Horse head and Flame

[xelasnave]

Think about it this way.
It is said processing is 50% of the game....how much have you invested in gear? You got the best you could afford because you wanted the best you could afford ...so now lets get some processing softeware...sure but I dont want to spend too much...and so the potential of your initial investment in gear never gets to the potential you paid for.

Get star tools and any plug ins that sound useful each will do something and the result will be you will start producing the images you set out to get in the first place...
Alex

[RyanJones]

Originally Posted by xelasnave

Think about it this way.
It is said processing is 50% of the game....how much have you invested in gear? You got the best you could afford because you wanted the best you could afford ...so now lets get some processing softeware...sure but I dont want to spend too much...and so the potential of your initial investment in gear never gets to the potential you paid for.

Get star tools and any plug ins that sound useful each will do something and the result will be you will start producing the images you set out to get in the first place...
Alex

Haha. It's funny you should say that. My missus said exactly the same thing. She said you spend plenty on the stuff to capture the data ( relatively speaking ) it's a bit of a waste if you don't get the proper software to make the most of it.

Ok.... You're both right.

[xelasnave]

Star tools is $60 ...put $10 a week away for 6 weeks and go for it☺
Alex

[Gavin1234]

Hi Ryan, I started off subscribing to PS and used it for a while along with DSS. I was able to get a lot of data to come through just using levels in PS to stretch it out. I did use curves but didn’t really get to the point of being able to use that properly. I bought a plug in pack for $20 which helped a lot.

But after a few months I bought PixInsight which was expensive and a steep learning curve but I’m glad I spent the money. It made a huge difference. I’ve never tried star tools but it’s probably just as good. I would recommend going to something more specialised, whichever one of them.

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

PI seems to be the software of choice these days. I'm still using photoshop, but have been for donkeys years. I don't know if I could handle having to learn something all over again, but if you're early in the game go PI.

[RyanJones]

Originally Posted by cometcatcher

PI seems to be the software of choice these days. I'm still using photoshop, but have been for donkeys years. I don't know if I could handle having to learn something all over again, but if you're early in the game go PI.

Hi Kevin,

After committing myself to buying something, I didn't think it would be that hard to give them my money. Request forms, licencing.... I've filled in my applications but while we're at it, as you are an accomplished PS user, what plug ins would you suggest? I wouldn't say I'm entirely new to it but by the sounds of it I'm not getting what I should be from my data.

[ChrisV (Chris)]

+1 for pixinsight or startools. I've never used Photoshop so no comment on it.

I started with startools which is excellent and I got a hell of a lot out of it. Ivor has some great YouTube's on how to use it. Plus you'll get results out of it pretty quickly.

PI does so much more - from stacking through to processing. But it's a major learning curve. I'm still scratching the surface after nearly a year.

So I could recommend either - starting with startools (much cheaper also) or just biting the bullet and going straight to PI. But if you do the latter you'll have to be patient. Again there are good books (inside pixinsight) and online lessons (lightvortexastronomy) for PI.

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Originally Posted by RyanJones

Hi Kevin,

... what plug ins would you suggest? ...

Gradient xterminator, starshrink and Noel Carboni's astronomy tools. Go easy on star shrink though, lest you get worms from star bridging. Noel Carboni's astronomy tools is a cool little automated script that does many functions. Hasta la vista green is great for removing evil green colour casts.

http://www.rc-astro.com/resources/Gr...r/download.php

http://www.rc-astro.com/resources/StarShrink/

https://www.prodigitalsoftware.com/A...l_Version.html

http://www.deepskycolors.com/archive...sta-Green.html

[Gavin1234]

Noel Carbonis is the one I used. It was very handy.

[RyanJones]

I tried Pixinsight and wow what a program. Not sure if I want to outlay $350 though while I still haven't upgraded to an Equatorial mount. I tried Noel Carboni's plug ins and they're good too and they work with the software I already have. I'll do a bit more work with both to compare them... I've got 42 days of trial left to decide.