Processing M81 M82 NGC3077 image - hours of data.

[tooth_dr]

55 minutes ago, wimvb said:

Don't. It just means that you have good control ovet data gathering. And once you have the data, you can relax and learn the processing part. The data isn't going anywhere. Just consider my and @spillage's processing efforts as a quality check of your data, and examples of what is possible.

Thanks for the encouragement. I would love some formal training. I can’t seem to 'get it' using online tutorials. I can get so far, and Steve’s book has been really helpful, but here is just something not clicking for me yet. 

[tooth_dr]

3 hours ago, spillage said:

Do not feel hopeless. I keep learning new things all the time with startools even after using it for a year. What software do you use ? It might be worth trying others as most come with some form of free trial, you can then choose the one that you find easier to use.

I have never been much good at using photoshop and although I appreciate pixinsight is a great bit of kit I found it a bit odd and very set in the way it works. I found startools very relaxed in the way I can jump from one process to another in any order I feel like.

I have been looking at astroart but cannot find that many guides.

I briefly tried Startools, found it hard! Should revisit it. I’m using photoshop 

[spillage]

if you still have it open it up and pm me. I can run through a few bits to try and get you started.

[tooth_dr]

21 minutes ago, spillage said:

if you still have it open it up and pm me. I can run through a few bits to try and get you started.

Thanks Spill.  I'll get a look at it over the next couple of days, then hit you with some questions!  It's clear tonight so going to gather some new data on M81 M82

[spillage]

I will pm you a basic work flow for startools based on what I did with the data on this thread. Give it a go and see what you think. If you need any help shout and I will do my best.

[tooth_dr]

Thanks Spill.  I hope I can crack this.

[wimvb]

Can't help you with photoshop, but maybe @ollypenrice has a good PS reference. I believe he has recommended Jerry Lodriguss (http://www.astropix.com) before.

[ollypenrice]

4 minutes ago, wimvb said:

Can't help you with photoshop, but maybe @ollypenrice has a good PS reference. I believe he has recommended Jerry Lodriguss (http://www.astropix.com) before.

I use Jerry Lodigruss' method for layer masking different exposures and would expect all his Ps advice to be good.

I can't really help much regarding a reference book other than Steve's. There are video tutorials by Ken Crawford and by Adam Block, both of whom know what they're doing.

I run lots of Ps tutorials here with guests, of course, but working one-to-one with 'hands on' is much easier than trying to prepare an explanation for the page. Like a lot of people I began by copying what others did, rather blindly. I started to make progress only when I decided to understand everything I was doing and this would by my over-riding recommendation. More thinking, less clicking did wonders for me! Another basic and absolutely key skill to learn is how to look at an image. This sounds obvious but I really don't think it is. Once you can see where you are with an image, the image itself will tell you where to go next.

Olly

[tooth_dr]

2 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

I use Jerry Lodigruss' method for layer masking different exposures and would expect all his Ps advice to be good.

I can't really help much regarding a reference book other than Steve's. There are video tutorials by Ken Crawford and by Adam Block, both of whom know what they're doing.

I run lots of Ps tutorials here with guests, of course, but working one-to-one with 'hands on' is much easier than trying to prepare an explanation for the page. Like a lot of people I began by copying what others did, rather blindly. I started to make progress only when I decided to understand everything I was doing and this would by my over-riding recommendation. More thinking, less clicking did wonders for me! Another basic and absolutely key skill to learn is how to look at an image. This sounds obvious but I really don't think it is. Once you can see where you are with an image, the image itself will tell you where to go next.

Olly

 

I think the bit about seeing where you are is key. I started doing some orthodontic work a couple of years ago, and initially I was just doing what I’d learnt. It was frustrating as I always felt I was a step behind. When I began looking at it differently, it all fell into place. I’m sure this is the same, it just hasn’t happened yet  

Ive told the wife I would love to go to yours for a few lessons on astrophotography.  It’s gonna happen someday  

[happy-kat]

I hope you don't mind I had a go with your image too. I may try again tomorrow as I am not happy with the background though I enjoyed using your data.

Startools and hasta la vista green in PaintShopPro.

[tooth_dr]

11 hours ago, happy-kat said:

I hope you don't mind I had a go with your image too. I may try again tomorrow as I am not happy with the background though I enjoyed using your data.

Startools and hasta la vista green in PaintShopPro.

Lovely lovely detail! Thanks for this.  I gathered a few more hours last night moon free. Then switched to M63. 

[Datalord]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is the option in DSS to shift the colours directly in the stack. I have found that can dramatically ease the post processing in respect to colour.

What I do is to try to manipulate the red and blue scale to roughly line up with the green in the final histogram. It takes a few tries and it is different for every target, but subsequently the post makes it easy to get the colours right. In your tif it looks like you should set red=1.1 and blue=0.8. Give it a shot and see if you have an easier time with the processing.

[tooth_dr]

1 hour ago, Datalord said:

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is the option in DSS to shift the colours directly in the stack. I have found that can dramatically ease the post processing in respect to colour.

What I do is to try to manipulate the red and blue scale to roughly line up with the green in the final histogram. It takes a few tries and it is different for every target, but subsequently the post makes it easy to get the colours right. In your tif it looks like you should set red=1.1 and blue=0.8. Give it a shot and see if you have an easier time with the processing.

Thanks DataLord. I’ll screenshot and save your advice (I do this with all useful tips from SGL) and have a go at this tomorrow 

[Datalord]

On 3/13/2018 at 15:06, tooth_dr said:

Thanks DataLord. I’ll screenshot and save your advice (I do this with all useful tips from SGL) and have a go at this tomorrow 

Did it help? 

[tooth_dr]

3 hours ago, Datalord said:

Did it help? 

 

Sorry! I haven’t had a chance to try it. My three kids have the chickenpox and I’ve been flat out! I’ve another few hours to add to it from another night. Will get a look as soon as I can and let you know. 

[Xiga]

@tooth_dr

Hi Adam

I had a quick crack at this. I did gradient reduction and star colour calibration in APP. The rest was done in PS:

 

[tooth_dr]

4 hours ago, Xiga said:

@tooth_dr

Hi Adam

I had a quick crack at this. I did gradient reduction and star colour calibration in APP. The rest was done in PS:

 

Very very good Ciaran. Must get onto APP more and try to utilise the features.