Hello everyone,I can't connect Zemax and Matlab since I installed the new version of zemax 2025 R1.01. I am using Matalb version 2019a Updates 9 and it worked with previous versions of zemax.The error in question Unable to load one or more of the required types.My two applications are installed in 64bits I've already tried uninstalling and reinstalling the applications. Thanks for your help 

Hello fellow optics enthusiasts,I’m currently working on a task where I need to ignore multiple surfaces in a Zemax optical system using the ZOS-API. At the moment, I’m using the following loop:for i in range(150, 160): surface = TheSystem.LDE.GetSurfaceAt(i) surface.TypeData.IgnoreSurface = TrueHowever, this approach seems to be quite slow. Has anyone found a more efficient way to ignore multiple surfaces at once?Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!Thanks in advance,Sebastián

Hello Everyone,What is the best way to create sag on a lens surface (one of the two surfaces would be the beginning, and then I would move to both surfaces) and parametrize it using python so that i can create wavefront maps and the changes in the wavefront maps based on the localized changed in the sag?Here is what I want to do:Create sag on a lens surface that can be parametrized (conic constant and the other asphere constants can be varied) For each combination of these parameters, evaluate the wavefront mapSo far, the knowledgebase articles show how to use a .dat file to induce sag on surfaces, but there is nothing about parameterization.Is there a Python example that does something similar?Or is there any other method that would make more sense? Thank you for your insights.Amit

Is there a way to access the properties of a coating in the ZOS-API? The article below shows how to access the name of the coating, but does not show how to get the properties of the coating.I’m not finding any handles that give the actual coating information. Thanks!

In the API, I make some checks on the ZMX file before running simulations. One of the checks is that at least face 0 has a coating. The API tells me there is no coating, but I can see in OpticStudio that there is a coating. Here is the object in OpticStudio: And the coating from the API: I'm certain I have the right object - why is the coating incorrect in the API? How can I check for the existence of coatings on face 0? Right now I'm using face_data.Coating not in {'None', 'NULL'}.

I am trying to develop a UDS (User Defined Surface) DLL and have been reading the excellent articles in knowledge base about this. Taking as the starting point the “us_stand.c” code for the standard surface (available in the folder /Zemax/DLL/Surfaces), I understand that Zemax provides an intercept point to the tangent plane (x0, y0, z=0) and direction cosines (l0, m0, n0) for the ray at that point. Then the real ray trace is performed in case 5 and for complicated surfaces there is no analytical solution for the ray intercept point on the surface. Hence an iterative solution is needed.What I am struggling to understand is: how do those equations in case 5 work? I thought that there would be no analytical solution to find the ray intercept point with the standard surface. However, the equations in case 5 seem to be quite simple, although I was not able to derive them.  Therefore, my questions are:Is the algorithm in case 5 of “us_stand.c” implementing a clo

This DLL provides a user defined surface that has planar substrate and a phase profile integrating both radial polynomial and extended polynomial. It can be considered as a combination of surface Binary 1 and Binary 2, but with only planar substrate. This is useful for metalens design.    Click here to download Date Version OpticStudio Version Comment 2020/08/07 1.0 20.2 Creation 2021/01/01 1.1 20.3.2 Fix bug by dividin

Hi all - As the title states, I’m attempting to perform a Standard Zernike Analysis across multiple files simultaneously using the Zemax Python API and Multiprocessing (running 4 instances of Zemax). My attempt is shown below. Failures I’ve encountered include: *** FRU__delta_init(): Attempt to start when running!andUnboundLocalError: local variable 'zos' referenced before assignmentI’m not sure if my approach is flawed or if I’m just attempting something that’s not allowed with Zemax or something else. Any insight you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Also, thank you to David Nguyen for his example code on performing a Zernike Standard Analysis here.if __name__ == '__main__': import multiprocessing as mp import os

I am unable to set the source sampling in NSC; here is my code: led_source = TheNCE.GetObjectAt(1)led_source_type = led_source.GetObjectTypeSettings(ZOSAPI.Editors.NCE.ObjectType.SourceRadial)led_source.ChangeType(led_source_type) led_source.SourcesData.PrePropagation = -1print("Preprop: ", led_source.SourcesData.PrePropagation)print("Sampling: ", led_source.SourcesData.SamplingMethod)led_source.SourcesData.SamplingMethod = "Sobol"print("Sampling: ", led_source.SourcesData.SamplingMethod) Note Pre-propagation can be [set, get] through SourceData, whereas SamplingMethod can only be [get]. When I execute this code I get the following: Preprop:  -1.0Sampling:  SobolTraceback (most recent call last):  File "C:\Users\matthew.haines\Documents\Zemax\ZOS-API Projects\PythonStandaloneApplication4\PythonStandaloneApplication4\PythonStandaloneApplication4.py", line 226, in <module&g

My codes (that were working with the 2024 version) do not work anymore with the 2025 release.this is the error I get in the function “InitConnection()”:Message: Could not load file or assembly 'ZemaxEngine.dll' or one of its dependencies. The dynamic link library (DLL) initialization routine failed. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8007045A)Source: mscorlibHelpLink: None

Hi all,I'm using the ZOS-API in Python (OpticStudio 2024 R1) with IBatchRayTrace to trace manually defined NSC rays. I'm creating the interface using teh batch tool and adding rays using nscData.AddRay(...).The trace completes successfully (batchTool.Succeeded is True, and RunAndWaitForCompletion() doesn't crash ). However, when I read the results using nscData.ReadNextResult(), the numSegments output parameter is consistently 0 for all rays. This happens even when:The system is minimal (new file, 1 wavelength, 1 Standard Lens, 1 Detector Rectangle). Rays are defined with various trace options (None, UsePolarization, UseSplitting, UseScattering, and combinations). The ray path clearly interacts with objects (e.g., passes through the lens and hits the detector).It also doesnt show any errors...Is it expected that IRayTraceNSC

