Help / Reference
Troubleshooting
Fixes for common problems.
Open a problem to see what to do. For anything not listed here, see Contact and support.
Generating
Generating is slow, or seems stuck
Big areas take longer. A desktop computer handles areas up to about 25 km², and phones can handle small areas. LiDAR takes longest the first time, from a few minutes to 15 minutes, since surveys are large downloads.
Press Cancel to stop. If it doesn't stop within a few seconds, the generator restarts. Then try a smaller area, or turn Trees off and the terrain Resolution down.
"This area is too large to download in the browser"
The map data for the area is more than the browser can handle, about 300 MB. Make the area smaller, or turn off layers that aren't needed. In a city, buildings and roads are the largest.
"Could not reach the map data server" or "servers are busy"
Check your connection. Ad blockers and some work or school networks block the map data, which comes from amazonaws.com. If the servers are busy, wait a few minutes and try again. Failed downloads are already retried a few times first.
If the connection drops while a model is generating, downloads wait up to 2 minutes for it to come back before the model fails.
The page crashed, reloaded by itself, or ran out of memory
Large areas, LiDAR buildings, LiDAR only models, and lots of trees use a lot of memory, and a browser tab on a phone gets much less of it than one on a computer. On an iPhone or iPad the page can reload with no message, and the app then says the browser closed it while generating.
Close other tabs that use a lot of memory, make the area smaller, turn the terrain Resolution down, or pick a lower Resolution for a LiDAR only model. On an iPhone or iPad, turn off LiDAR buildings under Layers. Settings, routes, and edits are saved, so the model only needs to be generated again.
The map or 3D view is blank, or says it needs WebGL2
The browser's graphics are turned off or not supported. Turn on graphics or hardware acceleration in the browser's settings and reload, or try another browser. Models can still be generated and downloaded without the 3D view.
"The 3D view stopped"
The browser reset its graphics, often because memory ran low. The view comes back on its own in a few seconds. A model that was going on when it happened, or a large one on a phone, isn't shown again by itself, since showing it again could do the same. Press Show it again to try, or download it without looking.
"This model is big for this device"
Showing it in 3D could take more graphics memory than this phone or computer has. It's made and downloads as usual. Show it anyway shows it. After that, this device doesn't ask for models up to one and a half times the largest it has shown.
"3D graphics are paused for this site"
The browser turns off 3D graphics on a site for up to 2 minutes after they crash twice in a row, which a model too big for the device's graphics memory does. The map and the 3D view come back on their own once that's over. The browser's own reload button brings them back right away, but the model has to be generated again.
The editor says "Still updating the model"
A big edit, like one reaching every building in a large city, can take a while. Stop ends it, and then the model has to be generated again to show the latest edits.
A "Something went wrong" screen
Reload usually fixes it. Reset settings and reload clears the settings saved in this browser, but keeps the edits and routes aside to put back, and keeps the downloaded map data. If it keeps happening, email me and describe what led up to it.
The model says "Area changed" or "Settings changed"
The model was made before the latest changes. Press Generate again to update it. Colors, the printer, and anything under Export don't need that.
Model
Buildings are flat, or all the same height
Roofs only get a shape where the map says what it is. Buildings without a mapped height get a typical height for their kind, and many print at the minimum height of 1 mm, so in some towns they all look alike.
Turn on Vary missing heights under Layers > Buildings, or turn on LiDAR buildings where a survey covers the area, to measure the real roofs.
Small buildings print as a mess
At small scales many buildings are narrower than a nozzle's line, and the gaps between them are narrower still, so the slicer squeezes walls and loops into them.
Set Join buildings closer than under Layers > Buildings to 0.3 or 0.4 mm. It fills gaps between buildings narrower than that on the print, and the note under it says what that is on the ground. Buildings themselves narrower than a line still print poorly: use a larger scale or a smaller nozzle.
Few or no buildings show up
Map data varies from place to place, and some towns have few buildings mapped. Where a survey covers the area, a LiDAR only model doesn't depend on the map.
Forests, fields, or snow are missing, and the ground is bare
Parks and land cover only print where the map has them, and outside towns a lot of forest, grassland, and snow isn't mapped.
