Quick Start Reference - TraceProGetStartedAndExamplesGuide
Quick Start Reference - TraceProGetStartedAndExamplesGuide
Tel.978-486-0766
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COPYRIGHT AND TRADEMARK ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
COPYRIGHT
The TracePro software and manual are Copyright © 2014 by Lambda Research Corporation. All
rights reserved.
TRADEMARKS
TracePro and OSLO are registered trademarks of Lambda Research Corporation.
Pentium® is a registered trademark of Intel, Inc.
ACIS® is a registered trademark of Spatial Corporation.
Windows® XP, and Microsoft® are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
ACCOS V™ is a trademark of Optikos Corporation.
Code V® is a registered trademark of Optical Research Associates, Inc.
ZEMAX® is a registered trademark of Focus Software, Inc. and Sigma™ is a trademark of Focus
Software, Inc.
LIMITATIONS ON USE
The user of this Demo or Trial Version of TracePro is granted a license to use this product subject
to the following restrictions and limitations.
The user may not engage in, or permit third parties to engage in, any of the following:
• Providing use of the software in a computer service business or network
• Making alterations or excerpts of any kind in the software
• Attempting to disassemble, decompile, or reverse engineer the software in any way
• Attempting to defeat the software protection
Introduction 4
What is TracePro? 4
What is the Restricted Demo Version? 4
What Is the Trial Version? 4
System Requirements 4
Integrating Sphere 17
Importance Sampling 19
Creating Geometry 19
Luminaire 21
Eye Model 22
Importing Models 23
Gradient Index 24
Prisms 26
LCD Projector 27
Models 28
Sales & Technical Support Contacts 31
What is TracePro?
TracePro is a comprehensive, versatile software tool for modeling the propagation of light in
imaging and non-imaging opto-mechanical systems. Models are created by importing from a lens
design program or a CAD program or by directly creating the solid geometry in TracePro. Sources
propagate through the model with portions of the flux of each traced ray allocated for absorption,
specular reflection and transmission, fluorescence and scattering. From the model, analyze:
• Light distributions in illumination and imaging systems
• Stray light, scattered light and aperture diffraction
• Throughput, loss, or system transmittance
• Flux or power absorbed by surfaces and bulk media
• Flux or power scattered by surfaces and bulk media
• Luminance and radiance maps
• Candela distributions
• Polarization effects
• Fluorescence effects
• Birefringence effects
TracePro has a simple, intuitive interface and short learning curve. It is compatible with
commercially available CAD programs such as SolidWorks®, AutoCAD®, Pro/E® and CATIA®. It
can share solid modeling data with all other software based on ACIS, and exchange data with
most other CAD programs and analysis programs via IGES and STEP files. It can also import data
from commercially available lens design programs including (OSLO, ACCOS V, Code V, Sigma,
and ZEMAX). TracePro runs on Windows based PCs.
System Requirements
TracePro requires a PC running Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 8. The amount of RAM available is
important for TracePro performance. The amount of RAM needed depends on the specific
You can download the Trial Version of TracePro from the Lambda Research web site. To install,
simply run the installation program and follow the instructions.
To install TracePro from a CD, insert the CD into your drive and follow the installation instructions.
The installation program will create a TracePro74 folder on the Windows Start menu. A detailed
description of all installation options is provided in the TracePro Installation Guide.
Running TracePro
FIRST TIME NOTE:
TracePro uses a database file, TRACEPRO.DB, to store all the properties that are used by
TracePro. For example, the database contains material properties, surface properties, gradient
index properties, bulk scatter properties, and more. The first time you start TracePro, it will copy
the TracePro.db file to your Windows Profile. In Windows XP, The TracePro.db file will be copied to
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Lambda Research Corporation\TracePro,
and in Windows VISTA and Windows 7, it will be copied to
C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Lambda Research Corporation\TracePro.
Next, TracePro will display the following dialog box offering to let you run TracePro in
demonstration mode. Other options are available for licensed versions or more extensive Trials
and evaluations.
