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Newest first

AllieZemax Staff

published in User News & Alerts

New here?F.A.Q.

Welcome to the Zemax Community! This is a gathering place for all things optics. Within this community, you will be able to find out more about your Zemax products. You will also be able to chat with other industry professionals about the latest trends. Use this space to ask questions, help others, and learn! Now that you're here, there are a few steps you should take to make the most of your experience! 新人入门？(Chinese Version)はじめてですか？ (Japanese Version) First Steps: 1. Subscribe to User News & AlertsWhen you subscribe, you will be kept up-to-date on news that affects Zemax’s user community, like new release functionalities, opportunities to learn and network, or critical issues. 2. Configure your profileLog into the platform and navigate to your profile settings here. Each of your profile elements (except your last name) will be visible to all community members. We encourage you to be descriptive: tell others about your areas of expertise and professional interests. 3. Introduce

5890

4 years ago

AllieZemax Staff

posted in User News & Alerts

Spam on the forums

Hi everyone - I am aware of the users posting spam on our forums. I’m working on banning them as soon as I see them, as well as the keywords they’re using. If you see one I missed, please feel free to flag it. I will review regularly.

392

16 days ago

Takashi MatsumotoFully Spectral

posted in User News & Alerts

Sample files for Mechanical pivot point article

Zemax 2025R1.00 includes new tolerance operand MVTP.It gives options the Zemax users options about mechanical pivot points. The below article explains this feature.Optomechanical Tolerancing and Systems Engineering - Mechanical Pivot Points – KnowledgebaseHowever now Zemax doesn't include the sample file.It will include from Zemax 2025R2.00So this post provides the sample file.

1102

1 month ago

Tom PickeringZemax Staff

posted in User News & Alerts

Share Your Feedback: NSC Sequence Selector Feature Experiment in Ansys Zemax OpticStudio 2025 R1.01

We’re excited to introduce a new feature experiment: NSC Sequence Selector in Ansys Zemax OpticStudio 2025 R1.01! This tool is designed to help you track, filter, and analyze rays following a specific optical path in Non-Sequential mode by generating persistent sequence filters.This tool allows you to:Identify and track unique ray sequences Assign and modify sequence filters Use sequence filters in analyses and save/retrieve them Maintain persistent sequences throughout the systemThis feature can be useful for component-level stray light analysis in applications like cellphone cameras, VR/MR devices, HUDs, and folded optical systems.You can access the Sequence Selector from the Help Tab in Non-Sequential mode:Help > Test Lab > Feature Experiments > Sequence Selector Your input is crucial in shaping this feature for future releases. Try it out and share your experience in this thread. Let us know what works, what doesn’t, and any improvements you’d suggest.

4879

3 months ago

AllieZemax Staff

posted in User News & Alerts

The Zemax Community is moving - Phase 1

Hello fellow Zemax-ers!As we continue our integration efforts into Ansys systems, the Zemax Community is preparing to migrate into the Ansys Learning Forum (ALF), found within the Ansys Innovation Space (AIS). With the move happening soon, we are closing the Zemax Community to new registrations starting next week, March 24th.I will post more details about the migration of the forums soon, but in the meantime, please find some prepared FAQs below. Let me know if you have other questions!Why ALF?The platform is already the home of the Lumerical and Speos forums, so now all of Ansys Optics will be in the same place! Also, posts within the ALF space are parsed into AnsysGPT alongside knowledgebase articles and online tutorials, making it easier for you to find the answers to your questions all in one place!Who can sign up for ALF?Anyone! Unlike ACSS (discussed here), AIS has no restrictions on who can sign up. All you need is an email address, though we recommend using your work/university

11821

4 months ago

Tom PickeringZemax Staff

posted in User News & Alerts

Customer Announcement: Help Files Shortcut Issue in Ansys Zemax OpticStudio 2025 R1

Dear OpticStudio Users, We’ve identified an issue in Ansys Zemax OpticStudio 2025 R1 when trying to open the Help Files, either when clicking on the toolbar icon or when hitting F1.Temporary Workarounds: Use the online Ansys Help for OpticStudio: OpticStudio Online Help, or Use the pdf version. We are actively working on a fix and will provide an update soon. Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have questions, feel free to contact support or comment below. Best regards, Tom Pickering

