Learning PixInsight

[groberts]

I purchased PI a couple of months ago but have not yet found the enthusiasm to really get going.  I have looked at some online tutorials, of which Harry's Astroshed was probably the best, I have Warren Keller's book and watched a few of his free videos but frankly am battling.  In general O find there's a lack of narrative, just lots of complex individual processes, without demonstating how it all hangs together or, as in Warren's case, just not to my taste (rambles + too soporific in style!).  In almost all cases, apart from the actual processes the workflow is not clear, at least to me.

Can anyone recommend a less painful, more accessible source of tutorial preferably on video e.g. would Adam Block's Fundamentals work better / are they worth the cost?  

Thanks, Graham             

[Adreneline]

I still think this series of tutorials is very helpful with a good balance between telling you what to do and why you are doing it.

There is also this new book/ebook which I am getting to like a lot.

Food for thought.

HTH

Adrian

 

 

 

[Laurin Dave]

Hi... when I started using it I followed these   https://www.lightvortexastronomy.com/tutorials.html ..   and found them pretty helpful, its not on video though... I also used Harry's videos ..  which I also found the best..  

HTH

Dave

[Laurin Dave]

3 minutes ago, Adreneline said:

I still think this series of tutorials is very helpful with a good balance between telling you what to do and why you are doing it.

 

 

 

 

Snap!

[MarkAR]

Youtube wise:

Adam Block

AstroAddict

Harry Page

Chris Woodhouse

Richard Bloch

Mitch

[scitmon]

I completely agree with your views on the Warren Keller book, I have higher hopes for http://www.deepskycolors.com/mastering-pixinsight.html when it's out.

For me, it's just practice and youtube I have learn't the most from.  Patience, practice and persevearence has been the key, and I still have a long way to go.  

[Ouroboros]

Another thumbs up here for Mitch’s Astroprocessing YouTube tutorials - particularly when starting out. I got a good overview of the idea of processing from videos and how to set up and interact with the pixinsight insight.  Mitch’s  videos are a bit idiosyncratic, and I mean that in a nice way, rather slow in parts, but as an intro a rather appreciated that. 

I’ve heard the criticism of Warren Keller’s  book several times. It made much more sense to me once I’d gone through some videos. I disagree with the criticism in as much as I think it does have a narrative. The chapters are set out in more or less the order you (can) process an image. 

[nigelg]

Hi Graham, The ones I found helpful are Light vortex and this one from The Astro Imaging Channel, which has PDF instructions.

 

[groberts]

Thanks everyone, whilst I know it'll take time and preserverance, I'm just trying to avoid the obvious pitfalls + find something that takes you through the blow-by-blow sequence and related processes for each step to get a basic narrowband and broadband image in an clear and uncomplicated way; at the moment I'm still battling to understand basic workflow.  Obviously thereafter it's about getting into the finer points and tricks.

Anyhow, time to roll my sleeves up and dive in!

Graham  

[MarkAR]

One of the great things about PI is that there are a lot of processes that are not order specific.

One thing I picked up early is to get rid of noise and background before any stretching, though you can still use other methods after stretching to reduce noise.

With video tutorials, most of the time I try to follow them to see how they work and what they do. Then adapt to suit my image, taking some advice from one vid and some from another.

Adam Blocks latest series on Weighted Batch PP is very in depth at explaining what the process is doing with your data. Most of it applies to the standard BPP.

Edited May 20, 2020 by MarkAR

[wornish]

I totally agree with the recommendations others have made.  Its an app that you have to dive in to, it is certainly not a quick click and magic happens type of app.   There is no one right way to process an  astro image and you have to find your own best workflow. 

Some people prefer video tutorials others prefer web based/text based ones, it's down to what works for you.

Best solution IMHO is to dive in and find your way around, make mistakes which we all do, but learn from them and move on.

Edited May 20, 2020 by wornish

[tomato]

The “Mastering Pixinsight” book is available now as a digital download, there are some workflow walk throughs and I have found it easier going than “Inside Pixinsight”.

PI has a wealth of tools and in my view, requires a rigorous approach to image processing, it does not lend itself to a ‘play with the sliders’ approach. Can it ultimately produce images better than the other packages out there?  I don’t think you could ever definitively answer that question and I’m certainly not far enough down the path to even try.

[Jkulin]

11 hours ago, Adreneline said:

I still think this series of tutorials is very helpful with a good balance between telling you what to do and why you are doing it.

There is also this new book/ebook which I am getting to like a lot.

Food for thought.

HTH

Adrian

 

 

 

Yep, I learned from lightvortex, highly recommended👍🏻

[groberts]

14 hours ago, tomato said:

The “Mastering Pixinsight” book is available now as a digital download, there are some workflow walk throughs and I have found it easier going than “Inside Pixinsight”.

PI has a wealth of tools and in my view, requires a rigorous approach to image processing, it does not lend itself to a ‘play with the sliders’ approach. Can it ultimately produce images better than the other packages out there?  I don’t think you could ever definitively answer that question and I’m certainly not far enough down the path to even try.

Mastering Pixinsight ordered (book & online) + looks promising 🤞- waiting for confirmation information to download and get going.  Also getting stuck into Light Vortex and see what you mean, it's good, though I never like reading long documents on screen. 

Edited May 21, 2020 by groberts