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'm processing a 10-panel composite.
Panels 1-9 worked perfectly, but the last one failed with registration errors.
All the usual tweaks failed to solve the problem.
So I removed the lights and removed the integrations, kept the calibration frames.
I loaded the same lights without restarting the program, and it's working fine.
Do finished integrations required StarTools to reserve memory? Does that cause registration failures?
@tailspin45 Tom,
I get the impression that you are giving a summary of the whole process. What do you mean with "panels 1-9 worked perfectly"? What steps did you take and where does StarTools get in? Why would the memory used by StarTools affect the memory used by APP? It is an external tool. What were the "usual tweaks" that you applied on panel 10?
Thanks, Wouter
What do you mean with "panels 1-9 worked perfectly"?
What steps did you take and where does StarTools get in?
Why would the memory used by StarTools affect the memory used by APP? \
It is an external tool. What were the "usual tweaks" that you applied on panel 10?
Yike! No wonder you're confused.
I meant to write Astro Pixel Processor not StarTools. StarTools is, indeed, an external tool and irrelevant to this issue.
To create a composite, I planned to process each of 10 panels individually using Astro Pixel Processor—from Load to Integrate (and Light Pollution Removal). After processing panel one, I removed the lights and added new ones for panel two using the same calibration files. After panel two, I removed the lights and added new lights for panel 3. Etc.
Each iteration worked fine until I got to panel 10 when the registration error window appeared with suggestions to increase the number of stars, remove same camera, etc. (the "usual tweaks" I referred to in OP). I tried all the recommendations and in combination and the process would not run to completion.Â
So, to try something else, I removed integrations 1-9 from the bottom of the file list and reran panel 10 and it worked fine. For some reason, I'm guessing a memory issue, the presence of earlier integrations prevented Astro Pixel Processor from working properly.
Yes, I could have restarted Astro Pixel Processor fresh after each panel. But without a way to save a config file which would ensure each process was identical, I was afraid of ruining the finished composite because some panels might be processed with different settings if I was careless.Â
I'm not trying to make a deal out of this issue, just raising my hand to alert you that there is apparenty a problem if integrations are not removed.
@tailspin45 Thanks for the clarification. I'll pass this on to Mabula to hear his opinion.
