Author Topic: PixInsight 1.5: Prerelease Information  (Read 58644 times)

Offline Juan Conejero

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PixInsight 1.5: Prerelease Information
« on: 2009 April 16 17:20:24 »
[Texto en Español al final]

Hi,

As all of you probably know already, we are working very hard to finish PixInsight 1.5. This new version was initially scheduled for March. The bad news is that, thinking realistically, I don't hope to be able to release it before the end of April; perhaps a bit later. The good news is that this delay is due to a large number of exciting new processing tools and features. So the net result is that PixInsight 1.5 is a much more powerful, versatile and stable image processing platform than what was initially planned. This post is to warm you up with a few screenshots that demonstrate some of the new capabilities that we are preparing for PixInsight 1.5.

New Feature: Virtual Views

PixInsight 1.5 introduces a new and powerful concept: virtual views. A virtual view is an object of the user interface that behaves just like an actual view (a main view or a preview) in some fundamental aspects, even though it isn't actually a real view pertaining to an image window.

In version 1.5, the Real-Time Preview interface can be used as a virtual view. This means that any processing tool is able to work with the internal real-time preview image that is being represented on the screen, irrespective of the process that owns the Real-Time Preview interface at a given moment.

Yes, I know that the above explanation sounds quite a bit confusing, so let's put an example:

http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/VirtualViews.jpg

The screenshot above shows the Real-Time Preview interface owned by the CurvesTransformation interface. The real-time preview image being shown is the result of the S-shaped curve being defined. So far everything looks pretty normal. But please look more carefully at the HistogramTransformation and Statistics interfaces. Specifically, pay attention to the fact that the RealTimePreview virtual view has been selected on both tools.

So the histogram and statistical data being shown are being calculated in real-time for the current Real-Time Preview image. As soon as we move a curve point, the following happens:

- The Real-Time Preview image is regenerated to show the result of the current curve.

- The histograms of the resulting Real-Time Preview image are recalculated and drawn on the HistogramTransformation interface. Furthermore, a histogram transformation has been defined, and its effects are calculated and shown on the upper panel of HistogramTransformation.

- The statistics of the resulting Real-Time Preview image are recalculated and printed on the Statistics interface.

And everything happens smoothly in real-time, using all processors available. You'll love this feature 8)

Improved Tool: DynamicBackgroundExtraction

The DBE process can now apply a background correction. It can subtract the generated background model from the target image, or divide the target image by the model. Optionally, the subtraction or division can preserve the existing mean background values, or neutralize them (when the background model is accurate, of course). Here's a screenshot:

http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/DynamicBackgroundExtraction.jpg

New Tool: BackgroundNeutralization

The new BackgroundNeutralization tool allows you to achieve a perfect neutral background in just a couple clicks. No more PixelMath required to carry out neutralization operations.

In the following example:

http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/BackgroundNeutralization-1.jpg

We have a M17 DSLR image (courtesy of Vicent Peris and José Luis Lamadrid) before background neutralization. Although the overall color is good for the main object, it is obvious that the background has a strong green cast.

BackgroundNeutralization requires a good background reference. A good background reference includes mainly data that actually represents the sky background in the image. In this case, the image has few free sky background regions. Note that we have used the excellent PreviewAggregator script by David Serrano to gather five background areas into a single image, which we have selected to sample the background in the image.

Here is the same image after applying BackgroundNeutralization:

http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/BackgroundNeutralization-2.jpg

Note that we have been working with a raw linear image all the time.

New Tool: ColorCalibration

Accurate color calibration made easy. No more PixelMath burden and complex procedures are necessary to accomplish this task: the ColorCalibration tool makes all the dirty work for you, both quickly and accurately.

Here is an example with the same M17 image used before:

http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ColorCalibration-1.jpg

After BackgroundNeutralization (which is a mandatory initial step for the sake of calibration accuracy), the above screenshot shows the ColorCalibration tool being used to calibrate the image by sampling a high number of stars in the image. Note the aggregated images with two and nine previews being used, respectively as the background and white references.

