StarTools

I'm just starting out and was hoping someone might be kind enough to see what they can make of my image. I've watched and read many tutorials and tried several times with StarTools, both 1.3.5.289 and 1.4.327 alpha, but haven't had much luck getting reasonable results. This is an image of M31 taken from my light polluted back yard. Canon T3i DSLR (unmodded), 135mm lens, ISO 400. 48 x 20 sec lights stacked in DSS with 20 darks, 20 flats, and 20 bias.

The file can be downloaded from https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzL4J ... 1ctNHV2NEU

This is the autosave.fts file from DSS.

Even a quick run through of a workflow for my image would be helpful.

Thanks so much,
Andy

Hi Andy,

I'm quite new to Astro Photography in general and startools in particular. Here's what I could manage:
I loaded it, chose option 1 for data type.

The basic flow I followed was AutoDev, crop, Wipe, bin, wipe, colour, Dev, Colour, Develop wipe, contrast - a lot of bouncing between colour, dev wipe basically, trying to pull some brightness out of M31. I think it is a very low signal-to-noise ratio here (maye due to light pollution) I used Contrast to darken the background again.
End tracking to De-noise, then Magic repair to shrink the stars a bit.

With a bit more practice, I'm sure I could improve this a bit. Experts here could surely do better!

Here's the startools log file so you can recreate my steps.

File loaded [C:\temp\20161123 M31 Andromeda\20161123 M31 Andromeda.fts].
---
--- Auto Develop
Parameter [Ignore Fine Detail <] set to [2.1 pixels]
Parameter [Outside ROI Influence] set to [15 %]
--- Crop
Parameter [X1] set to [711 pixels]
Parameter [Y1] set to [405 pixels]
Parameter [X2] set to [4467 pixels (-735)]
Parameter [Y2] set to [3139 pixels (-326)]
--- Wipe
Parameter [Mode] set to [Correct Color & Brightness]
Parameter [UNKNOWN] set to [No]
Parameter [Precision] set to [256 x 256 pixels]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [4 pixels]
Parameter [Drop Off Point] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Corner Aggressiveness] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Aggressiveness] set to [61 %]
--- Bin
Parameter [Scale] set to [(scale/noise reduction 50.00%)/(400.00%)/(+2.00 bits)]
--- Develop
Parameter [White Calibration] set to [Use Stars]
Parameter [Gamma] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Skyglow] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Digital Development] set to [87.79 %]
Parameter [Blue Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Green Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Red Luminance Contrib.] set to [85 %]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Headroom] set to [5 %]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [3.8 pixels]
--- Wipe
Parameter [Mode] set to [Correct Color Only]
Parameter [UNKNOWN] set to [No]
Parameter [Precision] set to [128 x 128 pixels]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [1 pixels]
Parameter [Drop Off Point] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Corner Aggressiveness] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Aggressiveness] set to [0 %]
--- Color
Parameter [Cap Green] set to [To Yellow]
Parameter [Bias Slider Mode] set to [Sliders Reduce Color Bias]
Parameter [Style] set to [Scientific (Color Constancy)]
Parameter [LRGB Method Emulation] set to [Straight CIELab Luminance Retention]
Parameter [Dark Saturation] set to [2.00]
Parameter [Bright Saturation] set to [Full]
Parameter [Saturation Amount] set to [200 %]
Parameter [Blue Bias Reduce] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Green Bias Reduce] set to [1.01]
Parameter [Red Bias Reduce] set to [2.90]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
--- Develop
Parameter [White Calibration] set to [Use Stars]
Parameter [Gamma] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Skyglow] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Digital Development] set to [16.90 %]
Parameter [Blue Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Green Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Red Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Headroom] set to [5 %]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [2.0 pixels]
--- Color
Parameter [Cap Green] set to [To Yellow]
Parameter [Bias Slider Mode] set to [Sliders Reduce Color Bias]
Parameter [Style] set to [Scientific (Color Constancy)]
Parameter [LRGB Method Emulation] set to [RGB Ratio, CIELab Luminance Retention]
Parameter [Dark Saturation] set to [1.50]
Parameter [Bright Saturation] set to [Full]
Parameter [Saturation Amount] set to [200 %]
Parameter [Blue Bias Reduce] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Green Bias Reduce] set to [1.01]
Parameter [Red Bias Reduce] set to [2.81]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
--- Wipe
Parameter [Mode] set to [Correct Brightness Only]
Parameter [UNKNOWN] set to [No]
Parameter [Precision] set to [256 x 256 pixels]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [1 pixels]
Parameter [Drop Off Point] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Corner Aggressiveness] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Aggressiveness] set to [75 %]
--- Contrast
Parameter [Expose Dark Areas] set to [No]
Parameter [Compensate Gamma] set to [No]
Parameter [Precision] set to [256 x 256 pixels]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [1 pixels]
Parameter [Aggressiveness] set to [75 %]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Headroom] set to [15 %]
--- Color
Parameter [Cap Green] set to [To Yellow]
Parameter [Bias Slider Mode] set to [Sliders Reduce Color Bias]
Parameter [Style] set to [Scientific (Color Constancy)]
Parameter [LRGB Method Emulation] set to [Straight CIELab Luminance Retention]
Parameter [Dark Saturation] set to [2.00]
Parameter [Bright Saturation] set to [7.30]
Parameter [Saturation Amount] set to [200 %]
Parameter [Blue Bias Reduce] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Green Bias Reduce] set to [1.02]
Parameter [Red Bias Reduce] set to [2.52]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
--- Develop
Parameter [White Calibration] set to [Use Stars]
Parameter [Gamma] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Skyglow] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Digital Development] set to [3.05 %]
Parameter [Blue Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Green Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Red Luminance Contrib.] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Headroom] set to [5 %]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [2.3 pixels]
--- Wavelet De-Noise
Parameter [Scale 1] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Scale 2] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Scale 3] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Scale 4] set to [90 %]
Parameter [Scale 5] set to [33 %]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
Parameter [Scale Correlation] set to [3]
Parameter [Color Detail Loss] set to [12 %]
Parameter [Brightness Detail Loss] set to [12 %]
Parameter [Grain Size] set to [9.2 pixels]
Parameter [Read Noise Compensation] set to [Off]
Parameter [Smoothness] set to [75 %]
--- Contrast
Parameter [Expose Dark Areas] set to [No]
Parameter [Compensate Gamma] set to [No]
Parameter [Precision] set to [256 x 256 pixels]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [1 pixels]
Parameter [Aggressiveness] set to [75 %]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Headroom] set to [15 %]
--- Magic
Parameter [Mode] set to [Shrink]
Parameter [Mask Grow] set to [1 pixels]
Parameter [Iterations] set to [2 pixels]
File saved [C:\temp\20161123 M31 Andromeda\20161123 M31 Andromeda.tiff].


