A little stacking help?

[george7378]

Hi everyone,

I got my best film yet of Juptier this evening. Visible in this afocal footage is the shadow of Ganymede as it eclipses the surface, along with various belts and zones of cloud. I'm really pleased with this, and I would like to have a go at processing it all properly using a stacking program to eliminate the noise and bring out the details. I have no idea of what to do or which program to use (I have this footage in AVI format), so I would really appreciate any help you can give me. Here is the film:

YouTube - Ganymede eclipsing Jupiter - Sky-Watcher 130

Thanks!

[Bizibilder]

I believe "Registax5" is the one to use. (Free download)

[TheThing]

Registax5 seconded here.

Used it on my first Jupiter (!st Jupiter and 1st Registax use!) and am very impressed.

I tried following the tutorial, but it's mostly aimed at lunar images and I found it too complicated and the results not good, so I started again. I just loaded, aligned, optimized, stacked and then adjusted the wavelets. Optimizing seems to get rid of the duff frames for you.

It's very satisfying to see you imaging slowly come together and then when you tweak it to come out quite nicely!

[george7378]

I like the look of Registax 5 - I have downloaded and am just converting my MOV files to uncompressed AVI. I really hope it works! Thanks for the recommendations.

I found this tutorial which seems to take you through the process nicely:

[lukebl]

You will be amazed with Registax. Whilst each frame may seem very fuzzy, grainy and show very little detail, after stacking in Registax they will reveal an amazing amount of detail which you couldn't possibly believe was there. I was really dissappointed at first, so don't get despondent!

Here's a single frame from last night's Ganymede transit, and the finished stacked result. Not the best final image, but I'm sure you wil agree the difference is startling. By the way, try and save the files as avis from the start, rather than converting them from mov files.

[george7378]

Wow - that's amazing - I'm really fired up to try it now! I am having a little trouble though - I am starting out with a .mov file from my camera, and when I convert it to an uncompressed .avi using RAD video tools, I end up with a 7GB file for 1.5 minutes of video. What is the best way to convert, and how do I go about it? Are there any other suitable formats? Thanks.

[lukebl]

Wow - that's amazing - I'm really fired up to try it now! I am having a little trouble though - I am starting out with a .mov file from my camera, and when I convert it to an uncompressed .avi using RAD video tools, I end up with a 7GB file for 1.5 minutes of video. What is the best way to convert, and how do I go about it? Are there any other suitable formats? Thanks.

The files will be big. You can't avoid that, although they shouldn't be that big. My avis from last night's Jupiter were over 1.5 GB. I think converting them from .mov will make them even bigger and you will lose quality. As I said, though, you must try and save them as avis from the start when you next have a go.

[george7378]

I managed to get 13 seconds of video, which is about 390 frames, and the result is truly amazing (I think):

[lukebl]

Well done. You learn fast!

[AndyUK]

Wow... That IS quite amazing! I'm still trying to get my first real good crack at Jupiter with my Toucam II 840k - I had a go about 3-4 weeks ago (90s @ 30fps, then through registax), but I subsequently discovered that 30fps through a USB port results in compressed frames, which might have been part of the problem... but the results weren't anywhere near what you got with your 13 seconds afocal! .

I'm set up in the back garden even now, but a) the clouds moved in and then a) Jupiter then slid behind the roof (and won't be past it for probably another couple of hours)... Typically the sky's fairly clear now...

[Arushin]

Hi,

great tutorial here:- How to

Hope the link works.