pixinsight

[brrttpaul]

Just got the trail version but havnt activated it yet so I was wondering would i be better having it on my main desktop or on my laptop which is 4gb ram,  if i use it on the desktop would it be a case of just saving the fits file to a memory stick and opening it in PI or does it need changing to tiff

[Marky1973]

PI reads TIFF and FITS Files, so you should just be able to bring them over whatever format they are in.

[sloz1664]

Pixinsight is a pwer hungry piece of software, but it seems your laptop should suffice with 4 gb ram if it's dual or quad core processor.

Have a look at Harry Page's brilliant videos to start you off on the steep slope that is pixinsight........... or for that matter astroimaging in general... 

http://www.harrysastroshed.com/pixinsight/pixinsight video html/Pixinsighthome.html

Steve

[brrttpaul]

cheers steve, I have been looking at them, wondering is it worth putting the book on my xmas list

[MattJenko]

I would save the book for now and concentrate on Harry's videos. The book is thorough and in depth, but not a beginners guide, so to speak. If you decide to plunge and buy the full version, then Warren's book will be a great reference as you start to play with the processes. 

[brrttpaul]

once again thx going through the videos now 

[harry page]

Hi

It is said my voice gets very boring after a while

Harry

[RSM]

Hi, I'd run it on whichever is the faster machine. As already mentioned, it's a very processor intensive bit of software, but does pretty much everything you will need. Running it on a fast machine means you're not waiting ages. To learn from scratch, I used two really good tutorials by Richard Bloch on you tube (search on his name and pixinsight to find them) one walks you through calibration and stacking, the other through a processing workflow to give you the basics - they are about 30-40 mins each. Harry's videos are great for learning detail on individual processes and techniques. I used these to enhance what I learned from Richards tutorials. Finally I bought the book, which assumes a level of understanding but takes the image processing to the next level. After that it's just practice, practice, practice.

Hope that helps.

Richard (not Bloch!?)

[brrttpaul]

Blown away by what can be achieved looking at the videos, I must say they are very beginer friendly and easy to understand. I think (correct me if i,m wrong) that everything you do STF etc isnt permanent untill you do the histrogram stretch? in other words its still linear, also and I know im getting ahead of myself here,  the DBE would that be usefull for  landscape/milkyway shots? im guessing if you can place the xs anywhere then you could just pepper the sky leaving the landscape?. The main thing with desktop v laptop is my desktop is 8 gb ram i5 but i do a hell of a lot of wildlife and landscape and have about 40 gb of photos on the hard drive whereas the laptop is only 4 gb but brand new, i think i,ll prob go with the desktop i just had that nagging in my head 

[wxsatuser]

Use the desktop, it's easy to transfer files these days, there are various ways.

STF is non permanent and allows you to see whats in your data, you can even use it's stretch directly on the histogram stretch.
 

[brrttpaul]

yeah , i think i am as otherwise I know I,ll end up trying to capture images and play with previous images at the same time and the laptop just wont cope, at least this way if i get a clear night i can leave the laptop in the obsy doing its thing while processing previous attempts on the desktop

[ollypenrice]

13 hours ago, harry page said:

Hi

It is said my voice gets very boring after a while

Harry

Never, Harry! That's pure slander...

Olly

[Marky1973]

30 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Never, Harry! That's pure slander...

Olly

I agree...I found it rather relaxing and friendly....

[MattJenko]

Its the self deprecating and modest tone of these videos which elevate them above other PI tutorials and why I found them so engaging and useful in the first place. It is not a set of video diktats about how pixinsight should be used, it is a set of videos on how it can be used and not only that, used by someone 'like me'.

[Hicks]

Try it on both to make sure it works well for you. They have instructions on their website about how to move a trial license from one machine to another. I did that here with the Linux version to check it would be ok on both my laptop and desktop.

The final version has less of a restriction, you can just copy the license file to other machines you want to use it on.

I've only just bought pixinsight so can't offer any advice as to the best way to learn it, but beyond the links already mentioned in this thread, I found the tutorials on vortex astro to be quite useful. I used those during processing my latest image of the Crab Nebula.

[brrttpaul]

Well I put it on my laptop in the end ( long story but wont bore you)  I absolutly love it  but when the trial runs out (prob before then depending when i get paid) I will definatly be getting it, only I will want it on my main PC , as long as its just a case of installing and activating, just a bit nervy  that i can get it on there ok without any probs if im honest.

[wxsatuser]

You can have it on as many computers as you like, just copy the license file to the user home directory.

[brrttpaul]

problem i got is i had a trial of it last year but never had the chance to use it as I had other problems with my mount etc, so never really tried it. But now I think im progressing  so thought I would give it another try ( obviously in my wifes name as my trial had expired).  I downloaded it again on my desktop had the codes but it just kept saying trial expired, out of curiosity more than anything i done it on the laptop and it worked so you see my dilema. I just want to make sure when i activate it (which will be on the 28th as thats when i get paid) i dont have any issues with the activation codes etc

[Marky1973]

Paul - as Mike says, if you find your way to your USER directory, you can delete the PI license left over from a previous installation - PI should load up okay then. If not, make sure the license is deleted and then go to the PI website where you can request a new license key, after logging in with the details you were sent via PI emails.

Check out the FAQ 2.23 - https://pixinsight.com/faq/index.html

 

[wxsatuser]

I don't see a problem, when you purchase you will get a new license to put in the home directory.

If there is already one in there, remove it and I would think that would do it.

If I remember right I just removed the trial and reloaded the latest version, I had a gap between the trial and purchasing.
I don't remember any problem going from trial to paid.

[brrttpaul]

I,ll have a look at it again, i did uninstall the old one ages ago so when I reinstalled the new version I just presumed it wouldnt remember me ( you know what I mean) but even though i logged in with the new name user key etc it just said invalid authorisation. Been doing basic processing with it on the laptop and for some reason it just all clicked with me , the hardest part was remembering where all the various tools were and what they were called. but yes definately getting it on the 28th just hope all goes well on the desktop with it

[Marky1973]

Yeah, removing the software will not remove your license - you need to do that yourself after the uninstall.

[brrttpaul]

at the point of me now sounding totally thick  "where would I find that then?

[Marky1973]

Ha Ha!

You know, without my laptop in front of me, I can't think.... but I am pretty sure if you open MY COMPUTER, got to the C: (or whatever your main drive is) and then the USERS directory and find your user in that folder, you should be able to find the PI license....pretty sure it was name in such a way as to make it obvious as well!

[brrttpaul]

thanks i will have a look now