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.
Hi Folks,
is it possible to get a little bit more information on how the dynamic distortion correction is used? Dose it altough work for photolenses with really small focal length (11mm for example) or is the capabillity somehow limited?
Best regards
Guido
Dear Guido @gfuh,
As long as the lens is not a fisheye lens, the optical distortion correction should work. The assumption is that the lens is a so called "rectilinear" lens, which all normal lenses are 😉
The optical distortion correction in APP will dynamically correct for pincushion, barrel, moustache and even more complex forms of distortions from the ideal "rectilinear" projection.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distortion_(optics)
The problem with Fisheye lenses is that almost all of them have different projections, there is no real standard and therefore we do not yet support correcting Fisheye projection lenses.
Please let us know if this answers your question.
Mabula
Hi Mabula,
thanks for the answer. Yes I´m using the Tokina SD 11-16 F2.8 lens which is a rectilinear lens. My question came up when I tried to make an mosaik from two Milkyway sessions I made last year.
Thoug I croped the single stacked frame quite strong APP was not able to match the pictures correctly. Therefore my question was more like: Reaches APP in this cases it´s limits, or is it only a question of finding the right distortion margin? Do you perhaps have recommendation for which distortion margin should be used with different optics?
@gfuh When creating mosaics APP needs to be configured in a certain way. Can you make sure that you set the following parameters?
- Tab 3
- disable automatic
- slide the number of stars to at least 2500
- Tab 4
- set the pattern to quadrilaterals or triangles
- set the scale to 5 - 15
- enable "use dynamic distortion correction"
- disable "same camera and optics"
- registration mode mosaic
- Tab 5
- mode advanced
- Tab 6
- enable MBB and set it to at least 10%
More tweaking of these and possibly other parameters may be necessary to get a good result.
Hi Wouter,
yes, that are the parameters I´m using. I guess that the distortions of this small focal lenses are too strong for good results.
BR guido
Heureka! 😀 It works!
Milkyway with lightpollution of the coast. Taken last year at the baltic sea (Fehmarn). Just 3 quick Sessions with 10 x 30sec. pics each without guiding.
BR Guido Fuhrmann
Nice! I guess you tried a different projection?
Hi Vincent,
yes, I set the distortion margin on 0.32 and the projection on mercator Projection. But it´s still a kind of trial and error for I still don´t know what the distortion margin exactly is doing to the data.
BR
Guido
I think that is indeed a bit of trial and error. I do know Mabula wants to improve on this as well, horizon to horizon projections are tricky. But well done on the result I'd say!
Thank you very much.
Guido