58412

5 months ago

Tom PickeringZemax Staff

posted in User News & Alerts

Customer Announcement: Issue with ZOS-API Tools Reading ZRD Data in Ansys Zemax OpticStudio 2025 R1

Dear OpticStudio Users,We have identified a significant issue in the 2025 R1 release affecting ZOS-API tools. Specifically, any ZOS-API tool designed to read ZRD (Zemax Ray Database) files is currently not functioning as intended.Issue Details: Symptom: ZOS-API tools that read ZRD files fail to work properly. Impact: Users relying on ZOS-API for tasks involving ZRD data will encounter errors or unexpected behavior. We understand the critical role these tools play in automating workflows and analyzing ray data, and we are actively working on a fix. Updates will be provided as soon as a resolution is available.In the meantime, if you encounter this issue, please reach out to our support team for assistance or share your experiences in the comments below.We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience as we address this problem.Best regards,Tom Pickering

2112

6 months ago

Tom PickeringZemax Staff

posted in User News & Alerts

Customer Announcement: Ansys Licensing Client Issue in Ansys Zemax OpticStudio 2025 R1

Dear OpticStudio Users,We’ve identified an issue in Ansys Zemax OpticStudio 2025 R1 when installed via the Automated Installer. Clicking the "Ansys Licensing Client" button under the "License Utility" in the Help tab does not open the Licensing Settings 2025 R1 window as expected.Temporary Workaround:Navigate to: C:\Program Files\ANSYS Inc\v251\licensingclient\winx64 Double-click the Licensing Client to open it.We are actively working on a fix and will provide an update soon. Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have questions, feel free to contact support or comment below.Best regards,Tom Pickering

78512

6 months ago

AllieZemax Staff

published in User News & Alerts

Zemax Case Support is Moving!

The time is finally here! Only three years after being acquired, Zemax support is moving into the Ansys systems 🎉🎉🎉.If you used support in the last year, then you likely already received a notice about this migration. In addition to that, I have put together an FAQ about the move to help answer some of the common questions we are seeing from users. See the FAQ below, and feel free to comment with any other questions! Where do I go to open a support case with Zemax now?Support cases will be handled in the Ansys Customer Support Space (ACSS) going forward. You can access ACSS here: https://customer.ansys.com.If the account you are listed under has an active Zemax subscription, you will be able to create a case under the Optical Family with Zemax OpticStudio selected as the Application. You can review the active subscriptions at your account by navigating to My Products in ACSS. Can I still email support at the Zemax Support email addresses?No. The Zemax Support email addresses will be

6515

11 months ago

Berta.BernadZemax Staff

posted in User News & Alerts

Zemax OpticStudio Online Help

Ansys has made its help documentation publicly available, and this include Zemax OpticStudio help. It is open to anyone with internet access and has a search functionality. You can access the help file in the following link: Ansys Help

4210

1 year ago

Lisa CMonochrome

posted in User News & Alerts

Upcoming Updates to the Cost Estimator Tool

Hello OpticStudio Users,Starting in the Ansys Zemax OpticStudio 2024 R2.02 release scheduled for September, the Cost Estimator tool will be removed from the Production Tools group found under the Tolerancing Tab of OpticStudio's main menu. You can still get real-time cost estimates using the ISO Element Drawing. These changes will simplify the Cost Estimator tool and enable better maintenance as we begin to make improvements to the ISO Element Drawing itself.In addition, LaCroix will be removed as a provider for the Cost Estimator in order to streamline their customer experience. LaCroix continues to be a valuable partner and collaborator to Ansys Zemax OpticStudio.Thanks for your attention,Lisa

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1 year ago

Tom PickeringZemax Staff

posted in User News & Alerts

Customer Announcement: Known Issue in Upcoming Release

Dear Valued Customers,We would like to inform you about a known issue in our upcoming release, Ansys Zemax OpticStudio 2024 R2. This issue involves the incorrect usage of multiple seats for multiple instances. Specifically, the first two instances will share a single seat, however any additional instances will incorrectly consume an extra seat per instance.Our team is actively working on a fix for this issue, and we expect to release the corrected version, Ansys Zemax OpticStudio R2.01, by the end of July.We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding and patience as we resolve this matter. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to our support team.Thank you for your continued support.Best regards,Tom Pickering

1940

1 year ago

Tom PickeringZemax Staff

posted in User News & Alerts

Upcoming improvements to the Export to PanDao tool!

