I bought the Gweike Cloud over other brands specifically to run Lightburn. But the lens calibration wizard gives different results every time. I covered the honeycomb with white foam board and pasted the circles print onto it. When I click “capture” (or whatever the word is) I might get “great”; then i click “next” and the button greys out. I assume it wants another capture. I click the button, and it gets a bad score and says “try again”. I have turned off external lights so I can’t think of what would cause this. It also displays distorted images.
I’ve been a software engineer for 35 years and have done work with graphics. I don’t understand how the results can vary unless you are giving it firmware commands that move the lens or something physical.
One thought I had was that the model I received is the newest hardware update which I think has only been out for a few weeks. Maybe that has something to do with it ?
There’s a lot of information here. I’m going to aim for completeness.
I’d just like to confirm that the camera is connected directly to the computer you’re using with a USB cable and not through the RuidaVision system offered with the Gweike Cloud engraver.
That’s happened to me too. I sometimes just keep pushing the capture button until it gets a decent score. A dozen attempts is not uncommon.
Is it easy or possible to move the pasted circles to the eight other grid positions for calibration? I’m not certain I’m following.
If you’re willing please share a screen capture. It almost sounds like something is missing.
I’m not certain how this is a benefit to image consistency. I’m genuinely curious.
Please share your thinking on this.
Ah… this is expected. Because of the confusion it causes, there has been discussion about removing the image display in its entirety.
Have you seen the early video on camera set up and the comments on the distorted images?
Here’s the more recent lens calibration video.
I suspect 120hz flicker from modern rectified LED lighting makes a dark streak in the scan but I haven’t been able to observe it. When retrofitting some lighting, I looked at the response of a photocell under the LED (T8 replacement ‘tubes’) with an oscilloscope and saw the sharp drop at 120Hz. I had quicker than average success with mid-day daylight… and several lights on. I haven’t retested in strictly artificial LED light constrained to one phase in the house.
I just got the Gweike Cloud and went through the same thing. I started with a gen 1, M1 MacBook Pro. Lightburn kept crashing. I then went to a Dell laptop running Windows 10. In summary, I tried everything imaginable (and I am a developer/hacker, ie., figuring stuff out is what I have done for a living for 35 years). Last night, I did print out a sample grid. Everything prints inversed and in the wrong place, but it did print (yes, I tried changing Origin). I did the following.
Put a piece of Basswood (comes with the Gweike) on the honeycomb.
Where ever black honeycomb was still visible, I tucked a strip of white paper.
I printed the circles from Photoshop. If printed from a browser, they got bigger.
I used a glue stick to paste the image of foam board (you can use anything stiff and white). The reason I did this was because it seemed like my success rate (getting a low score) was random. I click “capture” and it says “great”. I do it again (without moving anything, I get a big number score. Nothing changed, image returned is distorted. With the image on a different surface, you can slide it around.
Turn off all room lights. Just the Gweike lights on.
Do the procedure. Lightburn is looking for some number of good images. A successful score lets you click “next” and it seems like you are back to the beginning. If you capture, move a little, capture, eventually it will say “skip” instead of next. I took that as a sign that it wants me to give up, but the hacker in me kept going. Eventually, it brought me to the camera screen. I entered values that I saw in a Gweike video.
It printed the pattern “inversed,” but I could still tell 1,2,3,4. At the part where you now look at the image and are supposed to click in the center of the “hash tags”, two were very distorted but I made a guess. It suggested “if image is distorted recalibrate lens”. Ahhhh… no.
Aside from being inversed, the shaded patterns did print. I used a file I bought on Etsy for a 50 watt laser. The first try burned a lot of the pattern so I had to edit the file with reduced power.
Yes, this is unacceptable, but who is messing up, Gweike or Lightburn? I run a software startup, and I could not tell you. Gweike advertises as Lightburn compatible. But Gweike already has my money. I think Lightburn engineers need to prove this is Gweike (if it is them). BTW: If you got a Gweike in the past month, it is a brand new design so success with previous models is irrelevant.
I might have figured it out. Please look at the attached screenshot. The overlay displayed looks ok (aside from the distortion on the right). but when ever the camera shows an image it is flipped, see rightside of screen.
BTW: I was trying to help that person in my response, Lightburn is awesome but very difficult to get working correctly with the Gweike. I should point out that Gweike has a strange way of doing things. They change parts without telling anyone. It works out good for the person buying a new one except settings from other people don’t work as expected. That is why I was saying that Lightburn may work perfect for one but not another. Mine is alot more powerful than the Jan 2022 model though still 50 watts.
When doing the lens calibration, results of capture seemed almost random. I was thinking that maybe there is a min time between captures like something is resetting. I could get a number like 4 then capture again and have the entire image look like the right side of the above photo.
I didn’t realize that’s what you were referring to. That’s odd. Does it look this way if you use a separate camera app? I wonder if somehow it’s set to a “selfie” mode or a webcam mode where it’s setup like a mirror.
LightBurn can obviously work through that with the camera alignment process but a bit of a pain.
Originally the overlay of the bed was also inversed. I tried every available option, then did the camera calibration to get it the way it is now. I don’t know what made the overlay look correct. The camera comes with the Gweike mounted and set up. When I get home later I will try it with Zoom to see if it is backward. The Gweike is a great deal with features as good as the expensive Glowforge model. Many people (including myself) bought it because I don’t like being locked into proprietary software.
