StarTools

Hi! I am a fan of StarTools, and use it frequently, even after purchasing another, more expensive software. However, after getting used to almost continuous updates, last ST version was available several months ago. Is there a big update coming, or has ST development stopped?

Ivo has been hinting that something is in the works.

Is there a big update coming, or has ST development stopped?

Rest assured ST development is most definitely still on!
The 1.3.5 development cycle is nearing its end (apart from one last significant unreleased improvement that is yet to be released).
Work over the past few months has shifted to laying the groundwork for enhanced support, documentation and communication. The latter neatly coincides with the 'work-that-pays-the bills' which indirectly keeps ST going as well. As ST's user base grew it became increasingly difficult trying to be everywhere with support, updating documentation, keeping users abreast of the latest versions/updates and features (and explaining those!), while also finding the time to keep developing the application. ST is mostly a one-man show (with some much appreciated contributions from its users from time-to-time), so time is precious and resources are limited. In short, something needed to be done to take ST, as a product and community, to a new level. That's what I'm working on now. I'm hoping to present the fruits of my labor end-of-year, if not before. Apologies if this is all a bit vague, but bear with me a little longer and you'll hopefully appreciate the effort.

Aside from this post 1.3.5, 1.4 will be more focused on the under-the-hood architecture, improving what is there and revamping the multi-platform development kit (finally adding 64-bit MacOSX support!).
Beyond that, I've been experimenting with some pretty cool stuff in the pre-processing realm. In particular as a direct result of khyperia's post and as a result of going back to basics personally with a 12" (non GoTo) Dob.

So, long story short; nope, I'm still here, slogging away

That is awesome, Ivo! I am eager to get that update as soon as possible. Keep up the good work!

admin wrote:Beyond that, I've been experimenting with some pretty cool stuff in the pre-processing realm. In particular as a direct result of khyperia's post and as a result of going back to basics personally with a 12" (non GoTo) Dob.

This sounds interesting, mhmm!

I wish I could have continued with that stacker, but throwing together a GUI turned out to be a lot more difficult than expected - also life threw some things at me (in particular, going off to college and being forced to leave my telescope behind).

I'm excited to see what you have in the works!

khyperia wrote: I wish I could have continued with that stacker, but throwing together a GUI turned out to be a lot more difficult than expected - also life threw some things at me (in particular, going off to college and being forced to leave my telescope behind).

If you'd ever like to revisit this (just a command line interface will do - I can take care of the rest) I've been thinking we could probably set up some sort of crowd funded incentive for you.

admin wrote:If you'd ever like to revisit this (just a command line interface will do - I can take care of the rest) I've been thinking we could probably set up some sort of crowd funded incentive for you.

Okay, I can safely say I didn't expect that
I would love to work on it more, but the route I was going (attempting to make a user-friendly GUI) wasn't doing so hot. To be completely honest, my interface skills aren't nearly up to par with my dreams for it - namely, making the whole thing interactive, watching in realtime as images get calibrated, registered, and aligned, as well as being able to tweak parameters and see the stacking result live.
If you want to talk more about it, I think you have my email with my ST account, otherwise just shoot me a PM here or on reddit or something to get it.

I really don't think we should see real time results. I think it's more thank OK to see only steps where you need some user input and than the final stack. the in-between stuff can be don with some progress bar or some information somewhere on the screen to see that the software ain't frozen (so using background thread to do the process and not freezing out the main window is a must).