Stacking Software for Mac OS X Recommendations

[EnigmaXXIII]

Hi all,

I've been using Lynkeos to stack my images for the past few days, however, I have moved from using JPEG to RAW files and it would appear that the program can't handle the amount of data contained in a few RAW photographs. It just crashes when stacking. I have also tried using Keiths Image Stacker though this doesn't seem to like my RAW files either. I am using a Canon 600D if that's of any use?

Can anyone suggest any free (or not too expensive) stacking programmes available for the Mac system?

Thanks,

John.

[atmenterprises]

I use DSS running in a program called Crossover, which isn't free but it's a semi-reliable solution.

[EnigmaXXIII]

What's Crossover? Is that to access Windows? If so, I'd prefer not to. Not really sure how that works and don't really like using Windows.

[atmenterprises]

What's Crossover? Is that to access Windows? If so, I'd prefer not to. Not really sure how that works and don't really like using Windows.

I believe it's a client for the WINE project, which is a Windows emulator.

If you don't want to use any Windows products, I'm not much help. I've tried the programs you've mentioned but always find my way back to DSS.

[msh1]

i use nebulosity on my mac it captures and stacks you can download a demo to try but it must be v3.1.2

[James]

Nebulosity works fine for me and it's not too expensive. I tend to use PixInsight more for stacking now but at 171 Euro's that may be beyond what you are willing to pay

I'm told DSS works with Crossover but I've not tried it.

James

[EnigmaXXIII]

Thanks. I'll see about giving Nebulosity ago. Will it import and stack images that I've already captured?

[msh1]

if you mean import off the camera dont think so i would copy the card to desktop then open them up in neb check out this tutorial

[EnigmaXXIII]

Oh yeah! AstronomyShed!

Thanks for the link. I'll watch this now.

[EnigmaXXIII]

Hmm. The tutorial doesn't really help me with Jupiter... I've got about 10 'subs' (I think that's what they're called), but whenever I try the alignment it just fails.

[Black Knight]

If you are imaging the moon or the planets, then you may be better off with something like Registax or AutoStakkert rather than DSS. Unfortunately, both of those programs are Windows based, although it is possible to run Registax on linux under Wine. I don't know what alternatives there may be for OSX though.

[msh1]

Hmm. The tutorial doesn't really help me with Jupiter... I've got about 10 'subs' (I think that's what they're called), but whenever I try the alignment it just fails.

that might be a problem to stack ,can you see any off the moons it might stack from them or any stars that you can click on as black knight says you really need registax for planets maybe get a cheap laptop in jan sales

[EnigmaXXIII]

Yeah. I think I might try borrowing my mothers laptop for the duration of the stacking process as it's a Windows system.

On a couple of the images I can see the moons, but not all, so I don't know if it'll stack well. Lynkeos aligns Jupiter beautifully but crashes when stacking.

[atmenterprises]

Yeah. I think I might try borrowing my mothers laptop for the duration of the stacking process as it's a Windows system.

On a couple of the images I can see the moons, but not all, so I don't know if it'll stack well. Lynkeos aligns Jupiter beautifully but crashes when stacking.

I don't know that you need to have RAW files for planets. The imaging I've done of Jupiter has been from an eight-bit web cam at 640x480 resolution. Wonder if you convert your shots to jpg then try to stack them if the program won't crash?

[EnigmaXXIII]

Hmm. I will definitely give that a go now. Can't hurt.

[EnigmaXXIII]

Just given it ago. The file sizes are drastically smaller yet it still crashes.

[atmenterprises]

Lynkeos is Java-based if I remember correctly. Might need to allocate more memory to the JVM.

Look in the readme file that comes with it. I believe they give instructions on how to set the memory higher. Something like java -parameter memory_size. Bump that up to a few gig of memory and see if that helps at all.

[EnigmaXXIII]

Thanks. I'll definitely look into that. My computer has 12GB of RAM so I can definitely bump it by a few GB.

[EnigmaXXIII]

I can't find that in the .Readme file nor on the Wiki... I've bumped the memory size to 5000 in the Cache preferences (which I believe is 5GB?)

[EnigmaXXIII]

Still haven't worked out how to edit my posts...

The above didn't work either. Still crashes.

[atmenterprises]

That's another reason I use Windows apps even though I have a Mac when I want to process astrophotos. I could never get the Mac apps to work correctly.

I doubt you're going to get much from stacking a dozen images of Jupiter anyway. Usually those are done by stacking hundreds of frames from video and throwing the bad ones out.

I know you're not a Windows person but that's kind of where the software lies today.

[EnigmaXXIII]

I've got some video too which works nicely in Lynkeos. I just wanted to try and see what result I could get with a few good RAW files.

I might try using a Windows system and see what results I get.

[Black Knight]

As far as post editing goes, I believe there may be a minimum post requirement (perhaps 50?) before you can edit your posts. Also, the edit function is only active for a shortish time after the post is made. 30 minutes I think.

[EnigmaXXIII]

Ah. That somewhat makes sense. Thanks.

[NickK]

I've used the following on a MBP i7 with 16GB of ram:

Nebulosity 2 - slow with big images (17MB) as it doesn't scale well for CPU cores. It captures, it stacks with the only only exception of planets where registax etc are better.

Pixinsight 64bit - scales well.. start's feeling it at 6GB images The only downside is the lack of documentation until you know where to find the experts..

From a technical perspective PI processing leaves Nebulosity in the dust. From a human perspective Neb captures easily and allows you to process them.

Some people have stated Photoshop is artistic, Pixinsight is computational. You can do the same processing in both but they work very differently.