TracePro Feature Highlights

Model

Solid Modeling

Models are created by importing lens design or Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) files or by directly creating the solid geometry in TracePro. Users can define, position, move, rotate, scale, sweep, and revolve objects and surfaces via the user friendly 3-D CAD interface and with special tools to insert optical elements such as lens elements, Fresnel lenses, tubes (lens barrels) and baffles.

The 3-D model can be zoomed, panned, rotated and rendered.


Silhouette view                                         Rendered view


Hidden line view                                       Rendered with transparency on selected objects

Material and Surface Properties

Material and surface properties are applied to object and surfaces in the solid model. Types of properties include:

• Material
  • Refraction
  • Fresnel reflections
  • Bulk absorption
  • Bulk scatter
  • Gradient index
  • Birefringence
• Surface
  • Reflection
  • Coatings
  • Thin film stacks
  • Scatter
  • Surface absorption
  • Gratings
• Temperature and Temperature Distribution
• Polarization
• Fluorescence
• Diffraction
• RepTile™ - surfaces with random or periodic arrays of repeated structures
• Surface light sources
  • Flux
  • Irradiance
  • Blackbody / Gray body

Users may define properties or apply from TracePro’s property catalogs of commonly used and commercially available materials and coatings:

• Optical glasses
• Optical thin films - anti-reflection, metals, dielectrics, dichroics and interference filters
• Plastics
• Surface finishes - anodizing, mechanical textured, diffusing and absorbing paints
• Gradient index materials
• Wire grid polarizers

New and updated properties are continuously being released and made available to users with Maintenance and Support Subscriptions

Raytrace

Raytracing is the means by which TracePro simulates the distribution of flux throughout a model or at selected surfaces.

Sources

There are three methods of defining rays that launch into the model for ray trace – Grid, Surface, and File sources. Sources are summarized in the Source Tab of the System Tree as shown below. Here they be disabled, traced, or you can open a dialog box to edit a source.

For a Grid Source, you can specify:

• Spatial beam profile and weighting – uniform, Gaussian
• Spatial Gaussian beam dimensions – x,y waists at 1/e2 radius
• Angular beam profile and weighting – uniform, Gaussian, Lambertian, Solar
• Angular beam dimensions
• Beam orientation
• Polarization state
• Degree of polarization

A Surface Source emits rays in a defined angular distribution from one or more surfaces of a solid object. The user specifies the source type as Flux, Irradiance, Blackbody or Graybody.

A File Source contains ray data and can be inserted into a TracePro. Data consists of XYZ starting points for each ray, XYZ direction vectors for each ray, and a flux. A File Source enables:

• Incorporation of actual measured source distribution data from Radiant Imaging into the TracePro model
• Creation of a source from theoretical or measured data from another software application

Surface Source Property Utility

TracePro's Surface Source Property Utility helps users set up the surface source property - quickly and accurately.  The macro tool reads the spectrum and angular radiation pattern directly from manufacturers' datasheet.  While useful for LEDs, this tool can also be used to generate a surface source property for any type of light source. 

 

Ray Tracing

There are user-specified options available in TracePro Standard and Export editions that can enhance speed and/or accuracy to the raytrace:

Analyze

TracePro’s Analysis menu provides a comprehensive set of tools to view and analyze the results of the raytrace.

Irradiance and Illuminance Maps

An Irradiance Map shows irradiance incident or absorbed on a selected surface. . {graphic = Irradiance Map with Profiles for Reflector, Manual page 6.9}

Map types include the Quantities to plot:

• Irradiance, a plot of power in watts per unit area or lux, incident or absorbed by a surface
• CIE (x,y) and CIE (u1,v1), plots of color in CIE coordinates
• Bitmap RGB and True Color

Display Options control the plot output.

The results of an irradiance calculation can be exported to other software packages such as Excel and the data and plot may be saved as text and bitmap files.

Luminance/Radiance Maps

After a Luminance Map is raytraced, it may be displayed as true color or a photorealistic rendering based on the wavelengths traced. The results of the ray trace may be displayed as either a Luminance or Radiance Map with photometric units (cd/m2, foot-lambert, or millilamber) or radiometric units (W/m2) respectively.

Luminance map of glass ball on checkerboard with color set to grayscale

3-D Irradiance Plots

3-D Irradiance Plots map the incident flux on to selected surfaces or objects.

Candela Plots

Candela Plots plot luminous intensity or flux per solid angle. These intensity plots are displayed in photometric units (candelas or lumens per steradian) and in radiometric units (watts per steradian).

Polar Isocandela plot with contour lines and grayscale color selection

Polarization Maps

Polarization Maps map the polarization ellipse for the incident flux on to the selected surface. Color levels graphically display the degree of polarization at points on the surface.

Polarization map: linear at 45 degrees                       Polarization map: circular polarization

Incident Ray Tables

An Incident Ray Table shows data for rays incident on a selected surface. Using TracePro's Display Selected Rays feature, you can display one or many rays by selecting them in the Incident Ray Table.

A portion of an incident ray table



A lamp with an elliptical reflector. The rays selected in the incident ray table above are optionally displayed.

Ray Sorting

Ray Sorting affects the display of rays in the model window and may be applied to plots and tables. The display of rays may be sorted by:

• All rays
• Only rays hitting a selected surface
• Only specular and no scattered rays
• Only rays undergoing a single or undergoing multiple scatter
• Wavelength
• % of starting rays

Reports

TracePro generates raytrace and property reports.

The Flux Report provides a summary of surface area, number of incident rays, incident and absorbed fluxes and lost flux. Data is displayed for bulk absorption and incident flex for each object.

The Property Data Report contains the model’s property data and may be exported to a *.txt file.

The Raytrace Report displays physical and virtual memory usage and elapsed raytrace time.

Irradiance/Illuminance Viewer

The Irradiance/Illuminance Viewer allows users to view Irradiance/Illuminance Maps that have been saved as text files and combine data from multiple maps.

Design

 

Macro Language

TracePro includes the Scheme programming language, a powerful and flexible macro language for manipulating views, editing geometry and writing macro programs. TracePro’s Macro Recorder captures the TracePro commands used during a session and stores the equivalent Scheme commands to a file. The file can then be executed.

TracePro's Scheme Editor lets you edit and run macro programs.