PixInsight 1.8.8-6 Released

[dhess2]

I had exactly the same problem and uninstalled and re-installed with the same result, I ended up deleting the pixinsight.ini file in: -

C:\Users\*Username*\AppData\Roaming\Pleiades and then re-installing and ran the repository add in and restarted and it then found it

Thanks, I found that just closing the program, deleting the .ini file reopening PixInsight and running the repository update did the trick. I didn't have to uninstall and reinstall PixInsight.

 

[const]

A lot of cool stuff, thanks! GPU acceleration is my favorite in your pending tasks list

ImageCalibration: Improved CFA Data Management

The following new parameters are used by the ImageCalibration process to modify its behavior for calculation of master dark frame optimization factors and master flat scaling factors:

* New Enable CFA parameter. Enable this option to support data acquired with digital cameras that generate images mosaiced with a Color Filter Array (CFA). Bayer and X-Trans CFAs are supported. When this option is selected, the CFA pattern can be selected with the CFA mosaic pattern parameter (see below). You normally should leave that parameter with its default Auto selection, which should detect the correct pattern automatically under normal working conditions.

* New CFA mosaic pattern parameter. This is the CFA pattern of the camera (such as a DSLR or OSC camera) used to acquire the calibration master and target frames. The Auto option uses view properties that can be available in the master and target frame files. Under normal working conditions, these properties are either generated automatically by the RAW format support module and stored in XISF files, or available as FITS header keywords in the case of raw OSC frames. For non-CFA data acquired with monochrome CCD or CMOS cameras, the Auto option is the correct selection because in these cases the process will detect no CFA pattern automatically. For images acquired with X-Trans sensors this parameter is ignored and CFA patterns are always extracted from existing image properties.

* New Separate CFA flat scaling factors parameter. When this option is enabled and the master flat frame is a single-channel image mosaiced with a Color Filter Array (CFA), such as a Bayer or X-Trans filter pattern, three separate master flat scaling factors are computed for the red, green and blue CFA components, respectively. When this option is disabled, a single scaling factor is computed for the whole master flat frame, ignoring CFA components (which has been the behavior of ImageCalibration until the 1.8.8-6 release).

What is the advantage of this CFA awareness? I tried it on a couple of my data sets. Immediate integration results are different in color. I guess, the new one is closer to 'true', however I still want to run color calibration. After which the results overall look the same. I imagine, if I did my flats against some blessed reference white, my integration would be in true color and no color calibration guesswork is needed. Reference gray cards are used in regular photography for this reason. I am not quite sure it is applicable to astrophotography at all.

 

[semeion]

Thanks for improving on the CFA keyword management in Image Integration. This is a big quality of live improvement for some of my workflows!
I also love the implementation of StarNet.

 

[JayS_CT]

A truly impressive list.. A word about RAW: Integration of LibRaw 0.20 Release. Deep Sky Stacker ran into a number of issues (depending on the make and model) with supporting cameras. Don't have the exact list of impacted cameras on hand, but don't know if some of the same issues won't crop up here. It was do to a change in LibRaw handling and how DSS had previously interacted with LibRaw. Only mentioning it here as a possible head's up..

Jay S.

 

[pfile]

A truly impressive list.. A word about RAW: Integration of LibRaw 0.20 Release. Deep Sky Stacker ran into a number of issues (depending on the make and model) with supporting cameras. Don't have the exact list of impacted cameras on hand, but don't know if some of the same issues won't crop up here. It was do to a change in LibRaw handling and how DSS had previously interacted with LibRaw. Only mentioning it here as a possible head's up..

Jay S.

there was a libRAW blowup for certain canon cameras where they changed the dimensions of the data they return to the user, which then forced a different bayer matrix, but that happened a couple of versions ago. is there yet something else in 0.20?

rob

 

[mxcoppell]

Installed the latest 1.8.8.6 for MacOSX. Crash immediately after launching PI.

- Uninstalled the old 1.8.8.5 before installing the new version
- Crashed at "Installing Module".
- Crash log attached.
- The MacPro is 2010 5,1 model. 6-core with 40GB Ram
- Uninstall 1.8.8.6 and installed 1.8.8.5 back, everything works.

Please direct. Thanks!

 

[pfile]

Installed the latest 1.8.8.6 for MacOSX. Crash immediately after launching PI.

- Uninstalled the old 1.8.8.5 before installing the new version
- Crashed at "Installing Module".
- Crash log attached.
- The MacPro is 2010 5,1 model. 6-core with 40GB Ram
- Uninstall 1.8.8.6 and installed 1.8.8.5 back, everything works.

Please direct. Thanks!

PixInsight 1.8.8-6 Released

Hello, I am testing Starnet on the latest version of PI released today on my Mac. When I open the process, next to RGB weights file and Greysacale weights file appear two red circles with x and when I try to use it the console says: StarNet: Processing view: NGC_3324_Color3 Writing swap...

pixinsight.com

edit: well that link might be broken but scroll up in this thread - juan describes how to delete the starnet module so that PI can start

 

[mxcoppell]

Thanks pfile!

Now 1.8.8.6 started up by deleting the StarNet module.
Does that mean for my old machine I could not use StarNet++ integrated with 1.8.8.6? Or there is a way to install afterward?

 

[pfile]

i think without re-building the tensorflow libraries from source with AVX instructions turned off it will not work - the tensorflow library that's included in the PI application bundle has AVX instructions (for performance reasons) and that's what causes the problem on some older CPUs.

rob

 

[mxcoppell]

Got it. Thanks Rob!

