1.2 KostaCLOUD
General Information about KostaCLOUD UI Layout
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General Information about KostaCLOUD UI Layout
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Here we will discuss the layout and basic operation of KostaCLOUD. There are a few items which we will talk about here that you should be aware of:
Top Access Panel - Used for Project to Workspace level quick operations.
Navigation Bar - Used for switching between operating modes in design process.
Object/Properties Pane - Object Pane lists the objects in a Workspace and the Properties Pane lists editable properties within an object.
Workspace Viewer - Allows you to see the elements within your active Workspace.
View Cube - Allows you to quickly snap to different views of your Workspace.
Scale Bar - Allows you to see the scale of objects (Also be aware that inserting a geometry will be correlated to the scale).
Workspace Footer - Allows you to create a new Workspace in the current Version within the Project as well as switch between Workspaces.
A few important quick-notes:
Inserting an object into KostaCLOUD defaults to the center of where your Workspace Viewer Camera is located, as well as based on the scale of your scale bar. For example if you zoom in, then the relative scale of an object gets smaller if you insert zoomed in. When hovering over the "Lens" button it shows this insertion point with a dot (). If you pan your camera to the right, then the object will be inserted to the right of where you were. Additionally, these optical elements snap and self-align to the optical axis.
The fastest way to convert any field (such as radius of curvature, thickness, etc.) in KostaCLOUD to an Independent Variable is to click within the properties text box and use the quick key ctrl+q. You can also lock this variable by pressing ctrl+q a second time, and the optimizer will not change the value.
If you want to tile windows like you can in other programs, feel free to open the same KostaCLOUD Workspace in a new tab by copying the URL to a new Tab, and tiling them with the Operating System (OS), or use the tabs built into the browser.
Below we can see an example of a design in KostaCLOUD:
There are quite a few buttons/Items to know about that are located in the Top Access Panel. From left to right we have:
Project Name - If you have rename project permissions, you can click on the project name, and edit the name directly.
Mode - A dropdown select that will in the near future switch between different design modes, such as Ray Optics Mode and Wave Optics Mode.
In the Navigation Bar there are a few tabs you can switch between which dictate operating modes of KostaCLOUD which are are:
Geometry - Which allows you to insert elements into the Workspace.
Parameter - Which allows you to optimize a design, or setup parameters for particular aspects of a design such as Computed Metrics (like EFL, RMS Spot size, etc.), or independent variables which the optimizer optimizes, or dependent variables.
Detection - Which allows you to insert detectors into the Workspace. (Available in 2025)
Simulation - Which allows you to simulate and setup system parameters for your system in context to the design mode. (For example set F/# in Imaging)
Analysis - Which allows you to plot data from Simulation
Tolerance - Which allows you to do sensitivity analysis and Monte-Carlo analysis for your design.
Data - Which allows you to upload data files or select a live-stream of data which can be used in a simulation or in analysis.
Below you can see the Objects and Properties Panes as they look in KostaCLOUD by switching tabs. The goal for each pane is:
Properties - To list an extensive list of all properties for a selected Object.
The Workspace Viewer is as simple as it gets. You get to see your design using it.
The Scale Bar provides the user a reference of scale for the system. The number denoted is the length of the entire scale bar. Additionally, the angle bracketed values <X,Y,Z> represent the location of the mouse projected onto the view plane and optical axis.
Project Tools Menu () - This is used to rename a Project or edit Project properties
Project Versions () - This is used as a quick access to view the Version Control Tree.
Audit the Workspace () - Pulls up a modal that allows you to query an audit of changes in the open workspace, with context of Version/Fork that is open.
Delete Selected Item () - If an item is selected in KostaCLOUD, this will delete that item.
Copy Selected Item () - If an item is selected in KostaCLOUD this will copy this item to the Server-side clipboard. This allows you to switch between workspaces and later paste.
Paste Item from Clipboard () - If there is an item on the Server-side clipboard, then pastes the item based on the current camera location.
Undo Last Action () - Reverts Workspace to the previous Versioning.
Redo Last Action () - If the previous action was an undo, restore the next Versioning to the Workspace.
Maximize Screen () - If you would like to remove the URL bar from your browser and utilize all of the vertical space, you can maximize the program, much like a video on your favorite streaming service.
Objects Pane - To list all of the Objects within the current Workspace to make it easier to select objects (by clicking )that may be difficult or impossible to select otherwise.
The pull-tab () can be dragged up with the mouse to increase the size of plots. By default, the QuickDash plots are closed in the simulation, and this tab can be pulled to show them. Various quantities can be displayed in the QuickDash such as tables of statistics or spot diagrams or other plots. Additionally by mousing over the top left corner of each plot or table you can drag to rearrange the tables and plots.
Additionally, you can Zoom by scrolling the mouse wheel into various plots and Multi-plots to have axes synchronized. You can also click and drag on axes if you want to zoom in on a particular axis. You can click and drag in the chart area to pan the plot. Near the bottom left of the plot, you can also reset the plot by clicking on the icon to its default view after looking at a particular detail. These features are showcased below.
The View Cube gives you Axes references, and allows you to click on a face which aligns the Workspace viewer in that plane. One can drag the icon to move the on-screen location of the view-cube.
Additionally, you can press the face of the cube or one of the edges between faces to re-orient your design in 3D. You can click the arrows on the rotation icon () to rotate your 3D viewer/camera in-plane by 90°. You can also click on the lock button () to lock your view plane to only allow panning and press the home button () to force the system back into view without changing the view angle. We demonstrate these features below.
By clicking you can create a new Blank Workspace, Insert from Clipboard to import patent data or Import a file such as a .ZMX file. If you have multiple workspaces, they will appear as tabs similar to the ones shown below. To switch workspaces simply click on the tab.
