Should I use the SOLIDWORKS or Rhino add-in?
If you already use Solidworks, you'll likely want to use our Solidworks add-in.
If you don't have Solidworks, you'll likely use our Rhino add-in. You can purchase Rhino along with Photopia if you don't already have a copy.
What is a User License?
A User license gives a named user access to Photopia on any computer they work on. User licenses cannot be shared with other users and only allow Photopia to be open on one computer at a time.
What is the Material Library?
The Photopia Materials Library contains measured optical properties for a wide range of commonly used materials, allowing you to just pick a material from the list. Other raytracing software may not have a library of data and require you to put in confusing parameters to guess at a materials behavior.
What is the difference between Photopia Reports Standard and Premium?
Photopia Reports Premium gives you the ability to export high resolution and vector based files. Premium also allows you to view custom reports for specific industries, like a DLC Report or FAA Report. Premium also gives you one sharable license to use outside of Photopia.
How many cores can the Raytrace Engine use?
The raytrace engine can use as many cores as your computer has, as long as all of those cores are on the same NUMA node.
Do I need my own license of SOLIDWORKS?
To use Photopia inside of SOLIDWORKS, you'll need a license of SOLIDWORKS.
Do I need my own license of Rhino?
To use Photopia inside of Rhino, you'll need a license of Rhino. If you don't already own a seat of Rhino, we can bundle that with your Photopia purchase.
What is a WAN License?
The Regional WAN license is a concurrent user license that can be shared among many users in a specified region (Western Europe for example). To share among multiple regions (Western Europe and North America for example), a Regional WAN license can be upgraded to Dual Region or Global WAN license.
What is the Refractor Module?
The Refractor Module is necessary to trace rays thru geometry that refracts light. A few examples are a prismatic lens, a TIR collimator, a freeform roadway lens or a convex-convex imagaing lens.
What is fluence?
Fluence (and Fluence Rate) is commonly used in applications where particles are being irradiated, like UVC disinfection.
We have a Rhino and Solidworks tutorial for computing fluence in air duct applications.
What is the Material Lab?
The Material Lab allows you to generate a complete set of BSDF data using a geometric model of a surface texture. This makes it easy to apply complicated surfaces to large regions of an optic without the model being overly complex.