1.    Q. How do I move a group of lenses?
A.  This feature has been implemented in OLIVE version 2.  Simply select the elements you desire to move in unison by either mouse dragging and surrounding the elements in the box or shift+leftclick on the items you wish to move.  All active elements will move.

2.    Q. Why do the Video lens elements not draw, print or export?
A.  Video Lenses incorporate some substantial design that many vendors view as proprietary.  As a result we do not allow the user to have access to the actual designs.  Please contact the lens vendor if you need detailed information on the Video Lenses

3.    Q. Can I add lenses from other Manufacturer's catalogs?
A.  This feature has been implemented in OLIVE 2.  The help files describe the necessary file format if you want to add even more. Get the help file here  .

4.    Q. how do I optimize an optical system?
A. OLIVE is simply an optical system layout tool, designed mainly for non-optical engineers.  The idea was to have an extremely intuitive interface that will allow anyone with a technical background to prototype simple optical systems. For completely accurate optical designs you can us the Export function to optimize and verify your designs in either Zemax or Code V.

5.    Q. What does the "Out-of-Range" message mean?
A. It is simply a warning that you are using a Video Lens out of it's specified working distance range. The lens may work at this location, with the use of shims perhaps, but is not in spec. The lens may not focus at the chosen conjugates, and its off-axis performance may be severely degraded.

6.    Q. I live in Europe and OLIVE is not functioning or installing properly for me.
A. users who's operating systems non-English based may experience these problems. The issue has to do with the native decimal deliminator.  If your operating system is set so that numbers display as "8,99" instead of " 8.99", the ","  causes confusion in OLIVE. This is because some of the file fields are separated with ","'s. To make OLIVE3 work, you will need to change your operating system so that it displays #'s like: "1,234.56".

Also, the default directories are assumed to be in English.  If glass files are not loading properly, please change the directory names of the glass files and vendors files using the "preferences" button on the main layout area.

7.    Q. I cannot find a glass I want to use for my custom lens design.
A. For OLIVE 1 You can add any glass to the text file glass_cad.txt.  Open a text editor and add a glass as follows:

Glass    nd       nF      nC       Vd
B270   1.523 1.529   1.52    58.571
BAF3   1.583 1.591   1.579   46.47
BAF4   1.606 1.615   1.602   43.93
name   x.xx   x.xx      x.xx     xx.xx
....

Then just save the file.  The next time OLIVE starts up, your glass will be available for use.

For OLIVE 2 and OLIVE 3, the glass file format is similar, slightly more complicated, but described in detail in the help files supplied with OLIVE 2 or available here