Autostakkert2 flats issue

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Michaelk2423
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Autostakkert2 flats issue

Post by Michaelk2423 »

Hello. When trying to load a master flat frame (.fit) into autostakkert2 2.6.8, I get "invalid floating point operation" error. I refocused and used Sharpcap's "capture flat" for acquisition which averaged 100 frames, produced the single master 1920x1080 .fit frame, and the histogram status stated it was OK at the time of capture. If I try loading the flat frame before loading the Avi's....i get the error. If I load the avi files in before I try loading the flat...no error but the final image is not corrected. Any ideas what is going on here? This is for the mercury transit so trying to make the flat I have work because scope has changed since acquisition. I'm wondering if there is a way to just apply the flat to the avi frames without the stacking or maybe apply the flat after they have been stacked although that may not work since the stacked image size will have changed and not be identical to the flat size. Thanks guys


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Re: Autostakkert2 flats issue

Post by christian viladrich »

The flat image is to be calculated by AS.
So, first record the flat as an AVI (or SER) file.
Then process this AVI or SER file in AS to calculate the flat image (PNG or TIF).
Then use this flat image in AS.


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Re: Autostakkert2 flats issue

Post by marktownley »

What Christian says :)


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Re: Autostakkert2 flats issue

Post by Michaelk2423 »

I have a really cool timelapse of the transit and would like to find a way of getting rid of the bunnies. Worst case I will just deal with them. Yes I understand now that I should have saved an avi file for the flat but at this point I only have the master that was averaged by sharpcap and my rig is been dismantled preventing me from capturing another. So, at this point, am I out of luck and will have the same issue with other stacking programs?
On another note with same frames ...I have about 400 avi files of about 320ish frames each taken at 15 sec intervals using sharpcap. Stacked avi's with autostakkert2, processed and aligned the individual stacked frames with imppg, and been trying to get descent results with the animation in PIPP. No luck so far, animation is shaky as heck. Tried all the different settings for alignment and even tried aligning in PIPP too but still nogo...shaky. Im wondering if it is having trouble aligning the frames because the first frames start out in the disc center and the limb is not really visible and then it transitions across to where it is visible. Maybe align the frames backwards starting with the limb to give a reference point? Or forget about the limb and just use mercury for aligning? If anyone thinks they can help I will provide whatever is necessary. Caught some proms doing a dance during the transit as well so this could be super cool. Thanks!


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Re: Autostakkert2 flats issue

Post by Montana »

Can you convert your flat frame to a Tif image? that is all that Autostakkert needs to use in the function 'add master flat'?

I see your problem with aligning. I would try Registax 5 and use Mercury as a single alignment point in a small box. Click align, make sure the quality is low to include all images, go to the optimise tab and click optimise only. Then in the stack tab go to the left and click maximum area and tick png, then save all individual frames. Then use these frames to put into Registax 5 again and repeat (just for a smoother version). Then use Photoshop or whatever to animate your single files. I am sure this should work but not sure. Always worth a try. Mercury will stay in the same place but the background will move.

Alexandra


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Re: Autostakkert2 flats issue

Post by marktownley »

What sort of frames are they? Full disk, closeup etc?


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Re: Autostakkert2 flats issue

Post by Michaelk2423 »

Hi Mark, I think my mistake was tracking the sun instead of mercury. Dumb move. It is a close up view and starts towards the middle with just a sliver of limb showing. Mercury drifts ahead to the right in the frames while the sun's limb drifts back to the left. Had I kept mercury in the center of the frame, AS probably wouldn't be having trouble producing a nice smooth sequence. Oh well, will keep at it trying different things to come up with something descent


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Re: Autostakkert2 flats issue

Post by Michaelk2423 »

Hi Alexandra, I wondered if it was having trouble with the .fit file. I will try it with a tif.
I have Registax 6 which doesnt have the functions that 5 has,such as optimize, so I will download 5 to give your recommendation a try. I tried to follow Stephen's registax tutorial but it was with 5.1 so again it is quite different than the current version I have. Will give a try for sure and post back.


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Re: Autostakkert2 flats issue

Post by Michaelk2423 »

Well thanks Alexandra, your recommendations worked for both the flat and the utilization of registax 5 for a better sequence. Just changing the .fit to a .tiff was all that was needed for AS to recognize. The flat did unfortunately enhance a nasty ringed gradient that was present around the limb when inverting the frames. But I'm happy I was able to get something half way decent so thank you so much for your help. This will be an ongoing project as my skills improve. I will post some links to some results in a new thread. Thanks


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