My take on this PI software

[sctall]

 I am starting to understand what is happening now with the types of processes.
I was just confused reading all the posts not really knowing what was meant by , calibration, registration, integration, etc.
But the light bulb is not so dim now.

Regarding my format conversion issues:
I tried the conversion on another PC and it works.
I think the issue is:
The PC I have issues on is on a firewall, that won't allow any updates for some reason.
Carlos told me I could copy the /bin file to my PC and get most of the new tools and such. That worked mostly.

But I don't think I have got the latest core fixes and all. And that is what the issue is.
I guess there was a bug in the release I installed, and has since been fixed.

Does anyone know a way to get all the latest bug fixes or patches.
The bin I have now is from 3 weeks ago, So it's pretty up to date. It has the new TGVNoise.

When I try to get updates here I get this message:
http://pixinsight.com/update/: network error: couldn't connect to host at pixinsight.com:80
http://pixinsight.com/update/update-revel.pixinsight.com/: network error: couldn't connect to host at pixinsight.com:80

Would it work to uninstall and reinstall from the pixinsight site?
or will that just get me the original build, and I would still need to update.

Scott

[pfile]

okay - i didn't realize you were not up to date fully on that machine. that could explain things.

good to hear the wattage of the lightbulb is cranking up.

i don't think the downloadable images are necessarily kept up-to-date with all the fixes (juan can correct me) so you will be stuck with updating somehow. can you punch a hole in the firewall for PI or is the network administered by someone else?

rob

[sctall]

No -- this is Hewlett Packard, They are fairly anal here.
As long as the home PC is fully updated it's no big deal.
Just makes it nice here , when I have time to play around.
I'll keep working at it. There might be a way to bypass a gateway by proxy maybe.

scott

[jkmorse]

Scott,

Like the others that have replied, I really encourage you to stick with it.  I come from a CCDStack and Photoshop background and while it involves learning new skills, PI more than pays you back for that effort.  From my perspective its what you touched on in one of your comments, namely the ability in PI to "get under the hood" and actually understand what the program is doing to improve your images.  Combine that with the fact that you are actually working with the data and not just painting on layers, makes this, IMHO, the premier astrophotgraphy package out there. 

If it helps at all, I have just posted my Cribsheet which sets out my workflow as well as any number of tool tips that may prove handy.  It is designed for my CCD monochrome workflow, but much of it is translatable to a DSLR. 

On a couple of your questions, re synlums, I have had some lengthy discussions with Juan, the primary PI developer, and others here on the philosophy of using luminosity images as a part of an LRGB set or whether to build a synthetic lum from the RGB data.  Based on the recommendations of others I have just switched my imaging to use unbidded RGB's that I will use to build a synlum (really had to sweat that one but everything they said just makes sense).  In fact, before I went on vacation a couple of weeks ago, I took two nights of RGB images of NGC891 that are just waiting for me to start processing as my first synlum experiment.  As soon I am over my jetlag, I will be turning my full attention to the set (probably this weekend) and will report on my results.

On the question of using the BPP, I have not done so to date, partly because I am old school and partly because of what I said above, namely that I want to control each step.  For example, I run a whole series of ImageIntegrations using different sigma settings for each color channel (and, to date, for my Lums as well), then compare the results using the SubFrameSelector script.  I would not be able to exercise that same level of comtrol if I used BPP.

Hope that helps,

Jim

 

[sctall]

Jim

Thanks for the info. I looked at your cribsheet, and that a lot of good info. I will be using many of the processes.

I really like the order that you presented things.

Many of the processes, I don't get yet. Especially PixelMath. I am neither a mathametician or a scripter or programmer, so it's touch for me to understand what needs to be added, subtracted, or whatever else, to get the desired results. But I do want to learn the basics of how to create a mask that has a combination of masks types in it. a simple example would be a lightness mask, with a star mask, so I can mask out everything but the actual image data, in one mask.

