I was going over the tutorial on using star alignment for mosaics and at the part where it dealt with using pixel math to blend the background and so on I was totally lost. I think one of the issues may have been that there were already processes that were being or had been used already that wasn't explained. I did the alignment and then tried using pixel math using the expression ($T - Med(BL))*k1 + Med(BL)*k2 as seen in the video SA Mosaic 2. The result was errors and nothing being applied after adjusting the k1 or k2 values. Those tried values were 0.99 and lower as shown in the movie. Now I'll be the first to tell you that I'm absolutely lost with using pixel math. I did a search for references on expressions as I thought there may be a library of expressions with their uses complied already. I saw no results to indicate that. I tried searching for help on pixel math and it was all over my head. My impression is that it's for those who have a understanding of higher math and professionals. Or my IQ is too low to makes sense of it.
While I'm more appreciative of Harry's videos than you could know, going anything past the very basic is lost on me. If not for Harry's videos I would have given up some time ago but instead I'd like to take it up a notch and expand on the basic understanding. The collection of videos and tutorials while all very good if not somewhat confusing at time (tutorials) I haven't seen anything that really deals with what order processes should be done (in general), and how to expand from there for enhancements. What would be great is someone who wants to make some $$ to create a DVD that takes you through a galaxy process and a nebula. These have been done for Photoshop and one for PI would certainly be great but It's going to take someone with the ability to demonstrate this to those who are starting out and advanced beginners like myself. Not someone who can't remember starting in this hobby and struggling to make his/her first really good image. It seems that the really advanced users assume we have a better understanding of the processes than most would. It would need to be someone who can work with people that understand acquiring good data, calibrating the data and then basic image combine. I would think most would have come from having some experience with basic image processing. But it would need to be from a non professional standpoint. While I find Adam Block's PS videos full of good information I also think much time is wasted on the why. The Tony Hallas EZ CCD Series on PS on the other hand is mostly the how with step by step methods. He explains how the tool works but doesn't get into the details that leave you wondering what he's talking about. It wouldn't hurt to have the same data being used distributed on the DVD so everyone could follow along with the same data. That way you know immediately if you messed up as your image would be different.
