The preview of the Weft-Layer System shows all weft layers in vertical direction. The first layer is in the first column from the right. Each layer is displayed in a 2D preview and a table, where each cell represents one thread.

The weft threads are represented by colored circles, the warp threads as lines. The color of both corresponds to the color of the cells in the table and to the color of the threads in the structure and stands for the Material of the thread.

In the Visibility Settings, the different Materials can be activated/deactivated by clicking on the corresponding color. All threads with a deactivated material are invisible in the preview but will be generated, unlike hidden threads. This functionality gives you a better overview during the generation of complex weaves.

The number in each cell stands for the Shot Index. The Shot Order can be changed from a dropdown menu and assigns a Shot Index to each thread following the chosen pattern.

If X is chosen from the menu, the Shot Index can be assigned manually for each thread. This can be done in the Property Menu of the thread, which can be accessed by clicking on the corresponding cell in the table.

In the Property Menu, several other properties can be defined.

The Material can be changed, and the thread can be hidden (Select Hide), that means it is not included in the weave after generation. By changing the Relative Shift, the thread can be moved in Y-direction. This value is added to the value of the Y-Shift of the corresponding layer as explained under Shifts.

The properties of the threads can be defined for each thread individually or they can be repeated after a certain number of threads. This number is defined under Rep.# (Repetition). The number below Rep.# corresponds to the repetition of the weft threads and the number on the right corresponds to the repetitions of the warp threads. If the Rep.# is smaller than the number of threads in the corresponding system (weft or warp), the material color for the repeated threads is grayed out. This is shown below where Rep.# = 1 for the warp system. If the repetition number is set to the number of threads, individual thread types can be assigned for each thread. (See below where Rep.# = 3 is set).

To assign a thread type to a thread, open the Property Menu and select a thread type from the drop-down menu under Material. The available thread types are defined under the Materials and Thread Types tab.

The preview of the Warp-Layer System shows all weft layers in horizontal direction, the first layer is in the first row from the bottom. The warp threads are represented by colored circles with trails that indicate whether the threads come from top or bottom. The weft threads are represented as lines. This represents the weaving process: The weft threads are present at first in the weaving machine and are therefore straight in the beginning. The warp threads are woven around the weft threads.

The color of both corresponds to the color of the cells in the table and stands for the Material of the thread. All other elements of the Warp-Layer System are identical to the Weft-Layer System.

In the Binding Matrix, there is a column for each individual warp thread, while the row count is defined by the maximal yarn count of all weft layers.

The numbers and colors in the first row show the shot index and material color of the warp threads, respectively. The first column only shows the shot index of the weft threads. Each cell stands for the intersection of a warp and a weft thread. The numbers in the cells determine the position of the warp thread in Z-direction relative to the weft thread layers at that location. Value 0 means that the thread is located at the bottom of the weave, below the first layer of weft threads. Setting the maximum value – which equals the number of weft layers – means that the thread lies on top of the weave. The color of each cell of the binding matrix corresponds to the material color of the thread which lays on top. The color pattern of the binding matrix corresponds to the color pattern of the top view of the weave.

When clicking in a cell, the related column and row of the Binding Matrix are highlighted. In the previews, the thread position is marked grey, and the previews switch to the corresponding position in the weave. Threads lying in this weft/warp position are shown as bold lines while threads lying behind this position are shown as dotted lines. In the weft preview the intensity of the dotted lines indicates the distance to the thread. The previews represent the geometry of the weave as one would see it when slicing through the model in 2D mode. Refer to the example for further explanation.

Left-click on a highlighted cell to increase the number by 1 and thereby change the position in Z-direction by one layer up. The previews are updated, and the color of the cell may change depending on the material ID which is on top of the weave. The position can be lowered again by a right click.

With the buttons below the Binding Matrix, the complete matrix can be edited. This is especially helpful when editing larger binding matrices. With All +1 and All -1, all entries in the matrix are incremented by 1 (or decremented). With Copy table to clipboard and Paste table from clipboard, the complete table can be copied or pasted to modify it, e.g., in a text editor.

If two warp threads overlap, they are marked with a yellow attention sign (triangle) with exclamation mark in the preview of the Warp-Layer System. The overlap is not checked in Z-direction.

This initial overlap can be resolved by either adjusting the binding or using Shifts.

• Shifts in X-Direction are defined for all Warp-Layers.
• Shifts in Y-Direction can be defined for each Weft-Layer individually.
• Shifts in Z-Direction are performed for all warp threads between two weft layers (threads with same number in binding matrix). The number of layers where such a shift is possible is one less than the number of weft layers, because the shifts in z direction affect the distances between the single weft layers.

X- and Y-Shifts are shown in the previews while Z-Shifts are not. Please note that in case of Shifts in X- and Y-Direction, all threads belonging to the same layer will be shifted. In case of the Z-Direction, the distance between two layers is increased or decreased. For a Z-Shift of 0, the threads of the layers touch. That does not necessarily correspond to the position in Z-direction at which they are currently displayed in the preview.

Since the structure generation is performed with an iterative physics-based simulation, the distances between threads might change during the generation.

In the above example, the default parameters are kept: Only the repetition and the thread types are changed to better visualize the connection between the Complex Multi-Layer Weave user interface and the generated structure.

The structure on the left shows one unit cell of the Complex Multi-Layer Weave default structure. For better understanding, the Rep.# is set to 3 and a different thread type with a different color is assigned to each thread.

On the right, warp thread #1 (black) is moved up one layer: The binding matrix now shows its color since it is now laying on top of the weave. This can be observed in the 2D-diagram to the left and in the generated 3D-structure.