The basic idea behind this procedure is that when a sufficiently large number of stars are sampled, the resulting mean color should be a plausible white reference for overall color correction. For more information on this topic, see this forum discussion:

http://pixinsight.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1074

This forum thread has motivated the immediate release of this tool, which had been designed but not planned for version 1.5.

Here is the image after color calibration:

http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ColorCalibration-2.jpg

Note that ColorCalibration can generate a mask with the employed white reference pixels. This is a useful feature to gain tight control over the process.

The feature selection algorithm used to isolate stars as white references (or, more precisely, small-scale structures) is an adaptation of the star detection algorithm that I designed for the StarAlignment tool. It really works very well, as you can see.

ColorCalibration can also work with a view as its white reference image. This is particularly useful to calibrate an image using a nearby galaxy. The integrated light of a nearby galaxy is a plausible white reference, since it contains large samples for all star populations and its redshift is negligible. This method has been proposed by PTeam member Vicent Peris, who has implemented it to calibrate a number of images taken with large telescopes. According to Vicent, ideal calibration galaxies should have the following properties:

- Closer than 50 mpc

- Hubble classifications Sa, Sb, Sc, Scd, SBa, SBb, SBc or SBcd

- Inclination less than 60 degrees

- Integrated intrinsic intergalactic and galactic reddening < 0.5 mag in Johnson B

Here is an example with Vicent's NGC7331 image taken with Calar Alto's 3.5 meter telescope:

The RGB composite image before calibration:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ColorCalibration-3.jpg

After BackgroundNeutralization:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ColorCalibration-4.jpg

After ColorCalibration:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ColorCalibration-5.jpg

New Tool: ImageIntegration

Version 1.5 comes with a first version of the ImageIntegration tool. This tool performs a combination of an unlimited number of FITS files into a single integrated (stacked) image. ImageIntegration is a high-performance tool with the following main features:

- Mean, median, minimum and maximum image combination operations.

- k-Sigma clipping, percentile clipping, min/max, CCD-clip and average sigma clipping rejection algorithms.

- Automatic image scaling and normalization, definable separately for image combination and pixel rejection.

- Generation of pixel rejection maps.

- Exhaustive pixel rejection statistics console output.

- Optional generation of a 64-bit combined image.

Here is an example with 20 raw images of the M81/M82 region by Oriol Lehmkuhl and Ivette Rodríguez:

http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ImageIntegration.jpg

Improved Tool: ATrousWaveletTransform

ATrousWaveletTransform (ATW for short) has been completely redesigned and reimplemented from scratch. This tool had not been revised seriously since its initial implementation in PixInsight LE. ATW is now the state-of-the-art tool that all PixInsight users deserve.

Everything has changed inside ATW, in fact, even if most changes are not directly visible to the user. One of the most important changes is the new deringing algorithm, which has been designed by Vicent Peris, our resident wavelets guru :)

ATW's deringing now works, works always, and works extremely well. Here's an example:

The original image:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ATW-deringing-1.jpg

A relatively strong bias applied to the second wavelet layer, no deringing:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ATW-deringing-2.jpg

Same bias, deringing enabled:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ATW-deringing-3.jpg

Note that there is no dark ringing at all. Similar results can be obtained consistently for all linear and nonlinear images. In this example, we have applied deringing to dark rings exclusively (dark Gibbs artifacts). Ringing can also be controlled for bright artifacts:

Original Lena image:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ATW-deringing-4.jpg

Strong bias applied to the second wavelet layer, no deringing:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ATW-deringing-6.jpg

Note the bright artifacts on the borders of bright-to-dark discontinuity transitions. For example, the bright ringing artifact on Lena's shoulder is conspicuous. These artifacts virtually disappear with the new deringing algorithm, as can be seen below.

