Processing issues. What next?

this is the main message area for anything solar :)
Post Reply
denababy
Ohhhhhh My!
Ohhhhhh My!
Posts: 172
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:01 pm
Been thanked: 17 times

Processing issues. What next?

Post by denababy »

Hi today (Thursday 16th Feb) I managed to get a couple of avi’s of the Sun. There were two problems, the first one was after stacking, due to the motion of the Sun, the resultant image was awful, totally unusable, the scope was powered and the tracking rate was set at Solar,s the second when I tried to process in imPPG it would not open any of the videos, all I got was a message telling me it could not open the file, why? I know I’m doing something wrong but can anyone throw any light please.


User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42270
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20424 times
Been thanked: 10243 times
Contact:

Re: Processing issues. What next?

Post by marktownley »

post a shot of what you got so we can see what is happening


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
denababy
Ohhhhhh My!
Ohhhhhh My!
Posts: 172
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:01 pm
Been thanked: 17 times

Re: Processing issues. What next?

Post by denababy »

I have no idea how to post a shot! Tell me and I’ll try it. Cheers


User avatar
Montana
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 34560
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:25 pm
Location: Cheshire, UK
Has thanked: 17667 times
Been thanked: 8788 times

Re: Processing issues. What next?

Post by Montana »

Do you have a FLickr account or similar? use the share button and copy and paste the BB code into the text box here. If a JPEG use the Full editor & and preview and add attachment, then place attachment in line.

ImPPG will only cope with the final stacked image (TIFF or Bitmap), don't put the avi file into it :)

Alexandra


User avatar
PDB
Almost There...
Almost There...
Posts: 702
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2016 4:23 pm
Location: Belgium
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 149 times

Re: Processing issues. What next?

Post by PDB »

What type of mount are you using?
If it is an AZ mount the mount may track, but the image will rotate. (If that is the problem AS!3 might have an experimental function to coop with that, but I never tested it)

P.


User avatar
Montana
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 34560
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:25 pm
Location: Cheshire, UK
Has thanked: 17667 times
Been thanked: 8788 times

Re: Processing issues. What next?

Post by Montana »

No, I use AZ mount with my PST and a 2 minute capture is fine in ASK3
Alexandra


Bruce Girrell

Re: Processing issues. What next?

Post by Bruce Girrell »

In Autostakkert, did you select Planet or Surface?

You need to select Surface


denababy
Ohhhhhh My!
Ohhhhhh My!
Posts: 172
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:01 pm
Been thanked: 17 times

Re: Processing issues. What next?

Post by denababy »

Thanks for the replies. My mount is an eq3-2 powered by a Skywatcher 7ah battery and the hand controller set to solar. In Autostakkert I selected surface. I have just opened a Flickr account but due to the file extension NOT being a tiff, jpeg or png I cannot upload the file. I have asked the question on the Sharpcap forum how to change a file extension to one that lets me upload. I wish I was computer literate. The file is in Sharpcap captures how will I move it into another location?


User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42270
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20424 times
Been thanked: 10243 times
Contact:

Re: Processing issues. What next?

Post by marktownley »

what is the file extension?


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
denababy
Ohhhhhh My!
Ohhhhhh My!
Posts: 172
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:01 pm
Been thanked: 17 times

Re: Processing issues. What next?

Post by denababy »

Hi Mark the extension is avi. I have opened a Flickr account but I cannot upload the said file, I have the file sitting in Sharpcap Captures and there does not seem to be a way of getting it into my camera roll where most of my pics reside. What I need to know is how can I either save avi’s into another location with an acceptable extention such as tiff Etc. or rename, do I need to make a copy?


User avatar
Montana
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 34560
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:25 pm
Location: Cheshire, UK
Has thanked: 17667 times
Been thanked: 8788 times

Re: Processing issues. What next?

Post by Montana »

An avi is movie not a picture.

After processing in Autotakkert 3 the output is always a Tiff image (a single stacked frame which is constructed from all the good frames captured in the movie). It is this image you should be sharpening in ImPPG or uploading to Flickr. You cannot upload the original movie from the camera.

Can you give us an exact account of your workflow?

Alexandra


denababy
Ohhhhhh My!
Ohhhhhh My!
Posts: 172
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:01 pm
Been thanked: 17 times

Re: Processing issues. What next?

Post by denababy »

Hi Alex tomorrow I am going to go over things again so I will be able to record exactly what I am doing. I am aware that the avi. is a movie is seems to be this area where I am going wrong.


FlankerOneTwo
Ohhhhhh My!
Ohhhhhh My!
Posts: 71
Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2017 8:11 pm

Re: Processing issues. What next?

Post by FlankerOneTwo »

From your first post it sounds like you are trying to open the avi in imPPG. As far as I can tell imPPG only works on images, not video. You should stack in AutoStakkert to produce an image (TIF or PNG or FIT) that you would then open in imPPG.

There are others here with a ton more experience than I, but here are couple of quick things to spot check that have gotten me when I was starting:
In AS, after ensuring that surface alignment is selected, try to set the "image stabilization anchor" on a spot or other prominent feature. After you analyze, click the play button to make sure that the image frames are well aligned - if the image jumps all over the place, there's a problem with the stabilization, you should redo it before trying to stack.
If that looks good, make sure that you have an adequate number of alignment points on the surface. I use a lot (several thousand). Set the brightness threshold and size and let AS place them instead of trying to do it manually. It should completely tile the surface with plenty of overlap between tiles.
Finally, check how many frames you are stacking - I generally look at the graph that AS produces and use no more than where the graph drops below 75% quality. Often I just stack about 5% of a 200 frame run, that seems to work well most of the time.

Hopefully that will get you a decent result that you can pull into imPPG. Again, make sure you are opening the AS result image in imPPG, not the original avi.


denababy
Ohhhhhh My!
Ohhhhhh My!
Posts: 172
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:01 pm
Been thanked: 17 times

Re: Processing issues. What next?

Post by denababy »

Hi everyone I have been going through things most of this morning and feel I have a better understanding of things but, now there is the next issue, which processing software does everyone use. I have gimp at the moment and a ten year old version of Photoshop. I would think that you only use a small percentage of the total program of Photoshop, so for our needs which is better, lightroom Photoshop Elements gimp which.
By the way thanks everyone it is only with your help and patience things are moving forward for me.


User avatar
PDB
Almost There...
Almost There...
Posts: 702
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2016 4:23 pm
Location: Belgium
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 149 times

Re: Processing issues. What next?

Post by PDB »

Hi,

most of the time my workflow is AS!3 -> IMPPG -> Gimp. Gimp I use for final touch up, framing and colouring. In most cases that is more than enough (I use the latest Beta version of Gimp that is capable of handling full 16bit TIFF files)
Since I take all my videos in SER format instead of AVI: SerPlayer (http://sites.google.com/site/astropipp)
If I need to create a masking disk for proms I use Corono (http://ggrillot.free.fr)
For creating aninamitions(a challenge) : DVS, PIPP & Virtualdub

Paul


Post Reply