You should have someone at Lightburn take a look at this. If it is a Gweike issue, I am in a support chat with Gweike engineers and can submit it. But now, every request is followed up with a link to an instructional video. They had not even realized that the photos displayed on their site do not match what they were shipping. This could be a big headache for Lightburn.
The company that owns Gweike has been in the industrial laser business for many years (so they know manufacturing). If I was to guess, I would guess that when they started making the OMTech Polar (a clone of the Gweike Cloud) for OMTech, they had two manufacturing processes for almost identical machines. I don’t think that quietly upgrading components of the Cloud was out of the “goodness of their heart”. The model I ordered in December had a separate air filter and pump. It added about a foot to the footprint. The one I got did not have the filter. I called the logistics company and told them they had lost a box. When I complained to my sales rep she said “You don’t need it”. This is a big deal and something you would think they would brag about on their site. Nope. Not in any of the online manuals.
If you select the targets in the correct order even when inverted LightBurn will know that the original image is inverted and then correct for it.
I’m certainly with you on that.
I saw something about them integrating that into the chassis but glad I’m not the only one who was caught surprised by that as I hadn’t known from casual browsing of their site or otherwise. They’re clearly not used to catering to consumers vs industrial customers.
The filter and air assist are both now in the body. There is a bigger exhaust hole in the back. It comes with a pretty big inline exhaust fan as well.
Not oriented to end-users at all. I ordered before the Luner New Year. The rep said it would be delivered in 7 – 14 days. I tried to contact them after that, nothing. The country shuts down for the holidays and the rep forgot to tell me that. Funny thing, this rep is like 24 years old. If I send her a message on WhatsApp, she will respond 24/7. I sent her a message once and she got back to me with an apology saying she was sleeping So it is not that they don’t care about their customers. They just don’t think it’s a big deal switching things around. At one point, she sent me a tracking number. First thing I noticed was that it said weight 500 lbs! She insisted that the warehouse said it was correct, it will be made accurate later. Then I noticed it was for a shipment that was delivered in May 2022. But the thing is built like a tank and the palette did weigh 250lbs. The device itself, all unpacked was over 100 lbs. Getting it down my bulkhead into my basement office was no easy task. I have moved heavy power saws, but this could not be bumped down the stairs. In summary, at this point I don’t know enough to recommend it. But it looks like it will be fine. I got the “Pro” so it came with two different rotary attachments. They look pretty big so they won’t be replacing my Laser Pecker for engraving things like pens. Speaking of ultra crappy software, if Lightburn worked on the LaserPecker I would buy a license for that in a second.
Anyway, so the reverse camera image is not the software?
I had not thought of that. Problem is the software from the PC (PC or Mac) is so terrible that it might not be worth the pain. Can lightburn communicate with the LaserPecker? BTW: Still having issues with the Gweike. I have not figured out how to get the red-dot pointer to show up. I saw red-dot offset options in lightburn, but in some videos I saw a “group-box” with pointer options in lightburn but I do not see that. I figured that video was using older software. I tried holding shift and clicking Frame, but still no pointer.
Two more funny Gweike things. It came with a thing taped to the laser. I have no idea what this is (see photo). Also came with a thin rectangular box. I put batteries in it and it shows a temperature of something. Also buttons on the bottom that don’t seem to do anything. I’m sure this thing is a feature but I have not seen anything about it.
From prior conversations on this I believe the answer is no. And I don’t think anything has changed on that front.
If this is like other Ruida setups the red-dot pointer is always on as long as the controller is on. In other words, there is not switch or control on the LightBurn side that enables it.
Hard to see from the photo but I’m guessing it’s a demonstration of mirror alignment. Basically proof that the laser was aligned prior to shipment.
Is that what’s pictured or did you not include a photo? If it shows temperature I’d have to think it’s related to coolant temperature but just speculating.
I’ve see a couple photos from owners around the web and have asked what that is taped to the machine…and what’s it for… So far no one has given a reason…
The Ruida does not control the led pointer, so Lightburn has no control over that. It’s hard wired to the power supply.
You ( like me ) have what I’d probably call a 2nd Gen Cloud recognizable by the red E-Stop Button in the Front Right of the Machine, an into the Machine integrated Air Assist “Turbine” and the lack of an external Air Filtration Box now replaced with an Inline Exhaust Fan.
There is NO filter in the body.
Remote for the Inline Fan with a Thermometer somewhere installed ( my hunch in the Remote ).
So it is not that they don’t care about their customers. They just don’t think it’s a big deal switching things around. At one point, she sent me a tracking number. First thing I noticed was that it said weight 500 lbs! She insisted that the warehouse said it was correct, it will be made accurate later. Then I noticed it was for a shipment that was delivered in May 2022. But the thing is built like a tank and the palette did weigh 250lbs. The device itself, all unpacked was over 100 lbs. Getting it down my bulkhead into my basement office was no easy task. I have moved heavy power saws, but this could not be bumped down the stairs. In summary, at this point I don’t know enough to recommend it. But it looks like it will be fine. I got the “Pro” so it came with two different rotary attachments. They look pretty big so they won’t be replacing my Laser Pecker for engraving things like pens. Speaking of ultra crappy software, if Lightburn worked on the LaserPecker I would buy a license for that in a second.