Single-computer License
Get Started
You can start by opening one of the prepared examples as described below. Many of the viewing
functions (Zoom Window, Orbit View, Rotate View) are performed interactively using the mouse.
For example, after opening any of the files, you can rotate the view using the Rotate View option.
Press the Orbit Rotate View button on the toolbar (or select View|Rotate|Orbit from the menu),
then move the mouse cursor inside the geometry window. Press and hold the mouse button down,
move the mouse around, and watch the view change in real time as you move the mouse.
The Zoom Window command operates the same way as in a CAD program. Press the Zoom
Window button, press and hold the mouse button down at one corner of the region you would like
to zoom to, drag the mouse to the opposite corner of the region, and release the button. You can
also zoom in or out using the Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons.
TracePro features multiple views and multiple documents. Using the Window|New menu item (or
the New Window toolbar button), you can open as many views as you like of the current model.
You can also have as many models open at one time as you wish, with as many views of each as
you wish as well. There are practical limits to this, of course, imposed by your computer’s memory
and screen area. You can choose from silhouette view (the default), rendered view, hidden line, or
wireframe view using the View menu.
You can access context-sensitive help anytime by pressing F1 or by using the Help button on the
toolbar in TracePro.
Example Files
All example files are located on www.lambdares.com. To quickly access the Examples, start
TracePro and select Help|TracePro Online, which will open your default web browser to the
Technical Support section of the web site. There you can log in, select TracePro and then
Examples, and finally, download any examples you would like to try.
This model demonstrates a simple stray light analysis; analyzing ghost images in a refractive lens
system. The model contains a multi-element lens system including lens barrels, retaining rings,
and other mount design details. The lenses are made of Schott glasses. With the exception of the
third lens element that is uncoated, all lenses surfaces are modeled with anti-reflection coatings
and surface scattering. The non-optical surfaces are coated with diffuse black paint.
First download Lens_Demo.oml from the Lambda Research web site. (See “Example Files” on
page 7.) In TracePro, select File|Open and open the Lens_Demo.oml file. After the file is opened,
you can display a side view of the lens will be displayed in the Model Window, as shown below, by
selecting View|Silhouettes.
Now select View|Profiles|Iso 1 to see an isometric view of the lens system. You can also see
a rendered view of the lens by selecting View|Render. Return to the y-z silhouette view by first
selecting View|Silhouettes, then selecting View|Profiles|YZ. Now we are ready to ray-trace
the model.
Select the Source of the System Tree on the left side of the Model Window. Click on the + next to
Grid Source to expand the Frid Source tree, then double-click on Grid Source 1 (or single-click on
it, then right-click and select Define|Grid Source) to open the Grid Source dialog box as shown
below.
Ray Tracing
Ray Tracing is the means by which TracePro simulates the distribution of flux throughout a model.
How rays interact with the model is determined by the model itself (the geometry of created objects
and their applied properties), and how you control the rays being launched into the model. There
are three basic methods of defining rays: Grid Sources, File Sources and Surface Sources.
The next step in this example is ray tracing. Select Raytrace|Trace Rays to start the ray-trace.
First, TracePro will perform an Audit of the model to ensure that all surface and material properties
are in the database and to preprocess the geometry in the model for faster ray tracing. After the
ray-trace is finished, the rays will be displayed in the Model window as shown below.
This ray-trace shows image-forming rays and some ghost rays caused by reflections from the
uncoated element. The image-forming rays converge to a point at the image plane. The ghost rays
are the ones reflected from lens element #3. They are terminated when their flux falls below the
flux threshold, or go back out the front of the lens system.
Flux Threshold
The flux threshold is used to control the ray-trace. As rays are traced in the model, they are split
into two or more components. For example, at the surfaces of lens element #3 in this model, the
incident ray is split into two new rays, one transmitted and one reflected. The flux or power carried
by these split rays is proportional to the transmittance and reflectance of the surface. This splitting
process occurs at each ray-surface intercept, with the flux of each ray segment decreasing at each
ray-surface intercept. When the flux of the ray drops below the Flux Threshold, the ray is
terminated. The flux threshold is controlled using the Raytrace|Raytrace Options dialog box.