Turn on Satellite land cover under Model to fill it in from satellite. In a city it can turn tree-lined streets and gardens green, so check the model after. See Model settings.
Roads don't match the map, or some are missing
Before roads are printed, Tidy road network under Model cleans up the mapped lines: the two sides of a divided road become one road, paths drawn right beside a street are left out, and short pieces are removed. That keeps them printable, but it can merge or drop a road that should have stayed.
Turn off the step that did it, or the whole tidy. See Model settings. Roads a route follows, and roads given a custom color, are always left as mapped.
Streets print as three lines, or parking lots as stripes
Skip sidewalks and crossings and Skip driveways and parking aisles under Layers > Roads remove those. To remove more, leave out Footpaths or Service roads under Road types, or only some of their sub-types, like Steps or Alleys.
Roads cover whole blocks
At smaller scales roads are kept at least 0.45 mm wide so they print, which can be wider than they really are. Use a larger scale, or leave out the smaller kinds of road under Road types.
Bridges are flat on the water
Bridges is off by default, so bridges are built as ordinary roads. Turn it on under Layers to lift them onto piers.
Roads and parks bulge up over lumps in the ground
Elevation data in cities often has the buildings and trees in it. In the editor, paint over the lumps with Smooth set to Bumps. See Smooth the terrain.
LiDAR
"No LiDAR survey that a browser can read covers this area"
Public surveys cover the United States, Canada, much of Europe, Japan, New Zealand, and a few other places, and some publishers don't let a browser read their files. Use Map data there.
A LiDAR model has holes, blobs, or flat patches
Glass, dark roofs, and water reflect few laser points, so those spots are filled in from around them. Parts of the area outside every survey are filled in too, and can come out flat. If some downloads failed, generating again tries them again and keeps what already came.
In the editor, the brushes can patch spikes and holes.
A tall building is missing or too short
The survey may be older than the building. In a LiDAR only model, the warning offers Add it from the map. Or pick a newer survey under Survey, if there is one.
A "LiDAR to download" card asks about whole tiles
Some surveys only come as large whole files. They're only downloaded when Download and generate again is pressed. Not now keeps the model without them.
Printing
The model is bigger than my printer bed
Press the fit button under Size, like Fit the P1S bed, use a smaller scale, or split it with Multi-plate export.
The prime tower lands on the model, or the slicer says something is beyond the plate
Make the model fit beside the tower with the fit button under Size, like Fit the P1S bed, then download again. In Bambu Studio projects the tower is already placed. In PrusaSlicer, drag the wipe tower to where Export says.
Bambu Studio's Purging volumes button is orange
The project opens with the same purge for every color change. Pick the actual filaments, then press Purging volumes and Re-calculate.
PrusaSlicer shows the wrong colors
PrusaSlicer doesn't read colors from a 3MF. Set each extruder's filament to match the list Export shows after the download.
PrusaSlicer says the file can't be loaded in Simple mode
The concentric tops on the roads are a per-part setting, which Simple mode doesn't show. Answer OK to switch to Advanced mode, since Cancel doesn't load the file, or turn off Concentric tops on roads under Export and download again.
Bambu Studio says the file can't be fully loaded
This message comes from Bambu Studio 1.x. It opens the project with every part on the first filament. Update to Bambu Studio 2.0 or newer.
The file is huge, or slicing is slow
Trees, a high terrain Resolution, and LiDAR add the most triangles. Turn them down, or hide unneeded parts in the 3D view.
Nothing downloads on my phone
Browsers inside other apps, like a link opened in a chat or social app, often can't save files. Open the page in the phone's own browser.
Saving
"The latest changes couldn't be saved"
Browser storage is full or turned off. Press Save a copy to download a settings file with every edit and route.
Some edits stopped working
Edits are tied to map features. The map data is updated every month, and a building or road that was redrawn gets a new ID, so an edit on it no longer applies. The editor's card counts edits for things the model doesn't have.
"A new version of Jarvizar City Model is available"
Press Reload when ready. The app never reloads on its own, and the settings are kept.