Same bias, deringing applied to dark and bright artifacts:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ATW-deringing-5.jpg

Another important improvement in ATW is the new wavelets-based noise reduction algorithms. This is an example with a Leo Trio raw CCD image by PTeam members Oriol Lehmkuhl and Ivette Rodríguez:

Raw RGB composite image, before noise reduction:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ATW-noise-reduction-1.jpg

After multiscale noise reduction with ATW:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ATW-noise-reduction-2.jpg

Take into account that the above noise reduction has been applied without a protection mask. Pay special attention to the preservation of star colors and subtle details on the main galaxy. Note also that this noise reduction can be applied to linear images, as in the above example. This is an extremely powerful noise reduction algorithm.

Core GUI Improvement: Enhanced Script Editor

The script editor includes now a nice line numbering feature, bookmarks and parenthesis matching:

http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ScriptEditor.jpg

Core GUI Improvement: Redesigned Explorer Windows

The right panel of the Process Explorer window has been redesigned to provide exhaustive information about the capabilities and parameters of each process. This information is intended to facilitate the work of developers on the PixInsight/PCL framework:

http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ProcessExplorer.jpg

The Format Explorer and View Explorer windows have seen similar evolutions:

http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/FormatExplorer.jpg
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ViewExplorer.jpg

By the way, the above screenshot also shows the new file formats supported in PI 1.5: GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), ICO (Windows Icon Format) and MNG (Multiple Network Graphics). Note that GIF and MNG animations are not supported, and that the GIF and MNG format implementations provide read-only support.

New 64-bit Mac OS X Version

PixInsight 1.5 will be available as a 64-bit application for Mac OS X 10.5 and later. Breaking all memory barriers on the Mac!

Of course 32-bit and 64-bit versions will continue being available for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X.

Improved Compatibility with Linux Distributions

No more problems on all (modern) Linux distributions. PixInsight 1.5 runs out-of-the-box on the latest Red Hat, Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, SUSE and Mandriva Linux distributions.



============================================================================



Hola

Como probablemente sabéis todos vosotros, estamos trabajando muy duro para terminar PixInsight 1.5. Esta nueva versión estaba inicialmente prevista para ser publicada en marzo. La mala noticia es que, pensando de forma realista, no creo que podamos publicarla antes de finales de abril; quizá algo más tarde. La buena noticia es que este retraso obedece a un gran número de nuevas herramientas y características. El resultado es que PixInsight 1.5 es una plataforma de procesasmiento de imágenes mucho más potente, versátil y estable de lo que inicialmente estaba previsto. Este mensaje pretende enseñaros algunas de las nuevas herramientas y funciones que estamos preparando para que tengáis aún más ganas de probar PixInsight 1.5 :)


Nueva Función: Vistas Virtuales

PixInsight 1.5 introduce un nuevo y potente concepto: vistas virtuales. Una vista virtual es un objeto de la interfaz que se comporta como una vista real (una vista principal o una previsualización) en algunos aspectos fundamentales, aunque en realidad no sea una vista perteneciente a una ventana de imagen.

En la versión 1.5, la interfaz Real-Time Preview es capaz de funcionar como una vista virtual. Esto significa que cualquier herramienta de procesamiento puede trabajar con la imagen interna en tiempo real que está siendo representada en pantalla, independientemente del proceso que posea la interfaz Real-Time Preview en un momento concreto.

Sí, sé que la explicación anterior suena algo confusa, así que mejor pongamos un ejemplo:

http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/VirtualViews.jpg

Esta copia de pantalla muestra la interfaz Real-Time Preview controlada por la interfaz de CurvesTransformation. La imagen que se está mostrando en tiempo real es el resultado de la curva en forma de S que se está definiendo. Hasta ahora todo parece muy normal. Pero por favor mirad más atentamente a las interfaces de HistogramTransformation y Statistics. Específicamente, prestad atención al hecho de que la vista virtual RealTimePreview ha sido seleccionada en ambas herramientas.

De esta forma, los histogramas y datos estadísticos que se están mostrando están siendo calculados en tiempo real para la imagen actual en Real-Time Preview. Tan pronto como movemos un punto de la curva, ocurre lo siguiente:

- La imagen de Real-Time Preview es generada para mostrar el resultado de la curva actual.

