Design Engine
Navigation and Options

28min
Design Engine User Interface
Dashboard UI
The dashboard is the landing page for the Design Engine and is the hub for all of your company's designs. 
Click on the name of a feature below for more information.
﻿
1
Search bar to find specific designs.
2
Design files can be filtered by:
Your designs only
Date range
User
Material
3
This link takes you to the full documentation in Carbon Academy.
4
﻿
Design files are listed in order of most recently modified. 
Hover over a design to access duplicate and delete actions.
Note: You will need to use duplicate to edit another user's design.
5
Take a look at example lattice designs from Carbon experts.
6
Start your own design here.
Design UI
The design page is the workspace for any given design project. 
Click on the name of a feature below for more information.
﻿
1
﻿
Clicking on the design name will launch the Settings dialog, where you can:
Duplicate
Lock
Rename
Select material
Delete
2
Add additional model files to the design here.
﻿
3
Each operation you use from the toolbar will appear in the operations list.
The list can be hidden or show as needed.
﻿
Right-click or click the dots for menu options. 
The name that appears in the list is the name you have given the operation. By default, this will be the operation name.
Hover over the operation to see both the given name and operation type.
Click on a tool or select Edit from its menu to open the operation window.
Operations are applied to the design in the order listed. You can re-order operations by clicking and dragging on a tool to place it where you want.
4
The generate button activates whenever you have made changes to the current design.
﻿
5
All the operational tools available to you to add to the operations list for your design.
6
The bounding box dimensions of your design.
7
Change the view of your design to preset views. Shortcut keys are available as noted.
Planar views - shortcut 1-6
Camera Reset - shortcut 0
Zoom to Fit - shortcut F
See Basic Navigation Controls﻿ above for more details.
﻿
8
﻿
The Settings dialog allows you to:
Duplicate
Lock
Rename
Select material
Delete
﻿
9
Reach out directly to Carbon Support to receive help.
﻿
10
﻿
Launch the Lattice Search interface to search the vast metamaterials library of lattices.
﻿
11
All input and generated models can be viewed in the parts list. The list can be hidden or shown as needed.
Input and generated lists respectively can be collapsed/expanded
Actions that can be taken with each part:
Turn on/off visibility
Adjust appearance
Menu actions
Reference Model Options﻿ for more information.
﻿
12
Undos and redos are unlimited.
13
Right-click on a mesh to access the context menu.
The context menu offers quick access to a variety of useful options for the object clicked on.
Options will vary based on the clicked object, in this example a Solidified lattice.
14
﻿
Select multiple or all files to download at once.
﻿
15
The measure ruler allows you to click two points to find the distance between them.
﻿
16
﻿
17
Toggle clip plane allows you to view the design in a section cut of your choosing.
Set the view to where you want the section cut
Slide along the bar to view the cut plane
﻿
Navigation
Zoom
Zoom to Center
View always zooms to the center of the display screen (Default behavior)
Usage
Mouse - Scroll the mouse wheel
Touchpad - Drag two-fingers on the touchpad
﻿
﻿
Zoom toward Cursor
View zooms/pans in one motion in the direction of the cursor placement
Press the keyboard shortcut - to enable/disable
Usage
Mouse - Scroll the mouse wheel
Touchpad - Drag two-fingers on the touchpad
Zoom to Fit
Zooms to the extents of the model and centers in the project area
Usage
Keyboard shortcut F
View Menu
Model Menu
﻿
Manuever
﻿
Pan
Move in two dimensions
Usage
Mouse/Touchpad and Keyboard - Press Shift + right-click and drag
Mouse - Press middle mouse button and drag
Orbit
Move in three dimensions around the world origin (Default behavior)
Usage
Mouse and Touchpad - Right-click and drag
﻿
Views
﻿
Planar Views
Snaps to orthogonal views:
Top, bottom, front, back, left, right
Usage
Keyboard shortcut 1-6
Rotate camera 45° ← ↑ → ↓
Rotate camera 90° shift ← ↑ → ↓
View Menu
Camera Reset
Zooms to a preset central view
Usage
Keyboard shortcut 0
View Menu
﻿
Keyboard Shortcuts
A handful of keyboard shortcuts are available in Carbon Design Engine.
