OctoPrint Anywhere 1.0!
When I wrote the first line of code for OctoPrint Anywhere 2 years ago, I just wanted to get webcam feed on my phone without port-forwarding. I didn't have the slightest ambition to make it the best 3D Printing cloud solution for all the makers like you and me.
With robust webcam streaming, 1-click sharing, automated time-lapse capturing, and ease of use, OctoPrint Anywhere is now an essential tool for many makers. But I still wouldn't call it the "best" 3D printing cloud until it offers something that's very unique and superior.
And here it is! On Thursday June 20th, we will launch OctoPrint Anywhere 1.0! It sports 25 FPS video streaming that no other 3D printing clouds currently offer. When I looked at the new smooth video streaming, I knew OctoPrint Anywhere has become the best!
There is no way we could have done it without our supportive users like you! Special thanks to everyone who participated in the beta testing.
Kenneth Jiang
Founder @ OctoPrint Anywhere
What are included in OctoPrint Anywhere 1.0?
25 FPS (frame-per-second) webcam video streaming. Check out this video that compares the new 25 FPS streaming with the old 3 FPS streaming. Note: 25 FPS streaming is available only on OctoPi with Pi Camera.
The ability to change webcam resolution without messing with any configuration files.
The ability to upload GCode files and start a print remotely.
Shorter delay when you open up OctoPrint Anywhere to check webcam feed, printer status, or temperature.
Faster page loading.
Bug fixes!
How do I get these new cool features?
Ugrade the plugin to version 1.0 as soon as OctoPrint prompts you to do so. You won't get features like 25 FPS video streaming if you are still on version 0.9.10 or earlier.
Upgrade to PRO or PRO+ plan, if you are not currently a subscriber. Most of the new features are available only to PRO/PRO+ subscribers.
What else will change?
The subscription will be simplified to only 2 plans:
- PRO: $5/month or $50/year. You will get all PRO features and you can connect up to 2 printers.
- PRO+: $10/month or $100/year. You will get all PRO features and you can connect unlimited printers.
Check out our new pricing page for details.
Your first printer will still, and always, be free even if you don't subscribe to any plan. But the webcam will stream at 1 frame every 3 seconds, a lower frame rate than before.
What if I have already subscribed at $5/month, and have also pre-subscribed 12 months of premium service? Won't I be over-paying based on the new pricing?
We will pause your existing subscription until June 21st, 2020 so that you won't be over-charged based on our new pricing.
What if I'm paying more than $10/month today?
We will convert your existing subscription to the corresponding new plan based on your number of printers. The prorated subscription payment for this month will be credited toward the new plan or refunded to you should you email use to tell us so.
Why did you reduce webcam stream frame rate for free users?
This was a tough decision we had to make.
OctoPrint Anywhere started as a side project to scratch own own itch. The enthusiasm from OctoPrint users were overwhelming. Thanks to a generous friend who provided free cloud hosting, we were able to extend the service to hundreds of users for free.
However, by mid last year, when we grew to a few thousands of users, the cloud hosting cost also grew too high and we lost our free cloud hosting. Instead of shutting down OctoPrint Anywhere completely, we listened to our users and decided to start charging users with more than 1 printers.
The paid subscription helped, but not enough to fully cover our cloud hosting cost. Every months, OctoPrint Anywhere team members are paying hundreds of dollars out of their own pockets just so that any OctoPrint hobbyist will have an affordable way to monitor the prints remotely.
Since 60% of the cloud hosting cost is incurred by providing 3 FPS webcam streaming for our free users. In order to make OctoPrint Anywhere self-sustainable, we have to significantly reduce the frame rate for the free users to keep cost under control.
With the new webcam streaming frame rate (1 frame every 3 seconds) for free users, we expect to have our cloud hosting cost fully covered, so that we can provide a quality service to OctoPrint users forever.
Why are most new features only available to PRO/PRO+ users?
This is because these features, such as 25 FPS video streaming, and GCode upload, incurs much higher cloud hosting cost.
We started to think about building these features quite a while ago. Then we realized that we couldn't because these new features, although much needed, would have pushed the cost to run OctoPrint Anywhere in the cloud much higher than what we could have afforded.
Although we are fully committed to making OctoPrint Anywhere affordable to all fellow hobbyists, we realized the only way to bring these new features to life is to charge for the usage of them. This way, the users who support OctoPrint Anywhere with their subscriptions get to use the best features available for desktop 3D printing, while the users who don't want to subscribe can still have a safe way to monitor their 3D printer remotely.
Why does 25 FPS webcam streaming only work with Pi Camera?
We found out it is A LOT OF work to make video streaming work on different hardwares. So we decided to focus only on Raspberry Pi with Pi Camera (the ones with CSi interface such as this one) for our first release. We may be able to support USB cameras in later versions but we don't know if and when given the technical challenges.