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17 September 2020
Zemax accelerates optimization speed and expands OpticsBuilder offering
OpticStudio release delivers an incredible 5x speed improvement to common optimization workflows, while OpticsBuilder adds support for editing optical components and expands support for mirrors and compound lenses.
KIRKLAND, WASHINGTON—Zemax announced the latest release of their flagship software, OpticStudio®, and OpticsBuilder™ for Creo and SOLIDWORKS. Throughout the year, OpticStudio delivered significant advances to streamline the design for manufacturability workflow and improve freeform design. OpticStudio 20.3 now provides the most significant update to the core optimization algorithm in the last decade, plus new CAD libraries and new API enhancements. At the same time, OpticsBuilder 20.3 delivers new editable optics capabilities and support for mirrors and compound lenses. In addition, OpticsBuilder is now also available for smaller firms at a more affordable price.
“This year has shown the world the power of the optics industry,” said Dr. S. Subbiah, Chief Executive Officer of Zemax. “Through their innovations, our users are bringing life-saving technology to market at a time where every moment counts. In support of their determination, I am excited to announce two major Zemax updates effective immediately. First, all existing customers, across all tiers of OpticStudio, will receive the most significant speed improvement to our core optimization algorithm in the last decade. Secondly, we have launched a lower cost single-user OpticsBuilder license to bring the same incredible cost saving benefits of OpticsBuilder to users with budget limitations. As we all share in this moment of uncertainty, it is crucial that we support each other as we create extraordinary solutions to meet unprecedented challenges.”
New Performance Improvements
As mentioned above, OpticStudio 20.3 substantially improves optimization speeds for users in sequential mode using the default optimization algorithm. The optimization enhancement is available to all current OpticStudio customers across all tiers and license types.
In addition, this release improves the process for preparing OpticStudio files for OpticsBuilder. With this update, Optical Engineers can more easily hand-off OpticStudio designs to their CAD users for OpticsBuilder to automatically build the lens geometries within their native CAD platform. With the addition of a new single-user license option, OpticsBuilder is helping more users revolutionize how their optical design teams build, analyze, and share their finished designs.
New Manufacturability Functionality
Designing optical products require engineers to balance theoretical performance with limitations in manufacturing. Throughout the year, OpticStudio has delivered new functionality in support of these design for manufacturability workflows.
OpticStudio 20.1 and 20.2 combined new features like Quick Yield, Quick Sensitivity and Tolerance Data Analyses to empower users with early tolerancing insights to better balance optical performance with manufacturability. OpticStudio 20.3 continues this theme by delivering a 3x speed improvement to the Quick Yield analysis and a 10x performance improvement to design files utilizing CAD parts with our new ACIS CAD libraries.
New API Enhancements
With OpticStudio 20.3, our industry leading ZOS-API just got better. With this update, users will have increased API access to analysis data, including improved access to our recently added Tolerance Data Viewer. In addition, we have added Physical Optics Propagation (POP) functionality to our API for users with laser application requirements.
New OpticsBuilder Functionality
OpticsBuilder continues to revolutionize how optical design teams build, analyze, and share their work. With OpticsBuilder 20.3, Optical Engineers can now allow CAD users to edit optical designs within their native CAD platform. Editing capabilities include moving optics in space, changing non-sequential optical properties and altering lens geometries. In addition to improved editing capabilities, OpticsBuilder 20.3 now supports mirrors and compound lenses.
About Zemax
Zemax’s industry-leading optical product design and simulation software, OpticStudio®, OpticsBuilder™, and OpticsViewer™, help optical, mechanical, and manufacturing engineering teams turn their ideas into reality. Standardizing on Zemax software reduces design iterations and repeated prototypes, speeding time to market and reducing development costs. Zemax is headquartered in the Kirkland, Washington, area and has offices in the UK, Japan, Taiwan, and China.
For more information: www.Zemax.com
About OIDA
OSA Industry Development Associates (OIDA), operated as a division of The Optical Society (OSA), serves and represents organizations engaged in the business of optics and photonics—from start-ups to Fortune 500s. In support of its member companies, OIDA promotes and protects the business of optics and photonics in driving innovation, creating jobs, and accelerating growth in the U.S. and around the world. OIDA provides exclusive roadmap reports and market data for the industry, serves as the voice of the industry to government and academia, acts as a liaison with several trade associations worldwide and provides a network for the exchange of ideas and information within the optics and photonics community.
Lisa Bukowitz
Go-To-Market Director, Zemax
425-305-2762
