StarTools

Hi Ivo,

I'm a new user of StarTools and I love it. I'm getting a bit of practice processing my latest images and getting pretty nice results for a newbe. However, occasionally I run into a problem where I process an image and turn off tracking to enter the noise reduction (this is using the latest beta) step. I get the image looking pretty good using the noise reduction and process the full image, but I'm never given the "keep" option. My latest effort is processing a stack of Ha frames of the Helix and got a fairly impressive image showing some nice detail (especially since my frames were taken with an AT65EDQ...a 65 mm aperture scope! What is needed under the noise reduction step to enable "keep"? Sometimes it is enabled, other times nothing.

Thanks,

Frank Z...

Hi Frank,

Great to hear StarTools is making a difference in your imaging - it's feedback like this that keeps me going!
The issue you describe is an odd one - I haven't come across this before.
The only time the 'Keep' button should be greyed out, is if Denoise is launched mid-tracking instead of when you switch Tracking off (because it wants you to use Denoise as the last step - it will let you know through a popup), or if Denoise is still rendering its first ever denoised version of your image (the spinner icon should be visible in that case).

If this is not the case and the Keep button just won't come up, then I've got some (more) bug fixing to do!
Can you tell me what OS this is on and whether this is a 32-bit or 64-bit version? Do you have any masks active?

Thanks!

Ivo

Ivo,

I'm using Win 7 x64, and I'm using the 64 bit windows version. I think for this time I entered the wavelet noise reduction by hitting the noise reduction icon instead of turning tracking off...so my bad. Other times I've entered by turning tracking off. So now I'm in the noise reduction screen, how do I exit it without losing everything?

No mask is active and I can send you a screen capture if needed.

thanks,

Frank Z...

fbzolt wrote:Ivo,
I'm using Win 7 x64, and I'm using the 64 bit windows version. I think for this time I entered the wavelet noise reduction by hitting the noise reduction icon instead of turning tracking off...so my bad. Other times I've entered by turning tracking off. So now I'm in the noise reduction screen, how do I exit it without losing everything?

A screen cap may help, as well as the StarTools.log file (just the relevant section for your session will suffice).
Is the spinning icon in the lower right corner of the image still going, or has it disappeared?
Worst case, make a note of your settings, hit Cancel and click 'Next' again, wait until 'Keep' becomes available and redo the settings. Very odd...

Oooh... One other scenario is when you use a preview window. Keep will be grayed out, but 'Full' will become available.
Keep will be grayed out because Denoise is only denoising the image partially. This will help with rendering times *a lot*.
To make denoise render the full denoised image again, click Full (as in 'denoise the Full image').

Ivo,

It looks like a workflow problem from my end. As mentioned earlier, I entered in the noise reduction via the icon instead of turning tracking off, so in that case I think ST lets you preview what it will do but not let you keep it (correct me if I'm wrong). When I turn tracking off, I get the option to do a noise reduction and under that workflow, I can then keep and save my image. Fortunately I did a screen capture so I was able to use the same settings so when I turned off tracking and did a noise reduction. I was then able to save my image.

I like what I'm getting by using StarTools and I have a bit of data to test it out on (a nice clear spell after the wettest September on record). I'll post some images as I get something I'm happy with (beyond the oohs and ahhs from the wife and kid). Right now I'm concentrating on getting details up and noise down in the monchrome images and color balance and saturation in my LRGB and adding Ha in some cases for color images. I'll worry about things such as cleaning up stars and other image processing options as I get more experience.

Thanks,

Frank Z...

fbzolt wrote:Ivo,

It looks like a workflow problem from my end. As mentioned earlier, I entered in the noise reduction via the icon instead of turning tracking off, so in that case I think ST lets you preview what it will do but not let you keep it (correct me if I'm wrong).

Aha!
Yes, that's correct. While it's possibly inconvenient the first time you come across the 'this is a preview only' popup, it helps you do things at the best possible time in your workflow, so you benefit maximally of then noise Tracking feature.

When I turn tracking off, I get the option to do a noise reduction and under that workflow, I can then keep and save my image. Fortunately I did a screen capture so I was able to use the same settings so when I turned off tracking and did a noise reduction. I was then able to save my image.

Excellent!

I like what I'm getting by using StarTools and I have a bit of data to test it out on (a nice clear spell after the wettest September on record). I'll post some images as I get something I'm happy with (beyond the oohs and ahhs from the wife and kid). Right now I'm concentrating on getting details up and noise down in the monchrome images and color balance and saturation in my LRGB and adding Ha in some cases for color images. I'll worry about things such as cleaning up stars and other image processing options as I get more experience.

Let us know how you get on!
We're here to help. Also have a look at the latest YouTube video (if you haven't done so already) which shows how to process some LRGB data.

Clear skies!