- Los histogramas de la imagen resultante en Real-Time Preview son recalculados y dibujados sobre la interfaz de HistogramTransformation. Más aún: una transformación de histograma ha sido definida, y sus efectos son calculados y mostrados en el panel superior de HistogramTransformation.

- Las estadísticas de la imagen resultante en Real-Time Preview son recalculadas y escritas en la interfaz de Statistics.

Y todo eso ocurre suavemente en tiempo real, utilizando todos los procesadores que haya disponibles. Os va a encantar esta función 8)

Herramienta Mejorada: DynamicBackgroundExtraction

El proceso DBE puede aplicar ahora una corrección del fondo. Puede restar el modelo del fondo generado de la imagen destino, o dividir la imagen destino por el modelo. Opcionalmente, la resta o división puede preservar los valores medios del fondo existentes, o puede neutralizarlos (cuando el modelo del fondo es preciso, por supuesto). Aquí tenemos una copia de pantalla:

http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/DynamicBackgroundExtraction.jpg

Nueva Herramienta: BackgroundNeutralization

La nueva herramienta BackgroundNeutralization permite conseguir una fondo perfectamente neutro en sólo un par de clics. Ya no es necesario utilizar PixelMath para llevar a cabo estas operaciones.

En el ejemplo siguiente:

http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/BackgroundNeutralization-1.jpg

tenemos una imagen DSLR de M17 (cortesía de Vicent Peris y José Luis Lamadrid) antes de la neutralización del fondo. Aunque el color general es bueno para el objeto principal, es obvio que el fondo tiene una fuerte dominante verde.

BackgroundNeutralization requiere una buena referencia del fondo. Una buena referencia del fondo incluye principalmente datos que realmente representan el fondo del cielo en la imagen. En este caso, la imagen tiene pocas zonas libres de cielo. Como véis hemos usado el excelente script PreviewAggregator por David Serrano para recoger cinco áreas del fondo en una única imagen, que ha sido seleccionada para muestrear el fondo en la imagen.

Aquí está la misma imagen tras aplicar BackgroundNeutralization:

http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/BackgroundNeutralization-2.jpg

Como podéis comprobar, hemos estado trabajando todo el tiempo con una imagen lineal.

Nueva Herramienta: ColorCalibration

Calibrar el color con precisión es ahora fácil. Ya no son necesarios complejos procedimientos con PixelMath para llevar a cabo esta tarea: la herramienta ColorCalibration hace todo el trabajo sucio por vosotros, de forma rápida y precisa.

Aquí hay un ejemplo con la misma imagen de M17 utilizada anteriormente:

http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ColorCalibration-1.jpg

Después de BackgroundNeutralization (que es un paso previo obligatorio para poder alcanzar precisión en la calibración), la copia de pantalla anterior muestra cómo la herramienta ColorCalibration está siendo utilizada para calibrar la imagen mediante el muestreo de un alto número de estrellas. Dos y nueve previsualizaciones han sido agregadas para utilizarlas, respectivamente, como referencias del fondo y el balance de blanco.

La idea básica tras este procedimiento es que cuando se muestrea un número suficientemente grande de estrellas, el color promedio resultante debería ser una referencia de blanco plausible para corregir la imagen en conjunto. Para más información sobre este tema, ver esta discusión en el foro:

http://pixinsight.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1074

Esta discusión ha motivado la implementación inmediate de esta herramienta, la cual estaba ya siendo diseñada pero no estaba planificada para la versión 1.5.

Aquí está la imagen tras la calibración de color:

http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ColorCalibration-2.jpg

Fijaos en que ColorCalibration puede generar una máscara con los píxeles empleados para calcular la referencia del blanco. Esta función es útil para adquirir un control más estrecho sobre el proceso.

El algoritmo para selección de estructuras empleado para aislar las estrellas como referencias del blanco (o, más propiamente, estructuras de pequeña escala) es una adaptación del algoritmo de detección de estrellas que diseñé e implementé en la herramienta StarAlignment. Realmente funciona muy bien, como podéis comprobar.

