Solar processing in Pixinsight

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torsinadoc
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Solar processing in Pixinsight

Post by torsinadoc »

My normal processing is a combination of ImPPG and PS but decided to work in PI recently. I think my preference is sharpening in ImPPG and then touch up in PI. There are some interesting tools in PI.

Import image then crop out borders
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Run DBE only selecting background
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Sharpen. You can use restoration filter (easier) OR deconvolution. both you need to guess PSF size and then unsharp mask. you can also sharpen with wavelets
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Comparison between RF and Decon
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Unsharp Mask after deconvolution
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Boost contrast with LHE. I will use large and a small kernel size (512 and 16) with small amount
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Then blend in with pre LHE to soften it a little.

Here are a couple of pixelmath options (I tend to adjust the amounts blended).
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or
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I used (a * .2) + (b *8)
Then touch up with curves and HST

Image12-12-21 Ha by Diamond, Alan, on Flickr
Last edited by torsinadoc on Fri Dec 24, 2021 6:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.


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Re: Processing in Pixinsight

Post by torsinadoc »

Here is how I generate a pseudoflat

duplicate image and remove structures
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DBE (just generate background model without correction)
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Need to resample the DBE background model
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Use pixelmath resampled background model from original (adjust the equation for desired effect)
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Here are a couple of masks that can be used to focus on pertain areas of the image. I blur with convolution to generate a softer mask
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Re: Processing in Pixinsight

Post by Rob63 »

Excellent tutorial, I have been playing with Pi for my solar images but have never really settled on a workflow so this is a big help.


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Re: Processing in Pixinsight

Post by torsinadoc »

Rob63 wrote: Fri Dec 24, 2021 4:48 pm Excellent tutorial, I have been playing with Pi for my solar images but have never really settled on a workflow so this is a big help.
You can extract wavelets to find where the noise and structure reside then use wavelets to sharpen and do noise reduction (on original not the extracted layers). Extracted layer 0 corresponds with layer 1 in ATVW and layer 1 corresponds to layer 2 in ATVW, etc
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Re: Processing in Pixinsight

Post by rsfoto »

Hi and WOW

:shock: :shock: :shock:


regards Rainer

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Re: Processing in Pixinsight

Post by Radon86 »

Thanks Rob,

Still only learning the basics. Too advanced for me.

Magnus.


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Re: Processing in Pixinsight

Post by torsinadoc »

Boso36 wrote: Fri Dec 24, 2021 6:32 pm Thanks Rob,

Still only learning the basics. Too advanced for me.

Magnus.
I previously only processed in PI then transitioned to PS about 3 years ago. I wanted to revisit the older techniques and add in a few more. I still like sharpening and curves (to bump up proms) in ImPPG but can use PI for techniques when warranted.


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Re: Solar processing in Pixinsight

Post by torsinadoc »

How to annotate an image
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Re: Solar processing in Pixinsight

Post by Radon86 »

Yes, I have seen Pixinsight processing on Youtube e.g. Chuck's astrophotography. Seems really easy when you know how.

I am sure it is not impossible, just that I thought Pixinsight is more for deep sky imaging processing e.g. Eagle Nebula, Tarantula nebula, Andromeda M31 etc

Magnus


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Re: Solar processing in Pixinsight

Post by torsinadoc »

Boso36 wrote: Sat Dec 25, 2021 11:12 am Yes, I have seen Pixinsight processing on Youtube e.g. Chuck's astrophotography. Seems really easy when you know how.

I am sure it is not impossible, just that I thought Pixinsight is more for deep sky imaging processing e.g. Eagle Nebula, Tarantula nebula, Andromeda M31 etc

Magnus
It is definitely designed for deep sky but can be adapted for lunary, solar.


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Re: Solar processing in Pixinsight

Post by Radon86 »

Fascinating. I was wondering if you could envisage a way of automating solar image processing in Pixinsight, like AI to retouch a face in seconds ? It would take 4-6 hours for a human to do this.

Just wondering.

Magnus


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Re: Solar processing in Pixinsight

Post by torsinadoc »

Yes, you use processcontainer and drag to the image or image container for several images

For example

I processed a Cak image
Open history explorer in the side bar
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Open processcontainer and drag from history explorer to processcontainer
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Then drag the new instance ( triangle ) in the left lower corner to the workspace and save process (process-> process icons-> save process icons) and it will be saved for future images. You can open and drag to an image and it will process it quickly
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It works great for animations combined with image container

I process a single image then drag the history to processcontainer and then load all the other images in imagecontainer (you have to drag the "new instance" (triangle) in imagecontainer to the workspace) then apply processcontainer and it will apply to every image in imagecontainer.
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Re: Solar processing in Pixinsight

Post by Radon86 »

Thanks Torsinadoc,

Very powerful.
This should be referenced in Software Processing section of this forum, I wish I could bookmark this page for future reference.

Thank you so much.

Magnus


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Scopes: Altair Astro Travel ED70mm (F 420mm, D=70mm);; Skywatcher 90mm (F 910mm D=90mm); GSO focuser;;Altair Astro 60mm guidescope (D=60mm,F=225mm)
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Re: Solar processing in Pixinsight

Post by torsinadoc »

You can also drag processes that you normally use in your workflow to processcontainer and save to workspace then open an image and processcontainer and double click each process and adjust to your liking.


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Re: Solar processing in Pixinsight

Post by Montana »

Thanks Alan, once all the additions have calmed down I will put a copy in the library so everyone can find it more easily :)

Alexandra


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Re: Solar processing in Pixinsight

Post by torsinadoc »

If you don't want to use pixel math, you can use "blend" script. This functions like layers in PS
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Re: Solar processing in Pixinsight

Post by AJamesB »

Great write up! I've found that for most instances, I prefer pixensight and deconvolution for my solar sharpening, especially when using the combined wavelet noise reduction, and then doing multiple iterations at progressively finer levels of detail. It seems to let me get a bit finer detail but with much less noise/artifacting than I'm able to get via imppg.


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Re: Solar processing in Pixinsight

Post by MoonPrince »

That's a great tutorial, I will try your processing method later :D
Thanks for sharing!


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Re: Solar processing in Pixinsight

Post by Carbon60 »

Thanks for this. There’s some really great information here. I use a combination of ImPPG and PixInsight, but haven’t really explored PI deeply enough to understand all possible processing options, so information such as this is extremely helpful, especially applying FD false flats. I also haven’t explored using process container and start from fresh each session, which can be tedious when setting up various parameters.
This is yet another excellent example of the benefit to all of this generous knowledge sharing forum.
Thank you.

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Re: Solar processing in Pixinsight

Post by marktownley »

Excellent resource, thanks!

Any further thoughts anyone?


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Re: Solar processing in Pixinsight

Post by torsinadoc »

Here is an excellent reference for PS blending using pixelmath

http://trappedphotons.com/files/Present ... ations.pdf

And I have no further thoughts


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