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 Mabula,
Last night, 2019-03-24, I completed a second night of M101 in Ha. The first night was on 2019-02-17. In total I have 3.1 hours total integration time. Today I tried creating a stack that combines both nights. I do know about APP's multi-session and have used it with success in the past but I've used it only in the context of matching Lights and Darks by temperature in a single night. Now I have two nights, and I am running into problems. You may have guessed that I don't have a cooled camera.
I've attached a screenshot. Explanation follows:
Each night I capture a new set of Bias and Flats. Those I load and assign a session name of '20190217' and '20190324'. The Darks span the temperature range of 19.5F to 22.5F on the first night and 27.5F to 31.5F on the second night. Since the temperature range is large I divide the Dark frames into four sessions: '20190217_19F5_20F0_20F5', '20190217_21F0_21F5_22F0_22F5', '20190324_27F5_28F5_29F0_29F5', and '20190324_30F0_30F5_31F0_31F5'. The last step is to load the Lights. I know their temperature so I assign them to the proper session.
The problem is this: the Lights know about the Darks but don't know which Flats and Bias to use. The reason, as best I can figure, is that I can not assign more than one session to the Lights. I would like to put a check mark on both '20190217' and '20190217_19F5_20F0_20F5' but the check mark controls are behaving like radio buttons.
Is there another way of accomplishing this besides purchasing a cooled camera?
Thanks,
Brian
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Hi Mabula,
I found a workaround. In computer parlance I had to flatten the file system. This meant that I had to make duplicate copies of the Bias and Flat frames so that at the end there was just four sessions not six: '20190217_19F5_20F0_20F5', '20190217_21F0_21F5_22F0_22F5', '20190324_27F5_28F5_29F0_29F5', and '20190324_30F0_30F5_31F0_31F5'.
Enjoy your Sunday evening!
Brian
