First go with Pixinsight

[Marky1973]

Finally activated my trial of Pixinsight yesterday - think I have been a bit scared of the software because of it's reputation - but, with a few hours watching Harry's AstroShed Beginner's tutorials I was quite impressed with the difference it made to a few subs from the other night - just 16x420s subs (yep, cloud cut the session short) of M51 and no darks, so I wasn't expecting miracles and, to be honest, after getting up this morning, I can't really remember how I did any of it, but I will work through the same tutorials again and again until it all makes sense.

It still needs a bit more colour, and I'm not giving anyone a run for their money, but the difference is....well, astronomical. Can't wait to try it on more and better subs....or maybe reprocessing some old images while the trial lasts. Interestingly, now, I think the justification I need is probably not about spending the money on Pixinsight, but whether I can justify NOT buying it, if I want to carry on with imaging with any seriousness.

So, yeah, Pixinsight does seem to make a massive difference and I suspect it is well worth it's price. Anyone who has been avoiding it, like me, should just give the trial a go, exercise some patience, and work through Harry's videos - excellent guides.

So, first image is 7x420s stacked in DSS and processed in Photoshop and is a little purple....

The second is the same image registered/stacked and processed in Pixinsight, using Harry's guides.....

I think the difference is significant, and will be interested to see how things improve further once I master the beginner processes and move on the the harder stuff.....

 

 

 

[wornish]

The difference is clearly visible.

Its amazing that I did the exact same thing on Thursday and started the trial of Pixinsight., having used DSS and PS to date.

I spent most of yesterday watching Harry's AstroShed Beginner's tutorials and tried processing the only set of lights I have kept.

There are some other good videos on YouTube that I also watched.  I plan on taking some more shots this weekend (weather permitting ) and giving it a real workout.

It also gives more info and scope for adjustments when used for aligning and stacking subs which DSS just treats like magic.

PixInsight certainly isn't cheap but if my trial goes well I think I will jump in, certainly got good first impression and your post here  supports the case.

 

[Knighty2112]

The second image is clearly better been a more realistic colour too. Well done!  

[Marky1973]

18 minutes ago, wornish said:

The difference is clearly visible.

Its amazing that I did the exact same thing on Thursday and started the trial of Pixinsight., having used DSS and PS to date.

I spent most of yesterday watching Harry's AstroShed Beginner's tutorials and tried processing the only set of lights I have kept.

There are some other good videos on YouTube that I also watched.  I plan on taking some more shots this weekend (weather permitting ) and giving it a real workout.

It also gives more info and scope for adjustments when used for aligning and stacking subs which DSS just treats like magic.

PixInsight certainly isn't cheap but if my trial goes well I think I will jump in, certainly got good first impression and your post here  supports the case.

 

DSS is nice and easy and PS is fairly accessible, but I can't argue against yhr obvious difference.

I think my problem is that I am impatient and end up trying to do toouch in one go with PS. Pixinsight kind of holds you back a little bit to stop you going crazy....although I guess you could....I've probably only used 1% of the tools hidden within its GUI!

Expensive... maybe, but I signed up to PS at £7 a month and that soon mounts up and, when compared against the kit we are using.... 

Hope you get some clear skies tonight!

[Marky1973]

17 minutes ago, Knighty2112 said:

The second image is clearly better been a more realistic colour too. Well done!  

Cheers Knighty. I was happy with it, especially considering the small amount of data. Gave me a much needed boost - with all the cloud and missed opportunities of late, I've been close to selling!

But I think I learned more about luminace masks and star masks last night with Harry, than I have in the last 6 months!

Onwards!

[JR1987]

I found the exact same thing when I started using Pixinsight. I could never get my colour calibration right in photoshop. Pixinsight it was instant. 

 

[harry page]

Hi

Looks very good , Welcome to Pixie Land

Regards

 

Harry

[Marky1973]

1 hour ago, JR1987 said:

I found the exact same thing when I started using Pixinsight. I could never get my colour calibration right in photoshop. Pixinsight it was instant. 

