OSC Optolong l-eNhance colour

[fmeireso]

Hi everbody!

Finally got some clear skies with the opportunity to test l-eNhance + broadband imaging/processing. I went for the Flaming Star nebula, which is maybe not the most suited target since it's not very rich in OIII, but it is high in the sky (for my latitude) and at least some hours of exposure per night were possible. Imaging resulted in about 8 hours of l-eNhance data and about 3 hours of broadband data. Both data sets were registered to the same sub frame (registering the second data set to the stack of the first set just doesn't work...) and the l-eNhance stack was used as a luminance layer, while broadband was assigned to RGB in the compose module. After working through the models this was the result:

Flamingstar-L+RGB_PS_small.jpg

I am pretty happy with the amount of detail I got. For comparison I also made an HOO version which lacked the broadband chrominance information:

Flamingstar-HOO-PS-small.jpg

The exact same processing was also used for another color rendition (H+[H+O]+O), resulting in this image:

Flamingstar-H(HO)O-PS-small.jpg

Guess using the L-enhance stack seems like a real good alternative with this filter and still have some star color. Guess also that is what i am planning to do in the future . Nice comparaison Stefan!

[fmeireso]

By the way, the scope used is a Sky-Watcher 150/750 (non-PDS) and the camera is a Canon EOS 1100Da. As a beginner I'm pretty amazed what is possible with a budget scope and an old DSLR, which can be bought used for under 200 EUR.

You don't need a fancy DSLR to get descent results. Off course unmodded is unmodded but there are good filters on the market to get much nebulosity after all.

[Stefan B]

I'm especially interested in how to use things like the Hubble palette om these emission nebula with this filter to get those blues and yellows.

Achieving such images with a duo narrowband filter has been one of my interests too, but I never really got there, since the color always looked rather uniform instead of a nice separation between OIII and Ha.

After a hint of Ivo in another thread to push the OIII/blue signal further in the color module I had another try on some older data. After composing and using the bicolor/DSLR option for luminance and working through the other modules the bicolor H(HO)O preset was used. Afterwards I increased the blue bias in an absurdly strong way and finally a nice blue OIII popped out. This resulted in very blue stars. Using a star mask I reduced the saturation of the stars which gave rather white stars (some with blue halos which surely could be processed away).

I came up with this:

Eagle-H(HO)O-PS-crop2.jpg (291.17 KiB) Viewed 6234 times

Actually I think that's pretty cool and looks like a Hubble palette. Of course it's only bicolor and Hubble style is rather three colors. But it appears to me that often SII and Ha get pushed towards the same color (orange, yellow) in processing, actually making it a bicolor image, too.

I don't have a good comparison how it looked in HOO or somethin like that. I only have this for comparison, but it has not been processed in StarTools, but photoshop. It hasn't been color calibrated in a reasonable way, but you get where I came from:

Best regards
Stefan

[thewormofautumn]

I'm especially interested in how to use things like the Hubble palette om these emission nebula with this filter to get those blues and yellows.

Achieving such images with a duo narrowband filter has been one of my interests too, but I never really got there, since the color always looked rather uniform instead of a nice separation between OIII and Ha.

After a hint of Ivo in another thread to push the OIII/blue signal further in the color module I had another try on some older data. After composing and using the bicolor/DSLR option for luminance and working through the other modules the bicolor H(HO)O preset was used. Afterwards I increased the blue bias in an absurdly strong way and finally a nice blue OIII popped out. This resulted in very blue stars. Using a star mask I reduced the saturation of the stars which gave rather white stars (some with blue halos which surely could be processed away).

I came up with this:

Eagle-H(HO)O-PS-crop2.jpg

Actually I think that's pretty cool and looks like a Hubble palette. Of course it's only bicolor and Hubble style is rather three colors. But it appears to me that often SII and Ha get pushed towards the same color (orange, yellow) in processing, actually making it a bicolor image, too.

