StarTools work through?

[Larry 1969]

Hello all!

I've recently posted about DSS and StarTools running out of memory and, lo and behold, it was my crappy computer...……. :sigh:
I have since replaced it with a 6 core i5, 16Gb RAM 256 SSD + 1Tb HDD machine and those memory issues were resolved!
My current issue is with StarTools. Not that there is a problem with the program, but more of a learning curve than I expected.
I suspect my data may be unique as well (since it's captured with a tracking Dob and only a bunch of 15 sec exposures).
Anyway, a few weeks ago I had very good seeing and excellent tracking on M27 so I captured 150 lights, 100 darks and 200 bias frames.
After manually removing 40 or so lights due to star trailing DSS managed to stack 93 images and produced a very nice image!
With just a bit of stretching in DSS I could see some of the outer cloud! I was pretty excited! I put the image into StarTools and I had one
heck of a time bringing anything out. I finished it up in GIMP and I'm not very impressed...………..
I've watched a few tutorials on StarTools but I'm not sure I am working with the same type of data.
I start by using "AutoDev" to see the stacking artifacts and crop them out.
Then "Dev" and increase the Gamma to just about 2.0 until the image becomes visible and work from there.
I find the work flow a bit confusing.
If anyone has a bit of time and wouldn't mind running my .fit through StarTools here's the link.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1kcnmjbfm6nbsci/M27.fts?dl=0

Thanks!

Larry

[Juno16]

Hi Larry,

Glad that you got the DSS/PC issue worked out.

I’m not at my PC right now, but just or your reference, below is a general Startools workflow from a very experienced member on another forum. His workflow got me started successfully using Startools.

“Startools Workflow

Open your picture in ST
Select Linear, was Bayered, is not Whitebalanced (DSLR)
Linear, was not Bayered or is Whitebalanced (CCD)
Use AutoDev to see the stacking artifacts
Cancel AutoDev
Crop, ensure you remove all the stacking artifacts!
Wipe – temp autodev, leave the aggressiveness at 75%, dark anomaly filter, I use 5 pixels
You may have to play with the aggressiveness setting if it does not look good. If you cannot get anything acceptable try using the vignetting tool as it is the more aggressive tool
Once you are happy-keep
Develop–Set the dark anomaly filter to what you set in the wipe module. Adjust the Digital Development slider to around 75% and then use the Home In button until you are happy-keep
Decon- Can be tricky, use the automask feature and adjust Radius, I find 2.3 works for me.
Sharp-Use the mask that you created in Decon. Structure Size-Large, Small Detail Bias-I use 90%
Amount-depends on your image default is good but you may increase to 300% if your image can handle it. If you have a lot of noise, reducing Scale 1 can help.
HDR-A lot going on with this one so you will have to experiment to find what works best for you. The Reveal DSO Core works nicely on galaxies and globs.
Contrast-I find this one hit or miss depending on what you have imaged.
Colour-If everything has worked right so far, you will have very little to do in the Colour Module, just accept the defaults. If the defaults do not work then you will have to experiment.
Life- Great for bringing objects out of the noise. When I use it I go with the isolate function and a full mask. Increase the Saturation to 125% and drop the strength to 50% so you do not lose the faint stuff in your image.
Tracking-Turn off and do final Noise Reduction. I go with the default settings.

If you follow this basic order you should be able to produce a reasonably nice image. Of course all this depends on the quality of your data. Most of the time, the default settings in ST will get you decent results but do not be afraid to play with the settings. After all, pixels are free!”

Best of luck Larry!

Thanks,
Jim

[Larry 1969]

Thanks again Jim!
I'll run it through as suggested and see what comes out.
I usually do my final touch up in GIMP. Just setting the black level and such. not much.

Larry

[bladekeeper]

Hi Larry!

Thanks for the opportunity to try your data out!

Here is what I got out of it with StarTools:

Unfortunately, you may need to restack. It appears that DSS has a frame not lined up with the rest. You'll notice some "ghosting" to the left of M27 (as well as on the brighter stars).

Regardless of that bit, it's pretty decent data. Here is my StarTools workflow with this particular image:

Linear, was Bayered, is not whitebalanced
AutoDev, Keep
Bin (50%), Keep
Crop, 100 pixels on all 4 sides, Keep
Wipe, Dark Anomaly Filter to 5 pixels, Do, Keep
Develop, Redo Global Stretch, Dark Anomaly Filter to 5 pixels, Home In to 95.84%, Keep
Decon, Generate Mask Automatically, Wait..., Radius to 2.3 pixels, wait..., Keep
Sharp, Next, Amount to around 150%, Small Detail Bias to 90%, Keep
Contrast, Dark Anomaly Filter to 5 pixels, Do, Keep
Life, Saturation to 125%, Strength to 50%, Do, Keep
Color, Fill Mask, pulled Saturation back to 100%, kicked the Green slider up to equal the Blue (1.44), Keep
Track, Stop Tracking, do final noise reduction, Next, wait..., click OK on the Noise Floor message, Keep
Save

After that, I opened the image with PhotoShop and did a "Save for Web" option and cut the long axis down to 1800 pixels to cut the final posting size down to around 3 MB.

Hope that helps some. Thanks again for the opportunity to play.

[Larry 1969]

Thanks Bladekeeper!
AutoDev, keep? I thought that absolutely ruined the image? (Apparently not though).
Bin (50%)? Does this make the process faster? Even with my new computer some parts of the process seemed pretty slow.
Do you think this work through would be a good starting point for my other dso images?
I understand globular clusters and galaxies may be different but nebulae might be relatively close?

Thanks again!

Larry

[bladekeeper]

Thanks Bladekeeper!
AutoDev, keep? I thought that absolutely ruined the image? (Apparently not though).
Bin (50%)? Does this make the process faster? Even with my new computer some parts of the process seemed pretty slow.
Do you think this work through would be a good starting point for my other dso images?
I understand globular clusters and galaxies may be different but nebulae might be relatively close?

Thanks again!

Larry

Hi Larry!

AutoDev - yes, keep! This allows the wipe module to be much more effective, When you develope after wiping, you will have the option to redo the stretch.

That workflow fairly close to what I follow most times. The main exception was the color module. I typically do not have to pull back on the saturation. And I may or may not use the Contrast module depending on how the image looks.

Binning does make the process faster as you are dumping a lot of useless data and size. This will also make processes like deconvolution and noise reduction more effective further in the process.

Don’t be afraid to play and experiment.

[Larry 1969]

Thanks a Million!
I'm going to re-stack. I think I will re-register already registered frames and see what happens.
I'm looking forward to playing with this now that I have a starting point!

Larry

[Larry 1969]

After a successful re-stack and using your settings I was able to pull this out.
Thanks again!

Larry

[bladekeeper]

Nicely done, Larry!

[Larry 1969]

One more quick question. There are a few modules with options. I'm sure "Life" is one of them. Across the top from left to right is "Moderate", "Heavy", "Less=More" etc.
When you say "Life, Saturation to 125%, Strength to 50%, Do, Keep" I assume this is the "Moderate" setting?
HDR is another one. It has "Optimize", "Equalize", "Tame" and "Reveal". If I don't select one of those, does it start with the one on the left?

Thanks again!

Larry

[bobharmony]

Larry

You are correct, the left-most option on the screen is what the module starts with when it opens. You can select any of the presets, and make adjustments to the individual parameters as well.

Bob

[Larry 1969]

Thanks Bob!