LRGB Imaging

[matt]

OK.

So following the repeated prompting by Mike, DP, Bird etc...

I'm looking to get full-on into LRGB imaging with my DMK21AF04.AS

I'm looking at filter wheels and filters atm.

But my initial question is: how do I set up the camera/laptop to number/name each colour run so that I know which goes with what later on during processing?

Many thanks for your help.

PS - anyone know of a good webpage/ website for easy RGB imaging tips? Has anyone written a How-To here at IIS?

[bird (Anthony Wesley)]

Matt, it's all going to depend on what software and wheel you use - I don't think there's any general guide that would be good enough.

But the principle is easy enough - just do what you're doing now, but 3 or 4 times in a row (3 if you're doing RGB , 4 if LRGB) with a different filter set in each run.

I don't know if there's any software to automatically name each run according to the filter (and how would it know anyway which filter you're using?). I ended up writing a bunch of custom stuff to do this on my setup since I couldn't find anything.

I'd suggest it's as easy as doing the runs in a set order. Anyway, each of these channels looks so different that it's hard to get them mixed up :-)

regards, Bird

[matt]

Originally Posted by bird

Anyway, each of these channels looks so different that it's hard to get them mixed up :-)

Thanks Bird

My concern isn't so much with confusing the channels as much as confusing the same colour channels from separate runs.

With the ToUcam, I tend to capture AVIs very close together.

If I did that with the DMK I'm thinking 'how would I tell the difference between (say) the red channel from one run to the red channel on another following run which came so soon after for there to be not a great deal of rotational difference???

Cheers

BTW - it was also my plan to do the runs in a set order. It makes sense to go R-G-B...every time

[davidpretorius]

fortunately for me the capture program i use Lucam Recorder for the LU075M camera has it built in what order are the filters in and it then prefixes them with the letters.

not sure if it is compatible with the dragonfly or DMKS though

[matt]

Sounds good, Davo.

I'm using the software which comes with the DMK.

It's called IC Capture.AS 2.0

To be honest, I'm only just scratching the surface in understanding what this software can and can't do

[iceman (Mike)]

IC Capture does automatic file naming, but not with prefixes like RGB.

It's pretty simple and self explanatory Matt.. With a bit of thought and preparation you won't get it mixed up.

I just capture each R,G,B run and have the automatic file naming with index as well as timestamp. So you know from the file sequence that each run is R,G,B then R,G,B etc.

I usually wait a few minutes between each capture (ie: after B), so I take the time in-between to rename the files with an "r", "g" or "b" in the filename, while giving the RGB run a number.

That is, i'll rename it to "jup-1rXXX", "jup-1gXXX", "jup1bXXX" where XXX is the filename that was generated. Next run, the 1 will change to a 2. etc.

Everything else is the same as imaging with the ToUcam. Once you've captured all your R,G,B runs, pass them through registax as normal and save them as TIFF's, eg; "jup1-r.tif", "jup1-g.tif", "jup1-b.gif". Then bring them into AstraImage to do any further processing if you want, and then recombine them into an RGB image.

[matt]

Thanks folks

Will have a red hot go real soon.

Now gotta choose a filter wheel.

Pretty sure I'll go with the Astronomik Type 2 L-RGB filter set.

[iceman (Mike)]

You can't go wrong with that filter set. As for filter wheel, are you going manual or motorised?

[matt]

Originally Posted by iceman

are you going manual or motorised?

Don't really know, Mike.

I'd like to go motorised but am still unsure whether I'll stick with RGB imaging, and so am a little tentative about spending those sorts of $$$.

I'm also a bit of a computer/IT luddite

I'd love to run the whole show (filter wheel, focuser etc) off my lappy but don't know how to go about it?

So it might be best to go manual for now.