The Export to PanDao tool currently only supports on-axis systems that use Standard surfaces with a conic constant of zero, Even Asphere, Extended Asphere, and Extended Odd Asphere surface types. Both refractive and reflective surfaces are supported. However, not all parameters for a PanDao estimate are included (e.g. asphericity), and not all tolerance operands are supported. It's a starting point to import lens design data into the PanDao website.Check out Sahil’s walk-through of the current implementation of the tool!After positive first customer feedback, we've been working on making this tool support more designs. The next update planned for release in September 2023 will convert all appropriate and necessary tolerance operands and lens parameters to the PanDao JSON format, so that only minimal manual data entry is required. Furthermore, all on-axis surfaces with real sag will be supported.

1671

1 year ago

Lisa CMonochrome

published in User News & Alerts

Ansys Zemax OpticStudio Updates File Format

Hello Zemax Community!I have important news regarding your Zemax OpticStudio products. Ansys Zemax is dedicated to ensuring that we offer the best possible optical design workflow and user experience that allows you to bring your products to market faster. As such, 2025 R1 (January 2025) will be our last release where you will be able to save to the .ZOS file format in Ansys Zemax OpticStudio. We have made the choice as of 2024 R2 (July 2024) release to begin writing the same content type as found in the .ZMX file format to the .ZOS file format to begin the file type transition. The .ZMX file format will also replace the .ZOS file format as the default save option in Ansys Zemax OpticStudio.This change aligns with requests from long-term customers who have come to rely and depend on the product over decades and have chosen to have the .ZMX file as their format of choice. For some customers we are aware this decision may not support your existing workflow, which is why we are offering

8360

1 year ago

AllieZemax Staff

published in User News & Alerts

April 2023 Community Newsletter

WelcomeWelcome to the April edition of the Ansys Zemax Community newsletter! Cherry blossoms in full bloom in Tokyo.Picture taken by @Takashi Matsumoto This newsletter provides updates for you, the user, on technical content you might find interesting or helpful. This newsletter features content that has been posted or was popular during the last month! Check out what we have for you below:Welcome Zemax-er Spotlight: Luca Cellerino The Community in Review Featured Community Posts Ask An Engineer: Tolerance analysis on Binary 2 diffractive surfaces Code Exchange Latest Editions Chinese Forum: Popular Topics Japanese Forum: Popular Topics Knowledgebase Updates Ansys Optics Application Gallery Metalens – Ansys Optics Is this newsletter missing something you think others should know about? Or is there something you learned here that you didn’t know before? Let us know in the comments below! Zemax-er Spotlight: Luca CellerinoThis month, we are featuring Luca Cellerino (@Luca.cellerino

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2 years ago

AllieZemax Staff

published in User News & Alerts

March 2023 Community NewsletterNewsletter

WelcomeWelcome to the March edition of the Zemax’s Community newsletter! This newsletter provides updates for you, the user, on technical content you might find interesting or helpful. This newsletter features content that has been posted or was popular during the last month! Check out what we have for you below:Welcome The Community in Review Featured Community Posts Ask An Engineer: PanDao Export Demo Code Exchange Latest Editions Chinese Forum: Popular Topics Japanese Forum: Popular Topics Ansys Optics Application Gallery Zemax-er Spotlight: Oliver FähnleIs this newsletter missing something you think others should know about? Or is there something you learned here that you didn’t know before? Let us know in the comments below! The Community in ReviewFeatured Community PostsA shorter month might mean less activity for most communities, but not for ours. Our fantastic users were still out here helping their peers. We’ve collected some of the most-liked posts from February to shar

