Honest opinions please

[edarter]

Hi,

In an attempt to see how I can tame the horizontal banding I'm getting with my Canon 600D I've decided to give the free trial of APP a go, mainly for stacking but also for processing (would love to try PI but really can't afford it at the moment so not an option currently). With the same data I've had a go at the Pinwheel galaxy. Which image looks best? 

What I have found out so far is that a) APP takes forever to stack images! what was 10 minutes in DSS took 2-3 hours in APP) and b) I need to learn fast how to use APP most effectively within the free trial period in order to make my mind up about it!. What is the general concensus on stacking within APP compared to DSS?

DSS & Photoshop image:

APP with minor PS tweaks image:

 

I think the APP image has a bit more detail albeit at the cost of some noise, I can't seem to find anything on noise suppression in APP...
I may have also overdone the magenta in the APP one but thats easily corrected going forward.

 

Thanks
Ed

[MarkAR]

First one looks better to me, more natural and the outlying arms show more.

Both good images though.

[dodgerroger]

Hi, your first image has more promise, less noise and more detail but the second is more colourful. I have been in your position before and its no easy task. I started with dss and photoshop. I struggled with photoshop and gave APP a go, its very processor heavy and although the latest release is far quicker it is still slow. For stacking I like APP but found the processing side again very difficult, loads of sliders to play with but no real instructions. There are other processing programmes to try and my advice is to make use of the free trials and find one you feel comfortable with from the start and stick with it. 

 

[tomato]

Until the recent M101 discussions on this forum, I would have gone with your second image, but maybe now the first one, although it might be a little too red? They are both fine results, however.

With regard to your comments on APP stacking speed, how many subs were you processing? The use of LNC (several iterations) will add a lot of time at the integration stage. For comparison, I recently calibrated, analysed and stacked a project in APP (850 lights, 580 calibration frames, LNC 3 iterations) in about an hour. It’s been quite a while since I used DSS, but I don’t think it does as much analysis of the subs as APP?

[michael8554]

I prefer the darker but not black level background in the second one, and it looks sharper to me.

Michael

[edarter]

Thanks everyone, I'm going to continue with APP and see where I get to. I think my processing will improve with practice! Already learnt a couple of new things since doing this so may have to revisit it again to see what I can do.