ColorCalibration también puede trabajar con una vista como la imagen de referencia del blanco. Esto es particularmente útil para calibrar una imagen utilizando una galaxia cercana. La luz integrada de una galaxia cercana es una referencia de blanco plausible, puesto que contiene grandes muestras de todas las poblaciones estelares y su corrimiento hacia el rojo es despreciable. Este método ha sido propuesto por el miembro del PTeam Vicent Peris, quien lo ha implementado para calibrar varias imágenes adquiridas con grandes telescopios. Según Vicent, las galaxias ideales para calibración deben tener las siguientes propiedades:

- Más cercanas que 50 mpc

- Clasificación de Hubble Sa, Sb, Sc, Scd, SBa, SBb, SBc o SBcd

- Inclinación menor que 60 grados

- Enrojecimiento intrínseco intergaláctico y galáctico integrado menor que 0.5 magnitudes en Johnson B

Aquí hay un ejemplo con la imagen de NGC7331 de Vicent, tomada con el telescopio de 3.5 metros de Calar Alto:

Imagen compuesta RGB antes de la calibración:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ColorCalibration-3.jpg

Tras BackgroundNeutralization:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ColorCalibration-4.jpg

Tras ColorCalibration:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ColorCalibration-5.jpg

Nueva Herramienta: ImageIntegration

La versión 1.5 viene con una primera versión de la herramienta ImageIntegration. Esta herramienta lleva a cabo la combinación de un número ilimitado de archivos FITS en una única imagen integrada (stacked). ImageIntegration es una herramienta de altas prestaciones con las siguientes características principales:

- Operaciones de combinación de imágenes: media, mediana, mínimo y máximo.

- Algoritmos de rechazo de píxeles: k-Sigma clipping, percentile clipping, min/max, CCD-clip y average sigma clipping.

- Escalado y normalización automática de imágenes, definibles separadamente para la combinación de imágenes y el rechazo de píxeles.

- Generación de mapas de rechazo de píxeles.

- Salida por consola de estadísticas exhaustivas de rechazo de píxeles.

- Generación opcional de una imagen integrada de 64 bits.

Aquí tenéis una ejemplo con 20 imágenes raw de la región de M81/M82 por Oriol Lehmkuhl e Ivette Rodríguez:

http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ImageIntegration.jpg

Herramienta Mejorada: ATrousWaveletTransform

ATrousWaveletTransform (ATW para abreviar) ha sido completamente rediseñada y reimplementada partiendo de cero. Esta herramienta no había sido revisada seriamente desde su implementación incial en PixInsight LE. ATW es ahora una herramienta representativa del estado del arte en procesamiento por wavelets, como todos los usuarios de PixInsight merecen.

Todo ha cambiado dentro de ATW, aunque la mayor parte de los cambios no son visibles directamente por el usuario. Uno de los cambios más importantes el el nuevo algoritmo de deringing, que ha sido diseñado por Vicent Peris, nuestro gurú de wavelets residente :)

El nuevo deringing de ATW funciona, funciona siempre, y funciona extremadamente bien. Aquí tenemos un ejemplo:

La imagen original:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ATW-deringing-1.jpg

Un bias relativamente fuerte aplicado a la segunda capa de wavelets, sin deringing:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ATW-deringing-2.jpg

Mismo bias, con deringing:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ATW-deringing-3.jpg

Notad que no hay artefactos oscuros de ringing en absoluto. Se puede obtener resultados similares de forma consistente para todas las imágenes lineales y no lineales. En este ejemplo, hemos aplicado deringing a los anillos oscuros exclusivamente (artefactos oscuros de Gibbs). El ringing se puede controlar también para artefactos brillantes:

Imagen original de Lena:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ATW-deringing-4.jpg

Fuerte bias aplicado a la segunda capa de wavelets, sin deringing:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ATW-deringing-6.jpg

Hay artefactos brillantes en los bordes de todas las transiciones brillante-oscuro de discontinuidad. Por ejemplo, el artefacto brillante de ringing en el hombro de Lena es muy evidente. Estos artefactos virtualmente desaparecen con el nuevo algoritmo de deringing, como se puede ver a continuación.

