Introduction

defaults are updated, TracePro will use the new values the next time the program is started. To return to the factory defaults, locate the tpdefs.ini file in the TracePro installation folder, delete the file, and restart TracePro.

Objects and Surfaces

Changing the Names

It is advisable that you put names on objects and surfaces to replace the default names like “Object 1” and “Surface 1.” As with renaming most items in the Microsoft Windows environment, simply select the default name in the system tree with one click and click it again to enable name editing.

To change the default name “Object 1” to “First Lens,” for example, select Object 1 in the System Tree and click it again. As you click the words “Object 1” a second time, the name is highlighted and you enter name editing mode. Type in the new name to replace the default one. The name is not a unique identifier—be careful! Any number of objects or surfaces can be given the same name.

When an object is created from a TracePro dialog box, an entry is provided to set the name of the object. A default name is provided based on the type of object created and the number of objects of the given type plus one. For example the first block entered would be named “Block 1”. You can enter any name you wish and names do not have to be unique although they would be if only the default naming method is used.

Selecting Objects, Surfaces and Edges

Via the System Tree

To select an object via the System Tree, simply click on the name of the object. To choose a particular surface in your model, first make sure that the appropriate object is expanded (see the section “System Tree Window” on page 1.5), and then click on the desired surface name. Remember that the names in the System Tree can be changed and that when you choose a surface or object in the System Tree, the corresponding item is highlighted in the Model Window. An edge cannot be selected from the System Tree.

You can select several objects by extending the selection with the Shift or Ctrl keys. To use the Shift key, select the first item and then select the second item while holding down the Shift key (this is known as a Shift Select). All of the objects between the first and second selections will be added to the current selection set. If you use the Ctrl key with the second selection, only the first and second items will be added. You can use the Ctrl Select method to add several items to the selection set.

Note: The Shift Select method will work only when selecting the same type of item. If the first selection is an Object and the Shift selection is a surface, only the surface item will be selected.

Via the Model Window

To select an object, first press the Select Object toolbar button or select the Edit|Select Object menu item, then click on the object in the Model Window. You can also use the selection tool in rubberband mode. Click the mouse button down on one corner of a region, drag the cursor to the opposite corner and

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release, and all the objects in the region are selected. Selected objects are highlighted.

To select a surface, first press the Select Surface toolbar button or select the Edit|Select Surface menu item, then click on the surface.

Advanced Selection Dialog

Surfaces and Objects can also be selected by type and property using the Advanced Selection Dialog. For example, if the mirrors in a TracePro Model currently have the Surface Property “Perfect Mirror” applied, but the accuracy of the model now necessitates that a more detailed property be substituted that includes some scatter and absorption, the Advanced Selection feature can be used to select all surfaces in the model that are currently have “Perfect Mirror” applied, so they can all be changed to the new mirror property in one step.

Select Edit|Select|Advanced to open the Advanced Selection dialog.

FIGURE 1.10 - Advanced Selection Dialog.

The dialog has the following options and functions.

Selection Type – The selection types are as follows:

•Material Property

•Surface Property

•Bulk Scattering Property

•Gradient Index Property

•RepTile Property

•Surface Source

•Source File

•Lambda Lens (geometry recognized as originating from Insert Lens Element dialog)

•Lambda Reflector (geometry recognized as originating from Insert Reflector dialog)

•Class and User data

Catalog – the name of the Property Catalog (corresponding to the Property Editor)

Name - the Property Name (corresponding to the Property Editor)

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Introduction

Select First – This button selects only the first object and/or surface meeting the criteria of the Selection Type, Catalog, and Name fields. Once Select First has been activated, the button changes to Select Next, and can be used multiple times to select subsequent objects and/or surfaces that meet the selection criteria.

