Image Processing Train

[deadsimple]

Hi all,

I was wondering what image processing programs everyone uses for astrophotography, and just as importantly what specific features/algorithms in these programs you invoke for what purpose - from initial frame grab through to final processed image.

For my planetary imaging (I'm still new at this): after capturing with WxAstroCapture, I do the typical BMP export with VirtualDub, fed to RGBsplit, then into ppmcentre, followed by per-channel processing in Registax (stacking, wavelets). Then I used GIMP to combine and offset the channels, sharpen, crop, etc.

While I'm here, I've been looking at adding Astra Image to the list. I was quite impressed with the deconvolution and reliable wavelet processing. Can anyone recommend it? Worth the $60AU for the basic version? What about $200AU for the Pro version?

[AlexN]

I paid the $60 AUD for Astra Image, Worth every cent... the difference it can make to an image is fantastic..

I bought the plug in for photoshop.. however Im now kind of wishing I got the stand alone version... as the photoshop plugin will not work with tiff files.. only BMP's, JPG's and PNG's.

I found RGB split to be a rather serious waste of time... others swear by it... I suppose its all up to you, but I wouldn't bother processing each color separatly.. After all, thats the reason you buy a color camera, so you dont have to do crazy stuff like RGB combines, and 3x the processing to achieve a marginally better image...

[deadsimple]

Well I initially started using it to make it easier for ppmcentre and Registax to align - whether or not it helped in that regard is yet to be determined, but that's not why I continue doing separate-channel processing. I can stack different numbers of frames for different channels, which is a big deal considering my blue channel is usually a complete mess (thread here (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=37370)). Recently I've been using a much lower number of blue stacks, or just stripping out the blue channel completely and making RG images (which turn out fantastic).

Oh I don't mind the time spent processing, but for me it was a budget decision. A cheap colour webcam with IR filter and adapter was much cheaper than a good mono with filter wheel and filters.



Great, I'll definitely consider it then. Thanks.