2024 R2 Release Notes

July 10th, 2024

1.1 FFT MTF: Multi-threading Performance Improvements (All editions)

Added performance improvements for FFT MTF analysis.

Performance improvements were implemented for the FFT MTF analysis to enable more effective utilization of CPU resources for systems with multiple fields and wavelengths. Significant speed improvements have been observed while analyzing complex designs, as shown in the plot below. 

This plot demonstrates the relative change in calculation time for the FFT MTF analysis in the current release compared to the previous version for three different examples on a computer with 8 CPU nodes. As illustrated above, performance improvements increase with problem complexity, which greatly benefits modern design problems.

1.2 Export Optical Design to Speos Improvements (All editions)

New surfaces and objects supported by Export Optical Design to Speos tool.

The Export Optical Design to Speos tool enables full optical product workflows by providing a path to advanced system-level design and stray light analysis in Speos. This function now supports the following sequential surfaces: Biconic, Biconic Zernike, Polynomial, Extended Polynomial, Zernike Standard Sag and Zernike Fringe Sag. Support has also been added for the following non-sequential objects: Biconic Lens, Biconic Zernike Lens, Extended Polynomial Lens, Extended Polynomial Surface, Zernike Surface, and Biconic Zernike Surface. 

1.3 Tolerance operands for Irregularity and Rotationally Symmetric Irregularity for off-axis apertures (All editions)

Added ISO-10110 surface form tolerance operands useful for freeform and off-axis systems.

Four new tolerance operands have been added to enable accurate tolerancing for surface form tolerances 3/A(B/C), per the ISO-10110-5 drawing standard. The new operands are ISOA, ISOB, ISOC and ISOD and respectively add power, P-V (Peak to Valley) irregularity, rotationally symmetric irregularity (RSI), and RMS irregularity to the surface being toleranced. The operands automatically accommodate off-axis apertures. This capability is especially powerful for the design of freeform lenses and off-axis systems. 

1.4 TSAG Operand (All editions)

New optimization operand returns sag in any coordinate system for off-axis systems.

For off-axis systems, it is frequently convenient to work with a coordinate system at the vertex of the off-axis part. Previously in OpticStudio, sag was always reported with regards to the z-axis at the vertex of the surface. A new TSAG operand will report sag from an arbitrary XYZ origin, in a coordinate space that is oriented in any direction. This allows users to report the shape of a freeform or off-axis surface in any convenient coordinate system. 

This operand is also used internally in the "off-axis coordinate system" option of the Surface Sag, Slope, and Curvature maps. 

1.5 Source File: IES TM-25 (All editions)

OpticStudio now supports save/load of IES TM-25 rayfiles.

The Source File object in non-sequential mode now accepts TM-25 files as the input for measured or simulated source data. 

OpticStudio can also export rays from a non-sequential ray trace to TM-25 ray files. In addition to the data defined by TM-25, OpticStudio also includes electric field and phase data when exporting TM-25 ray files. Several other OpticStudio features now support TM-25 ray files, such as the Source Viewer, Flux vs. Wavelength and Light Source Analysis. 

1.6 Automated Installer (All editions)

The Automated Installer is now ready for 2024 R2.

The Ansys Automated Installer allows users to install Zemax OpticStudio along with many other Ansys products from a single window.  The convenience of using a single location for installing all Ansys products allows users to quickly find what they need and execute simultaneous downloads without having to click between multiple locations. 

1.7 Learning and Support tab (All editions)

New Learning and Support tab.

The Learning and Support tab includes access to Ansys Innovation courses, Ansys Learning Hub, Ansys Zemax Learning Forum and links to our Customer Portal and Ansys Zemax Knowledge. This new tab offers users an easy way to find all resources in one location, directly within Ansys Zemax OpticStudio.

1.8 Product usage intelligence from APIP (Ansys Product Improvement Program) (All editions)

Improved product usage intelligence.

We have replaced the mechanism of collecting basic product usage data – such as number of opened application sessions and overall feature usage – from our Zemax-specific solution to the Ansys Product Improvement Program (APIP). This optional feature allows Ansys to understand what features matter most to customers to aid in speed and usability improvements.

Users will be prompted to opt into the Program via a pop-up window (Shown in the screenshot above) when launching OpticStudio. To stop participating in APIP, go to the” Setup -> OpticStudio Preferences -> Privacy” tab.

1.9 ZOS File Format deprecation (All editions)

The .ZOS file format has been discontinued.

The .ZOS file format has been retired. This change ensures the continuity of the Ansys Optics user experience by simplifying workflows and aligning with the needs of long-term customers who require the human-readable aspect of the .ZMX file format. Users will always be able to open .ZOS files inside of OpticStudio. However, as part of the transition away from the .ZOS file format, .ZMX data will now be written into .ZOS files during the saving process.

• 3D layout freeze - A correction was made to the layout windows which would stop updating correctly and/or responding to user input
• Afocal cases - For afocal cases, the header text in FFT MTF text output now reports the correct units for angular frequency
• Black box object coordinates - Fixed an issue where some systems with Black Boxes would not trace rays
• CAD export - Fixed an issue where imported CAD model assemblies only contained a single instance of each part
• CAD files geometries - Fixed a couple scaling issues when importing and exporting CAD models to native Parasolid formats (x_t and x_b)
• CodeV converter - Fixed an issue with the CodeV converter where vignetting factors could incorrectly change sign
• CodeV converter field values - Fixed an issue with the CodeV converter where some field values could be incorrect for converted multi-configuration systems
• Crash when Stopping Hammer - Corrected an issue where Hammer Optimization could crash when the user selects Stop while the merit function contained one or more TOLR entries
• Data in Tolerance Sensitivity table - Fixed an issue where data could be displaced in the Sensitivity and Summary Tables of the Tolerance report when the Criterion was User Script and the perturbed system could not be traced
• Flux vs wavelength analysis - Fixed an issue where the number of rays reported in Flux vs Wavelength Analysis was incorrect
• Layout incorrect field height - Fixed an issue where layout plots and the Shaded Model could show incorrect ray paths for systems with Black Boxes
• ODX absorption data - An issue was fixed in the ‘Export Optical Design to Speos’ tool where the absorption data was calculated incorrectly
• Polarization ray tracing - Fixed an issue where the phase would not be correctly accounted for in a Mixed Mode system in the polarization ray trace
• POP issues with Use Rays and Unpolarized options checked for polarized systems - Fixed an issue where POP would incorrectly handle the Use Rays option for polarized systems with Unpolarized selected in the POP settings
• Q-Type Freeform behavior - Some issues related to ray tracing with the Q-Type Freeform surfaces were fixed
• Save to file issue - Fixed an issue where using ‘Save to File’ with edited Birefringence Data would include the original data rather than any updated values
• STAR system crash - Fixed an issue where a STAR system with a black box surface would crash when ray aiming was on
• Unexpected NSQ ray trace results - Fixed issues where some cases of off-axis parabolic surfaces would be incorrectly converted in the Sequential-to-Nonsequential converter
• White box - Added some additional error checking to the ‘Export Optical Design to Speos’ tool to prevent the export of unsupported geometries