Mismo bias, deringing aplicado a artefactos oscuros y brillantes:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ATW-deringing-5.jpg

Otra mejora importante en ATW es el nuevo algoritmo de reducción de ruido basado en wavelets. Esto es un ejemplo con una imagen CCD del trío de leo obtenida por los miembros del PTeam Oriol Lehmkuhl e Ivette Rodríguez:

Imagen raw compuesta RGB, antes de la reducción de ruido:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ATW-noise-reduction-1.jpg

Tras reducción de ruido multiescala con ATW:
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ATW-noise-reduction-2.jpg

Tened en cuenta que la reducción de ruido anterior se ha aplicado sin máscara de protección alguna. Prestad atención a la conservación de los colores estelares y de los sutiles detalles en el interior de la galaxia principal. Notad también que esta reducción de ruido se puede aplicar a imágenes lineales, como en el ejemplo anterior. Se trata de un algoritmo de reducción de ruido extremadamente potente.

Mejora en la Interfaz Gráfica: Script Editor Mejorado

El editor de scripts incluye ahora una bonita función de numeración automática de líneas, marcadores de texto y emparejamiento de paréntesis:

http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ScriptEditor.jpg

Mejora en la Interfaz Gráfica: Ventanas de Exploración Rediseñadas

El panel derecho de la ventana Process Explorer ha sido rediseñado para proporcionar información exhaustiva sobre las capacidades y los parámetros de cada proceso. Esta información está orientada a facilitar el trabajo de desarrolladores en el entorno PixInsight/PCL:

http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ProcessExplorer.jpg

Las ventanas Format Explorer y View Explorer han visto evoluciones similares:

http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/FormatExplorer.jpg
http://forum-images.pixinsight.com/legacy/1.5-preview/ViewExplorer.jpg

Por cierto, las copias de pantalla anteriores también muestran los nuevos formatos de archivo soportados en PI 1.5: GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), ICO (Windows Icon Format) y MNG (Multiple Network Graphics). Notad que las animaciones GIF y MNG no están soportadas, y que la implementación de los formatos GIF y MNG proporcionan únicamente soporte de sólo lectura.

Nueva versión de 64 bits para Mac OS X

PixInsight 1.5 estará disponible como una aplicación de 64 bits para Mac OS X 10.5 y posterior. ¡Rompemos todas las barreras de memoria en el Mac!

Por supuesto, las versiones de 32 y 64 bits seguirán estando disponibles para Linux, Windows y Mac OS X.

Compatibilidad Mejorada con Distribuciones de Linux

No más problemas en todas las (modernas) distribuciones de Linux. PixInsight 1.5 funciona directamente en on las últimas versiones de Red Hat, Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, SUSE y Mandriva.
Juan Conejero
PixInsight Development Team
http://pixinsight.com/

Offline Thorsten Lockert

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Re: PixInsight 1.5: Prerelease Information
« Reply #1 on: 2009 April 16 18:46:42 »
Can I just say ... wow! This is so cool!

Quote from: "Juan Conejero"
New Tool: ImageIntegration

Version 1.5 comes with a first version of the ImageIntegration tool.

Any plans to integrate the HDRComposition script with this at some point?

Thorsten

Offline caliu

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PixInsight 1.5: Prerelease Information
« Reply #2 on: 2009 April 16 21:10:03 »
¿Lo podéis explicar en español por favor?