Feature
Shortcut
Measure
M
Hide/Show grid
B
Toggle clip plane
C
Change slider by 1
< or >
Change slider by 10
shift-< or >
Undo
Ctrl/cmd-Z
Redo
Ctrl/cmd-shift-Z
Strut Lattice Diameter View
Ctrl/cmd-M
Planar Views
Top | Bottom | Front | Back | Left | Right
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
Rotate camera 45°
← ↑ → ↓ 
Rotate camera 90°
shift ← ↑ → ↓ 
Camera Reset
0
Zoom to Fit
F
Zoom toward Cursor
-
Disable snap 
in Edit Strut - Add Strut mode
Hold shift
Model Options
Visibility Options
Show/Hide
Click on the open eye 👁 icon to hide visible models
Click on the closed eye ⏑ icon to show hidden models 
﻿
﻿
Appearance
Adjust transparency with the slider bar | or enter a value in the alpha field (RGBA)
Adjust color with the slider bar for hue and on the color field for tone | or enter a hex code
﻿
View Options
Input Models
Select Shaded for a simple shaded view
Select Triangle to view the STL triangles compiling the mesh
Generated Models
Strut Lattice
Select Preview for a volumetric preview of the struts
Select Paths & Nodes for a line view of the struts
Select Diameter to view a colored gradient representation of strut diameter.
(Ctrl/cmd-M keyboard shortcut)
Ranging from red (largest) to gray (middle) to blue (smallest).
Hover over a strut to view its diameter, length, and whether it is a boundary strut
Solidify
Default View Only
﻿
Model Menu Options
Various options are available from the models menu. Options will vary depending on the model type.
Potential Menu Options
Rename - Change the name of the model
View info - View metrics that define the model (stats may vary depending on the selected model)
Zoom - Zooms to the extents of the model and centers in the project area
Delete - Removes the model from the project
﻿Replace﻿ - Update the input model with a revised file. This will update the model in all operations where selected. Patches will need to be reselected. 
﻿Extract (or edit) Patch﻿ - Available for design spaces, this opens the Extract Patch interface to extract a surface for use in applicable tools & features
﻿Edit﻿ - Available for strut lattices to bring up the editing interface to delete, modify, and/or add struts
Download - Download the STL file. 
Alternate file options available in some cases. Not available for strut lattices
﻿
Strut Information
Hover over a strut in a lattice to view key information about the strut (diameter, length, and whether it is designated as a boundary strut or feature edge).
Note that the tooltip is available for strut lattices only and not solidified lattices.
﻿
Detailed strut information can be useful when editing struts or reviewing the results of a zonal lattice structure that includes different strut parameters.
Replace Model
When a model is used in multiple operations, you can update the model in all locations with the Replace function. This can be especially helpful if you are trying multiple iterations in one design.
﻿
When a mesh is used in multiple operations, replace the mesh in all locations.
Import a new version of the input mesh
Choose to keep the original file name
Note affected operations - No Action Needed
Patches to update - ACTION NEEDED﻿
Optionally delete all old patches
Regenerate for new mesh
Operations without Patches are complete
Operations with Patches require updates
Patches must be recreated from the updated mesh.
[Old Patches >> New Patches >> New Lattice]
Mesh is updated in all operations
Model Tools
A couple tools are available in the operations toolbar that modify your input model for improved performance where applicable.
﻿Decimate﻿
Simplifies surface model complexity by reducing the number of vertices and triangles. Recommended for mesh models >50MB.
﻿Remesh﻿
Outputs a new mesh model with more regular triangles.
File Options
Download Options
Design Engine provides multiple paths to downloading files. Alternate file options are available in some cases.