Select the Thresholds tab and change the Flux Threshold from 0.05 to 0.0002. Rerun the ray-
trace. This will produce many more rays (and the ray-trace will take longer to finish). Some ghost
rays will reach the image plane, causing stray light.
This example illustrates how TracePro can be used for stray light analysis. With its modeling of
scattering and its importance sampling feature, TracePro can predict stray light in telescopes and
other optical systems that have high attenuation of stray light. By examining ray paths using the
Ray Sort feature, design alternatives to improve stray light performance are identified.
This example contains a simplified model of a metal halide lamp with an elliptical reflector,
electrodes with a plasma arc and quartz enclosure, and an output plane. The arc is simulated as a
cylinder that radiates in a Lambertian pattern from its cylindrical surface.
First download EllipticalReflector.oml from the Lambda Research web site. (See “Example Files”
on page 7.) Select File|Open and open the file. After the file is opened, a side view of the lens will
be displayed in the Model Window. Select View|Silhouettes to get the view shown below.
On the left side of the Model Window is the System Tree. Items with a + in the System Tree can be
expanded by a single mouse click on the +. Once expanded, the + changes to a -. You can
collapse an expanded item by clicking on the -.
TracePro describes models as collections of Objects, each of which are bounded by one or more
Surfaces. For example, a sphere object has one bounding surface, and a cube object has six
bounding surfaces. Objects have Material Properties specified by name, like Glass or Aluminum,
and Surfaces have Surface Properties, like Mirror, Lens, or Black Paint. Objects have main
branches on the system tree, and surfaces have sub-branches.
The next step in this example is ray tracing. From the menu, select Raytrace|Trace Rays. You
can also start the ray-trace by pressing the Trace rays button on the toolbar.
The progress of the ray-trace is displayed in the progress dialog and the ray-trace can be
interrupted at any time by pressing Cancel.
After the ray-trace is finished, rays will be displayed in the Model window as shown in the figure
below. One focus of the ellipse is at the center of the cylindrical source, and the Front surface of
the Observation Disk object is at the other focus. You can see the irradiance map for this surface,
but first you must select it for viewing. To do this, expand the Observation Disk in the System Tree
so that it looks like the figure below, and click on Front to select it.
Below is an Irradiance Map of the output. Select Analysis|Irradiance Maps (or press the
Irradiance Maps button) to see this irradiance map.
Outline of Selected
Surface
You can also create a candela plot to see the angular distribution of light coming out of the lamp.
Select Analysis|Candela Plots|Polar Iso-Candela to get the plot shown below. This is a
polar plot of candela versus angle, and shows the intensity per unit solid angle, or lumens/
steradian.
To create a candela plot, select Analysis|Candela Options to open the dialog box shown below.
Set the Ray Selection to “Use incident rays from selected surface” and click Apply button.
In the above Candela plot, if you move the mouse cursor over on the candela plot, the status bar at
the bottom of the TracePro window shows the angular coordinates and the candela value at the
location of the mouse cursor. You can also display slices through this plot or a smaller square
region within this polar plot.
This model simulates an integrating sphere to illustrate tracing of scattered rays and importance
sampling. An integrating sphere is a hollow sphere with a highly reflecting, diffuse coating on the
inside. Often an integrating sphere has an entrance port to let light in, and an exit port to let the
(integrated) light escape. In this model, however, the sphere has only an exit port, and rays are
emitted from a virtual source inside the sphere. This integrating sphere has a diffuse coating with
99% reflectance on the inside.
First download IntegratingSphere.oml from the Lambda Research web site. (See “Example Files”
on page 7.) Select File|Open and open the file.
Now open Source Pane in System Tree and notice that the number of rays for Grid Source 1 is set
to one. Press the Trace rays button on the Analysis toolbar.
The previous figure shows a close-up view of the integrating sphere output port for a single
starting ray.
