Mac Image Processing options

[Tony Acorn]

Hi and I would appreciate any advice and experience from Mac users on the following:

I have no Windows computers and don't want to run Windows partitions on my MacBook Pro or my iMac. Most image processing software seems to be dedicated to Windows operating systems and I'm looking for guidance on what I can use on my Mac OS machines.

I am imaging with either my Nikon Z6ii mirrorless camera or with a (new and untried) ZWO ASi 585MC - both on my new (and also untried) StellaMyra 80ED f/6.25 refractor which sits on a Star Adventurer 2i wifi Pro mount on top of a sturdy Manfrotto 055 tripod. I use a ZWO ASi 120MM guide camera in a 50mm f4 Astro Essentials guide scope to control the mount via ZWO's ASi-Studio. I know that the 585 isn't the ideal camera for DSO or Planetary work but it seems to be quite a good compromise.

Until now, I have been stacking single images that I took with shutter openings of up to 15s for individual objects but both the cameras can do video capture. If shooting planets, video recording then single frame extraction seems to be the right way to go according to various experienced and learned posters, hence me asking which software can I use? I already use Starry Sky Stacker moderately successfully at the moment on any series of individual images captured by the Nikon.

Thanks for at least reading this and I would welcome any advice although I may not be able to reply until 24th June unless circumstances change.

Tony

[mareman48]

Hi Tony,

There are several options for Mac users, I have several I use for different reasons.

On the Mac side, I run ASIStudio, which has a built in FIT viewer as well as a Stacker, I find the M1 version runs better than the intel version.

 

I also have PixInsight which is a crazy bit of software and take some time getting to grips with, but the finished product is better than any other software I've tried.

The only caveat with PixInsight that it  can takes up to 10 hours ( or less) depending on what you are processing , your processor speed and so on.

 

I have my 27" intel iMac partition and run windows 10 on that, I have this option as I run windows based games from that partition (4.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7- Radeon Pro 580 8 GB- 64 GB 2400 MHz DDR4)

On the Windows partition I run Deep Sky Stacker, which I find is the fastest of all the other options.

 

On the M3 iMac I also run Asistudio, and that processes very quickly.

You can find an extensive list of Mac software Here

 

Hope that helps a bit.

Pat

 

 

Edited June 14 by mareman48
Typo

[Kon]

I am a Mac user and I use crossover to run all the planetary software without any problems (pipp, as!4, astrosurface, etc etc). Siril is also good for DSO work.

[mareman48]

Forgot to mention I also run VMWare  Fusion 13.5 on the Mac side.

Which you can now run for free with a personal licence, installs easily, and runs within the Mac environment , like any other app.

Pat

[Tony Acorn]

19 minutes ago, mareman48 said:

Hi Tony,

There are several options for Mac users, I have several I use for different reasons.

On the Mac side, I run ASIStudio, which has a built in FIT viewer as well as a Stacker, I find the M1 version runs better than the intel version.

 

I also have PixInsight which is a crazy bit of software and take some time getting to grips with, but the finished product is better than any other software I've tried.

The only caveat with PixInsight that it  can takes up to 10 hours ( or less) depending on what you are processing , your processor speed and so on.

 

I have my 27" intel iMac partition and run windows 10 on that, I have this option as I run windows based games from that partition (4.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7- Radeon Pro 580 8 GB- 64 GB 2400 MHz DDR4)

On the Windows partition I run Deep Sky Stacker, which I find is the fastest of all the other options.

 

On the M3 iMac I also run Asistudio, and that processes very quickly.

You can find an extensive list of Mac software Here

 

Hope that helps a bit.

Pat

 

 

Thanks for all that Pat.
My iMac is a 27" 3.6GHz 8-core i9 Intel with 128GB of RAM and a Radeon 580 8Gb graphics card - a nice device for photo editing. My portable toy is an M1 MacBook Pro with 16GB Ram and a 16" screen, much faster but the smaller screen means I generally stick with the iMac. Until I get the imaging rig completely set up, I'm not sure how far ASiStudio can be worked - I've only used it with my 120MM guide camera so far.
I ran VMWare's Fusion on a previous MacBook Pro and found it (or the Windows OS within it) gobbled resources and of course you need Windows specific AV software too - hence my reluctance to go that way. I've heard of PixInsight and it seems to be popular, if a little tricky to a newbie.
Once again, many thanks for your prompt reply.