I don't have a good comparison how it looked in HOO or somethin like that. I only have this for comparison, but it has not been processed in StarTools, but photoshop. It hasn't been color calibrated in a reasonable way, but you get where I came from:

Best regards
Stefan

That's a REALLY interesting Eagle. One I was looking to try and get myself. I shot with the ASI2600MC and L-Extreme, but can't replicate this.
My steps:

Compose, load Red Green and Blue as my data set. Choose the following:

Process through the modules (I will still never understand how Autodev completely overexposes everything in my images, but that's another issue)
Get to colour, and everything is salmon pink. I've tried playing around with everything in the colour module, and I can never separate the core out.

Is this because I'm using an L-Extreme, not the L-Enhance?

[Stefan B]

Just to be sure: You are using compose and are loading your 2600MC/l-eXtreme stack into R, G and B, right? The chosen bi-color option should be fine and is the one I use(d). The resulting image appears a bit overstretched as you already noted. Are you using a region of interest/ROI in autodev?

What settings do you use in the color module? Color constancy or legacy? Bi-color? If you like to create a rather Hubble palette style image you might want to try the bi-color preset and use the H+HO+O option in the matrix drop down.

If you want to upload the stack in dropbox or somethin similar, I can have a go at your data set.

Best regards
Stefan

[thewormofautumn]

thanks Stefan. Yep I tried all of those suggestions. Go for your life on my data
I don't know why Autodev overstretches. This isn't the first image it's done it on either. Sometimes I get lucky and the Super Structure module fixes it, but not always.

Here's a link to a folder. The Eagle has a black point of zero out of DSS, and Autosave does not. Otherwise they are identical.

It's not great data, I know that. Near full moon, Bortle 7, a few things went wrong, but still... would love to see how you go. The Colour Module reminds me of the Color Balance sliders in Photoshop, and I never got my head around that either

https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ak9Pmua24KTPk40XZLV ... A?e=PLqdju

[thewormofautumn]

by the way, I did have a play after I made my first post above and somehow this popped out. I post this not to show a final image, but just to show that there's definitely data in the nebula, I just don't know how I got it out, haha. This is the sort of differentiation I'm after. The palette itself can change, but I need to learn how to bring out the data in the core.

[Stefan B]

Hi there!

I had a look at your data and fiddled around a bit. It's decent data in my eyes (although that doesn't mean a lot since I'm only a beginner...), maybe a tiny bit of walking noise. But denoise was able to take care of it without applying the walking noise tool.

With a basic workflow and a bit more work in the color module I came up with this:

Eagle.jpg (155.48 KiB) Viewed 5890 times

I binned 50% (I am not used to this high res images ) and cropped quite a lot to focus on M 16 and further reduce the size of the data set. Wipe was used with the basic preset. Did a second autodev with a ROI with the core and some of the fainter nebulosity, ignored some fine detail and decreased the shadow linearity. Contrast with pretty much default settings (slightly increased locality), HDR with preset reveal all, sharpened with default and slightly decreased strength. Decon with default and 1.9 pixels primary radius.

Went into colors with bi-color preset, H(H+O)O matrix, changed to 'Sliders increase color bias" and pushed the Blue Bias Increase slider. Afterwards went into Shrink with default only and afterwards into SuperStructure with DimSmall preset and again with Saturation preset (Saturation 150%).

Here's the log file in case it you're interested:

