Moon 02-11-2009 mosaic

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Took a long time this one, found the condition although clear found a lot of atmosphere vriations with such high magnitude.

The ultimate processing pleasure came from iMerge program. Absolutly brilliant used it for the first time on this program and reduced the process by a long way.

Specs:

• Camera - vAgent V5 webcam (have a problem with colour on this camera so cannot process in colour) 1024 x 768 resolution.
• AVI - 23000 frames total 32GB approx, had to delete quick because HD was getting full. Reduced to 5400 frames with Virtuedub
• iMerge - Ultimate mosaic program especially for the moon, made things so easy Click here for final image from iMerge
• Registax, final 4 images using different wavelet settings and process. All rework using the Histogram function to get the most detailed contrast. Click here for the first of the images (This is the worst). image 2, image 3, image 4

The reason it took so long was that I tried using GIMP and adjusting brightness and contrast for each image. Had to give up in the end until i tried iMerge. took altogther 2 short days to get the final image.

Let me know what you think and if things are not the best. I will be using a different camera hopefully next time. I hope the colour will be better.

[Clayton]

Hi Malcolm
I like the image a lot, but I think the final image lacks a bit of contrast (IMHO). Half way between the earlier images and the final would be great.
In the Gimp try moving the middle histogram slider in "Levels" (Colour>Levels>) to the left for the initial adjustments. (apologies if you already know this and it doesen't give you the effect you desire)

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

I may not have been clear, I used the final image from iMerge and put it through Registax. Was just trying different Wavelet setting.

The image from iMerge was the best way to get all the images to combine properly althougher about 40 images. The other 4 images provided the best contrast I could get from Registax.

I spent so much time earlier on the images i didn't really have time for GIMP.

[Clayton]

Sorry if I got the message back to front Not the first time for me
So was your stack of 40 images hand picked ? from the 5,400 from Virtual Dub

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

The original AVI contained 23,000 frames, Virtuedub condensed it down to 5,400 frames. I also split the AVI into 900 frame lots as iMerge could only handle 900 frames per input file.

From there iMerge I import each 900 frame file and could preview each frame by scrolling down. I would select every 50 frames (0, 50, 100, and so-on). Occasionally the image was so bad that I would skip 1 set of 50 altogether. Sometime i would scroll down a few frames to find a slightly sharper one. Roughly 50 frames altogether would be used to create the mosaic. Each frame placed onto the window would compliment the next and adjustments in brightness and contrast would be done automatically.

I only found iMerge few days ago, so the final result was created in a relatively short time. iMerge image had very poor contrast due to the original recording of the AVI but was easily changed in Registax later using the Histogram Function in Registax. Then I just played around with the Wavelets a bit to see the differences. These are the final 4 images where the contrast looks the same.

I am sure if the atmospheric condition were better I would be able to get a sharper image, but it is amazing how good the touch programs (iMerge, Registax) are in doing this.

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

I have just added an image to show iMerge resolution on how many images are used to create the mosaic.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink

[Clayton]

Wow that sure is a massive project.
Well done