M13 - DSS vs APP

[vineyard]

Hello,

Have been trying out APP on a trial licence.  Here's 30 mins of lights from M13 last night (Evo50 w flattener, ASI294MCPro, uhc filter, -10C, gain 125, offset 16).

Same lights, same flats, same darks, same dark-flats.

Both put through ABE & HT in PI to save as jpg for file size. So the only difference is APP (first image) vs DSS (second image). No other tinkering done.

(Well, technically DSS is best 90% vs APP all 100% of the lights).

I think the APP is better?

I'm still learning APP so it did come up w a message during the processing saying that the master [dark] flats could not be applied for some reason, so perhaps APP could be even better.

Cheers.

[scotty38]

What about using WBPP to give a third option, how does that compare?

[vineyard]

1 hour ago, scotty38 said:

What about using WBPP to give a third option, how does that compare?

I've tried it before & ooph it eats up my laptop.  (Images were better than DSS but not as clean as APP - although those were different sets of lights so it's a little apples & oranges).  So far, cautiously optimistic about APP.  Want to try it w some data I'm gathering on Crescent nebula this week (hopefully!).

[johneta]

Another free option is Siril. I moved to it from DSS some time ago

[vineyard]

6 hours ago, johneta said:

Another free option is Siril. I moved to it from DSS some time ago

Yes I initially started w SiriL when I began AP, and now I can't remember why I switched to DSS - there was a reason but for the life of me, those grey cells have gone!😂

[Clarkey]

I moved from DSS to APP as I found it better. Also, the gradient removal on APP is very good as is the star colour calibration. The only negatives with APP that I have found is that there is not a proper user manual and it is quite slow compared with other stacking packages. I suppose the cost is the other negative with APP, but given the £££'s spent on the kit a few pounds for software is not a biggy.

[vineyard]

1 hour ago, Clarkey said:

I moved from DSS to APP as I found it better. Also, the gradient removal on APP is very good as is the star colour calibration. The only negatives with APP that I have found is that there is not a proper user manual and it is quite slow compared with other stacking packages. I suppose the cost is the other negative with APP, but given the £££'s spent on the kit a few pounds for software is not a biggy.

I suspect I may end up doing the same.  Want to test APP vs DSS on some Crescent nebula data to see how they compare.  The star colours definitely seem better vs DSS in those M13 shots.  And DSS has sometimes given me weird stacking artefacts on Evo50 widefield images.  Curious to see what the next comparison comes out looking like - will post once done. Cheers.

[Clarkey]

There are a number of comparisons on line between APP, DSS and others for stacking. APP always does well and I have found it the best of the ones I have tried. Although I do not normally used APP for the full processing it does give a pretty good indication of what the final image is going to be like with the standard digital development tools. I also like the way you can weight the channels when combining RGB or narrowband to give the colour balance you want.

[The Lazy Astronomer]

On 02/06/2021 at 11:46, vineyard said:

Yes I initially started w SiriL when I began AP, and now I can't remember why I switched to DSS - there was a reason but for the life of me, those grey cells have gone!😂

Weirdly, I'm in the process of doing the exact opposite. Started with DSS, but downloaded Siril earlier this week.

The problem is, DSS is sooo easy to use, and, because I'm so lazy, it's a struggle to motivate myself to learn how to use Siril for stacking, especially as I haven't found it immediately very intuitive.

[vineyard]

@The Lazy Astronomeryes I had that same problem w SiriL on lack of intuitiveness - that's why DSS was so good to introduce me to stacking.

But I have to say that I'm now on the same page as @Clarkey: having seen the difference b/w DSS & APP on a nebula (here) as well as M13 above, I'm now an APP convert too.

It'll be 'fun' (?) learning it w/o a manual, but it's still quicker than PI stacking & I found it reasonably intuitive (more so than SiriL).  Will always keep DSS as a fallback on the laptop though