Code: Select all

Loading red channel data
File loaded in LRGB module [C:\Users\stefa\Downloads\Eagle.FTS].
Loading green channel data
File loaded in LRGB module [C:\Users\stefa\Downloads\Eagle.FTS].
Loading blue channel data
File loaded in LRGB module [C:\Users\stefa\Downloads\Eagle.FTS].
--- Compose
Parameter [Luminance, Color] set to [L + Synthetic L From R(2xG)B, R(GB)(GB) (Bi-Color from OSC/DSLR)]
Parameter [Color Ch. Interpolation] set to [On]
Parameter [Lum Total Exposure] set to [Not set]
Parameter [Blue Total Exposure] set to [1h00m (60m) (3600s)]
Parameter [Green Total Exposure] set to [1h00m (60m) (3600s)]
Parameter [Red Total Exposure] set to [1h00m (60m) (3600s)]
Image size is 6248 x 4176
Type of Data: Linear, was not Bayered, or was Bayered + white balanced
--- Bin
Parameter [Scale] set to [scale 50.00% / +2.00 bits / +1.41x SNR improvement]
Image size is 3124 x 2088
--- Auto Develop
Parameter [Ignore Fine Detail <] set to [Off]
Parameter [Outside RoI Influence] set to [15 %]
Parameter [RoI X1] set to [0 pixels]
Parameter [RoI Y1] set to [0 pixels]
Parameter [RoI X2] set to [3124 pixels (-0)]
Parameter [RoI Y2] set to [2088 pixels (-0)]
Parameter [Detector Gamma] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Shadow Linearity] set to [50 %]
--- Crop
Parameter [X1] set to [610 pixels]
Parameter [Y1] set to [241 pixels]
Parameter [X2] set to [2807 pixels (-317)]
Parameter [Y2] set to [2021 pixels (-67)]
Image size is 2197 x 1780
--- Wipe
Parameter [Synthetic Dark/Bias] set to [Off]
Parameter [Gradient Edge Behavior] set to [Absorb 50%]
Parameter [Synthetic Flats] set to [Off]
Parameter [Sampling Precision] set to [256 x 256 pixels]
Parameter [Dark Anomaly Filter] set to [1 pixels]
Parameter [Gradient Falloff] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Synth. Bias Edge Area] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Gradient Aggressiveness] set to [75 %]
Redoing stretch of linear data
--- Auto Develop
Parameter [Ignore Fine Detail <] set to [3.1 pixels]
Parameter [Outside RoI Influence] set to [15 %]
Parameter [RoI X1] set to [1103 pixels]
Parameter [RoI Y1] set to [1525 pixels]
Parameter [RoI X2] set to [813 pixels (-1384)]
Parameter [RoI Y2] set to [565 pixels (-1215)]
Parameter [Detector Gamma] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Shadow Linearity] set to [32 %]
--- Contrast
Parameter [Expose Dark Areas] set to [Yes]
Parameter [Brightness Retention] set to [Off]
Parameter [Precision] set to [256 x 256 pixels]
Parameter [Shadow Detail Size] set to [10 pixels]
Parameter [Locality] set to [54 %]
Parameter [Shadow Dyn Range Alloc] set to [50 %]
--- HDR
Parameter [Small Detail Precision] set to [Max]
Parameter [Channels] set to [Brightness Only]
Parameter [Algorithm] set to [Reveal All]
Parameter [Dark/Bright Response] set to [Full]
Parameter [Detail Size Range] set to [1000 pixels]
Parameter [Strength] set to [1.1]
--- Wavelet Sharpen
Parameter [Structure Size] set to [Large]
Mask used (BASE64 PNG encoded)

--- SNR-aware Wavelet Sharpening
Parameter [Scale 1] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Scale 2] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Scale 3] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Scale 4] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Scale 5] set to [100 %]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [4 pixels]
Parameter [Amount] set to [165 %]
Parameter [High SNR Size Bias] set to [85 %]
Parameter [Low SNR Size Bias] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Dark/Light Enhance] set to [50% / 50%]
Mask used (BASE64 PNG encoded)


