I love you Emil Kraaikamp

[thenews24]

Just recently discovered AutoStakker2. Thanks to Alexandra for some great advice and of course Merlin for your library of knowledge at solar chat.

I just reprocessed an older image with some new techniques. I am impressed with the results.

Here's a comparison between a Registax processed image with overcooked wavlets colorized in CS5, to a Autostakker2 processed image using high pass and sharpening filters in cs5 with colorization.

Registax

Autostakker2

[KE400]

Great results, wish I knew how to use it!

I can't seem to get any results and end up back with Registax

[anthony]

Both versions are great but the detail really looks alive on the autos taker version!

[JamesF]

It does indeed.

Out of interest, what resolution and type of files did you use for feeding into AS!2?

James

[DrRobin]

Hi,

Nice comparison. I tried AS!2 but couldn't work out how to set the reference frame. Unfortunately, it chose a bad frame and the results weren't as good as Registax.

[Montana]

Excellent result much more natural feel

Robin, I never set a reference frame? ASk2 is very simple and processes surface much better than Avi or Regi

http://solarchat.solarastronomy.org/index.php/en/this-is-solar-chat/17-solar-reference-library/13593-tutorial-as2-dennis-put

Hope this helps

Alexandra

[Freddie]

Definate improvement. I shall give that tutorial a go. Thanks for posting.

[thenews24]

I feed avi's of about 1,000 frames @ 1280 X 960 - the dmk41. But in ASk2 I check off crop so it cuts it down slightly to like 1250 X 930 or so.

I had bad results at first too. Just make sure 'surface' is checked, and after analyze I chose to stack 10% of the frames (I think default is set to 50%), and in the frame view window on the right use MAP and I do about 50 Align Points (AP).

The final image wont look as good as a registax image with the wavlets bumped up, most of the post stack processing is sharpening in cs5 to really bring out the detail, then wow!

[hunterknox]

You can always thank Emil with a donation!

[DrRobin]

Excellent result much more natural feel

Robin, I never set a reference frame? ASk2 is very simple and processes surface much better than Avi or Regi

http://solarchat.sol...-as2-dennis-put

Hope this helps

Alexandra

Hi,

I had another go with AS2, following the tutorial (made a lot of mistakes last time without this, thanks). I stacked an image taken today and it came out about the same as Registax 5, but when I repeated the exercise with a flat, Registax 5 worked well (see PST and Flats post), but AS2, just produces multiple copies of the image all overlaid on each other and no amount of fiddling with the settings seems to make any difference.

When the flat is applied, it tones down the detail and it looks like AS2 just can't handle the [apparent] low quality. A similar thing happened in Reg 6, but I have found that Reg6 struggles when the quality is less than perfect.

I think I am going to stick with Reg 5 for the present.

[thenews24]

Another AS!2 image that produced results beyond anything I ever expected with a stock PST. Love the depth of the spicules and how they feel layered, and soft, and gas like. Almost fluffy, giving the surface a 3d feel. And the resolution is what I'd expect from the dmk41.

[Montana]

That is a beauty!

Flats are tough in ASK2, there is a very special procedure involved with them, here is a tutorial.

http://solarchat.solarastronomy.org/index.php/en/this-is-solar-chat/17-solar-reference-library/17653-tutorial-flat-fielding-with-autostakkert2-chris

Alexandra

[DrRobin]

Thanks Alexandra,

Flats looks straight forward enough, so will give the tutorial a go at lunch time. When I used AS2 before with a flat it was one generated by Registax, so perhaps it wasn't compatible.

[thenews24]

That is a beauty!

Flats are tough in ASK2, there is a very special procedure involved with them, here is a tutorial.

http://solarchat.sol...stakkert2-chris

Alexandra

That last image I posted used the same flat method. No dust bunnies in sight! Woo hoo, it's like magic, except the master magician is the true genius, for I just follow the experts.

[PeterW]

Just spent a while running some CaK data though our fave 3 progs and have to agree with the rest. With Reg6 I seemed to burn out the highlights and find it hard to get a nice sharp result. AstroStakkert with "sharpen" and "HQ" options just automatically spat out a better result which I have no reason to post-fiddle with. Excellent!

Cheers

pEterW

[RogerTheDodger]

The surface looks a lot better in Autostakkert, but the proms look a little better in Registax to me.

[riklaunim]

AS became nearly the standard for planetary stacking and when AS2 came out with surface stacking support it is becoming the standard for lunar and solar work And for planets there is also "Castrator" app

[LukeSkywatcher]

Its been said before that they are both great images, but man that autostakker really adds depth and texture.

Great stuff.

[Emil]

Well thank you. I guess

Note that the current version 2.1.0.5 can't deal with flats properly (it will make the image too bright). This is fixed in a beta version but will only be live in a couple of weeks, so hang in there. If you don't get good results using AS!2, please do let met know. I'm always looking for ways to improve the software. Often it is a simply matter of one setting that needs to be changed in order to get good results, so send me an email and ask!

Cheers,

Emil

[DrRobin]

Hi Emil,

Thanks for the update regarding flats, I will wait for the new version and give it a go. Thanks also for the offer of help, my problem is I am new to [solar] imaging and sometimes lack the experience to know if it is something I am doing wrong or if it is a problem/quirk of the software. I would hate to be critical of something unless I was sure, which is why I like this site there are plent of people here with far more experience than me only too happy to share their expertise.