Technical Issues - Ocean Optics Support

FTG Software supports Ocean Optics (OOI) spectrometers via OmniDriver. SpectraSuite is not required. OmniDriver runtime redistributables can be freely downloaded here. Click here for information about 64-bit Windows installation and compatibility with previous OOI drivers. The current FilmStar setup installs Ocean2.exe version 2.10 for OmniDriver 1.6.

The FTG Ocean Optics Server (FTG OOS) is an ActiveX EXE which provides an interface to OmniDriver. The advantage of this approach is that the server can be run standalone for testing and then run invisibly from FilmStar. Since the FTG OOS processes data (converts to %R or %T) it can be used with DESIGN as well as MEASURE. An FTG HASP enabled for MEASURE or Scantraq is required.

When installing FilmStar (Setup32.exe), select PE Lambda 2-950 (Mpe983.exe) and Ocean Optics Server in the Select Components dialog. Other versions of MEASURE (Scantraq) do not support ActiveX servers.

This installs Ocean2.exe as well as corresponding FilmStar BASIC macros. It also installs Scan Method OOI2 Trns.scw which references the BASIC macros.


Testing OOI Server in standalone mode

By 'process data' we mean that the server manipulates Dark, Reference and Sample scans. A Standard File provides means to include known reflectance values corresponding to the Reference scan. The Standard is what the Reference is known to be.

This is different from a 'raw data' server where the processing takes place in the host application. BASIC macros for processed data are simpler. As shown below, the FTG OOS includes a Scan Method dialog, but in actual operation, settings are specified in FilmStar BASIC code.

To help determine values for an FTG OOS Scan Method, run SpectraSuite to quickly determine Integration Time and other factors.


Setup parameters in FTG Ocean Optics Server. Most
important is setting Integration Time below saturation level.

In DESIGN the Macro Commands dialog assigns scan functions to macro buttons:


 Assigning scans to macro buttons 1-4 in DESIGN

You could use the same Macro Commands in MEASURE, but it is better to assign macros in the Scan Method 1B dialog shown below. Dark and Reference scans are triggered by Setup menu commands, while the Sample scan is assigned to the Scan button. The Scan Method stores the required macros.


 Assigning scans to Setup Menu (Dark, Reference)
and Scan button (Sample) in MEASURE

Ultimately, Ocean Optics scanning appears seamlessly built into DESIGN or MEASURE:


 Hesa-Glas 5063L (light red appearance)

Installation Notes

Windows 7 64-bit requires the following installation procedure (courtesy of Ocean Optics)...

  1. On your Windows 7 system, install 64-bit OmniDriver. This is necessary to obtain the winusb driver. Plug in the spectrometer and Windows should detect new device and find the drivers. If necessary, point it to C:\Program Files\Ocean Optics\OmniDriverSPAM\OOI_HOME directory to find the driver.
  2. Uninstall 64-bit OmniDriver. This will leave the winusb driver intact.
  3. Install 32-bit OmniDriver.
  4. Tell OmniDriver to use the winusb driver. To do this:
    In the C:\Program Files (x86)\Ocean Optics\OmniDriverSPAM\OOI_HOME directory:
    a. Rename NatUSB.dll to NatUSB_ezusb.dll
    b. Rename NatUSB_32_winusb.dll to NatUSB.dll

Previous FTG OOI servers are available for users unable to reinstall OOI software: ooibase.zip, omni1_5.zip, omni1_6.zip (the current version, included as backup). Copy .exe to C:\Winfilm (Scantraq) and *.bas to C:\Winfilm\Basic32. If currently using OOIBase, you can still install OmniDriver, but if using OmniDriver 1.5 (perhaps with LabView), 1.6 may be incompatible.

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