sharpcap settings?

[phil m105]

hi all ive only managed to capture one very small clip of saturn as i didnt have any tracking (which i have now yippeee)

but its been to cloudy to get out for another try,

has anyone got any settings they use on sharpcap for capturing saturn to get the best colours out of it on registax?

as i say i took this not focused well & played with sharpcap settings quickly before it went off the screen

then put it through the mind boggling registax

im kinda pleased with it as my first atempt but would like to get a more naturaul / realistic image

so any help on the settings for actually capturing it would be very appreciated.

Capture 01_06_2012 23_21_32.bmp

[JamesF]

It really depends on your camera. Different settings mean different things depending on the camera you're using. Not only that, but the not all cameras have the same sets of controls and their ranges of acceptable values change too.

I'd suggest that you should try to start with exposure lengths that will allow you no fewer than ten frames per second, gamma set fairly low and you'll need a fairly high gain setting, but try not to overdo it. You can tweak saturation up a bit, too, but don't overdo that either otherwise Saturn can go very yellow on you. Ideally 20fps or even 30fps would be best, but at the kind of exposure lengths you need for that you may not get enough light on the sensor for a decent image. It's a bit of a balancing act. You can quite happily capture five minutes worth of video to stack.

James

[todd8137]

hi there just remember its better to have a slightly dim view than a over bright its just a case of playing with the settings the best target for this is the moon,now try with that first as its bright and dark once you have got the moon good then try for the planets just a thoughht

[tich]

If you've got tracking ie motorised then that would give you more time to try different settings. I did ask & use different settings that I'd seen posted on here & while I got results, I found it best to mess around & use my own. I don't generally use the gamma function & have the saturation just below half way. Just remember not to have the gain or brigtness to high or you will lose the detail. I found between 10 & 15 frames per second worked best but I have gone down to 5 when conditions have been poor. It takes some practise & after a few goes you'll soon get the hang of it.

I've just had a look at your first attempt & as you said you had no tracking thats a good effort. You can see some detail & the focus looks ok.

[phil m105]

thanks for the advice & tips

do they apply to webcam? as im not using a camera

& maybe im trying to run before i can walk

[phil m105]

thanks for the advice & compliment tich

[JamesF]

If conditions are poor then you really want a higher frame rate, or at least, a shorter exposure time, so the fluctuations in seeing affect the image less.

It's all a balancing act though. Ideally you want a fairly long exposure and low frame rate allowing low gain, but as the seeing degrades you need a shorter exposure length to reduce the effects it causes. That means the gain needs to go up to compensate for the reduced light levels reaching the sensor, but allows you to capture more frames to stack by raising the frame rate.

The advice to have the image slightly dim rather than too bright is spot on, but I've found this season, particularly now Saturn is getting past its best, that you need a fair handful of gain to allow Registax to work its magic. If the image is too dim there's insufficient contrast and it struggles to do a good job of stacking. I tend to do a string of captures taking the gain up five or ten points at a time until the image is clearly too noisy or too bright.

James

[JamesF]

I'm talking about a webcam, certainly.

James

[phil m105]

thanks james some good info to keep me going for a bit

hopeing for a break in clouds tonight after midnight so hopefully try it out

but will post another pic when had chance in few days i hope