I'

Thanks for taking a look. I have no doubt my data quality is pretty low since I'm just starting out with low budget equipment. I'll keep trying.

Andy

Cant download

ajreynoelds wrote:Thanks for taking a look. I have no doubt my data quality is pretty low since I'm just starting out with low budget equipment. I'll keep trying.

Andy

That's a great start by the way Mikey.

ajreynolds wrote:Thanks for taking a look at this phenq article. I have no doubt my data quality is pretty low since I'm just starting out with low budget equipment. I'll keep trying. The basic flow I followed was AutoDev, crop, Wipe, bin, wipe, colour, Dev, Colour, Develop wipe, contrast - a lot of bouncing between colour, dev wipe basically, trying to pull some brightness out of M31. I think it is a very low signal-to-noise ratio here (maye due to light pollution) I used Contrast to darken the background again.
End tracking to De-noise, then Magic repair to shrink the stars a bit.

Andy

I'm also a newbie as far as Startools is concerned and your image looks better than my initial images processed. And your data quality is not as low as mine was initially. Keep trying and you'll get better results, And do share the results here for critique as well as suggestions and guidance.

A very basic workflow to get started and then tweak from there...

Open
Select option 2
Optional - Bin 71 or 50% for noise reduction - see below
Crop - before or after Bin and before the next steps. May need to use Dev to see the areas to crop; then
AutoDev - default
Wipe - dark anomoly 2
AutoDev
HDR - default
Color - saturation as required - cap green to yellow
Tracking off do noise reduction
Save.

EDIT: Bin also speeds things up and is useful for a quick look or to develop a preferred process.

There are a few more steps to fix the background with heal and you could apply Life after HDR.

HI Rowland,

"Crop" should be in there to? I think that should be just before wipe if I'm not mistaken.

Cheers

Richard

Rkonrad wrote:HI Rowland,

"Crop" should be in there to? I think that should be just before wipe if I'm not mistaken.

Cheers

Richard

Ah! Thank you Richard. My images are auto-cropped prior to opening in ST, so Crop is optional. I will edit the post.

CharlesVargas wrote:

ajreynolds wrote:Thanks for taking a look. I have no doubt my Dbal max results data quality is pretty low since I'm just starting out with low budget equipment. I'll keep trying. The basic flow I followed was AutoDev, crop, Wipe, bin, wipe, colour, Dev, Colour, Develop wipe, contrast - a lot of bouncing between colour, dev wipe basically, trying to pull some brightness out of M31. I think it is a very low signal-to-noise ratio here (maye due to light pollution) I used Contrast to darken the background again.
End tracking to De-noise, then Magic repair to shrink the stars a bit.

Andy

I'm also a newbie as far as Startools is concerned and your image looks better than my initial images processed. And your data quality is not as low as mine was initially. Keep trying and you'll get better results, And do share the results here for critique as well as suggestions and guidance.

I'm also a new user of Startools. ajreynolds, your images look good for me. CharlesVargas, can you share your images? I'll be uploading mine soon, although they're not great.