Problem on Image Int. persists!!!"God Bless the Ctrl button!!!"

[NGC7789]

I'm quite familar with the PI STF group and ungroup feature

You've said this before but both your samples indicate that the channels are still linked (the upper left icon with three squares)

[georg.viehoever]

If erverything else fails, upload one of your images and let us have a look! (TIF or FITS format)

[pmesquita]

They are linked because I wanted to show the Auto SFT stretch on both - before and after the mess I mane with the PI config (somewhere). Tomorrow I'll unlink both and show exactly the results. It 'll be a horror movie :-)... M horror ovie.

Cheers
Paulo

I'm quite familar with the PI STF group and ungroup feature

You've said this before but both your samples indicate that the channels are still linked (the upper left icon with three squares)

[pfile]

can you post the integrated (32-bit fits) file somewhere?

[pmesquita]

Hello again,

I’m really getting desperate here. I followed all the advice (untick the aggregate icon on STF, try all Debayer formats) and I still can’t get proper linear images after the Star Alignment and Image Integration (Harry’s videos).

I GET PI ON PSYCHEDELIC MUSHROOMS!!!

I’m serious. Take a look at the screens I captured:

Photo Problem #1 – a zoom in on the pixels of a processed photo with Image Integration. Instead of getting the blurry color RGB mix effect of when we magnify a deep space photo, I get the pixels in a square grid.

Photo Problem #2 – This is my 1ss photo ever – m42 - (published a couple of weeks ago) only after image integration and with STF done at that time (I saved the Process). No problem.

Photo Problem #3 – This is my (same) 1ss photo ever – m42 - (published a couple of weeks ago) only after image integration and with STF done TODAY!!!. Big problem.

Photo Problem #4 (#4 & #5 are in the same phoot here...(the 4th oneposted ) – This is my 4th photo ever – M1 - (published a couple of weeks ago) only after image integration and with STF done at that time (I saved the Process). No problem.

Photo Problem #5 – This is my (same) 4th photo ever -  M1 - (published a couple of weeks ago) only after image integration and with STF… done TODAY, and tested with all the possible combinations of Debayer!!!. Big psychedelic problem.

I just don’t know what else to do. It is clear that somewhere during Star Alignment and/or Image Integration the Bayer matrix was wrongly programmed by me when I tried to do the Batch processing script.

SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE I MESSED UP!!! And the worst part is that I’ve been trying for 10 days now to make PI default again ( I even uninstalled the program and re-installed it) …but it must have saved the User config somewhere on my laptop…

Please will someone look at these pictures and figure out what went wrong and how to fix it???

Thanks
Paulo

[georg.viehoever]

You still did not post any example files. Maybe something is wrong with the way you ask questions. Apparently it is difficult for the community to diagnose the problems with the information you provide. So change that, and chances are you will get help.
Georg

[pmesquita]

Ok, I will upload some files onto WeTransfer and publish the link here.

What do you suggest that I upload:

How many lights? Each light is Cr2 with about 20MB.

I'll send two: M42 which I already processed successfully (but can't repeat that success now)
And M77 (one of the ones that I tried to process after messing up the PI config....stupid me...:-(((

Is this Ok?

Cheers
Paulo

You still did not post any example files. Maybe something is wrong with the way you ask questions. Apparently it is difficult for the community to diagnose the problems with the information you provide. So change that, and chances are you will get help.
Georg

[pmesquita]

Here are the CR2 and  .fit files of M42 and M77 for download and analysis. They area all in a ZIP file on the link below:

http://wtrns.fr/4dAnaLaWWeQRvg

I hope someone can make head or tails from all this. It's a complete mystery to me...I just know that somewhere along the line I musr«t have altered the Bayer config in a way that even uninstalling PI and re-installing it...the problem persists. I suppose W7 has some user file stored away in the Registry with this fawlty PI config that I inadvertidly did.

If you magnifi the fawlty .fit file that is with the others in this download...you'll see a mismatched RGB grid. That tells me that the RGB mosaic is set wrong...but I have no clue as to where to set it right on PI...

cheers...and enjoy the puzzle that is driving me crazy for the las two weeks...:-)
Paulo

[chris.bailey]

Your CR2 files debayer just fine (RGGB), not a lot of signal and horrid vignetting aside so it is something in the stacking.

