StarTools 1.0 image processing suite released

[irwjager (Ivo)]

Originally Posted by Yoddha

Sorry for the flood Just checked and the P4 is with Northwood core so there is no SSE3...

EDIT: 1.0.14 is working on it, but gives Out of Memory...

Great! It was the SSE3 then. The StarTools-Windows32-Legacy-LQ.exe version should give you a bit more mileage with regards to memory due to the reduced accuracy of the signal path. Some modules are just very memory hungry though and can run out of memory quick on a less well endowed system - especially when using larger images.

Instead of bluntly saying 'out of memory' and exiting I definitely need to code something more graceful though.

[Yoddha]

I tried both legacy versions with 6.7MB file, but can't make levels

[irwjager (Ivo)]

Originally Posted by Yoddha

I tried both legacy versions with 6.7MB file, but can't make levels

Are you saying it runs out of memory before you can even launch the Levels module?

[Yoddha]

I open the file and then go to Levels. It thinks for a while, gives error (not the out of memory one) and closes the app Looks like Access Violation error...

[irwjager (Ivo)]

Ok. It seems keeping a 64-bit signal path is a bridge too far for 32-bit systems. All 32-bit systems now run a 32-bit signal path.

New version here.

I've succesfully tested this on a machine with 192Mb, opening a file 3000x2000 and processing it. It's hella slow with that little memory, but it works...

[Yoddha]

Ivo,

1.0.19 works fine on both CPUs Thanks! I was able to play only a bit but looks very good!!!

[irwjager (Ivo)]

That's awesome news - thanks for that Ivo. I'm getting reports from other users ST is now working quite well on similarly specced machines (Athlon/P4 1Gb+)!

[irwjager (Ivo)]

Hi all,

Thanks for all your support so far - I've been getting some awesome feedback!

I just uploaded 1.0.24, with a ton of new features. It includes an additional sharpening algorithm, again, especially designed for astrophotographical subjects. Also spicing things up in the Layer module are new capabilities like SMI & PIP (old favorites), Median filtering and automatic luminance mask generation. There's heaps more, but I'll leave it to you to discover them.

Also, if any of you have any challenging images that you think are beyond repair, I'd be very interested in giving it a go in StarTools. I'm always looking for new 'typical amateur' problems to tackle...

Cheers,

[h0ughy (David)]

i just tried to download the software to try before i purchase it and i got this message from my virus software

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by h0ughy

i just tried to download the software to try before i purchase it and i got this message from my virus software

AVG and Symantec don't see a problem with it.

[irwjager (Ivo)]

Originally Posted by h0ughy

i just tried to download the software to try before i purchase it and i got this message from my virus software

I'm pretty sure that's a false alarm - the file was cross compiled on a Linux machine which is incapable of running Windows viruses, let alone infect freshly compiled programs!

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by irwjager

I'm pretty sure that's a false alarm - the file was cross compiled on a Linux machine which is incapable of running Windows viruses, let alone infect freshly compiled programs!

ok so if i am to get this do i need to rename it when downloading?

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by irwjager

I'm pretty sure that's a false alarm - the file was cross compiled on a Linux machine which is incapable of running Windows viruses, let alone infect freshly compiled programs!

Almost Ivo - Wine can run some Windows viruses.

Originally Posted by h0ughy

ok so if i am to get this do i need to rename it when downloading?

David, Your screenshot seems to say it is IE that is infected.

[irwjager (Ivo)]

Originally Posted by h0ughy

ok so if i am to get this do i need to rename it when downloading?

Simply unzipping the contents of the zip file to any location on your computer should do it. Then simply run it from there. Do use the 64-bit version if you can - it's better, faster, etc.

Just to put your mind at ease - no version of Windows was involved during the creation, compile and release of this program.

[irwjager (Ivo)]

Originally Posted by mithrandir

Almost Ivo - Wine can run some Windows viruses. .

I wish the Wine devs would stop spending so much time on virus compatibility and more on getting something like NotePad++ to work properly! I used to love that editor but it just freezes as soon as a file gets updated. I reported that bug 2 1/2 years ago.

[h0ughy (David)]

i will have to use another PC to get the file - bULLGUARD WONT LET ME GET IT

[irwjager (Ivo)]

Originally Posted by h0ughy

i will have to use another PC to get the file - bULLGUARD WONT LET ME GET IT

Bugger.

