MAY 4 2026: APP 2.0.0-beta44 has been released !
New improved internal memory controls should now work on all computers
May 1 2026: APP 2.0.0-beta43 has been released !
Improved internal memory controls (much more stable and faster on big datasets), fixed CPU image viewer, fixed Narrowband extraction demosaic algortihms.
Apr 29 2026 APP 2.0.0-beta42 has been released !
New improved Normalization engine, Fixed random crashes in integration, fixed RGB Combine & Calibrate Star Colors, fixed Narrowband extraction algorithms, new development platform with performance gains, bug fixes in the tools, etc...
Apr 14 2026: Google Pay, Apple Pay & WeChat Pay added as payment options
Update on the 2.0.0 release & the full manual
We are getting close to the 2.0.0 stable release and the full manual. The manual will soon become available on the website and also in PDF format. Both versions will be identical and once released, will start to follow the APP release cycle and thus will stay up-to-date to the latest APP version.
Once 2.0.0 is released, the price for APP will increase. Owner's license holders will not need to pay an upgrade fee to use 2.0.0, neither do Renter's license holders.
Tried to look around here in forum, but didn't see something helpful-
Is there a way to only create master darks, flats, dark flats, and bias in APP without loading lights?
The purpose is to not only(maybe) use it as master frames during integration but also to study how the master frames come out.
Especially in the case of Flats to understand if I am getting the results I think I should be getting.
Hi @Niraj Dave
Yes You can create Calibration frames in tab 2) Calibrate using button "Create Masters and Assign to lights" Without any lights loaded, the process will simply stop after creation of Master Calibration frames and BPM. However You will be able to inspect the created Calibration Masters even after normal integration including lights by double clicking
Master Darks are good enough for 1 year or more, the same is for master DarkFlats (please note both need to match exposure time and ISO / gain/temperature of the lights resp. flats). Also Master Bias are long-lasting
Flats should be taken after each session to accomodate for issues varying with each session like camera rotation, filter change, dust bunnies etc.
Hope this helps
Clear Skies,
Jochen
@mrkhagol Adding to Jochen's excellent reply, it is possible to not have the darks match the exposure time of the lights and/or darkflats match the exposure time of the flats. In that case you need bias as well. And in that case you can omit taking darkflats since the darks can be scaled to the exposure time of the flats.
Thank you for the responses and bit more clarification. Really appreciate it. 👍