﻿
Operation List
The operation menu allows for downloading a single file. 
When the file is an STL mesh, OBJ and PLY file types are also available for download. 
Models List
The model menu allows for downloading a single file. 
When the file is an STL mesh, OBJ and PLY file types are also available for download. 
﻿
﻿
Download Files Button
The button allows for selecting multiple files to download at once. 
File type is STL only.
Protected File States
View Only
When you open a project created by another user, the project will open as View Only to prevent unwanted edits. A new user can duplicate the project to edit a new version.
Locked
A project owner can create a Locked state.
Click design name to launch settings
Lock project to prevent changes
Options with a locked project:
Duplicate file to work on a new version
Project owner can unlock
﻿
﻿
Operations Options
Grouping Operations
Operations can be grouped, allowing for easier management of large, complex design projects. 
﻿
Create an Operation Group
Select multiple operations
Individually with CTRL+click [Windows] or CMD+click [Mac]
As a series with SHIFT+click
Right-click and select Create new group
Operation Group Options
No Groups within Groups
Duplicated Group Dependencies
Generated Models List
Once an Operation Group is created, the following actions can be taken
Expand or collapse visibility of the grouped operations
Re-order the operations with in the group
Re-order the group's position in the operations list
Move individual operations into and out of the group
Click and drag or
Use the operation menu (right-click or ... ) to Add to existing group/Remove from group
Duplicate the group
Rename the group
Ungroup the operations
Delete the group (including all operations within)
﻿
Groups nested within groups are not allowed.
﻿
Duplicating a group does not maintain internal dependencies within the group.
For example, a duplicated Solidify operation that is grouped with a Strut Lattice operation will reference the original group's Strut Lattice.
﻿
﻿
Generated Models are automatically grouped using the same schema as any Operation Groups. Model Groups can be
Collapsed & expanded independently of the operation group
Hidden & viewed as needed
The child's visibility state can differ from its siblings and the parent's visibility state
The parent's visible state will show all children that are toggled to be visibly on 
Hiding the parent hides all children, regardless of their individual state
﻿
Generate to Here
When you change a variable in an operation that requires re-generating the design, you have the option to generate only up to a particular operation to save the processing time of subsequent operations.
﻿
This is similar to a rollback bar in CAD programs.
Select the menu of the operation you wish to generate up to.
Select Generate To Here
﻿
Operation Dependencies
Adjusting operations may affect dependencies, ie operations that reference each other.
﻿Error
Errors are marked in red when an operation will fail to generate due to a dependency.
Hovering on the red explains the error. In this case: Depends on "Strut Lattice." Reorder operations or select new input. 
﻿Warning
Warnings are marked in orange to alert you that something has been adjusted requiring a regeneration.
Hovering on the orange explains the warning. In this case: Output is stale. Operation inputs or values have changed.
This Solidify operation was originally after/below the Strut Lattice operation, but was moved to above/before Strut Lattice. The original input for the Solidify operation (Strut Lattice) has been retained, but a red marking indicates that the input needs to be altered.
﻿
This Strut Lattice operation adjusts a parameter that requires the lattice to be regenerated with the new conditions.
﻿
﻿
Feature	Shortcut
Measure	M
Hide/Show grid	B
Toggle clip plane	C
Change slider by 1	< or >
Change slider by 10	shift-< or >
Undo	Ctrl/cmd-Z
Redo	Ctrl/cmd-shift-Z
Strut Lattice Diameter View	Ctrl/cmd-M
Planar Views Top \| Bottom \| Front \| Back \| Left \| Right	1 \| 2 \| 3 \| 4 \| 5 \| 6
Rotate camera 45°	← ↑ → ↓
Rotate camera 90°	shift ← ↑ → ↓
Camera Reset	0
Zoom to Fit	F
Zoom toward Cursor	-
Disable snap in Edit Strut - Add Strut mode	Hold shift
Updated 25 Feb 2025
Did this page help you?
Quick Start Guide
Lattice Parameters