Introductory FRED Tutorial

In-person FRED Tutorial

Our in-person FRED tutorial course is designed to bring you quickly up to speed on the software tool through a full 3-days of hands-on experience augmented by lectures and discussions with the course instructor.  A small group setting in the Tucson office allows interaction and real-time support between students and instructor.  An optional 4th day, dedicated specifically to the scripting language, is also available.

In-person FRED Tutorial Details

  • $1,965.00 per student registration for the 3-day session
  • $640.00 per student registration for the additional 4th day of scripting
  • Course runs from 8am to 5pm with a break for lunch
  • Transportation, hotel accommodations and meal expenses are not included in the registration fee
  • Refunds are granted when cancellation is made 14 days prior to the course starting date

In-person FRED Tutorial Registration

  1. Download the in-person FRED Tutorial registration form
  2. Return the completed registration form to donatap@photonengr.com

Online FRED Tutorial

We are currently offering an online version of our 3-day FRED Introductory Tutorial class online in a self-paced, on-demand format.  This is an effective training solution that offers the same tutorial content with more schedule flexibility and lower total costs (no travel expenses).

The online tutorial format is built around a hands-on learning experience and accompanied by nearly 20 hours of pre-recorded lecture and demonstration videos to help guide your FREDucation.   Of course, you will also have access to the course instructors  should you need additional assistance during the class.

Online FRED Tutorial Details

  • $1,965.00 per student registration (non-refundable)
  • Immediate 30-day access to video content hosted on the Teachable platform
  • Downloadable PDF lecture notes and example files
  • Access to FRED technical support
  • Does not cover scripting (separate online tutorial coming soon)

Online FRED Tutorial Registration

Please take the following steps in order to complete your registration into our online FRED Tutorial:

  1. Download the Online FRED Tutorial Registration Form
  2. Complete and return this form to Photon Engineering at fredsales@photonengr.com
  3. Submit Credit Card payment information to our Sales team over the phone  at 1-520-733-9557.  Quotations can be provided upon request.

Once enrolled in the class, Photon Engineering will provide additional instructions via email for logging into the tutorial platform and accessing the course content.

Requirements (In-person and Online)

This tutorial assumes no knowledge of FRED on behalf of the attendee prior to attending the course.   Access to a FRED license will of course be critical to the completion of this course.  If you do not have access to a FRED license, one will be arranged for you when you complete your course registration.

FRED Tutorial Content (In-person and Online)

  1. Introduction to FRED and its Graphical User Interface
  2. Maksutov Telescope – Get comfortable with the interface and perform basic raytracing and analysis
  3. DLP Integrator – Keep practicing with the interface and learn multiple ways of analyzing ray distributions
  4. Charts Discussion – Learn about customizing the look and feel of analysis plots
  5. Inteferometer – Get exposed to coherent field propagation by calculating fringes in a Michelson interferometer
  6. LED and Hybrid Lens – Build geometry using curves and construct an LED model using multiple techniques
  7. Raytrace Properties Discussion – Learn about the important role of Raytrace Properties in your models
  8. Apertures and Trimming – Understand how surface and curve trimming operations can be used to create custom objects by building an imaging prism
  9. Materials Discussion – Learn how FRED keeps track of materials assignments during raytracing
  10. Coherence Discussion – Get insight into the algorithm that FRED uses when propagating coherent fields
  11. Laser Diode Collimator – Use coherent field propagation, polarization, and birefringence to construct a beam combining system with an imported collimating lens
  12. Raypath Discussion – What exactly is a “raypath”?
  13. Triplet – Perform a ghost stray light analysis on an imported lens system and practice using raytrace path analysis tools
  14. Detector Entity Discussion – Understand the differences between Detector Entities and Analysis Surfaces
  15. Barcode Scanner – Introduction to CAD imports and resulting object structure though construction of a barcode scanning system
  16. Scatter and Stray Light – Learn about BSDF representations and scatter modeling by building a refractive telescope model