Are you using any calibration files?

[Carlos Milovic]

PI does not use Window's registry system. It stores its own preferences in a cross-platform, OS-independ way. You can go back to factory defaults if you reset PI's configurations by starting the application with the Ctrl key pressed. A window will appear asking you to confirm that.

Also, try to use grayscale CFA images instead of that RGB composition. You are just wasting space.

[pmesquita]

THANK YOU CARLOS!!! THANK YOU CARLOS!!! THANK YOU CARLOS!!! THANK YOU CARLOS!!! THANK YOU CARLOS!!! THANK YOU CARLOS!!! THANK YOU CARLOS!!! THANK YOU CARLOS!!! THANK YOU CARLOS!!! THANK YOU CARLOS!!!  ...

The Ctrl button soultion was the key!!! You have saved the day. I did what you suggested and all is back to normal. I also found out that the issue was on step #1 (star Alignment) of Harry's videos. The wrong config I did somewhere along the line was affecting right the 1st fase of the processing. Image Integration had nothing to do with it. I'm already processing other sessions I have in store since three weeks ago...thanks to you!!!! 

Can you elaborate on the "grayscale CFA"...I have no idea what it means. Btw, I use a modded Canon 600D.

cheers and many thanks
Paulo

PI does not use Window's registry system. It stores its own preferences in a cross-platform, OS-independ way. You can go back to factory defaults if you reset PI's configurations by starting the application with the Ctrl key pressed. A window will appear asking you to confirm that.

Also, try to use grayscale CFA images instead of that RGB composition. You are just wasting space.

[pmesquita]

I'm still too "green" (not a pun on the greenish tint of my - now over - problem fits.) and i don't know what you mean. Are you referring to Darks, flats and Bias? I did have this problem when I tried the batch script in an attempt to subtract some darks (1st attempt). But ow I'm terrified of the dreaded Batch processing script (trauma).

I'm actually trying to understand if there's another PI tool to subtract my master dark ( did star align on the dark files) from each light. This is how you do it, right?

cheers
paulo

Your CR2 files debayer just fine (RGGB), not a lot of signal and horrid vignetting aside so it is something in the stacking.

Are you using any calibration files?

[georg.viehoever]

... I also found out that the issue was on step #1 (star Alignment) of Harry's videos...

Just that we can learn from your faults: Which exact setting was wrong?

Other comments:
- in your M42 image, I see some artifacts that might come from a badly aligned image (or an image that should not be part of the integration). I recommend to check your aligned image stack manually before integrating.
- You definitely need to use calibration (dark,bias,flat). I doubt that many of PI's mechanism can work properly with images as badly vignetted as yours. Should you not want to use the BatchPreProcessing script, this thread http://pixinsight.com/forum/index.php?topic=2570.0 should give you an idea on how to do it. Beware: It is definitely easier to use the script.

Georg

[pmesquita]

I still don't know what went wrong...no clue...except the suspicion I misconfigured the bayer mosaic somewhere along the line when I tried the batch processing sequence.

The vignetting I assume is from the F2 ration on a a C11...it's literally a light bucket.

A question:

1 - how do I check my aligned image stack manually before integrating?

And thanks for the link on the tutorial. I'm going to read through it and learn some more. I'm not sure I want to give up on the batch processing script altogether. I'm just afraid to press the wrong button again.

The reason for me to opt for the batch processing was to - for the 1st - create a master dark and subtract it from each light. And all went wrong.

I need to learn on how to create the master dark and then do the subtraction. From what I saw, the batch processing script does all this automatically, right?

cheers
paulo

 

[georg.viehoever]

1. How to check your aligned images: Just load them into PI and look at them. You can select multiple images in the "Open Copy.." dialog, or you can drag&drop them from Explorer to the PI desktop. There is also an Animation script that can be helpful - see scripts menu.
2. The BatchPreProcessing script does everything that is needed for calibrating your images - provided you give it bias/dark/flat frames.

Georg