2026-10-09 APP 2.0.0-beta48 has been released !
This is mainly a bug fix release for the reported bugs in beta47. In addition it has a significant User Interface performance improvement noticable when you need to process 1000s of images in APP.
2026-10-03 APP 2.0.0-beta47 has been released !
This is a very big release... many code optimizations/rewrites, many parts of APP are much faster and more precise, especially star analysis and registration are much faster ! Big mosaics will go much faster 🙂
And we introduce a new preview filter, which includes the new Adaptive Deep Sky Stretch and a General Levels Stretch, this has been long over due. The old preview filter (the panel on the right side to stretch and preview your data) has not been updated for a couple of years and it is a critical part of any APP session.
Adaptive Deep Sky Stretch or ADSS is a much more intuitive stretch algorithm. It is also color preserving (which is a great new addition in itself ! ) which means that the highlights are no longer bleached, color is maintained from the linear data while stretching. You can simply stretch your data using the sky background level and signal width sliders which work much easier and more intuitive. You no longer need to fiddle with the old complicated sliders with zoom buttons. All the zoom buttons for the sliders are made redundant. And you can enter slider values in the slider value fields yourself. I will make a youtube video in the coming days to explain and fully introduce ADSS. Once the video is ready, it will be highlighted on the forum.
RGB Combine upgrade !. The RGB Combine Tool has been rewritten mostly. The tool is faster and easier to use and most importantly, the Luminance slider to inject a luminance channel or channels into the RGB composite is now working correctly. It no longer bleaches the RGB colors. Combined with the new ADSS preview, you will get much better and easier great composites with great color! I will also explain this in a new youtube video.
I mistakenly shot a sequence in Sharpcap RAW8 (while in Australia, I'm back in UK). Its a bright target (Milky Way) and I can get most of the vignetting out in Tools but having painstakingly constructed what should be a consistent RAW8 calibration set (Darks, Dk Flats, Flats) I fail to get a usable Masterflat. The flats read in OK but when APP starts generating a Masterflat the dispersion each flat frame emerges zero. I guess this is APP failing to generate a ?16 or 32 bit file for further work. Is this a bug? Tried all the combinations that look relevant. Masterdark and Master Dk flat behave themselves.
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Thanks! Brian
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I'm not sure, I never worked with RAW8 I think. Can you upload your data so we can check it out? (if it's a lot, just limit it to 20-30 calibration subs per calibration type and 20-30 lights)
Thanks for uploading (please use the forum for a notification, I can see that faster). 🙂 I'm not sure it can be used properly though, Mabula mentioned it may not. We'll see, thanks for the very detailed instructions. If this is 8-bit data, that will definitely be an issue as the data will be compromised then and a good calibration is likely not possible.
@vincent-mod Hello Vincent - will you investigate plse? if i can just get the masterflat to be generated in Raw8, i'll take it from there thx b
Of course I will try, just saying it may be an issue. I'll see what I can find.
Very sorry to inform you, but the 8-bit nature of the data is indeed the issue. A calibration can't be made due to the lack of data in each frame. This is why the masterflat is reduced to nothing, because the noise estimation in the darkflats makes no sense anymore.
