ASAP NextGen is a Redefining Moment in the History of ASAP and the Future of Design
ASAP NextGen, a product of more than 30 years of continuous development, is not only the next step in the evolution of the ASAP program, but a complete re-imagining of the ASAP environment. ASAP NextGen offers engineers and product designers a host of new features making it the easiest to use ASAP ever and greatly improving on the unmatched capability, flexibility, speed and accuracy for which ASAP has long been known. ASAP NextGen is a new paradigm in optical simulation software for predicting the real-world performance of automotive lighting, imaging systems, luminaires, lightpipes, bio-optic systems, medical devices, displays and coherent systems.
Newest Features
Optics Manager
A brand new easy-to-use interface presenting users with a familiar CAD-like tree structure. Using simple menus, context sensitive dialogs and the included ASAP Catalogs, users can create a variety of optical surface and geometric entities, import CAD geometry, add optical properties, add a light source, and setup ray tracing and analysis options. Components are shown as nodes in the tree, and the new persistent 3D viewer automatically updates to reflect changes in the system prescription. The as-defined system can be run with a single mouse click and saved for later use. And the new Optics Manager in ASAP NextGen functions without a single line of script!
Automatic Script Creation
ASAP NextGen offers another industry first for optical design software. Once systems are constructed in the Optics Manager, ASAP NextGen will automatically create a working script from the complete system prescription. Users needing access to ASAP’s powerful scripting language can immediately modify and run these scripts to add multi-variable analysis or optimization using the new Optimization Manager to their design tasks.
Parallel + Remote Distributed Processing
Introducing another new paradigm for ray tracing speed and efficiency, ASAP NextGen with CoreMax technology will automatically run parallel processes on all cores on a local PC as well as all cores on up to (5) Remote licenses of ASAP installed on the LAN. In addition, users can control the number of cores accessed on each machine. This combination of parallel and remote distributed processing is another industry first and will make ASAP NextGen the fastest ray tracer with the highest level of computing power of any commercial optical design software.
Workflow Manager
Provides quick and easy access to command menus for those users less comfortable with but who still need scripting in ASAP NextGen. Commands can be found in the Search box or in the Workflow Manager tree which has been organized around the standard 4-step simulation process in ASAP…geometry, sources, ray tracing and analysis. Menus are clearly labeled to show the exact information needed to construct the command and ASAP Help is built in to the Workflow Manager dialog. Completed commands are then automatically inserted at the cursor location of the active script.
Alternate Scripting Languages
Newly added support for C# and Iron Python as alternate scripting languages with built-in code parsing and debugging. Enhanced support for Visual Basic. Provides extensible code base for these languages.
Script Editor
New extensible Script Editor with an improved user interface and more control over script syntax, appearance, and keyboard shortcuts. Provides one-click access to new Optimization and Macro Managers and $SCR Editor.
Optimization
New optimization interface integrated directly into the Script Editor. Automatically parses INR script to find defined variables for use as Design Variables, Constraints, or Merit Functions. Optimization conditions and visual output at run-time are visible within the INR script window.
Macro Manager
New feature that automatically parses ASAP Scripts to find macro code which is presented as a list. One-click access to the list allows direct editing of each macro and changes are automatically updated to the Script Editor.
$SCR Editor
New $SCR Editor acts as a simple two-way forms editor with one-click access to text, integer, and floating point input. Editor automatically generates corresponding ASAP script and updates to script are automatically seen in the $SCR form.
Additional Features
· New extensible, .NET compliant GUI with many new interface enhancements
· New System Settings menu
· New Preferences Menu
· New Functions, User Data, and
· Variables Catalogs
· Completely re-designed Media,
· Coatings, and Scatter Models Catalogs
· New Lens Creator
· New BSDF Fit Utility dialog
· Updated Plot viewer
· Updated Chart viewer
· Improved Zemax translator
· Improved CodeV translator
· New photometric calculation tools including visual appearance
· Completely re-written Help which is now fully integrated into the ASAP NextGen interface
· Undockable tabs and windows can be placed anywhere on screen
Key ASAP NextGen Capabilities
· Automatically create working scripts directly from the Optics Manager
· Quickly create apodized or multi-wavelength sources from the Sources Catalog
· Use pre-defined LED, incandescent, arc, and CCFL sources
· Import measured manufacturer’s source data in distribution file (.dis) format
· Import/Export photometric data in EULUMDAT and IES LM-63-02 formats
· Import lenses from Import lenses from CODE V®, OSLO®, and ZEMAX®
· Gaussian-beam decomposition for wavefront propagation
· Define new media or assign existing media to surfaces from the Media Catalog
· Define new coatings or assign existing coatings from the Coatings Catalog
· Define new scatter models or use existing models from the Scatter Models Catalog
· Model surface (BRDF) and volume scatter
· Define new lenses or use existing lenses from the Lens Catalog
· Create user-defined functions in the Functions Catalog for use in the OM or scripts
· Use digitized coating, spectrum or apodization data from .bmp or .jpg images
· Save digitized coating, spectrum, or apodization data in the User Data Catalog
· Run full radiometric or photometric analyses of complex systems
· Perform numeric and graphical CIE/Chromaticity analyses and Visual Appearance
· Import/Export IGES files using the ASAP CAD Translator
· Import STEP, CATIA, or GTX files using the ASAP CAD Translator
· Use SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD models (license optional) with ASAP
· Write ASAP-specific IGES files from within SOLIDWORKS
· Assign object and layer names in SOLIDWORKS
· Write ASAP-specific IGES files from within Rhinoceros®
· Import geometry and optical properties using the XML file format
· Automatically run parallel processes on available cores on the local machine
· Use multi-core processing for scripts on machines on the Local Area Network (LAN)
· Use all available cores for machines on the LAN for distributed processing
· Use the Workflow Manager (WM) to build complete scripts
· Quickly insert commands with variable input to existing scripts using the WM
· Add command modifiers easily to inserted commands from the WM
· Extensible script editor (ESE) with text markers, auto-indent mode, code folding
· ESE with brace matching, automatic command tips, block code selection
· ESE with horizontal/vertical window splitting for multiview script control
· ESE with colorized syntax, bookmarks, and fully configurable keyboard
· ESE with fully integrated Optimization, Macro, and $SCR Managers
· Optimization Manager (OM) with automatic code parsing to find all defined variables
· Fully integrated OM with Brent’s, Downhill Simplex, and Simulated Annealing methods
· Integrated OM to define variables, objectives, constraints, and exit criteria
· View optimization results with the script editor
· Automatically view, edit and re-insert all defined macros in the Macro Manager
· Create custom forms and auto-generate script in the $SCR Editor
· Easily switch between script languages in the ESE with a simple mouse click
· Integrate scripts in C#, Python, VBScript or JScript languages
· Visualize, analyze, and monitor light distributions using conformal radiometry
· Begin your simulation with one of over 800 example files
· Create your own custom workspace within ASAP NextGen