Tony

[Tony Acorn]

26 minutes ago, Kon said:

I am a Mac user and I use crossover to run all the planetary software without any problems (pipp, as!4, astrosurface, etc etc). Siril is also good for DSO work.

Thanks Kon, I'll investigate your leads buty I hate the idea of giving a Windows OS access to my Macs.

Tony

[mareman48]

2 minutes ago, Tony Acorn said:

Thanks for all that Pat.
My iMac is a 27" 3.6GHz 8-core i9 Intel with 128GB of RAM and a Radeon 580 8Gb graphics card - a nice device for photo editing. My portable toy is an M1 MacBook Pro with 16GB Ram and a 16" screen, much faster but the smaller screen means I generally stick with the iMac. Until I get the imaging rig completely set up, I'm not sure how far ASiStudio can be worked - I've only used it with my 120MM guide camera so far.
I ran VMWare's Fusion on a previous MacBook Pro and found it (or the Windows OS within it) gobbled resources and of course you need Windows specific AV software too - hence my reluctance to go that way. I've heard of PixInsight and it seems to be popular, if a little tricky to a newbie.
Once again, many thanks for your prompt reply.

Tony

Hi Tony,

Nice setup 😃

 

Yes I know what you mean about hogging resources, thats why I have the partition.

I have a 1TB SSD for the Mac side and a 512GB Flash for the windows side, "and never the twain shall meet"

Just a matter of a reboot in the widows side and you can use all your CPU, GPU & Ram to your hearts content.

 

I generally transfer my data to a USB stick and do my post processing from the computer after the session is done.

Pat

[Elp]

Used Siril for DSO. If you've got photo editing software already you can finish and don't need pixinsight. Benefit is your photo editing software also has other uses and you're actually learning how to photo edit.

[Kon]

12 minutes ago, Tony Acorn said:

Thanks Kon, I'll investigate your leads buty I hate the idea of giving a Windows OS access to my Macs.

Tony

Crossover does not install windows as it is only an emulator and you do not need to partition any of your hard drive. I never owned a PC and I have to use one for my satellite tracking software and it is driving me nuts.

[The Admiral]

I run Astro Pixel Processor and Siril on a Mac-mini M1. Both are multi-platform. GIMP photo editor is also multi-platform, and so too is Affinity Photo, though I don't use that. APP can be purchased outright or by paying an annual sub, and this allows all the updates during that year. Siril and GIMP are free.

Ian

[The Admiral]

3 hours ago, Kon said:

I am a Mac user and I use crossover to run all the planetary software without any problems (pipp, as!4, astrosurface, etc etc). Siril is also good for DSO work.

Thanks for the heads-up on Crossover. I may investigate that further.

Ian

[Tony Acorn]

21 hours ago, Elp said:

Used Siril for DSO. If you've got photo editing software already you can finish and don't need pixinsight. Benefit is your photo editing software also has other uses and you're actually learning how to photo edit.

Thanks Elp,

I have licenses for Adobe's Photoshop and Lightroom (both versions) and Topaz PhotoAI and would say I'm moderately comfortable in Lightroom and Topaz but not so in Photoshop. I fear it is too easy to over-process images and then lose what was actually captured. I also own StarrySkyStacker and StarryLandscapeStacker that I bought for MW processing. All those programmes run without issues on my Macs. As you say, photo editing is wider than just astro but I was thinking that there are programmes more specific to astro work when I raised the initial post. Now to investigate what Siril can do....

[Tony Acorn]

21 hours ago, Kon said:

Crossover does not install windows as it is only an emulator and you do not need to partition any of your hard drive. I never owned a PC and I have to use one for my satellite tracking software and it is driving me nuts.

Thanks again Kon - I didn't know anything about, or the existance of, Crossover until you mentioned it.

[Elp]

3 minutes ago, Tony Acorn said:

I fear it is too easy to over-process images and then lose what was actually captured

As long as you don't clip the histogram you loose no data whatsoever.

In terms of overprocessing that's down to the user, not what software you use.

Edited Saturday at 08:49 by Elp

[Tony Acorn]

1 minute ago, Elp said:

As long as you don't clip the histogram you loose no data whatsoever.

The histogram is a very useful indicator when doing any processing - but of course there are times when I forget to look at it 😂

[happy-kat]

For Mac the programs that come to mind are SIRIL and Startools covering stacking and post processing.