Welcome
What's New
Discover new features and enhancements.
Get Started
New to Inspire? Learn the basics here.
Tutorials
Start using Inspire with our interactive tutorials.
Variables
Create and assign variables to parametrize a model. This allows you to quickly iterate and compare design concepts by tweaking the values of the variables.
Parametric Modeling
Create parametric sketches, geometry, and PolyNURBS with construction history and variables.
Implicit Modeling
Create implicit models with primitives, lattices, point clouds, fields, offsetting, Booleans, inverting, smoothing, morphing, and filleting.
- Overview
  An overview of Inspire's implicit modeling and its benefits.
- Visualization Quality and Mesh Settings
  Learn how to use the Visualization Quality and Meshing Settings to manage compute times, the visual appearance, and the geometric accuracy of implicit and mesh geometry when working with Inspire Implicit Modeling. This includes working in Implicit Modeling, converting other geometry formats in Implicit Modeling, and meshing implicit geometry for export or other downstream processes.
- View Field
  Use a colormap and contour lines to visualize the underlying field of an Implicit Body.
- Create an Implicit Primitive
  Create simple geometric shapes that can be used for repetitive tasks or combined into more complex shapes. Implicit primitives include a cuboid, cylinder, and sphere.
- Create an Implicit Surface Lattice
  Fill a body with a surface lattice, which is a cellular structure constructed from one — or sometimes two — surfaces. The body can be a Parasolid, STL, PolyNURBS, or implicit geometry.
- Create an Implicit Planar Lattice
  Fill an implicit body with a planar lattice, which is a 2.5D cellular structure with a clearly defined 2D cross-section that is drawn or extruded along the third dimension.
- Create a Custom Planar Unit Cell
  Define a custom set of edges and points on a 2D plane to use as a planar lattice unit cell.
- Create an Implicit Strut Lattice
  Fill an implicit body with a strut lattice, which is constructed from nodes that are connected by beams.
- Create a Custom Strut Unit Cell
  Define a custom set of edges and points in a normalized cube to use as a strut lattice unit cell.
- Implicit Stochastic Lattice
  Create a randomized strut lattice by defining points, edges between points, filters to remove certain points and/or edges, a method to thicken edges into struts, and outer body treatments such as combining the lattice with an outer body or shell.
- Create Implicit Surface Perforations
  Generate a set of struts to cut holes in an implicit body or join them to the body to create pins.
- Conformal Coordinate Spaces
  Construct a conformal coordinate space to make body-fitted implicit patterns and lattices.
- Point Clouds in Implicit Modeling
  To drive a field or create implicit geometry, you can import a point cloud or create one from scratch.
- Thinking in Fields - A Primer for Implicit Modeling
  A detailed description of how fields are used in Implicit Modeling within Inspire, with videos and illustrative examples that will help you think intuitively in terms of field-driven design.
- Create a Field For Implicit Modeling
  Create a field to define geometry or control the parameters of an existing geometry at every location within the bounds of the field.
- Create Implicit Fields from Analysis Results
  Create an implicit field directly from the results of an OptiStruct or Fluids analysis run. The Create Field button is located at the bottom of the Analysis Explorer.
- Convert to Implicit Geometry
  Convert parts, surfaces, and curves to implicit objects. You can select CAD, PolyNURBS, meshes, or optimized parts, surfaces, or curves.
- Move Implicit Geometry
  Translate and rotate implicit bodies.
- Combine Implicit Geometry
  Combine two implicit bodies into one.
- Subtract Implicit Geometry
  Carve out implicit bodies ("tools") from another implicit body ("target").
- Intersect Implicit Geometry
  Retain only the intersecting portions of two sets of implicit bodies.
- Offset Implicit Geometry
  Offset an implicit body. The offset can be made into a hollow shell.
- Invert Implicit Geometry
  Swap the "inside" and "outside" of an implicit body by reversing the sign of all scalar values in the underlying field.
- Pattern Implicit Geometry
  Create a rectangular, circular, conformal, or point-cloud pattern of implicit bodies.
- Mirror Implicit Geometry
  Mirror implicit bodies across a symmetry plane.
- Morph Implicit Geometry
  Morph one implicit body into another and vice versa. Physically separate bodies may not produce meaningful results.
- Smooth Implicit Geometry
  Used to denoise objects created in Implicit Modeling. This reduces the size of, or removes, unwanted small and sharp features in an implicit body.
- Fillet Implicit Geometry
  Round edges of implicit bodies to create fillets with a constant or variable radius.
- Remap
  Remap a generic field of scalar values into a signed distance field.
Structures
Set up your model and run a structural analysis or optimization.
Motion
Set up and run a motion analysis, plot the results, and export the results.
Fluids
Prepare and run a computational fluid dynamics simulation.
Design Explorer
Evaluate designs by using geometric variables and applying a design-of-experiments (DOE) or optimization method. We recommend fully constraining your sketch when sketch variables are used in the design exploration.
Manufacture
Set up and run a basic porosity or thinning analysis.
Print 3D
Prepare and run an additive manufacturing simulation, and export a file for 3D printing.
Rendering
Adjust the materials and environment of objects in the scene to create a photorealistic image.
Inspire Python API
Learn how to access the Inspire Python API including online help, quick start demos, and the Extension Manager.
Reference
View the glossary, frequently asked questions, and errors and alerts.
Keyboard Shortcuts and Mouse Controls
Learn keyboard shortcuts and mouse controls for common operations.

Create a Custom Planar Unit Cell

Define a custom set of edges and points on a 2D plane to use as a planar lattice unit cell.

Planar lattice unit cells are defined by of specifying edges and points inside a normalized 2D square that are repeated inside the volume being filled with a lattice. This workflow will demonstrates how to edit or create custom unit cells for the Planar Lattice tool.

Custom planar lattice unit cells can be used to fill any implicit volume and can be used with all the same field-driven parameters and properties of built-in unit cells.

On the Implicit Modeling ribbon, select the Planar Lattice tool.

Tip: To find and open a tool, press Ctrl+F. For more information, see Find and Search for Tools.
Unit cells can be edited or created using the following workflows. Both options will open the unit cell editor.
- Edit an existing unit cell:
  In the guide panel, select the unit cell to edit from the Cell Type dropdown and click Edit.
- Create a new unit cell:
  In the guide panel, select Create Unit Cell from the Cell Type dropdown.
Optional: To import, export, or delete unit cells, use the Import , Export , or Delete button.
Enter a Name for the cell. All unit cells of the same type require unique names. If you tupe a name that already exists, a unique number will be appended to the name.
Use the Nodes Table to define the coordinates on the 2D plane to be used in specifying the lines and points of the unit cell. The coordinates are normalized between 0-1. The Z component of the nodes are not used in planar lattices; therefore all coordinates will be projected to the Z plane before being used in the lattice calculation.
- Add and remove nodes from the table using the Add or Remove buttons.
- Promote or demote nodes in the list by selecting a row and using the Up or Down buttons.
Use the Connectivity Table to define the edges of the unit cell by specifying the indices of the start and end nodes for each edge. The indices are zero-indexed: to reference the first node in the Node Table, an index of 0 should be used. A node can be connected to itself to create a point instead of a line.
- Add and remove edges from the table using the Add or Remove buttons.
- Promote or demote edges in the list by selecting a row and using the Up or Down buttons.