Select All – selects all objects and/or surfaces meeting the criteria of the Selection Type, Catalog, and Name fields

Close – closes the Advanced Selection dialog

Append item(s) to current selection – With this box checked, the action of the Select First or Select All button will be to append the new selection to any previous selection of objects and/or surfaces. If this box is left unchecked, the action of the Select First or Select All button will be to replace any previous selection of objects and/or surfaces.

Moving Objects and Other Manipulations

Manipulating objects starts by making a selection as described above. To add more objects to the selection, hold down the Ctrl key on the keyboard and click the objects with the mouse.

To move the selected object(s), press the Translate toolbar button or select the Edit|Object|Translate menu item, and simply drag them to a new location using the mouse while pressing the left mouse button.

You can drag a copy of the selection by holding down the Ctrl key while you drag with the mouse. These are all standard Windows editing features.

You can also move the objects to a numerically precise location by using the Edit|Object|Move dialog box, and rotate objects using the

Edit|Object|Rotate dialog box.

You can Cut, Copy, and Paste solid objects using the standard Windows editing controls. You can also Copy and Paste to and from another TracePro model or to and from another ACIS-based application if it supports the ACIS Windows clipboard format.

Finally, you can create arrays of objects by clicking the Copy button in the

Edit|Object|Move and Edit|Object|Rotate dialog boxes.

Interactive Viewing and Editing

Using the controls on the View and Edit menus, you control the view using the mouse and move and rotate objects or groups of objects. For example, you can zoom in or out, zoom to a rectangle drawn with the mouse, and rotate the view. The coordinates of the mouse are always displayed on the status bar at the bottom of the TracePro application window. The set of coordinates on the right shows the current cursor position. The values shown on the left display the coordinates of the last mouse click. See “Changing the Model View” on page 2.42.

Normal and Up Vectors

TracePro uses a 3 dimensional coordinate system with a global origin and X, Y, Z vectors to indicate directions. Often a plane must be defined to establish how the model will be viewed or how data will be displayed. This plane is defined in terms of two direction vectors, the Normal and Up vectors.

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The Normal vector is simply the direction Normal to the plane. You can think of planes as your computer screen or a piece of paper in a book laid out flat on a table. The direction perpendicular to the screen or paper is the normal vector.

The Up vector generally is used to arbitrarily reference the direction which is considered up or position Y. A rectangular plane for example has a height and a width which differ in size. Defining the Up vector along the long edge would define the height to be the long dimension and the width to be the short dimension. The reverse is equally valid.

TracePro does not make any assumptions about how the model is defined in space and thus requires you to intervene by defining these vectors. For optical engineers and lens designers the Image Plane would have a Normal vector equal to X=0, Y=0, and Z=1 with an Up vector or X=0, Y=1, and Z=0. Lighting designers who typically consider lights above the target often think of this target plane to correspond to a Normal vector of X=0, Y=-1, and Z=0 with an Up vector defining the direction of the zero azimuthal angle in the XZ plane depending on the Model orientation.

The Normal and Up Vectors are defined as Unit Vectors that TracePro will normalize to have a unit length of 1.0. Each value is scaled as shown

t = X2 + Y2 + Z2		(1.1)
Xn	X	(1.2)
	= --
	t

Y

Yn = -- (1.3)

t

Z

Zn = -- (1.4)

t

where t is the scaling factor. The normalized values of X, Y and Z are given by Xn, Yn, and Zn.

The concept of planes oriented with the Normal and Up vectors provides a flexible environment to build and analyze models but may take some practice to become compatible with its use in TracePro.

Modeling Properties

TracePro includes a database of property data for modeling optical and mechanical material properties and surface properties. In addition to the data that is already available within TracePro, you can customize properties by entering measured data.

•Material properties are applied to objects and affect the entire volume. These include the index of refraction and absorption coefficient of the bulk material, the temperature and the bulk scattering.

•Surfaces define the boundaries of objects. The surface properties specify parameters which apply to a surface of an object such as the absorptance, specular reflectance, specular transmittance, BRDF and BTDF, and the surface temperature.

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