Reprocessed RCW 75

[marc4darkskies]

I guess my Ha processing skills were a tad rusty!!

I forgot an important step when processing this, my first image in 13 months. You should always add a little bit of Ha to the red and blue channels (I use approx. 20-25% to red and 10% to blue). After adding the requisite amounts to the Red and Blue masters, I recombined the RGB (now called RHaGBHa), added in an improved LHa master as the luminance channel and reprocessed. I also made liberal use of my new tools; StarXterminator and NoiseXterminator - bloody awesome products! They made a huge difference to processing time and final quality, esp. preserving fainter stars & colours.

Below is the old version (Left) and new version(Right).

Links to larger versions here:
Screen sized: https://pbase.com/gailmarc/image/172622000/original
Full res: https://pbase.com/gailmarc/image/165234613/original
Full res Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/marc4darkskies/52092795121/in/dateposted-public/

(I always recommend Firefox for viewing images with embedded colour profiles)

[Peter Ward]

Great skill and daring there. The star colours and profiles are first class.
Nice one :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks Peter. Dunno about "daring", but I'll take "skill" ;)

The new version has greater depth and detail and the star profiles are better. The faint stars were preserved nicely while eliminating noise.

[atalas]

Oh yeah....huge improvement in contrast :thumbsup:

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks Louie! I was quite chuffed with the magnitude of the improvement.

[LonelySpoon]

Nice improvement Marcus.

when you 'blink' the two images the difference really pops out!

Neville, LSO

[strongmanmike]

In this current, going starless, craze that we are in, it is refreshing to finally see more stars being returned to an image! :lol: :)

Nice job Marcus...I recently reprocessed my Ultra deep Centaurus A image, with some improvement too..not sure I will post it though...:question:

Mike

[gregbradley]

Noice improvement.

I am leaning back towards ccd imaging as I don’t know that cmos has that same lovely look.

Greg

[marc4darkskies]

Cheers Neville!



Thanks Mike! The irony is I now generate an excellent starless layer so I can operate on it separately without affecting the stars. I will never post a starless image though! Starless images are without soul IMO - sort of like a symphony without the violins and cellos!



Thanks Greg!

Interesting. I didn't realise there was a noticeable difference in visual aesthetics between the different types of mono camera. I thought the final look was all in the processing. :question:

[Ryderscope]

A great comparison between the old and the new there Marcus. I wouldn't have thought that the original could have been improved on that much but the extra work has made a noticeable improvement. I shall file away your processing tips in my tool kit :thumbsup:

p.s. I’m also using the StarXTerminator and NoiseXTerminator tools now (in PI) and they work a treat.

[Bart]

I'd be happy with either, Marcus! They both look lovely.

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks Rodney! Yep, those two tools make my eyes pop every time I use them now!



Cheers Bart! I tend to be quite obsessive about pulling the last ounce of faint signal and detail out of my data. :D The new tools allow me to do that easier.

[Paul Haese]

The second is certainly an overall improvement but some of the blue nebulosity is lost a bit in the second. The stars look better in the second one too.

[marc4darkskies]

Much of the blue nebulosity in the first version was mildly and selectively exaggerated - I succumbed to temptation - atypical of my style. The blues in the reprocessed version are strictly au naturel (apart from normal processing that is). Having said that, I'm suspecting the blue intensities around the cluster aren't quite right though .... I'll take a look.

PS: Cluster surrounds now fixed - probably not noticeable to anyone but me :)

[Nikolas]

Stars definitely do look better in the second, great work

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks Nik!