I actually found a bunch of posts on false positives from Bullguard. All relating to Gen.Trojan.Heur.XXXX

http://www.webuser.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=89460
http://forums.techarena.in/vista-help/1187293.htm
http://conceptex.co.uk/site/index.ph...lse-positives/

Apparently these false positives even happen with genuine Microsoft downloads...

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by irwjager

I wish the Wine devs would stop spending so much time on virus compatibility and more on getting something like NotePad++ to work properly! I used to love that editor but it just freezes as soon as a file gets updated. I reported that bug 2 1/2 years ago.

I might be a bit (lets not quibble - seriously) biased but NEdit is my preferred X11 editor. It needs a ***good*** version of Motif - which lets out any distro which demands you use LessTif. If you are interested I can supply a 32 bit version that is built with a static OpenMotif library.

Andrew

[irwjager (Ivo)]

Originally Posted by mithrandir

I might be a bit (lets not quibble - seriously) biased but NEdit is my preferred X11 editor. It needs a ***good*** version of Motif - which lets out any distro which demands you use LessTif. If you are interested I can supply a 32 bit version that is built with a static OpenMotif library.

Andrew

Aha! One of the long time contributors I see. I'd definitely give that a go. Can't be worse than gedit (yes, I'm a masochist ).

[irwjager (Ivo)]

Hi all,

Just a quick update on the many changes and features that have gone into ST in its first month of being public. I just released a new module called 'Wavelet' which does... ...near real-time wavelet sharpening. Actually it does it quite well and the de-ringing (i.e. black halo suppression) seems to perform better than that of most other software I've been able to compare it to.

Please note that the Japan appeal offer (full proceeds will be donated to the Australian Red Cross Japan appeal) is still open until March 28th.

Anyway, without further ado here is a recap for this month;

1.0.1
* Initial Release

1.0.3
* Made changes to Windows and Linux eventloop to reduce CPU usage in UI thread.

1.0.6
* Made some multi-core CPU specific optimizations
* Optimized Gaussian filter code

1.0.8
* Added second pass function to heal module for more accurate star removal.
* No longer crashes when 'resources' file is missing, instead shows error message.

1.0.10
* Added refractor and newtonian presets to Synth's PSF generator per feature request.

1.0.13
* Added PNG read support
* Overhauled Color module and added new, more effective color balancing algorithm.
* Added pre-SSE3 legacy 32-bit executables to distribution.
* Small UI tweaks.
* Small performance tweaks.

1.0.14
* Added 32-bit signal path version to distribution for faster performance and lower memory usage on legacy systems.

1.0.19
* Revamped Color Module
* Added average RGB readout to color module for color correction guiding.
* Removed superfluous per-channel saturation controls.
* Rewrote
* Made fixes to 32-bit signal path version and made this version the standard for 32-bit systems.

1.0.24
* Revamped Layer Module
* Added new modes Screen, Power of Inverse (PIP), Desaturate Average, Desaturate Luminance and Invert.
* Added luminance masking (prerequiste for SMI).
* Added new Median filter type.
* Added filter type selection (Gaussian or Median).
* New scrolling behavior
* Now capable of a huge amount of added functionality; SMI, PIP, many new noise reduction methods)
* Revamped Sharp Module
* New highly effective general purpose StarTools Sharp algorithm.
* Enhanced StarTools Definition algorithm.
* Added new De-ringing option.
* Removed Highpass algorithm in lieu of new Deringing option (De-ringing converts Unsharp Mask into Highpass).
* Added Sobel edge detection to Mask's Auto feature.
* Rewrote median filter code.
* Added presets to HDR module.
* Added presets to Wipe module.
* Normalization filter in Levels now only applies to bottom end.

1.0.26
* Added new Definition/ST Sharp hybrid sharpening algorithm to Sharp.
* Improved Wipe's pre-filtering.
* Improved Contrast's pre-filtering.
* Added Minimum filter to Layer.
* Added Maximum filter to Layer.
* Added 4th order (e.g. steeper response) option to Luma Mask generation in Layer.
* Added Color Extract mode to Layer.

1.0.28
* Added new Wavelet module for wavelet sharpening
* Added histogram to Color module
* Color ratio in color module no longer affected by luminance retention
* Added lightness filter to Layer module
* Added Multiply Luminance mode to Layer module