Hey Largo,
Thanks for making the poll, I think the idea is really interesting!
Model checking is really tough. And I don't mean the actual science/code behind it, because that part is REALLY tough
Our goal is to get you feedback as quickly as posible so you don't sit around waiting 10 minutes, or days, before finding out that your model can't be printed.
We've been looking into rejections lately and trying to figure out how to improve the experience overall. Let me first explain a bit about the process:
1) When you upload a model we run a small set of checks and reparations for things like known bounding box limits of materials, leaks in the mesh, and now the overall wall thickness of your models. These can each take between 15 seconds and 5 minutes depending on the size and complexity of the model.
2) Once SOME of these checks pass (we don't wait for all of them), the model is placed in your 'My Models'and you can modify/order it.
3) Once all of the automated tests pass, it's sent to a planning queue where either Shapeways production or an external manufacturer follows our design rules and does a quick (1-3 mins) check in Netfabb for any commonly occurring issues.
4) Once the manual checks pass, we pass it off for printing.
Are there ways we can optimize this for speed? Hell yeah! Are we working on that this very moment? Hell yeah!!
Will moving it over to your local machine make it any faster? I'm really not sure.
I'll pose the idea to our tech team this week. The core question is - are our servers busy? Or does it just take a long time to run
We truly understand the frustration around uploading a model and waiting. It's the internet, noone should have to wait for anything any more