DSS & DNG files: strange stuff

[vineyard]

Hello,

I seem to have come up against a quirk in DSS.  I took various images on my Pentax DSLR - saved as DNG (a type of RAW file).

I can upload the lights as DNG files & DSS stacks them without any problems, generating a .tiff file.

But if try & upload the calibration files (darks, flats, dark flats) - which are also all DNG files - it doesn't even load them.

I've tried just loading them all as lights (ie, idea being stack them separately to generate a master .tiff for each type) but even then it won't load them.

Why would DSS load & stack some DNG files but not even load others?

Has anyone encountered something like this before?

Thank you!

Vin

[PeterCPC]

Why not convert them all before you load them https://convertio.co/dng-tiff/

[vineyard]

1 minute ago, PeterCPC said:

Why not convert them all before you load them https://convertio.co/dng-tiff/

Thanks, I'll try that w the calibration files & see what happens.  (It will probably kill my laptop memory since each TIFF file is so much larger, but I can just keep the master-calibration if it works). It's weird that DSS loads some DNG files & not others.

[PeterCPC]

All software can be weird in my experience. 🥴

[vineyard]

Huh, I noticed I was using an old version so I updated it and all the DNG files now load

But...it doesn't look the calibration is happening b/c the calibrated image comes out looking exactly like the uncalibrated one (even the dust bunnies).  Will have to experiment some more.🤷🏾‍♂️

[vineyard]

5 hours ago, PeterCPC said:

All software can be weird in my experience. 🥴

Unfortunately the weirdness doesn't stop.

If I use SiriL to convert the DNG files to FITS then it does calibrate - suggesting that DSS is struggling w calibrating non FITS files?

Of course I forgot to debayer in SiriL so the final images turned out monochrome...

So then I went back and re-converted in SiriL (WITH debayering this time), restacked the master calibration files (so that they too were RGB 16bit/ch rather than Gray) and then when I tried to use DSS to stack the converted, debayered RGB FITS files with the new master calibration files (also RGB FITS), DSS would say unable to open the calibration files.

Even though there is nothing corrupt in them (I could open them in GIMP for example).

SOOO I went back and did the calibration in SiriL too, and then stacked the calibrated pre-processed files in both SiriL & DSS.  Just b/c I hadn't used enough time on this.

And this time both generated images in colour.  SiriL's is cleaner (but has less stars), DSS' seems noisier - but SiriL has much worse gradients.

What a palaver.  All I'm trying to do is process & stack DSLR RAW files! 😂🤯

[PeterCPC]

Don't you just love software. I was using APT the other night and half way through focusing the Live View just disappeared and would not reopen. Been fine before.

[Robd]

You  could save raw images as PEFs.  DSS has always coped with mine in the past.

[vineyard]

1 hour ago, Robd said:

You  could save raw images as PEFs.  DSS has always coped with mine in the past.

Good idea, thank you.  I had switched to DNG b/c I thought the problem was w the PEF format but if it was just that I was using an old instal of DSS (hence the update fixing the DNG problem), maybe PEFs will also work.  I don't understand why updated DSS was still not calibrating the uploaded DNG files - but if you have found that it calibrates & stacks PEFs then I will try that next time I'm out w the DSLR 🤞🏾