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Apple Mac software

Interstellarshaw88

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Interstellarshaw88

Interstellarshaw88

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Hello all.

I bet this as been covered half a dozen times but I'm having no luck in actually pinpointing it down to exact programs I could use on the MacBook for certain tasks....

What software can people recommend for stacking images ?

What software could you recommend for actual editing of the photo? Is light room ok or is full photoshop better ?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Darren

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D4N

D4N

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Pixinsight is great for stacking and processing but has a high price tag.

Nebulosity does capture, stacking and some processing for a much lower price tag.

You can run DSS in wine for free for stacking.

Gimp is free, use version 2.9 for processing.

PHD2 works on OSX for guiding.

OACapture for planetary imaging.

AS2! Works in wine for planetary stacking. Registax also works in wine.

Indi instead of Ascom as the equipment interface.

Cartes du Ciel or Stellarium for target selection and mount control.

/Dan

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freiform

freiform

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Wine Is Not an Emulator, but implements the Windows API that programms can access if they feel the need to do so.

I'm using EQMac and Cartes du Ceil natively in OS X for simple mount control, but for imaging I have Windows 7 running in a VM with the usual suspects (EQmod, PHD, AStroTortilla, APT, etc.).

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drmikevt

drmikevt

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freiform - what mount do you have?  I'm trying to determine if EQMAC will work with the CGEM.  According to the website info, it doesn't seem like it does, but...

I'll also add SkySafariPro for great wireless mount control and object selection (using a SkyFi unit).  

The one thing that seems impossible on a Mac (outside of The Sky X) is integrated auto-focus.  Stark labs has some focus controllers, which is great, but no auto-focus.  :(

Mike

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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I dont do astro imaging but I do use a mac for photo processing for other stuff.  The progs I use are;

Preview - comes as standard on any Mac and its quite good for basic stuff like cropping pics and adjusting sizes.

Photostitcher 1.6 - stitches pics together to create panormas - one of the best stitchers I have ever come across.  Perfect even for complex stitch work and very cheap off the app store.

Pixelmator - does nearly everything adobe photoshop can do but at a fraction of the price - has a few bugs but nothing thats fatal.

Smartphotoeditor - millions of pre canned special effects - probably of limited use for astro imaging but great for other photography.

Heres a few samples - these are tiny as I usually shoot for very large prints they 

The waterscene is processed to improve the water colors and boost the foliage, remove some of the mid tones and darken shadows then a soft glow has been added. Most of this was done with SmartPhotoEditor.

The aircraft were merged from two pictures in Pixelmator and the sky given a sunset wash in SmartPhotoeditor

Landscape was done with Photostitcher bolting 4 seperate pics together, pixelmator to auto recreate any missing edges and repair small flaws and finally SmartyPhotoEditor to add the lens flares, recolor to bring up the reds and fine hues.

I could see any of the progs having an application for astro imaging if you want to apply effects to final pics.

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D4N

D4N

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Nope I'm avoiding El Capitan until all,the problems have been solved.

From what I have read though you should be able to continue using it in wine if you update the wrapper.

/Dan

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freiform

freiform

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freiform - what mount do you have?  I'm trying to determine if EQMAC will work with the CGEM.  According to the website info, it doesn't seem like it does, but...

Hi Mike,

I use a SynScan GoTo-Kit on my Vixen GP. EQMOD doe not support the CGEM. I suppose EQmac does not either. There should be a way to get your CGEM running with Stellarium only, though.

Sven

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Tim99

Tim99

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I had the same questions as a Mac user when I first started Astrophotgraphy.  I highly recommend Nebulosity for capture, stacking, pre-processing and some post processing.  This program was NOT designed to be a comprehensive, complex program to use.  Mac lovers like it because of its ease of use and straight forward controls.   Nebulosity is great for beginners and yet powerful enough to satisfy advanced users.

The program also has a nifty focus routine to get that fine focus quickly and easily without the need for focus masks.  A license is provided which allows a person to use the program on a Mac and PC at the same time.  I decided to buy am inexpensive PC to take to the field rather than use my Mac so I do the capture on the PC then process the images on my Mac.

I have been getting excellent results with Nebulosity.  I found a video tutorial on YouYube on a channel called AstronomyShed.  This fellow takes you through his work flow using Nebulosity to pre-process some images.  It's a great video.

Good luck

Tim

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Dave In Vermont

Dave In Vermont

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I come from a family of artists. I'm the black-sheep who went into the sciences ("The poor child!"). Though my artistic talents go into my writing techniques. My aunt in Canada though does a great deal of painting and photography - she paints flowers and other green & growing creatures. And she told me that she would never consider using anything other than her beloved Apple computer for her work. That she wants to capture the pure and undiluted essence of their beauty - in extreme details.

Seeing her stuff, and now Astro_Baby's (Mel) images, I am utterly convinced of the powers of Apples for fine photgraphy. Which leaves me in a fine pickle! When I go full-speed into video-astrophotography, I'll be stacking frame-grabs and fine-tuning everything in my obsessed way I know I will be swept-up in. So an Apple? :eek:

Now what shall I sell off.....? :D

Dave

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Interstellarshaw88

Interstellarshaw88

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again thank you for all the comments guys will have to try some of the software out.

I'm just wanting to use my macbook pro for it all as its got the retina screen which is a hell of a lot better then my other laptop screen for colours ect so editing images hopefully will be better on this once i get the hang of it as I've only had mac a couple of months and after having windows for years its a little weird to say the least.

thanks darren.

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Davey-T

Davey-T

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With imaging season now upon us I've given up struggling to get the MBP working and bought a nice little Toshiba Kira 13",  i5, 8GB, 128SSD for imaging only, took a couple of days to make it update to Win.10 and install imaging apps, now hoping tomorrows forecast clear sky is correct :)

Dave

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CraigT82

CraigT82

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Yup I've seen their list...They only list the QHY8-10 models. In fact according to their list it only supports higher end deep sky cameras? So not sure if I'm missing something. Has anyone successfully used the qHY5l-ii or any other budget planetary/ guide cam with nebulosity on Mac OS X??

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D4N

D4N

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The Asi cameras work in Nebulosity for OSX, you are right in that the QHY5 is not listed in the camera drop down.

I would suggest using OACapture for capture then pre-process in Nebulosity.

/Dan

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