Importance Sampling
Importance sampling is a technique for improving the sampling in the Monte Carlo method. It is
essential for studies like stray light analyses, wherein only a tiny fraction of the incident light
reaches the image surface. In a well-baffled telescope, 10-10, 10-15, or even less of the flux from
the source may reach the image surface. In a “brute force” Monte Carlo raytrace in which rays find
their way to the image surface by random scattering only (without importance sampling), an
enormous number of rays must be traced to get only a few rays through the system. For example,
if 10-10 of the incident flux reaches the image surface, you must start 1010 rays to produce one ray
at the image surface, on average.
In TracePro, importance sampling is a technique in which scattered rays are sent in specified
directions in the optical system, such as toward the exit port of this integrating sphere. The
probability of these rays reaching the exit port is thereby increased to one by this process, so the
flux carried by them is reduced by the probability of them randomly reaching the exit surface. This
calculation is easily done by TracePro during the ray-trace and it assures that energy is
conserved, i.e., that no “double dipping” takes place.
Creating Geometry
You can create the integrating sphere model geometry yourself, although the Trial Version does
not allow you to apply the surface properties needed to do the ray-trace shown above. To create
the hollow sphere needed for the integrating sphere, you define two concentric solid spheres and
subtract the smaller one from the larger to create a spherical shell. To accomplish this, do the
following steps:
1. Select File|New or press the New button to open a new model window.
2. Select Insert|Primitive Solid and select the Sphere tab.
3. Enter 50 for the Radius and press the Insert button. A sphere will be drawn in the window.
4. Change the Radius to 51 and press the Insert button. A second sphere will be drawn.
5. Select Edit|Select|Object (or press the Select Object button on the toolbar) to enable
Object Selection. Click on the Outer Sphere and, press and hold down the Ctrl key, then click
on the Inner Sphere. Zooming in on the edge of the spheres makes it easier to pick the right
one. You can also select items from the System Tree.
6. Select Edit|Boolean|Subtract (or press the Subtract button on the toolbar). Once you
complete this, the inner sphere has been subtracted from the outer sphere to produce a
spherical shell. (If you make a mistake, press the Undo button and try again.)
7. Select the Cylinder/Cone tab on the Insert|Primitive Solids dialog box to prepare to
make a cylinder. The cylinder will be used to make a hole in the bottom of the spherical shell.
8. For the cylinder set the Base Major R = 2, Top Length = 20, .
9. Set the Base Position Y = -49, Base Rotation X = 90, and press the Insert button. A cylinder
will be drawn at the bottom of the spherical shell. If you had previously zoomed in as
suggested in 5. above, do Zoom All to see the cylinder.
The geometry you have created in these 11 steps is identical to the integrating sphere model.
This model simulates a fluorescent light fixture with louvers. The lamp is represented as a surface
source and the typical output is these applications is a Polar Candela distribution.
First download Luminaire_Louver.oml from the Lambda Research web site. (See “Example Files”
on page 7.) Select File|Open and open the file. The model will appear as shown below.
From the menu select Raytrace|Trace Rays. You can also start the ray-trace by clicking the
Trace rays button on the toolbar. This model is set to trace 10,000 rays. Once the raytrace is
complete select Analysis|Candela Plots|Polar Candela Distribution to get the plot shown
below.
This model simulates light entering the eye. TracePro uses property information to describe how
light interacts with surfaces and objects (or volumes). The model with traced rays is shown below,
along with a TracePro Flux Report.
First download EyeModel_CGBF.oml and EyeModel_CGBF_Properties.txt from the Lambda
Research web site. (See “Example Files” on page 7.) Select File|Open and open the file, then
select Tools|Database|Import (or press F11 on your keyboard) and open the
EyeModel_CGBF_Properties.txt file to import the properties needed for this model. Open the
Source Pane in the System Tree and notice that Grid Source 1 is green checked for inclusion in
the ray trace. Press the Trace rays button on the toolbar to trace the currently defined grid. The
model with rays is shown below.