 

[Juan Conejero]

Hi Jay,

Thank you.

A truly impressive list.. A word about RAW: Integration of LibRaw 0.20 Release. Deep Sky Stacker ran into a number of issues (depending on the make and model) with supporting cameras. Don't have the exact list of impacted cameras on hand, but don't know if some of the same issues won't crop up here. It was do to a change in LibRaw handling and how DSS had previously interacted with LibRaw. Only mentioning it here as a possible head's up..

Please note that we detected and solved this problem back in November 2019, when we integrated LibRaw 201910 snapshot. Our solution is a RAW_compat module that affected users can install as an option to preserve compatibility with master calibration frames generated with version 1.8.7 of PixInsight and older. Currently most of our users seem to have migrated their data to new LibRaw standards, so the incidence of this problem is now very small.

 

[jiberjaber]

Fab work! My workflow seems to be faster (registration quicker?) and with the adaptive normalisation I seem to have a bit better contrast in the test image I am playing with without the delay running the local normalisation provided. Also like the fact I can now click on Automatic Buffer without running out of memory!

Would be useful if the "Add L.Norm Files" button in the Image Integration was greyed out when Adaptive Normalisation is used?

 

[dylanodonnell]

Thanks for a great update to a great product!

In a previous post here there was mention about UI improvements for astrometry tools for this version. I guess they didn't make the cut, but is this still in the pipeline?

Measuring distance and position angle wi PI

Is there a function within PixInsight to measure the distance between two stars (centroids)? Either angular or pixel (and I convert myself knowing my resolution) would be fine. Also, is there a way to measure or determine the position angle (from North/0) of one star compared to another? I am...

pixinsight.com

Thanks again!

 

[Juan Conejero]

Hi Dylan,

Thank you so much. Yes, as I wrote in the announcement:

* A new tool for interactive astrometric measurements, such as angular distances, diameters, areas, etc, is now under development.

The new astrometry-based tools should be ready next autumn.

 

[HiFiBri]

Hello Juan, I installed this latest version and lost the Starnet function access. I followed other links to the Starnet source and downloaded the files and tried to integrate them in the bin directory. It didn't work. I then went back to the previous version and still couldn't get it to work. Finally re-installed the latest version (1.8.8-6) again and Starnet was there and functioning very well. I have just read through the changes which have been made in your post and noted that you recommend removing C:\Program Files\PixInsight\bin\StarNet-pxm.dll which I did and promptly lost the Starnet function again. I copied it back into the bin directory and restarted Pixinsight and it is not there. I removed Pixinsight and re-installed this latest version... it is still not there. What do I need to do to get the Starnet function back?

 

[Juan Conejero]

... noted that you recommend removing C:\Program Files\PixInsight\bin\StarNet-pxm.dll

You have to do that IF and ONLY IF your computer uses an old processor that cannot run StarNet (for example, an old Xeon processor released in 2010). Do the following to get everything back:

• Uninstall PixInsight, then reinstall it from the latest installation package available (released 2020-08-24).
• Run PixInsight.
• Select Process > Modules > Manage Modules from the main menu.
• On the Manage Modules dialog, click the Disable All button, then the Done button.
• Exit PixInsight, the run it again.

Now everything should be again in its place. You'll have to install the available updates, but the installation packages probably will still be on your hard disk so no download should be necessary.

Let me know if this helps.

 

[Craig123]

You have to do that IF and ONLY IF your computer uses an old processor that cannot run StarNet (for example, an old Xeon processor released in 2010). Do the following to get everything back:

• Uninstall PixInsight, then reinstall it from the latest installation package available (released 2020-08-24).
• Run PixInsight.
• Select Process > Modules > Manage Modules from the main menu.
• On the Manage Modules dialog, click the Disable All button, then the Done button.
• Exit PixInsight, the run it again.

Now everything should be again in its place. You'll have to install the available updates, but the installation packages probably will still be on your hard disk so no download should be necessary.

Let me know if this helps.

Hi Juan ,

My first post on the forum so thanks for a great programme. I have downloaded the new release and modules a couple of times now but still have problems with Starnet crashing. I have been using the standalone command line version previously but would really like it running in PI. Can you help me out. Here are a few screen shots as I'm not sure how to resolve this.Im running it on MacBook Pro 2012 High Sierra.

Many thanks

Craig

 

[jthommes]

Juan,
Very impressive upgrade description.

I have an extensive pixelmath library. If I upgrade to 1.8.8-6, will all of my old icons in my library (from 1.8.8-5) still work?

 

[thutchison]

Juan:

Thank you and the rest of the team for a wonderful release. I was wondering if the new EmissionLineIntegration script is an implementation of the method proposed by Vincent in this post.

Thank you in advance for your response.
Tim.

 

[joelshort]

The NoiseGenerator tool is now obsolete. It will be replaced with a completely rewritten version, or maybe it will be removed. PixelMath can be used for efficient, statistically rigorous noise generation, including many statistical distributions (chi squared, gamma, Gaussian, Poisson, Student-t, and will be more).

What a great update! I'm excited to try the new features.
However I'm concerned about the above statement. Ever since I learned about Adam Blocks excellent star reducing workflow I have relied on NoiseGenerator to accurately match the background noise level for reducing stars. PixelMath is great for those that know what they are doing will all those formulas etc, but that's not me. Please either keep the current NoiseGenerator or a rewritten replacement.