diff --git a/js/cells/DMACell.js b/js/cells/DMACell.js
index 4854dba909044865176400eee89978e92c1aec2c..e5ebfb454ccebfb5c4a3494a3cb008f3486afd6b 100644
--- a/js/cells/DMACell.js
+++ b/js/cells/DMACell.js
@@ -381,10 +381,19 @@ define(['underscore', 'three', 'threeModel', 'lattice', 'appState', 'globals', '
 
 
 
+    //parse
+    DMACell.prototype.addToDenseArray = function(cellsArray, min){
+        var index = this.getAbsoluteIndex().sub(min);
+        cellsArray[index.x][index.y][index.z] = this;
+    };
+
+
+
+
 
     //destroy
 
-    DMACell.prototype.destroy = function(){
+    DMACell.prototype.destroy = function(){//todo remove reference from lattice.cells
         this.destroyParts();
         if (this.object3D) {
             if (this.superCell) this.superCell.removeChildren(this.object3D);
diff --git a/js/cells/supercells/DMASuperCell.js b/js/cells/supercells/DMASuperCell.js
index 045e736eb93f690e6641e5e42c46f67dc16b5f11..72af56beed0188527075670f15d5ee1aec5847e8 100644
--- a/js/cells/supercells/DMASuperCell.js
+++ b/js/cells/supercells/DMASuperCell.js
@@ -109,6 +109,19 @@ define(['underscore', 'three', 'threeModel', 'lattice', 'appState', 'cell'],
 
 
 
+     //parse
+    DMASuperCell.prototype.addToDenseArray = function(cellsArray, min){
+        this._loopCells(function(cell){
+            if (cell) cell.addToDenseArray(cellsArray, min);
+        });
+    };
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
     DMASuperCell.prototype._loopCells = function(callback){
         var cells = this.cells;
         if (!cells || cells === undefined) return;
diff --git a/js/lattice/Lattice.js b/js/lattice/Lattice.js
index e6444a228f1779029bb9d98a4409531d1cf54334..c19814c0ae47be174ba6f5bf446a4e9727dd338c 100644
--- a/js/lattice/Lattice.js
+++ b/js/lattice/Lattice.js
@@ -130,16 +130,35 @@ define(['underscore', 'backbone', 'appState', 'globals', 'plist', 'three', 'thre
         //cells array
 
         _parseSparseCell: function(){
-            this.cells = [[[null]]];
+
             if (this.get("numCells") == 0) {
                 console.warn("no cells in assembly");
+                this.cells = [[[null]]];
                 return;
             }
 
             var bounds = this.calculateBoundingBox();
             var size = bounds.max.sub(bounds.min);
-            console.log(size);
 
+            //create array of nulls
+            var cells = [];
+            for (var x=0;x<size.x;x++){
+                cells.push([]);
+                for (var y=0;y<size.y;y++){
+                    cells[x].push([]);
+                    for (var z=0;z<size.z;z++){
+                        cells[x][y].push(null);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
+            var min = this.get("cellsMin").sub(bounds.min);
+            this._loopCells(this.sparseCells, function(cell){
+                if (!cell) return;
+                cell.addToDenseArray(cells, min);
+            });
+
+            this.cells = cells;
         },
 
 
diff --git a/js/models/AppState.js b/js/models/AppState.js
index abe5cc9c082bf590fe715b04a513c16b29899103..20cc30d05fa5db294d44d8c2247bf608676de065 100644
--- a/js/models/AppState.js
+++ b/js/models/AppState.js
@@ -110,6 +110,7 @@ define(['underscore', 'backbone', 'threeModel', 'three', 'plist', 'globals'], fu
                 this.set("highlighterIsVisible", false);
             } else if (navSelection == "navAssemble"){
             }
+        },
 
         _materialTypeChanged: function(){
             var materialType = this.get("materialType");