A Flux Report provides a table of flux distributions throughout the mode. Each surface and object
is shown with the number of incident rays, incident and absorbed flux, and other data. The report is
shown below. The Flux Report is displayed using the Reports|Flux menu.
This example illustrates how to import model data from CAD and Lens Design programs. Applying
property data is not enabled in the Trial Version. The first example will open a Lens file which will
include the optical properties. The second will open a similar ACIS SAT file without property data.
First download OSLO_DEMOTRIP.LEN from the Lambda Research web site. (See “Example
Files” on page 7.) Select File|Open, change the Files of type: selection to read OSLO Files
(*.len;*.osl), choose OSLO_DEMOTRIP.LEN and press Open.
Open the Source Pane in the System Tree, expand the Grid Source tree, select Grid Source 1,
right-click, and select Define > Grid Source. Change the Outer radius to 5 and the Rings to 3 and
click Modify. Click the Trace rays button on the toolbar to trace the currently defined grid. The
model with rays is shown below.
Download TESSAR.SAT from the Lambda Research web site. From the File menu select Open.
Select File|Open, change the Files of type: selection to read ACIS Files (*.sat). Pick
TESSAR.SAT and click Open. The model is in a standard CAD orientation so select the
View|Profiles|YX menu or press the YX View button to rotate the view to see the lens elements
in a lens barrel. The model is shown below.
TracePro can evaluate many types of optical materials including Gradient Index (Not available in
TracePro LC). This example will demonstrate raytracing for gradient index and illustrate the
methods for importing property data and adding user data.
Download GradientIndex_LuneburgLens.oml and GradientIndex_LuneburgLens_Properties.txt
from the Lambda Research web site. (See “Example Files” on page 7.) Select File|Open and
open GradientIndex_LuneburgLens.oml. Open the Source Pane in the System Tree and notice
that Grid Source 1 is green-checked for inclusion in the ray trace. Press the Trace rays button on
the toolbar to trace the currently defined grid. Some errors will be displayed indicating missing
property data.
Select the Tools|Database|Import menu or press the F11 key, and open the
GradientIndex_LuneburgLens_Properties.txt file to import the properties needed for this model.
Trace rays again to see the effect of the Gradient Index as shown.
Change the nr1 coefficient to 2. Select File|Save to update the database and trace a Grid
Raytrace as above. TracePro automatically updates the model to use the new data. The updated
raytrace is shown below. Notice the shift in the focal point.
The Prism examples illustrate polychromatic properties of optical materials. This example will
demonstrate raytracing through two prisms shows the rainbow spectrum as the light is dispersed
by the prisms.
First download Color_2prisms.OML from the Lambda Research web site. (See “Example Files” on
page 7.) Select File|Open and open the file. Open the Source Pane in the System Tree and
notice that Grid Source 1 is green checked for inclusion in the ray trace. Press the Trace rays
button on the toolbar to trace the currently defined grid.
The figure displayed below shows three TracePro windows, two Model Windows with their System
Trees and an Irradiance Plot in CIE(xy) mode. The Model Windows are in Render Mode.
This example shows the optics for a LCD projector. The light source is split into three channels,
red, green and blue. The three channel are recombined to form the output image.
First download LCDProjector.oml and LCDProjector_Properties.txt from the Lambda Research
web site. (See “Example Files” on page 7.) Select File|Open and open the file, then select
Tools|Database|Import (or press F11 on your keyboard) and open the
LCDProjector_Properties.txt file to import the properties needed for this model.
From the menu select Raytrace|Trace Rays or click the Trace rays button on the toolbar.
The figure is shown in Render Mode with the rays leaving the source, split into three channels and
recombined as they exit the projector housing.
Red Channel
Green Channel
Source
Blue Channel
The TracePro Examples page in the Technical Support section of the Lambda Research web site
contains model and property files. Follow the procedure described in the Examples Chapter to
open the *.oml model file and load the *.txt property data (if any) using the F11 key.
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You can find a current list of our representatives world-wide at our web site, www.lambdares.com