3500

2 years ago

Sandrine AuriolLuminary

published in User News & Alerts

February 2023 Community NewsletterNewsletter

WelcomeWelcome to the February edition of the Zemax’s Community newsletter! This newsletter provides updates for you, the user, on technical content you might find interesting or helpful. This newsletter features content that has been posted or was popular during the last month! Check out what we have for you below:Welcome The Community in Review Featured Community Posts Ask An Engineer Code Exchange Latest Additions Chinese Forum: Popular Topics → To Update Japanese Forum: Popular Topics Knowledgebase Updates Ansys Optics Application Gallery Zemax-er Spotlight: Francesco AldegheriIs this newsletter missing something you think others should know about? Or is there something you learned here that you didn’t know before? Let us know in the comments below! The Community in ReviewFeatured Community PostsEach month we are excited to see the community coming together to solve problems and discuss how to use the software. This month is no different! Check out some of the most helpful po

3581

2 years ago

Sandrine AuriolLuminary

published in User News & Alerts

January 2023 Community newsletterNewsletter

WelcomeWelcome to the January edition of the Zemax’s Community newsletter! We wish you all a happy new year 2023 and are looking forward to discussing with you all on our community.This newsletter provides updates for you, the user, on items you might find interesting or helpful from the last month! Check out each of these items below:Welcome Featured Community Posts Knowledgebase Updates Zemax-er SpotlightIs there something else you’d like to see? Let us know in the comments below! Featured Community PostsWe have selected a couple of posts from last month that we thought might interest you.This post discusses coherence in non-sequential. For further information, I would also recommend checking this article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/opticstudio-coherent-power-michael-humphreys?trk=public_profile_article_view that gives a good insight. This post is about using POP to model diffraction from a Grid Phase surface. On the Code Exchange, here are the latest additions:This ZPL macro

1760

2 years ago

AllieZemax Staff

published in User News & Alerts

December 2022 Community NewsletterNewsletter

WelcomeWelcome to the December edition of the Zemax’s Community newsletter! This newsletter provides updates for you, the user, on items you might find interesting or helpful from the last month! Check out each of these items below:Welcome Featured Community Posts Knowledgebase Updates Zemax-er Spotlight: Success Stories in 2022Is there something else you’d like to see? Let us know in the comments below! Featured Community PostsIn the last month, we’ve seen a couple of topics really take off. Click below to see the latest. In particular, take a look at the first link wherein we discussed the relationship between POP and a user’s published paper: Refractive index of biological tissues: Review, measurement techniques, and applications: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-24176-8Lumerical RCWA和Zemax OpticStudio的动态链接 | Zemax Community With the year coming to a close, we looked back at our most popular forum posts from 2022. Take a look at the top 5 below. Is there one you think shou

1710

2 years ago

Sandrine AuriolLuminary

published in User News & Alerts

November 2022 Community Newsletter

WelcomeWelcome to the November edition of the Zemax’s Community newsletter! This newsletter provides updates for you, the user, on items you might find interesting or helpful from the last month! Check out each of these items below:Welcome Featured Community Posts: AR/VR Chinese forum Japanese forum Check out the newly-released 22.3 suite of Zemax products! Knowledgebase Updates Zemax-er Spotlight: Ty AdairIs there something else you’d like to see? Let us know in the comments below! Featured Community Posts: AR/VRThis month, Yuan has been busy updating summary posts about the AR/VR topics.On the Code Exchange side, Yuan and Michael created a ZPL and Python scripts that can fit a non-sequential object like a CAD object into a built-in sequential surface. The scripts build a merit function and make a surface ready to be optimized! For example, that could be interested to describe a windshield in sequential mode. For more information, check the links below: Chinese forumAR/VR相关资料整理Japanes