 

Colour calibration has been my biggest frustration with images so far - just couldn't get it right in PS (as you can see) - still some work to do clearly, but it feels like it should be more easily within my reach now!

[Marky1973]

44 minutes ago, harry page said:

Hi

Looks very good , Welcome to Pixie Land

Regards

 

Harry

Hi Harry!

Thanks, still a long way to go, but plenty to keep me busy at the beginner's level for now. Image is still very noisy, but I know I just need to get more quality data into the mix.

And thanks a million for sharing the tutorials, very generous. If I ever meet you, I'll get you pint (or four)!

Cheers

Mark

 

[RSM]

Welcome to the world of pixinsight. Some great tutorials out there to get you started. I watched a few from Harry (thanks!) and also a couple from a guy called Richard Bloch - search on you tube for Richard Bloch, pixinsight. He's done two which I watched time and time again when I had PI on trial. I use these as the basis for my stacking and processing now and have added some elements from other tutorials. There are still several processes I haven't used so every now and again I google one of them and see how they are used and add them to my armoury if they help get good images. Good luck with the software.

[Astrosurf]

Great difference! And very nice image. I've yet to save up enough money to buy it. Rather daunted though, but those tutorials will be helpful.

Alexxx

[russp]

It's a steep learning curve but so worth it - I'm still learning it and very much a beginner too. I've found these turorials http://www.lightvortexastronomy.com/tutorials.html very useful too - I prefer the non video presentation as I can keep them open on a second monitor and work through at my own pace without having to continually stop and rewind video, excellent as some of the videos are I just find this easier. The calibration and Andromeda examples I've found particularly useful so far. 

[Marky1973]

12 hours ago, RSM said:

Welcome to the world of pixinsight. Some great tutorials out there to get you started. I watched a few from Harry (thanks!) and also a couple from a guy called Richard Bloch - search on you tube for Richard Bloch, pixinsight. He's done two which I watched time and time again when I had PI on trial. I use these as the basis for my stacking and processing now and have added some elements from other tutorials. There are still several processes I haven't used so every now and again I google one of them and see how they are used and add them to my armoury if they help get good images. Good luck with the software.

Cheers Richard, will have a look at those as well. I am just going to keep going through the tutorials until i get an idea of a basic workflow and then expand from there - so just getting my head around the batchpreprocessing script for now - anything more complex for manually stacking can wait for now! Got some data for Andromeda from last year that I want to try running through PI and hopefully see another improvement. Seems to be a bit slower than DSS, but then I consider that to be a good thing.....

[Astrosurf]

I'd be interested to see the comparison.

[Marky1973]

2 hours ago, Astrosurf said:

Great difference! And very nice image. I've yet to save up enough money to buy it. Rather daunted though, but those tutorials will be helpful.

Alexxx

Thanks Alexxx Yeah, I am going to wring every last hour I can out of the Free Trial while I save up - worth a go though as, when I first opened it I did just think "What the....." and was completely lost - no way I could do anything without the tutorials - but even just a few hours gets you a decent understand of some of the "quirks" of the software and makes it a lot less daunting, knowing what all the little buttons and windows do (well, not quite all of them yet....)....hopefully, at the end of the 45 day trial, I should have hit a couple of pay days, so will be in a better position! :-)

[Marky1973]

25 minutes ago, russp said:

It's a steep learning curve but so worth it - I'm still learning it and very much a beginner too. I've found these turorials http://www.lightvortexastronomy.com/tutorials.html very useful too - I prefer the non video presentation as I can keep them open on a second monitor and work through at my own pace without having to continually stop and rewind video, excellent as some of the videos are I just find this easier. The calibration and Andromeda examples I've found particularly useful so far. 

Hi Russp - I had a quick look at one of those this morning, so will have a good look later - the main problem I have is getting the time to sit down and spent the hours needed with the tutorials - it's all a bit "catch 'em when you can" - but I will get there! Will bookmark that link!

[Marky1973]

3 minutes ago, Astrosurf said:

I'd be interested to see the comparison.

Well, it might take me a while....so don't hold your breath, but I will certainly post something when I get there! ;-)