This Zemax User Analysis calculates a longitudinal PSF, a PSF through focus.Author: @Michael.Humphreys   Click here to download Date Version OpticStudio Version Comment 2022/03/09 1.0 - Creation  

Hello,We are urgently looking for an alternative to ZPL-GETZERNIKE using ZOS-API.The point is that we cannot tell “TheSystem.MFE.GetOperandValue(MeritOperandType_ZERN, “ the maximum term of Zernike.“TheSystem.MFE.GetOperandValue(MeritOperandType_ZERN, “ always develops only up to the given coefficient :-(MAny ThanksHans-Jürgen

The current Through Focus Spot Diagram (TFSD) merges all wavelengths in the same plot, however it provides separation between fields. Right now I’m cloning windows and set the wavelength separate in each window.Is it possible to have a “simple” script to have them separate by wavelengths for a single field? What could be a command for the TFSD plot then?In principle it gives a different view to a Focal Shift.  

Hi,I would like to use the ZRDPLAYBACK function, but it doesn't seem to work, I think it doesn't take filters string into account.I have similar problem iy I use a function like  NSTR 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, A$ ,”W1”,2Marc.

It appears that there is a known ZOS-API initialization error when using OpticStudio 2025 R1.  Here’s what is stated in the 2025 R1 release notes: I’m currently using OpticStudio 2025 R1.01 and encountering this problem with Matlab R2021a (which previously worked fine with OpticStudio versions prior to 2025).Does anyone know if updating to the latest Matlab release will solve the problem?  If not, I wonder how/when this bug will be resolved?Thanks,Jeff

Can you confirm that neither setting the paramters of a dispersion diagram or reading the results is possible through the API ?I couldn’t find any settings neither extract some dataseries results

I’m using the ZOS-API (ver. 2024 R1) with C# and creating an Open3DViewerExport (I3DViewerExport) bitmap of the Ray Trace.The bitmap gets generated to a file but includes the axis (X,Y,Z) in the lower left corner of the image.The application allows to turn this access off but I don’t see the option within the API. Is there anyway that the API can turn this off as well?Thanks.B.

In the last few weeks, I have received questions regarding how we can use the ZOS-API to pull single ray trace information. For convenience, I will post my answers here in a single post. I pulled together three different methods for extracting single ray trace data. Below I will list the methods with sample code in Python and Mathematica. I’m happy to provide samples in other languages if needed! If you have other methods you use for this kind of analysis, feel free to add them as a reply! Method 1 - Use the Single Ray Trace analysisThis method can be used to pull the results of the Single Ray Trace analysis window.  The benefit of this method is that the results are pulled for all surfaces at once. The drawback of this method is that the data is provided in text form. The output is a TXT file which

Hi everyone, is there a way to select several cells of interest at once using ZOSAPI? Commands like GetObjectAt() and GetCellAt() allow you to select a certain object and certain cell, but - for instance - I want to select the Ref Object column in the NCE specifically for rows 2-5 and set a common value for them. Is there a command to select these cells at once (without having to loop through each object and set them individually) and then set a common value?

Hello,I have a question about a glass for the thermal infrared region, specifically IRG26 glass, present in the SCHOTT_IRG catalog.The Tolerance Wizard is not able to insert the tolerance on the Abbe number of this glass. Why? If the Abbe number is not clearly defined, can we trust the raytrace and therefore the evaluation of the chromatic aberrations?Thanks! 

Good day everyone,since ZPL is based on BASIC, I thought some of it generic functions could be used for converting variable types such as VAL(), INT() etc. Only $STR works, the other conversions are not recognized by ZPL.In particular, I want to define a single variable in my script (a particular detector number) and use it for both console output (with PRINT), non-sequential raytrace (with NSTR) and changing Detector Viewer settings (with MODIFYSETTINGS).I could define either a numerical variable and change it to string, but doing so outputs a floating point number (such as 5.000 for instance). Unfortunately, NSTR is having trouble with "h5.000” filter string. Then I thought I can define a string variable "5” and change it to numerical but no commands that I know seem to work. Is there a solution to my issue that would allow me to stay within ZPL script, not switching to ZOS-API?

Hi all, I’ve been modifying .zmx files using Python for a few years now and have been using my own module and PyZOS for a majority of it now.  However, my current project has a bit of a road block I’m not sure how to get around. What I would like to do is take a surface from a file I’ve already created and have it be the exact same surface in a different file.  I could have the code insert the surface, but if possible I’d like to avoid inserting and deleting surfaces as it may effect other parameters in the system (i.e. Merit Functions operands and whatnot).What I’m hoping to code is something like the followingimport zospy as zp zos = zp.ZOS()oss = zos.connect()oss.load(‘file1’)oss2 = zos.create_new_system()oss2.load(‘file2’) first_surface_file1 = oss.LDE.GetSurfaceAt(1)first_surface

Dear Zemax community,I am building upon your 'How to design a Gaussian to Top Hat beam shaper' tutorial.Instaed of TOP HAT, my goal is to create a Uuniform Radial Distribution at distance of 1M from the  beam shaper.i.e my goal is to create a uniform distribution on a sagment from a rolled screen. But the ZPL calculates the desired distribuion up on a flat wall, so what should be the distribution up on a “Flat screen” , so it generates a unifrom radial on a rolled sceen ? Any suggestions are welcome and appreciated.Thank you very much, Tali

when i use ZPL output to a text file , The output always stops halfway, and Zemax prompts "cannot open text file". Does anyone know why? For example, I plan to output 40,000 lines of data, but it stops at 10,000.