Compilers#
OpenVCAD compilers translate prepared implicit Node trees into concrete outputs: voxel image stacks, slicer projects, and other machine-facing artifacts. They are exposed as pyvcad_compilers.
This section compares the compilers shipped today and links to dedicated guides. Each compiler assumes you have already built a design with the attributes it consumes (see Getting Started with OpenVCAD and the Functional Grading Guide).
Compiler comparison#
Compiler |
Required attributes (root) |
Primary output |
Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Stack of RGBA PNG slices (one per Z layer) |
Multi-material material jetting workflows that consume per-layer voxel images (e.g. PolyJet-class systems and similar slice-based pipelines) |
|
|
Stack of RGBA PNG slices (ICC / color pipeline → discrete CMYK + white + clear) |
Full-color PolyJet-class inkjet builds from sRGBA designs |
|
|
Stack of 8-bit grayscale BMP slices (one per Z layer) |
Vat photopolymer workflows that consume grayscale exposure masks (for example LCD / DLP / masked SLA image stacks) |
|
(validated internally; see guide) |
|
FFF / filament slicing with spatially varying scalar fields → per-volume settings or G-code extrusion |
|
|
|
Finite-element mesh export for simulation workflows that need geometry plus cell-wise material/property data |