Offline Pep

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PixInsight 1.5: Prerelease Information
« Reply #3 on: 2009 April 16 21:28:34 »
Pues sí Caliu, se podría poner en español, no sería mala idea.
Pep Ferrer
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Offline Pep

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PixInsight 1.5: Prerelease Information
« Reply #4 on: 2009 April 16 21:34:00 »
Como sugerencia por ejemplo para ATW, cuando tenemos que aplicar los mismos parametros a varias capas, se podría seelcionar de una sola vez las que queramos y aplicar el valor a todas, ya que es tedioso el tener que ir capa a capa introduciendo los mismos valores.
Pep Ferrer
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Offline catalinfus

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PixInsight 1.5: Prerelease Information
« Reply #5 on: 2009 April 16 22:21:58 »
Hi Juan,

I think most of us who use on a regular basis the PI program , will be delighted by the new options and algorithm improvements. Way to go guys!! Congratulations!
The color correction and background calibration tools were needed badly :-). Nice touch with those !!

Now, I will like to know if the ImageIntegration tools will take into account darks/bias/flats or it's just a stacking tool without prior calibration of the image ?
I just hope one day that PI will be a full processing astro software :-))

And second of all...I think plenty of astroimagers are using modded DSLR like Canon/Nikon and find color correction a PIA (at least I'm hoping I'm not the only one who stumbles on that regularly :-)))   )...PixInsight's color correction tool is intended to be used for that with success also?
I find it the missing step between DBE and histogram adjustment after PixelMath was used to subtract background!

BR
Cata

Offline Philip de Louraille

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Very impressive!
« Reply #6 on: 2009 April 16 22:23:38 »
Can't wait to test many of these new functions.
I was just going to suggest a method to discover and map hot pixels so they can be eliminated (those pesky ones that do not appear when making dark frames but appear on light frames) and the ImageIntegration tool might just do this for me.

Looks very good!
Great work!
Philip de Louraille

Offline bitli

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PixInsight 1.5: Prerelease Information
« Reply #7 on: 2009 April 16 22:51:53 »
Fantastic. I can't way. Well, in fact I can wait, please take your time to make it solid.

The only annoyance I see is the disappearance of the informal textual information for the processes. In the absence of a comprehensive documentation, it was sometime the only conveniently reachable information, even if lacking in some cases.

Is there another  way to access this information? May there could be a configurable target for a help function (configurable base url with the help target as a parameter), so this could point to a wiki or some other source of text, if somebody feels like creating/maintaining one. Or to some local files if somebody takes local notes.

I understand your are very busy with the development, and video tutorials are greats, but I sometime need a reminder on the general goal and way of working of a function, not just the details of the parameters. Having a configurable target for help could allow other people to contribute to this effort, hopefully without too much coding effort.

Just an idea,
Hope skies are cloudy, so you can work on PI :-)

bitli

Offline Simon Hicks

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PixInsight 1.5: Prerelease Information
« Reply #8 on: 2009 April 17 01:12:02 »
Now I am really annoyed!  :evil:

These tools answer so many of my processing problems that I will now have to go back and reprocess 2 years worth of images from scratch!!!  :D

The improved DBE, BackgroundNeutralization and the ColourCorrection tools combined with the preview aggregator are things that will make life soooo much better! I can't wait to try them out.  PI just gets better and better.

Thank you Juan and the other PI guys.....keep up the good work.

Offline David Serrano

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Re: PixInsight 1.5: Prerelease Information
« Reply #9 on: 2009 April 17 01:14:46 »
Quote from: "Juan Conejero"
So the histogram and statistical data being shown are being calculated in real-time for the current Real-Time Preview image.


Great!! In fact, I've missed something like this a couple of times.


Quote from: "Juan Conejero"
BackgroundNeutralization requires a good background reference. A good background reference includes mainly data that actually represents the sky background in the image. In this case, the image has few free sky background regions. Note that we have used the excellent PreviewAggregator script by David Serrano to gather five background areas into a single image, which we have selected to sample the background in the image.


Glad to see the script is useful 8). But I have one question: I bet that aggregated image is pure black in at least half its area. Doesn't that alter the BackgroundNeutralization's work?


Quote from: "catalinfus"
Now, I will like to know if the ImageIntegration tools will take into account darks/bias/flats or it's just a stacking tool without prior calibration of the image ?


