AIC 2012

[RBA]

here is a crazy idea, and maybe RBA would not like it, but what if we all pitched in and bought and/or subsidized RBA's airfare? how much money are we talking about here (i rarely fly internationally so i have no idea...)

Rob, that's very flattering, way too flattering in fact, but we're not talking peanuts here. Rather, only the airfare + airport transportation would cost around $1,200.

Now, that expense could be covered by just 4 people signing up full price, but of course, the price also includes other expenses (meals and such), so it's not an argument you could use to convince the AIC folks.  Maybe I'm talking too much here, but I'd guess AIC would be happy to cover maybe 1/3 of that. You'd need a lot of people pitching in in order to cover the remaining $800. Like I said, it's not peanuts, unfortunately.

What you probably need to do, since you're local, is to join us sometime for an astrophoto session. It's not a workshop but we can spend the whole night talking shop and possibly having more fun, all for just the price of gas (and a 6 pack!). Bringing your own gear is optional.

[Nocturnal]

Next time I'm in the Valley I'll pop a note here. Let's see if we can meetup someplace, for AP fun or just drinks/dinner.

[pfile]

here is a crazy idea, and maybe RBA would not like it, but what if we all pitched in and bought and/or subsidized RBA's airfare? how much money are we talking about here (i rarely fly internationally so i have no idea...)

Rob, that's very flattering, way too flattering in fact, but we're not talking peanuts here. Rather, only the airfare + airport transportation would cost around $1,200.

Now, that expense could be covered by just 4 people signing up full price, but of course, the price also includes other expenses (meals and such), so it's not an argument you could use to convince the AIC folks.  Maybe I'm talking too much here, but I'd guess AIC would be happy to cover maybe 1/3 of that. You'd need a lot of people pitching in in order to cover the remaining $800. Like I said, it's not peanuts, unfortunately.

What you probably need to do, since you're local, is to join us sometime for an astrophoto session. It's not a workshop but we can spend the whole night talking shop and possibly having more fun, all for just the price of gas (and a 6 pack!). Bringing your own gear is optional.

well it really depends on how many people we can muster up.

to be honest, i think your workshop is pretty important for pixinsight outreach. maybe it's not as high profile as giving one of the talks (were you on that schedule as well?) but a lot of people will learn a lot from your workshop. what are the odds they will fill your slot with someone doing a PI workshop? probably not high. i know this is a shoestring operation but maybe juan could sponsor you as well. i don't mean to put him on the spot, though.

anyway, i just thought i would throw that out there. not sure how to really make it happen.

[Nocturnal]

maybe juan could sponsor you as well

I've written 3 long articles on PI and did a presentation about it too. I didn't even get a fruit basket or a hat

I suppose it's better that way. It keeps us honest and independent.

[marekc]

This is turning into a very interesting thread!

I haven't signed up for AIC 2012 yet, but I'm planning to go. I'm a local Bay Area person, and I went to AIC 2011, and I enjoyed it a lot, and I'm looking forward to 2012.

I like the fact that they've included a `Bay Area locals' option, which cuts down on the food costs, but after talking it over with a friend (with whom I often go imaging), I think I'll probably sign up for the full meal deal. I thought the food was really good, and I met a lot of interesting people at breakfast and dinner. It'll be a fair amount of money to spend (it starts to approach my dreamed-of RoboFocus unit...), but I think it'll be worth it.

This idea of doing some `grassroots AIC Kickstarter' funding for RBA's travel expenses - interesting! I try to glean every bit of PI wisdom from Rogelio that I can, that's for sure. I was definitely looking forward to hearing/seeing his presentation. Anything that gets me a wee bit closer to the holy grails of: 1) Multiscale processing, and 2) Getting all that saturated color with so little color noise, despite fairly short color-shooting times.... any nuggets of such wisdom are very welcome.

I suppose, on one level, the `kickstarter' question could be framed this way: ``Something's come up for RBA, and he'd have to make a special trip across the pond to give the talk. Given that you'll be paying for AIC already, how much (if any) are you willing to kick in to help enable his travel?''

I'm the farthest thing in the world from a businessperson or an economist, but it's an interesting exercise in `how much would you pay?'  For me, as an imager with a modest set of gear, and as a teacher who doesn't get paid for a couple of months in the summer, AIC is a relatively large `stretch', albeit a worthwhile one, IMO. So, for me, I guess I'd be willing to kick in up to, say, $20 or $30 extra. That would mean we'd need about 50 or 60 like-minded people. That might be a stretch. But if there were multiple sources of funding, such as from the AIC guys and from PI, then maybe the per-attendee amount might get low enough to attract enough people. It would be interesting to see how this might play out.

At any rate, however it all shakes out, I'm looking forward to the conference, and I'm lucky to be in the S.F. Bay area, where I can occasionally pick RBA's brain for a nugget or two of wisdom.

