Finding the optical orientation of an analysis

1. Create a custom birefringence result Results tab > Plots panel > Custom.
2. Choose a Birefringence plot type.
3. Choose Retardance Tensor.
4. Select a direction for the light's origin.
5. Click OK.
6. Change the plot properties (right-click on the plot name in the Study Tasks pane and select Properties).
7. On the Methods tab, select Tensor principal vector as darts.
8. On the Tensor tab, select one of the three principal directions. Choose a direction according to the optical orientation you want to see.

   Direction	Meaning
   First principal	Direction of greatest refractive index change
   Second principal	Direction of second-greatest refractive index change perpendicular to first principal direction
   Third principal	Direction of least refractive index change

Note: For some materials, the direction of greatest refractive index change may be in the direction of flow. For other materials, the direction may be perpendicular to the flow under the same processing conditions.