Patreon Exclusive Video: Processing Ali's Coalsack Nebula
Added 2023-04-22 21:09:16 +0000 UTCHappy Saturday everyone!
Today, I have a patreon exclusive video for everyone thanks to new member Ali from Australia who has given me permission to process his coalsack nebula data to make this video. Thank you Ali! In this one, I'm processing in PixInsight and Photoshop, and show a few tricks I've never shown before. This is not quite as structured as my videos on YouTube meaning I might ramble a bit more, but I think it will still be a very useful video for PixInsight and/or Photoshop users looking to process dark nebulae and dealing with color shifts in the background. Let me know in the comments what you think and if you'd like to see more of these less structured processing videos here on Patreon.
Clear skies, Nico
Comments
Ah, sorry, I'm obviously rusty with PI. I forgot that ImageSolver is a script and scripts don't behave the same way as 'processes' when it comes to saving them and re-opening them. Sorry for the confusion.
Nico Carver
2023-06-05 01:02:23 +0000 UTCThat's very close to the issue however once I. make the "image solver" a process on the desktop I can't see how to get the initial window back that I see when I first run the script. Double-clicking only brings up a different window that can't be edited to show a different location and time that is needed to find a new location.
Malcome Kempe
2023-06-05 00:46:54 +0000 UTCGot it. If there are some settings you want to stay consistent and some you want to change, you can always double-click the process icon to open it back up rather than just applying it. That way you can still keep it in the workspace but I guess you still have to figure out how to remember to open it up and change those settings. Same thing with PixelMath. You can write complex formulae and save it as a process, but if those formulae need tweaking you still have to remember to double-click the process icon to change them.
Nico Carver
2023-06-02 19:35:12 +0000 UTCok, so what I have noticed is that if you create an icon on the desktop for the image solver it retains the last inputted parameters. So this was the trap I fell for, you can run it and it fails but if you go back to the menu and change it you can run as many times as you like and all is good. Ok if you just work on one target but otherwise a big fail. LOL PI has so many hard things to remember I bought Adam Block's video for beginners and followed along and all worked as expected but the first Image I tried to make afterward was a large fail and until this day I have no idea why. I think I couldn't get it to stack hence stacking APP became a thing. I don't think PI likes Nikon raw files for correction frames all worked well with the new 2600 OSC. Haven't tried it after that. I think you should do a video called "Your biggest fails in Astro" Just based on people who have fallen into traps along the way in editing. You could get a lot of help from your members to put forward their biggest traps which they have found so far on this journey into a dark rabbit hole. It might help others on their way to enjoy this as a hobby as it should be. PS Can Pixelmath be written to make a script run as it does from the menu in PI?
Malcome Kempe
2023-06-02 01:29:56 +0000 UTCThe step you are looking for in PI is under Scripts->Image analysis->Image Solver. Yes, it's tough for content creators. I often get questions about why I only show basic things or am not using the newest plugins, and it's exactly for the reason you are expressing. I want my videos to be fairly timeless, so even if I use something new and exciting personally, I might not immediately show it on the channel because I know how quickly the process/plugin will be updated and the video will become obsolete.
Nico Carver
2023-06-01 18:27:22 +0000 UTCI got past this part I have combined RGB for now in PI but I have forgotten how to tell PI where this is in the night sky, so I can do the color calibration. I know it can be done I just cannot remember how. lol, I do know when you stack in PI it does that step for you. This is why if you did the approach you would just show newbies all that is important to get results with little fuss because you are so much better at explaining than most on youtube. I start in PI and do a "blink" through away all the rubbish first because I only use 30sec subs. Then go to APP to stack cause it works easier than PI then go back to PI to hopefully get a nice Tiff then off to PS to add a bit of art and to print from the final image. The biggest challenge is these programs are always updating so many features it makes it hard to remember where all the functions that one needs. I guess it makes it hard for content creators to also stay on top as well. I use the icons in PI on the side to help but that needs to be updated regularly as well. I wish content creators had really good search facilities for all the content they made so at a glance you could find the most up-to-date info. The internet is full of out-of-date tutorials which wastes so much time. The best content makers try to look at the subject as if they just worked out how to do it and want to share it with all.
Malcome Kempe
2023-06-01 05:00:49 +0000 UTCHi Malcome, You might already know this, but APP has many full tutorials on the website. Here's one for LRGB (Mono) pre-processing that should help: https://www.astropixelprocessor.com/complete-lrgb-tutorial-of-ngc292-the-small-magellanic-cloud-by-christian-sasse-itelescope-net-new-version-app-1-081/
Nico Carver
2023-05-30 23:22:53 +0000 UTCHey, Nico The beast I am learning is APP for stacking and PI for processing and final touch-up in PS on a Mac as I don't have a fast enough PC atm. Nothing like jumping in the deep-end hay.
Malcome Kempe
2023-05-29 22:44:57 +0000 UTCHi Malcome, I have some basic processing videos in this series: https://www.nebulaphotos.com/resources/narrowband-intro/ It covers narrowband (SHO). I also have a more recent video on LRGB processing with Siril+GIMP. If you let me know what processing software you typically use, I can recommend more resources.
Nico Carver
2023-05-29 16:25:22 +0000 UTCThanks, I love this type of content very helpful. I would love to see the same adLib approach to black-and-white processing from start to finish. So the other night I took my new rig out it's a 61 mm WO with a 183mm and seven filters (LRGBOHS). I collected data all night on the lagoon and now what to do with it is the big question. lol, the live view on the iPad looks good to a newbie but who knows what could be done with it. As a second rig, an Evolux 62ED with an 0.8 flattener reducer so 360mm fL and a 533 OSC. I took the same lagoon images all night for a bit of a comparison to see if this black and white is worth all the effort.
Malcome Kempe
2023-05-29 03:58:10 +0000 UTCThank you very much Nico. Another awesome video. I’ll capture more data and try again.
Ali Kheiri
2023-04-23 03:11:03 +0000 UTCVery useful information and excellent presentation! Thanks!
Margaret Thrash
2023-04-23 00:30:46 +0000 UTCNice job Nico, Your instruction video are educational and very helpful. Micheal
Micheal Preston
2023-04-22 23:47:33 +0000 UTC
