cgarry

I have updated PIPP's website with some notes about running PIPP on Linux using Wine and thought that it is worth mentioning here. See https://sites.google.com/site/astropipp/downloads/installing-pipp-on-linux-with-wine for details. I am still planning to produce a native version of PIPP for Linux and OS X, but hopefully this will help somebody in the meantime. Cheers, Chris

Posting again! Stackistry Cheers, Chris

In that case I would recommend Ubuntu MATE 16.04, not the standard version of Ubuntu with the Unity desktop. I found the MATE desktop to be much more intuitive coming from a Windows background.

Nearly forgot, this from @GreatAttractor is quite new but looking good so far: Stackistry (https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/269011-stackistry-a-lucky-imagingimage-stacking-tool/) Chris

How about: oaCapture (http://www.openastroproject.org/oacapture/) SER Player (https://sites.google.com/site/astropipp/ser-player) Siril (https://free-astro.org/index.php/Siril) PIPP and AS!2 with Wine.

Nigel, If you are doing this for planetary imaging and there is significant empty space around the planet then it is worth getting PIPP to crop the frames around the planet while it is doing the MOV to AVI conversion (https://sites.google.com/site/astropipp/example-uasge/example1B). This will greatly reduce the memory and processor power that RegiStax will need. Another thing I would advise is to use AutoStakkert!2 (http://www.autostakkert.com/) for stacking instead of RegiStax. Cheers, Chris

Your problem is almost certainly that Registax is only handling old format AVI files. PIPP will generate these (Output Options Tab->AVI File Options->Generate Old Format AVI FIle) but they are limited to a maximum size of 4GB. There are some ways to get around this in Registax, but I think using AS!2 for stacking and Registax for wavelets is the best solution. Cheers, Chris

I have a 120MC and a 120MM and they are both fantastic cameras. Though you do have to work at it, great images don't just fall out of them! Here is one of Mars that I took with the 120MC: Note that there was a C14 telescope in front of the camera which does help an awful lot! Cheers, Chris

The are various capture programs that capture raw data from fast frame rate cameras (often incorrectly referred to as web cams). Sharpcap, FIrecapture and oaCapture are these type of programs. Then there are various programs the appear to do a similar thing for DSLR cameras (such as 'EOS Camera Movie Record'), these are the programs I am referring to. In general it is simply not possible to get raw (or lossless compressed) video data from DSLR cameras. These programs give the impression that you are getting raw data, but all they do is convert the lossy compressed data into a raw AVI. Chris

Although these programs generate lossless AVIs, they do by converting lossy video (or a series of JPEGs) into a lossless AVI. The damage has already been done to the data and I doubt there is any quality advantage to working this way.

Ah yes, the size of the compressed data will depend on the subject in the video, That could explain the strange file sizes. From my reading on the internet, FINE is the setting you want.

The file sizes you recorded make no sense to me, or at least they seem to be the wrong way round. Also 300MB for a 2 minute, 30 fps, 1920x1080 video is tiny! There is no way that is lossless! Cheers, Chris

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC: Yes, H.264 can be lossless, but I have never come across this in the real world. You capture file is certainly not lossless, it is far too small for that to be the case. I would choose 'AVCHD FINE' as it will be better quality, though I am pretty sure it will still be lossy. Cheers, Chris

That is great news. Thanks for testing that version of PIPP, I will get it released in case it is causing others are having the same problem. I don't use avchd files myself, but I know of a few guys who have used it. Although the 'planetary imaging rules' say that using lossy video is a bad idea, I have seen some very nice results created from DSLRs using lossy videos. I had a quick play with your video and I could not get any more detail out of it than you did. As soon as I applied any kind of wavelets to the stacked image it just exploded with onion rings. I am not sure why this happens but the low levels in the video (around 30%) almost certainly do not help. Cheers, Chris

I have sent you a PM with a link to an updated version of PIPP that should handle .mts files again. Could you try this version and let me know if it works for you? Cheers, Chris

It looks like I have lost the .mts extension from PIPP's video type list at some point. Could you try changing the filename to end in .mov instead of .mts and see if PIPP is happy with it then? That just tricks PIPP into accepting the file. Cheers, Chris

PIPP should support avchd files, it certainly does for all the files I tested. What is the error you are getting? Thanks, Chris