I wonder if I could ask you, what would be the difference between:
1. Extracting the RGB channels from the DSLR individually using the "Slit RGB channels, on the stacked integrated image, then balancing the histogram for each color separately, and then combing with the combination tool.
or
2. Bring in the full RGB data into HTT, and balance the colors individually there.

Another issue I have is when looking at scripts that produce data statistics, I do not know what good orbad statistics would be. eg: Avg Dev, Median, Mean etc.

Scott

[rleisenz]

Hello
i followed this thread but i am still curious about ImageCalibration concerning the lights.
When the Bias'es are integrated as Master, the Darks are Bias subtracted and Integrated as a Master
and the Flats integrated and Bias subtracted do i have to tick the calibrate Boxes in the corresponding
Master sections when Calibrating the Lights?

Maybe someone can clarify this, I couldn't find anything in the other threads. I followed Vicents tutorial but that stopped right after calibrating the Masters.
In the DSLR workflow thread is a hint to a posting from Vicent from 28 April 2010 covering that issue but i can not find that.

Thanx
Robert

[pfile]

well, it's simple - if you precalibrate your master dark by subtracting the master bias from the dark subframes, then don't tick calibrate (in the Dark panel) in IC.

same with flats, if you have precalibrated the flat subs with a master bias (or matching master flat dark) then do not tick calibrate (in the Flat panel) in IC.

for instance, ticking calibrate in the Dark section of IC will cause the master dark to be bias subtracted... so if you came in with an already bias-subtracted master dark, you'd be subtracting the bias twice.

rob

[jkmorse]

Scott,

First off, I am really glad you found the cribsheet useful.  Personally, I couldn't live without that level of detailed explanations of the routines.  My plan is to keep updating it as i explore and learn more and will probably resubmit every few revisions.  For example, I just had some people point me to a great forum discussion of which processes should be done before stretching and those you should do after and I will be adding that to my Rev11 as soon as I get back home from this business trip (beautiful downtown Baghdad, the jewel of the Euphrates).

I agree with you re not being a mathematician (though I do try to understand it all, I am limited by a liberal arts background and a law career) so i tend to focus on the items in SubFrameSelector that i do understand, such as looking for the best signal to noise ratio (SNR) and the lowest Full Width Half Maximum (FWHM) numbers as well as the "weight" column which is a good general guide as to overall quality of the image. 

As to your RGB question, there are others that are much better positioned to answer you since I came to PixInsight only after moving into monochrome/filter CCD imaging.  What I can tell you is that back when i was shooting with my Canon 40D I got my best results  from splitting the channels, treating them as separate R, G & B stacks the same as if you were shooting using a CCD, and then recombining after working with the individual color stacks.  I just cannot say if that is the best workflow for PixInsight but the best way to find out is to take a good set of images, process both ways and test the results both visually and with SubFrameSelector to see which gives you the best outcome.  It takes a bit of time, but with PixInsight, that kind of detailed work is really a fun part of the whole astroimaging prcoess, IMHO.

Best of luck,

Jim

[rleisenz]

Thanx rob,

thats what i presumed but i was not sure about that.
In the meantime i found this: http://pixinsight.com/forum/index.php?topic=2564.0
Never recognized this "Jewelbox" Tips&Tricks.
Good to go hiking in the forum for some time.

Greetz
Robert

[sctall]

Thank you Jim

I will experiment with both. And look at the values on the script. I don't have any really good data to compare to so all I can know is what my images are showing.
I am highly light polluted, so that is why I wanted to get an idea of what "not perfect" but decent data numbers would be.

BTW, I had 3 stays in Anaconda in Iraq. Would not call it a jewel.   Ha!!! Ha!!!.

Does anyone have a document that explains the meaning of all the statistics, such as Dev , Mean, Min, Max. should the numbers be high or low, should they go up or down between subs.  In the final image, what a good goal to get at.

I am new to this imaging thing, and all these numbers are meaningless until I have a reference.  And Noise, what scripts can I determine noise from, and how do I use them?  This would be greatly appreciated.

Scott