I'm sorry to say that I missed the forum but that said, I have to say that having used both PI and Photoshop, the instructional DVDs and books are out there and have been on how to use PS on images. At this point it is a huge benefit to PS just having so much by well known imagers. An in depth processing DVD series on PI would certainly generate a lot of interests from those such as myself who see the potential benefit to processing with PI but are way to new to fully understand how. Adam Block with his DVD series as well as the newer series by Tony Hallas, which I have to admit I learned a great deal from using PS, more so than Adam's. And books written on just that subject. It's well entrenched and talked about at every astro imaging venue.
A well planed and executed DVD series using PI would go a very long way in showing potential newcomers how to take advantage of the extreme control PI gives you. This takes nothing away from those videos posted by Harry and others but it puts it into a more fluid, comprehensive format that can go into much more detail. I have to admit that on new images, I almost always look at processing the way I use to first using PS to see what the image is shaping up to. After I get that done, I'll go into PI and try what I've learned there but then again, I know more about PS that PI at this point so I'm not seeing everything possible.
Out of the total number of people who have bought PI, how many are actually comfortable with feeling like they are getting the full potential from the software? Are they using it totally for processing or are they overwhelmed by all the processes and its many settings? This is by no means an attack on PI. I own the software and look forward to its many abilities but am intimidated by the program as well. For me, at least, it takes a great deal of time experimenting with these processes and then trying to figure out what order to use the processes. Again, this is where a DVD series would certainly help. I have to think that the more people processing images with PI and presenting them on the web, the more attention would be generated toward PI itself. I have seen, if only roughly, the power of HDRWaveletTansform in bringing out great detail in galaxy cores, even when all seemed blown out in the image. Most other images of these galaxies are missing this detail. I've also seen where I get the core detail but also get artifacts in other parts of the image I don't want. I have no idea how to prevent this in PI but I do know that I can save the image and use a layer mask to get just the core detail in PS. So that's what I do for now. I would much rather take the image all the way in PI but lack the understanding at this point. As there is no help file for PI, I would think a DVD series of instruction would be most welcoming. As new features are added, additional segments can be generated. I don't use PS for much of anything else. I'd just soon get a complete package I know how to use.
Steve
