Registax 6 SER Files Problem

[tweeb]

Hi.

I have created an SER file with oacapture running on Astroberry on a Raspberry Pi - I've been using Astroberry/Kstars/Ekos successfully for DSO imaging for a while. When I try to load the SER file into Registax 6 in my Windows VM, it seems to randomly crop and add blank scan lines to the frames. The SER file appears normal when viewed in SER Player, and PIPP - see attached screenshot.

I have a workaround in that I can export the SER file in AVI format from PIPP, which can then be processed by Registax,  but I don't know if that is a 'lossy' conversion, and it adds extra steps I could do without. 

Long story is that I am using a very old Celestron Neximage and oacapture on Astroberry, but oacapture will not save in AVI format which was my first choice ... so had to save in SER.

Any help appreciated.

Mind you the end result wasn't too bad as far as I was concerned - image attached.

Cheers
Terry

[Merlin66]

What about trying Autostakkert as an alternative.

It works very well on my solar SER files.

[symmetal]

I agree with Merlin66 that it's worth trying Autostakkert as that's generally the preferred choice at the moment for video frame stacking. I can't say why you had trouble with your .ser file in Registax, but converting it to .avi via PIPP is not a lossy conversion, so no data is lost if it's an 8-bit video. AVI cannot encode 16-bit data so am not sure whether PIPP would refuse to convert 16-bit ser files to avi, or whether it gives the option to convert to 8-bit first, which means image detail may be lost.

It's worth noting that the avi format is only a container format for one or more audio and/or video streams, and the streams themselves can be lossless or lossy depending on the actual encoding format used. A video converter program should give the option of what encoding format is to be used when an avi file is to be created,  but some downloadable free ones don't. PIPP, however does generate lossless avi files, (as long as the source video is 8-bit). 🙂

Alan

[Pete Presland]

another nod for Autostakkert, very easy to use, lots of functionality. delivers excellent results