- Marek

[pfile]

maybe juan could sponsor you as well

I've written 3 long articles on PI and did a presentation about it too. I didn't even get a fruit basket or a hat

I suppose it's better that way. It keeps us honest and independent.

yeah, probably. i'm just throwin out ideas. "i'm so full of ideas... and here's a good one!" </stereolab>

[Carlos Milovic]

Is the workshop free? Maybe adding a fee you may pay for Rogelio's travel expenses...

[pfile]

well, it's included as part of the conference registration, which is already kind of expensive. i think something like this has to happen behind the scenes or not at all, not sure the AIC folks would want someone asking their attendees for extra $$.

[RBA]

Well, last night I've got an email from Juan saying they'd be happy to cover my expenses, but alas, once I contacted Jay (AIC), he replied that he had already covered my "vacancy" with Ron Wodaski, who'd be doing a "very beginners" workshop about PixInsight instead.

I know Ron monitors this forum, but despite now the "travel expenses" issue has been resolved (big big kudos to Juan), I find the chances of reverting back to the original agenda rather unlikely.

In any case, although my talk was going to be more advanced, at least the AIC folks stayed "on topic", which I think it's a good move from them.

[pfile]

argh!!!!! no disrespect meant toward Ron. surprised they filled the slot so fast.

[rwodaski]

Yes, I'll be giving a talk on PI at AIC. I had offered to speak on this topic quite some time ago, so my interest in talking about PI was already known to the AIC board. Once I finally had some time to get to know PI, I've been very happy using it, so I was enthusiastic about talking about PI at AIC - especially if I could help those unfamiliar with it learn what it can do, and how. The board turned me down for the obvious reason - Rogelio was already set to do the job, and I know he would have done well at it.

I certainly do not have Rogelio's breadth of knowledge. I have been focusing my learning curve on the fundamentals, and still have a way to go with many of the advanced tools, and I am also a beginner to some of the cool UI features that I read about here in the forum. (Some of those references are in passing, and I need to follow up on them to see what they are about.)

What I do have is an ability to explain stuff, so what I bring to the task of the workshop is a mixed bag: currently, strong on PI fundamentals but needing to learn more about some key tools, and more about some of the cool shortcuts and techniques that are unique to PI (one example: working with history).

So, really, I'm very clear that I need to continue learning about PI so that when the time comes to present the workshop, I will do a good job.

If there is no objection, I will start a thread soon on the topic of what to cover in the workshop. My goal is to first go over the fundamentals, and then to focus on specific tools (e.g., deconvolution, which is currently not documented in the product). Woven in throughout would be the little things that make working with PI conceptually powerful (such as that history stuff I mentioned). I also plan to embed the UI concepts into the attendees brains - make sure that everyone is clear on the fundamental workflow of common tools and UI elements. New ideas, no matter how good, can be stumbling blocks until users become familiar with them. I'd like to short-circuit that frustration and provide a good roadmap for new users.

So the workshop is partly beginner (it will give someone completely unfamiliar with PI a clear conception of what PI is, what you can do, and how you do it), and partly advanced (a close look at some of the more powerful tools).

But as to the specifics, I have not yet begun to outline the workshop other than to weigh different possibilities in my head. Hence the idea to start a thread to get ideas from those who have been around PI longer than I have. My goal is to provide the best possible experience for those in the workshop. But I will be stuck in the role of a journalist, not a power user, for a while yet, so I need help - people who will share their knowledge about big and little things so I can provide the best possible workshop within my abilities.

[Nocturnal]

Congrats on getting the PI slot Ron.

[sleshin]

Great news Ron. You are a gifted communicator and educator. Look forward to the workshop.

Steve

[Nigel Ball]

Work commitments allowing I'm seriously thinking of attending AIC this year.

It will be really nice to finally meet soem you guys in the flesh - Friday night bar sounds a great idea  8)

Is anybody else from the UK likely to attend?

[Geoff]

Hi Ron
The basic structure I would suggest would be

   

• How to get from raw images to something that one can begin to play with
• What to do with such an image once you have got it

For the first part I think the following should be covered (in no particular order)

   

• Image calibration using the Batch Preprocessing script.
• Image integration
• LRGB combine, including the use of DBE
• Colour calibration
• Using the screen stretch and histogram tools in combination, ie how to make your screen stretch permanent by transferring its settings to the histogram process

OK, so this will get people to an acceptable image. It can be pretty frustrating not being able to get to this point. We then need some tools to move it from the acceptable range to the excellent range: I would suggest looking at

 

• Masking
• LocalHistogramEqualization
• Noise reduction
• HDRMultiscaleTransformation to compress dynamic range
• Deconvolution
• Maybe Curves for adjusting colour saturation

Geoff