To use any process on a Image container, one has to check the option 'replace target image' for the process. If the option 'Create new image' is checked instead, then the results of the process won't be saved in the directory that is specified in the Image Container, but open in new Views in the Workspace. This makes perfect sense to me, and I really enjoy the possibilities the Image and Process container gives to perform operations on a large amount of images.
Sadly, there are many processes that don't have this option. For example the 'Debayer' process. If I want to debayer a large amount of images, I can't do this by dropping the debayer instance on an image container. All the debayered images would open as new views in the workspace.
Of course there is the option to set many pictures as 'Target Images' in Debayer Process, and apply it globaly. But this has a lot of downsides and leads to inflexibilities.
For example: I have a large set of un-debayered CFA images that I want to apply some pixel math to. Afterwards I want to debayer and star align them. Currently, I have to set up an image container that I apply the pixel math to. This will (one after the other) read every image from my hard drive, apply the pixel math, and then write it again on the hard drive. Afterwards I have to specify all the resulting images as target images in the debayer process and apply that globally. That will also cause (one after the other) to read every file from the hard drive, apply the debayering and write it again on the hard drive. I have to repeat the same process for the star alingment. Overall, every single image gets read three times and written three times. With high resolution and 64bit images, those read and write processes take a significant amount of time. It would be much easier, if every file will be read from the hard drive into memory, then the pixel math, debayering and star alingment is executed on the image (each process replacing the target images) and then the image is written on the hard drive only once.
This would be easy to set up with an Image container containing all the CFA files and a Process Container with the pixel math, debayer and star alingement processes in it (and various other things, depending on the task). Since those processes can't 'replace the target image', one is forced to go through each step manually and spend a lot of time unecessary time on read and write processes.
Would it be possible to include the choice between 'Replace target image' and 'Create new image' on all processes (that can be dropped on a single image and hence process containers too)? Obviously, the option wouldn't have any effect when applying the process globably instead.
Greetings, Elias
