@Julien Dejonghe 

I think in the more recent versions of OS, this setting is now called “Use Parasolid Libraries”. You find it at the bottom left corner of the General tab.

Let us know if it works for you.

Take care,

David

Hi David, no I had tried that, it didn’t work. The objects that are failing to export are inside NSC components. They are 3D volumes like cylindrical volumes, some of them export correctly and others don’t...

Rays are missing too

@Julien Dejonghe 

Is there any chance you could share a file with us that demonstrates the issue? Which objects don’t export specifically?
Regarding the rays, did you check this article:

https://support.zemax.com/hc/en-us/articles/11623397624467-How-to-show-exported-rays-in-the-CAD-platform

Take care,

David

I finally found a part of the problem: inside a NSC component I had 2 rectangular volumes with dimensions equal to zero (I was using them to position other objects, it was like virtual objects). I transformed those into null objects

Well, actually I get no more error messages, but the result is not better. Below is what it looks like in zemax:

And the step file imported in solidworks:

We can see that the big rear wheel has shifted to the front! And the group of 3 mirrors is missing, as long as some dummy surfaces (I selected export dummy surfaces though...) and paraxial lenses.

Concerning rays, I use solidworks, not inventor, but in the past I selected to display 3D curves and 3D sketches and it worked...

The missing 3 mirrors are in a NSC component.

Here is the Zemax file. I was trying to export from surface 10 to image. When trying to export all, I get error messages for surfaces 2,3,6,7,9, but I don not need to export the entire system, so this is not the main problem.

When exporting from 10 to image, with dummy surfaces included, and ray number = 20, ray pattern = ring, STEP format, I get no rays, some regular surfaces are missing, and also some NSC objects...

I unselected “use parasolid libraries” in Optic Studio preferences, and now all surfaces and objects are present in the STEP file. However, rays are still missing….

Good to hear. Regarding the rays, its a little strange because I clearly remember that this article:

https://support.zemax.com/hc/en-us/articles/11623397624467-How-to-show-exported-rays-in-the-CAD-platform

had a section for Solidworks as well… Perhaps it is related to the discontinuation of the dynamic link with SW.

Anyway, when you open your STP with Solidworks. You should have a file dialog with an Options… button:

When you click it, you should have some options from Solidworks and you should check Free Curves and Points as Sketch:

It seems to work on my end. I use SW 2022.

Take care,

David

Yes, it works also for me now, thanks a lot, and have a nice WE!

@Chris Normanshire 

I hope you are well. Do you remember where the resource for exporting rays with Solidworks is? I clearly remember reading it somewhere.

Thank you and take care,

David