--- Deconvolution
Parameter [Image Type] set to [Deep Space]
Parameter [Secondary PSF] set to [Off (Primary Only)]
Parameter [Primary PSF] set to [Moffat Beta=4.765 (Trujillo)]
Parameter [Primary Radius] set to [1.9 pixels]
Parameter [Iterations] set to [11]
Parameter [Error Diffusion] set to [Off]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [8.0 pixels]
Parameter [Deringing] set to [50 %]
--- Color
Parameter [Bias Slider Mode] set to [Sliders Increase Color Bias]
Parameter [Style] set to [Artistic, Not Detail Aware]
Parameter [LRGB Method Emulation] set to [RGB Ratio, CIELab Luminance Retention]
Parameter [Matrix] set to [H(H+O)O Duoband 100R,50R+25G+25B,50G+50B]
Parameter [Dark Saturation] set to [4.1]
Parameter [Bright Saturation] set to [4.5]
Parameter [Saturation Amount] set to [301 %]
Parameter [Blue Bias Increase] set to [4.94]
Parameter [Green Bias Increase] set to [2.03]
Parameter [Red Bias Increase] set to [1.00]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
Parameter [Cap Green] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Highlight Repair] set to [Off]
Mask used (BASE64 PNG encoded)


--- Shrink
Parameter [Mode] set to [Tighten]
Parameter [Halo Extend] set to [1 pixels]
Parameter [Iterations] set to [10]
Parameter [Regularization] set to [0.85]
Parameter [Color Taming] set to [2 pixels]
Parameter [De-ringing] set to [1.5 pixels]
Parameter [Un-glow Strength] set to [Off]
Parameter [Un-glow Kernel] set to [Off]
--- Super Structure
Parameter [Detail Preservation] set to [Linear Brightness Mask Darken]
Parameter [Compositing Algorithm] set to [Multiply, Gamma Correct]
Parameter [Brightness, Color] set to [Process Both]
Parameter [Brightness Retention] set to [Local Median]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
Parameter [Airy Disk Radius] set to [50 %]
Parameter [Gamma] set to [0.50]
Parameter [Detail Preservation Radius] set to [20.0 pixels]
Parameter [Saturation] set to [50 %]
Parameter [Strength] set to [100 %]
--- Super Structure
Parameter [Detail Preservation] set to [Linear Brightness Mask]
Parameter [Compositing Algorithm] set to [Screen]
Parameter [Brightness, Color] set to [Only Color]
Parameter [Brightness Retention] set to [Off]
Parameter [Mask Fuzz] set to [1.0 pixels]
Parameter [Airy Disk Radius] set to [50 %]
Parameter [Gamma] set to [0.50]
Parameter [Detail Preservation Radius] set to [20.0 pixels]
Parameter [Saturation] set to [154 %]
Parameter [Strength] set to [100 %]
--- Unified De-Noise
Parameter [Grain Size] set to [5.9 pixels]
Parameter [Walking Noise Size] set to [1.0 pixels]
Parameter [Walking Noise Angle] set to [0]
--- Unified De-Noise
Parameter [Scale 1] set to [95 %]
Parameter [Scale 2] set to [95 %]
Parameter [Scale 3] set to [95 %]
Parameter [Scale 4] set to [95 %]
Parameter [Scale 5] set to [50 %]
Parameter [Grain Equalization] set to [0 %]
Parameter [Scale Correlation] set to [50 %]
Parameter [Color Detail Loss] set to [50 %]
Parameter [Brightness Detail Loss] set to [50 %]
Parameter [Grain Dispersion] set to [5.9 pixels]
File saved [C:\Users\stefa\Desktop\StarTools 1.7.458\NewComposite.tiff].

The workflow doesn't contain the masks due to character count limits...

Of course the image is heavily on the blue side but there's a quite nice separation between the Ha and OIII in the nebula core. One could tweak a lot better for sure but I think it shows clearly that there's something in there

Best regards
Stefan

[thewormofautumn]

wow, that's awesome!! Thanks very much, Stefan, and for providing the log so I can follow along.
I copied what you did and got the same result. I understood everything up until the colour module, but it was really the Superstructure that wowed me

Thanks a million. I will play around some more. Definite blue cast (especially the stars) but I'll see if I can use Starnet to process the image without stars so they don't shift as well.

[thewormofautumn]

(although that doesn't mean a lot since I'm only a beginner...)

By the way... you're far from a beginner! If you're a beginner, I'm a newborn
You are definitely more than that, thanks