LucidShape Tutorial-Macrofocal Applications

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Understanding the Edge Ray Principle is the first step in understanding the Macrofocal Concept.
•What geometry will take the light rays from the edge of the source and create the target image on the target plane?•No longer are you taking known geometry + a source (assumed a point) and trying to use a single focal point to project light onto a target plane, you are creating adaptive and iterative geometry to map a source??s edges onto a predefined target image??s edges.
The Macrofocal Concept was first introduced by Spencer et al. who said there is a way to create a sharp cutoff by designing geometry that use the edges of the entire source and not a point, thus Macrofocal (larger than a focal point) was introduced as the word to explain this procedure.Vector Tangential to Reflector Contour at Point P
Use of the Max Edge Ray in LucidShape will create a sharp cutoff on the top of your pattern at the vertical position selected (as used here).
•Grid Edge helps create a rectangular, a rounded, or a trapezoidal reflector.•Number of facets, 4 horizontal & 4 vertical•Each facet is 20 mm tall & 20 mm wide•The calculation start point is at 0,0,2.5 meaning the MF optics will be calculated from x=0 and y=0, and the reflector vertex will be at 2.5 along the Z-axis (Z value assumes the bulb seating plane is at the axis origin and then takes into account material thickness).•The NURBS Curve Degree is 5 in U & V (horizontal & vertical), and each facet has one horizontal & one vertical line creating it.
By adjusting the patch calculation sequence you can see that the lower right hand facet step is severely effected. Also you can see the effect on how the lower RH facet aligns to its upper neighbor.