From Zemax prescription to machinable lens barrel, in minutes.
Optical design ends where mechanical work begins. Optical Lens Rings & Tube Designer reads your Zemax OpticStudio file and traces the real 3D ray bundle. It then builds the retaining rings, spacers and lens tube around your optics. Every part is checked against the beam and exported as STEP models and dimensioned machining drawings.
Import your optical design
- Opens Zemax sequential .zmx files and .zar archives, including archived glass catalogs
- Handles even/odd aspheres, conics, cemented groups and air stops; mm, cm, inch and meter units convert automatically
- Real 3D skew-ray tracing shows the full beam envelope, so mechanical parts never clip the light
Retaining rings in one click
- Auto Rings fills every air gap between lenses, at the aperture stop, and at the front and rear of the lens stack
- Five ring shapes (Straight, Stepped, Cone, Flange, Double-Flange), plus Mylar shims
- Per-corner chamfers, tangent seats that conform to the lens surface, OD threads, and spanner slots or pin holes on end rings
- Built-in machinability check flags thin walls, deep grooves and near-vertical slopes
Lens tube & barrel
- Auto Tube builds a stepped barrel around all parts. If a lens can’t be inserted into a one-piece tube, it splits the barrel and joins the pieces with thread or flange connectors.
- Threaded extensions for retaining rings, relief grooves at bore steps, collars, and internal or external threads on any section
- C-mount and CS-mount interfaces, with flange focal distance locked to your image plane
- Fuse adjacent parts into one solid, and engrave text or logos on the barrel surface
Ready for the machine shop
- STEP export: lenses + rings, tube parts, or everything, plus a complete assembly
- Machining drawings (PDF / DXF) toleranced to ISO 2768 / ISO 286 / ASME Y14.5 or GB/T 1804 / 1800 / 1184
- Lens-fit bores automatically get tighter fits (H6/g5) for small apertures and multi-element systems
- Editable title block, technical requirements and ISO 1302 surface-finish symbol, on A4 or Letter. Drag annotations, edit any text, and batch-export every part.
Built for real work
- 3D view and YZ cross-section view, isolate, undo/redo
- Self-contained project files, with your optical design embedded
- English / Chinese interface
- Works with LensPrint by Proton Optics: import lens chamfers directly
Who it’s for: optomechanical engineers, optical designers, prototype labs and small optics teams who want to go from lens design to manufacturable hardware without weeks of CAD work.
Free trial & license
Includes [20] free uses (STEP export or drawing) so you can try it on your own designs. After that, activate with a serial key (online activation on your computer).
System requirements: [macOS version / Windows support, to be confirmed]
Zemax and OpticStudio are trademarks of Ansys, Inc. This product is not affiliated with or endorsed by Ansys.