Mosaic Processing tips please

[69boss302]

Hello. Last night I started a 4 panel Mosaic and got through 2 of them before the sun came up. Next clear night Ill try and finish the other 2.  For each panel Im doing the following:

72-10 sec
88-30 sec
60-60 sec
100-120 sec

Along with darks with the same time (10,30,60 and 120 sec darks).

My question is the sequence that needs to be done to put this all together. 

Do I:

1) stack all the 10 sec frames with darks, then the 30, then 60 then 120 sec frames to have 4 groups per panel.  Then somehow take those and stitch them, then do the usual pixinsight processing?

2) Do all the 10/30/60/120 frames, stack them in to 1 for a total of 4, then stitch the 4 and process in PI?

3) Other?

I have never done a mosaic before and with huge amount of raw data Ill have, it seems like endless possibilities!

Thank you for any insight

bob

 

[scotty38]

If it was me then I assume I would want to end up with a stack of 10s, a stack of 30s etc which I use to create Panel1, then the same for Panel 2 etc and then stitch the remaining 4 together. ie your option 1

But, why so many exposure differences, is it to not blow out things and do you really need 4 variations?

[69boss302]

Thanks Scotty38 .

Yes, I have so many so I can process HDR, which is more of an experiment than anything. Part of the mosaic is Orion Nebula which can easily blow out the centers. 

I was thinking as you were with option 1, but I wasnt sure how I would get the 4 panels to be processed exactly the same so the final image wouldnt look like it was 4 panels.

Bob

PS I shot those exposure differences but may not use them all either. I may just use 10sec stack and 120 sec stack for HDR and discard the others. Not sure yet.

[scotty38]

18 minutes ago, 69boss302 said:

I was thinking as you were with option 1, but I wasnt sure how I would get the 4 panels to be processed exactly the same so the final image wouldnt look like it was 4 panels.

Yes good point you'd probably have to stack all the 10s and create mosaic 1 and the same for the others then use those as the 4 elements for processing. My head is spinning now 🙂

[69boss302]

6 minutes ago, scotty38 said:

My head is spinning now

As is mine I suspect itll keep me busy for a long time. hahaha.

[scotty38]

I had considered a mosaic of the Veil but thought I'd better get a single frame down first 🙂

[69boss302]

2 hours ago, scotty38 said:

I had considered a mosaic of the Veil but thought I'd better get a single frame down first 🙂

Im not far behind you on that one. Im getting pretty 'ok' with my single frame shots.  I figured Id get the mosaics in that manner and somehow assemble them. I figured Id shoot this target now because itll disappear from me for the season soon! Get it while I can, process as I learn!