2960

2 years ago

Sandrine AuriolLuminary

published in User News & Alerts

October 2022 Community NewsletterNewsletter

WelcomeWelcome to the October edition of the Zemax’s Community newsletter! This newsletter provides updates for you, the user, on items you might find interesting or helpful from the last month! Check out each of these items below:Welcome Where is September Community Update? David reaches the Luminary rank Featured Community Posts: Converters Chinese forum Japanese forum Knowledgebase Updates Zemax-er Spotlight: Alissa WilczynskiIs there something else you’d like to see? Let us know in the comments below!Where is September Community Update?You haven’t missed anything! We felt it was a bit awkward to publish our newsletter at the end of the month. So we skipped the September month and are starting afresh with the October one. There hasn’t been any Ask An Engineer event this month as we are working on a new format. David reaches the Luminary rankLast month, David reached the Luminary rank. He is the 1st to reach that rank. Congratulations @David.Nguyen and a massive thank you for all you

2400

2 years ago

Alissa WilczynskiZemax Staff

published in User News & Alerts

The Zemax 22.2 Release is Live

Table of ContentsThe Zemax 22.2 release is here! Learn from the experts in the 22.2 release webinar Our Community Manager’s Take The Zemax 22.2 release is here!The 22.2 release is available now, and we’ve got a series of events and information designed to help you make the most of the latest and greatest. Highlights include…Ray Aiming Wizard (OpticStudio) - Easily and accurately determine the optimal ray aiming settings to ensure that rays pass through your system. Export to Speos Lens System (OpticStudio) - Create a reduced-order model of the current optical system to be used in a Speos simulation, enabling accurate optical sensor simulation in a realistic environment. Performance Analysis (OpticStudio STAR Module) - Find out how temperature changes and deformations contribute to a change in system performance. Ray Footprint Boundaries (OpticsBuilder) - Interactive ray footprint boundaries allow the use of CAD tools to measure, position, and analyze the effects that mechanical compone

4796

2 years ago

Sandrine AuriolLuminary

published in User News & Alerts

August 2022 Community Updates

WelcomeWelcome to the August edition of the Zemax’s Community newsletter!This newsletter provides updates for you, the user, on items you might find interesting or helpful from the last month! Check out each of these items below:Welcome Featured Community Posts: Heads-Up Display (HUD) Knowledgebase Updates Ask An Engineer: How do I import a CAD component in sequential design into OpticStudio? Zemax-er Spotlight: Mathilde ContyIs there something else you’d like to see? Let us know in the comments below!Featured Community Posts: Heads-Up Display (HUD)Heads-up displays are optical systems which allow information to be displayed to a user in a manner such that the user does not have to look away from their current field of view. These types of systems are particularly prevalent in the automotive industry wherein data (such as speed or remaining mileage) can be shown to a driver as a part of their windshield view. HUD systems are easily modeled in Ansys software. For example, you will see i

3730

3 years ago

Gernot.BlobelSingle Emitter

posted in User News & Alerts

Ask an Engineer: How do I import a CAD component in sequential design into OpticStudio?

Event DetailsTopic: Utilizing a custom CAD component within Sequential Mode in OpticStudioLive demo and Q&A: August 24th, 8am - 9am PDT (See the attachments for a calendar invite)Engineer:@Gernot.Blobel - Senior Application Engineer, Ansys Zemax Ask an Engineer is a once-monthly live event. The meeting is a small, informal gathering wherein our technical staff will take the time to educate and answer questions on the featured topic. We highly encourage new users - especially students - to join and learn a bit more about the software!Take a look at the topic and resources below, then join us on August 24th to connect with our engineer. Live event: August 24th, 8am PST (the calendar invite may be found in the attachment link at the bottom of this post)Topic:It is often the case that our optical systems utilize unique parts or objects designed in-house. For example, a vehicle’s windshield shape (an important component of a HUD system) may be proprietary information that we would nee

6333

3 years ago

Alissa WilczynskiZemax Staff

published in User News & Alerts

Information for Zemax customers using SolidWorksNews

Zemax places a high importance on supporting you in using your best possible workflow, so we regret Dassault Systems’ recent decision to conclude Zemax’s membership in the SolidWorks partner program. As a result of this decision, Zemax is no longer able to support our OpticsBuilder for SolidWorks product nor the CAD Dynamic Link for SolidWorks capability previously included in the Premium edition of OpticStudio. Please see our FAQ page for more details.

3744

3 years ago

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