Surfaces can only be added to elements and custom elements. Surfaces cannot be added to the geometry node or a sub-assembly directly. To add a surface to a new Fred file, first create a new Custom Element or a new Element (Lens, Doublet, or Prism) and then add the surface to the element. Please see the surface type summary page for a list of the available surface types.
The following steps should be taken to add a customized surface to the FRED document:
This feature can be accessed in the following ways: •Right mouse click on the desired element or custom element in the object tree and select "Create New Surface" from the list menu.
Traceable objects and surface based geometry All of the ray traced objects in the geometry model are constructed with surfaces, i.e. there are no singular objects that represent a volume in FRED. “Volumes” are instead constructed of multiple surface objects. For example, a rectangular box is constructed from six plane surfaces. All lens, doublet, and prism elements that can be directly entered in to FRED are also collections of curves and surfaces. By the way, Curves in FRED are used to construct or trim surfaces but are not themselves ray traced.
Surfaces can be added to elements such as Lenses and Prisms, though a dialog will appear recommending conversion of the element to a custom element. If the element is not converted, its properties can still be accessed through the element dialog but the changes will not affect the additional surface.
The following help topics pertain to each of the Create New Surface dialog tabs:
Geometry - Insert Lens from Catalog Geometry - Insert Prism from Catalog Geometry - Search for Lens in Catalogs Geometry - Edit / View Surface
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