Image Processing Tutorial of the Tarantula Nebula

[Brad Moore]

Hi All,

Here's my video/audio tutorial on the image processing of Tarantula Nebula that made its way up onto APOD.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060106.html

I hope you find some of the techniques useful to improve your image processing.

http://www.southern-astro.com.au/php/guides/processing-ngc2070.php

Please try and keep this inside the IceInSpace community. :thumbsup:

Cheers,
Brad Moore

[[1ponders]]

Wow:eyepop: Thanks for that Brad. I can see a bit of off peak downloading happening tonight. Very much appreciated.

[davidpretorius]

congratulations on apod, wow!! that is a first for a IIS member???

well done.

thanks for sharing the processing

[Octane]

Brad,

You are the best.

Thank you so much.

I, as well as everyone else here, appreciates it.

Regards,
Humayun

[tornado33]

Yes many thaks for providing the knowledge in video form like that :)
Scott

[Robby]

Wow, awesome work Brad!
I've downloaded them all now and a making my way slowly through them. Might have to get this Registar program... Do you reckon it's better for aligning than MaxImDL?
Thanks mate.

[Brad Moore]

Registar is by far the best. I use it exclusively now for all image registrations.

I find CCDSoft and MaximDL are okay for small image scales > 1.5 arc-sec per pixel anything above this I had real problems with precise alignment.

I can't comment on any other software.

Cheers,
Brad

[TidaLpHasE]

;)Awsome stuff Brad, it was great seeing the quality of the image increase with every step.

Congrats on the pic on APOD, that must be a real buzz having your talent on display on such a renowned site:thumbsup:

I could only dream to master the skills needed to produce images like this, allthough i am getting good at star trails with my misaligned EQ6:(

Thanks for sharing.

[[1ponders]]

Finished working my way through them in the wee hours this morning. Wow again, thanks Brad.

I'm sure I'll come up with a few questions but here's one to get you started and it's more out of curiosity than anything. When you're selecting areas with the magic wand, I can here you madly tapping away at keys. Is there some secret code to photoshop you aren't telling us about :P

[Brad Moore]

Was that right at the very end? I was most likely selecting noisy areas with the wand and applying a Gaussian Blur of .3 to .4.

Hope this helps,
Brad Moore

[lost_in_space]

Amazing stuff Brad. I often set the APOD image as my desktop wallpaper, yours has been "it" since I saw it back in Jan, quite simply because there has been nothing better to replace it. Hope you don't mind?

I didn't make the connection until I read this forum article. Well done on the superb imaging and processing. It sets THE standard for anyone interested in astrophotography.

[[1ponders]]

I'll recheck, but it sounded more like key strokes rather than mouse clicks and it didn't seem while clicking the Gaussian Blur. It seemed to be only while you were selecting objects using the wand. Check the final processing vid or post processing vid.

[Octane]

Paul,

I haven't viewed the videos yet, as I've had no time, but, it was probably the Shift, CTRL or Alt keys to add/subtract areas with the magic wand.

Regards,
Humayun

[[1ponders]]

Can you elaborate a bit Humayun?

[Brad Moore]

Hi Paul,

What's the file name?

Cheers,
Brad

[Octane]

Paul,

I'd type the explanation out myself, but I'm rather unwell. Actually, very unwell.

Here, you can have a look at this (http://www.heathrowe.com/tuts/knockout.asp?knockout=mwand) instead.

Regards,
Humayun

[Brad Moore]

Ahhhh.. Yes Humayun is right. I was holding down the Shift Key to add to the selection or Alt Key to subtract from the selection.

I hope you get better soon Humayun.

Cheers,
Brad Moore

[[1ponders]]

Ahh ...Thanks gentlemen. That's the problem when you teach yourself a program. You don't learn all these little shortcuts.

Cheers