested review from zhimin-zeng-bambulab

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@mnott @digitalresistor @samik1994r @alidorauxier