StarTools

I'm experiencing problems with 64-bit Startools 1.3.3.224 on a Lenovo Yoga running 64-bit Windows 8. I'm able to open unstretched FITS file and I can see the bright stars in the field. However once I enter AutoDev or Develop, the image turns completely black. I have tried running as an administrator and with Windows 7 compatibility turned on but I get the same result.

I found a posting on CloudyNights indicating Startools works fine on Windows 8. Has anyone else experienced problems and if so did they have a workaround?

BTW, I have successfully used StarTools to edit these same FITS files on a different laptop and desktop running Windows 7 64-bit and Window XP Pro, respectively.

Thanks.

Curtis

curtistsai wrote:I'm experiencing problems with 64-bit Startools 1.3.3.224 on a Lenovo Yoga running 64-bit Windows 8. I'm able to open unstretched FITS file and I can see the bright stars in the field. However once I enter AutoDev or Develop, the image turns completely black. I have tried running as an administrator and with Windows 7 compatibility turned on but I get the same result.

I found a posting on CloudyNights indicating Startools works fine on Windows 8. Has anyone else experienced problems and if so did they have a workaround?

BTW, I have successfully used StarTools to edit these same FITS files on a different laptop and desktop running Windows 7 64-bit and Window XP Pro, respectively.

Thanks.

Curtis

Hi Curtis,

That sounds very odd indeed. Is there any chance you could share the offending FITS file?

Thanks!

Hi Ivo,

I had assumed the issue was with Win8, but when you asked me for a FITS file, it triggered more debug on my side and I found the source of my problem. I'm embarrassed to report the file I was working on was on a flash drive that didn't have any empty space so Startools couldn't write the tracking information to the drive. Mea culpa.

Thanks for responding so quickly to my original email.

To make amends, I've attached an image of the Horsehead and Flame Nebulae taken with a TEC140+flattener, QSI583 2x2, Astrodon 3nm Ha filter, 10x300s, data collected, calibrated, and stacked with Maxim DL, image processed with StarTools, cleaned up in PS CS2 w/Noiseware plug-in.

Curtis

[quote="curtistsai"I'm embarrassed to report the file I was working on was on a flash drive that didn't have any empty space so Startools couldn't write the tracking information to the drive. Mea culpa.[/quote]
Not entirely Curtis! It is not very elegant or user-friendly that StarTools fails like this without notifying the user. I should look into this nonetheless!

To make amends, I've attached an image of the Horsehead and Flame Nebulae taken with a TEC140+flattener, QSI583 2x2, Astrodon 3nm Ha filter, 10x300s, data collected, calibrated, and stacked with Maxim DL, image processed with StarTools, cleaned up in PS CS2 w/Noiseware plug-in.

That's a beautiful close-up of the Flame and Horse - very, very well framed!

I would absolutely love to show you how to process the full image in just StarTools though (if you would let me of course!). There are a number of areas in which I think StarTools can benefit you, these areas chiefly being histogram clipping (your image is rather severely black-clipped), and noise-reduction.

If the Tracking feature is used, I can guarantee noise-reduction in StarTools will yield better results than any other noise-reduction routine out there. I can make this guarantee because no other noise-reduction routine makes use of knowledge which pixels were stretched and which were not (no other program, to my knowledge, records this). I'd be happy to show you how!

Clear skies!

Hi Ivo,

It would be great to have you walk through processing this image. I'm attaching a dropbox link to the unstretched FITS file. Feel free to move this thread over to Tutorials forum.

Thanks. Curtis

https://www.dropbox.com/s/igtk32k2b4ijr ... 300_Ha.fit

curtistsai wrote:Hi Ivo,

It would be great to have you walk through processing this image. I'm attaching a dropbox link to the unstretched FITS file. Feel free to move this thread over to Tutorials forum.

Thanks. Curtis

https://www.dropbox.com/s/igtk32k2b4ijr ... 300_Ha.fit

Hi Curtis,

Thanks for the data! I'm currently working on getting 1.3.5 ready which, amongst other things, has an even more effective noise reduction algorithm, so I'll hold off on doing a full-fledged tutorial until then.

In the meantime, here is very quick workflow that should you a good result with more detail and no clipping of the image;

Open image, indicate it is still linear.
AutoDev, ignore detail < 5.0.
Launch Decon, launch Mask from within Decon, click Auto, use the Decon preset, click Do.
Grow x4, Invert, Keep. We now have a mask that is suitable for deconvolution.
I chose a radius of 3.0 in the decon module, Keep.
You can do more at this point (wavelet sharpening for example), but let's keep it simple;
Stop Tracking, Do final noise reduction. Next. After inital calculation/processing answer 'Yes, Set Full mask' so that the mask is reset to the full image.
I set all scales at 100%, except scale 5 (50%). Intelligent Despeckle 99%.
And that's it!

The big difference is the amount of detail in the image (note especially the detail in the flame), while no black clipping has occured and the full dynamic range is used.
Be careful when performing any further stretching in PhotoShop and be especially careful when using terrestrial noise reduction algorithms - they tend to oversmoothen and destroy detail and don't know which parts require noise reduciton and which parts don't (StarTools does have this knowledge).