I think it's just a plain stacking tool. I have a couple of ideas towards darks/bias/flats/darkflats calibration via JS scripting, and this new tool brings them closer to the outside world. I'll wait for 1.5 to be released and will explore some other features, namely the possibility to access the desktop background and icons, that Juan anticipated here.
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 David Serrano

Offline Astrocava

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PixInsight 1.5: Prerelease Information
« Reply #10 on: 2009 April 17 02:05:15 »
:shock:

Quote from: "simonhicks"
Now I am really annoyed!  :evil:

These tools answer so many of my processing problems that I will now have to go back and reprocess 2 years worth of images from scratch!!!  :D



Same here!  :evil:

Nice work!  Can't wait to have it.

Sergio
Moonfish ED80 over a Meade LX200GPS 8"

Offline Juan Conejero

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Re: PixInsight 1.5: Prerelease Information
« Reply #11 on: 2009 April 17 03:42:10 »
Hi Thorsten,

Quote
Quote
Version 1.5 comes with a first version of the ImageIntegration tool.

Any plans to integrate the HDRComposition script with this at some point?


HDRComposition is now being implemented as an independent PixInsight module written in C++. It won't be included with 1.5 though, but as soon as it becomes available, we'll distribute an update to all users.
Juan Conejero
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Offline Juan Conejero

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PixInsight 1.5: Prerelease Information
« Reply #12 on: 2009 April 17 04:03:04 »
Hi Catalin,

Thanks! :)

Quote
I will like to know if the ImageIntegration tools will take into account darks/bias/flats or it's just a stacking tool without prior calibration of the image ?


ImageIntegration is just what its name says: an image combination (AKA stacking) tool. Our philosophy is usually to provide each processing technique or process as an independent tool. This is for the sake of modularity, which is one of PixInsight's fundamental design principles. There are tools that collate diverse and complex tasks, but they are always in direct connection with a main subject (example: ATrousWaveletTransform).

Image calibration deserves the design and implementation of a specific tool, or better a category with a comprehensive tool set. This is not an easy task, as most people thinks. Calibration involves some difficult problems and is critical to the quality of images. We won't publish a calibration tool until we are sure to offer a minimally significant contribution to existing software. This is our way of doing things.

Quote
I just hope one day that PI will be a full processing astro software :-))


Me too, indeed :) We now have image registration and integration. Only image calibration is between the current state and a reasonably complete solution for astrophotography.

We lack image analysis tools, and a good set of photometric and astrometric analysis tools. The road is long and there are few fuel stations, but our truck is big and we go for the fun ;)

Quote
I think plenty of astroimagers are using modded DSLR like Canon/Nikon and find color correction a PIA (at least I'm hoping I'm not the only one who stumbles on that regularly :-)))   )...PixInsight's color correction tool is intended to be used for that with success also?


Definitely yes! Of course fixing those red-casted beasts isn't the easiest task, but I don't see why the BackgroundNeutralization/ColorCalibration combo can't do an excellent job, if things are done carefully and accurately.
Juan Conejero
PixInsight Development Team
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Offline Juan Conejero

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Re: Very impressive!
« Reply #13 on: 2009 April 17 04:21:07 »
Hi Philip,

Thank you!

Quote
I was just going to suggest a method to discover and map hot pixels so they can be eliminated (those pesky ones that do not appear when making dark frames but appear on light frames) and the ImageIntegration tool might just do this for me.


Yes, if you have a good set of light frames, I think sigma-clipping or percentile clipping rejection (the latter is wonderful when you only have a few images) can remove those annoying hot pixels very well. As we have implemented generation of rejection maps, you can obtain a hot pixel map very easily. I'll love to see how this works with your images, when we release 1.5.
Juan Conejero
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Offline Foton

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PixInsight 1.5: Prerelease Information
« Reply #14 on: 2009 April 17 04:39:23 »
Impresive. I think we can wait until end of April, even later, to get the new version.

An script to avoid stacking externally to PI should be quite simple using scripts features and the new ImageIntegration function. For sure somebody is going to be working on that.

Thanks Juan !. JLuis.