Ease workflow for mono filter subs

Hi Rob,

A simpler and faster way to process multi-channel data will come.

I intend to use additional marks of the files in the frame coloumn in the frame list panel. So all data of blue would have the additional "BLUE" filter mark.

Then after some internal adjustments, APP will be smart enough to register all frames disregarding the filter mark, normalise per filter mark and integrate per filter mark.

Maybe it's not too complicated to get this implemented soon 😉

Mabula

++++1 for this!  It would be a HUGE quality of life improvement for those of us who almost exclusively process multi-channel mono data.  Right now it takes me a couple of days elapsed time to process a full filter suite of data (LRGB +Ha and maybe SO too) because I can't just load everything and let it grind - I have to notice that one filter is finished and then start the next.

Hope this one comes soon 🙂 ! 

Thanks for the great program.  So far I end up going elsewhere for post-processing, but I really like the results from your pre-processing.

Best,

Rowland

Hi Rob @rob_musquetier & Rowland @rowland-f-archer-jr,

I am happy to anounce that APP 1.060 (the upcoming version) will have:

• completely upgraded calibration engine including dark scaling (will be much easier for the user as well, APP now is much smarter), this was needed before I could implement:
• Fully automatic multi-channel processing
• and Fully automatic multi-session processing

so that means also fully automatic multi-channel & session processing.

You will be able to see which masters are attached to which light frames. And you will be be able to provide the channel name and session name and use that as identifiers so APP knows internally what to do with it... so creating and using different masterflats for differen channels and/or sessions will be done correctly automatically.Load the frames, set the channel and sessions and click integrate...

I am working hard to get this released as soon as possible  😉

Kind regards,

Mabula

-

Wow!!  That's so exciting Mabula - thank you!

Rowland

That is great Mabula! thanks for all the hard work!!!

Hi Mabula - a question on how the new multi-filter, multi-session calibration will work with flat darks (I also have the ASI1600MM-Cool and prefer to use darks, flat darks and flats in my preprocessing, no bias).  

My flat exposure times may vary slightly from the flat darks.  Will APP's new process choose the closest exposure time flat dark to calibrate my flats?  Or does it require the flat dark exposure time to match the flat exposure time exactly?

E.g., I may have a flat dark that is 6.5 seconds, and a flat that is 6.7 seconds.    My flats are taking with an Alnitak Flip-Flat and ACP / Maxim decide on the exposure length dynamically to reach a certain ADU, but there is some tolerance in achieving this so the exposure time for the flats can vary a few tenths of a second.  I don't take darks every day, I reuse ones that match the exposure time closely.

Thanks!

Rowland

Hi Rowland @rowland-f-archer-jr,

Thank you for your question.

If you only supply 1 MasterDarkFlat or set of darkflats then APP will now automatically use it for your flats. The restrtictions on ISO/gain and exposure time will be gone in APP 1.060 in data calibration.

If you supply more than 1 MasterDarkFlat , APP will automatically use the one which matches on ISO/gain and exposure time with the flats(with a tolerance of 2% in exposure time). If this match can't be done, APP will ask which MasterDarkFlat to use on which flat(s).

And you can enable dark-scaling on the MasterDarkFlat if you add bias frames/MasterBias.

So APP 1.060 will be much easier and more flexible in data calibration 😉

I have also created separate load buttons for dark flats and separate buttons to load all master types (MasterBias, MasterDark, MasterDarkFlat, MasterFlat, BadPixelMap).

Work & testing is progressing very nicely and I expect that APP 1.060 will be release within a couple of days now...

Sneak Preview of 1)LOAD &  Frame information in the bottom panel in multi-channel mode:

So you can see per light which masters will be used for that light ;-). This should make the data-calibration totally transparant.

The integration maps (weight, rejection, normalization) will also have their own frametype as you can see, previously they were shown as integrations, which is not correct and a bit confusing as well.

I will add one more row of buttons, to load frames that shouldn't be used as lights in 2)-6). So you can load old integrations or previously created post-processed results without affecting 2)-6).

Let me know if you have other concerns or thoughts about this 😉

Mabula

That looks great Mabula!  Very excited for the new release.

Another question comes to mind.  I am typically using flats and lights from multiple nights, but with the same OTA and camera.  I take flats every night, but usually integrate all the flats together.  If I don't check "Multi-Session," will all my data be treated as a single session even if it comes from different dates?

If I do check "multi-session," can I group things from multiple dates together, e.g. if I had lights and flats from December 2017 but different nights, and then another set of data from December 2016?

I should stop asking questions and let you finish coding and testing 🙂 !

Rowland

Hi Rowland @rowland-f-archer-jr,

😉

If you don't check the multi-session selectbox, then yes, the frames will not be discriminated per session (only per channel if you selected multi-channel processing)

So you need to check the multi-session selectbox to process everything automatically as intended. The multi-session mode is there exactly for this pupose, so calibration frames like flats (which you might have per session) can be assigned to the correct light frames.

If you enable multi-session mode, you will also be able to assign bias and darks simply on all sessions (and channels) if you want 😉

You will be able to assign a session name of your own as well, so you can assign a date to it for your convenience.

Lights, off course, can only be assigned to a single channel and/or session.

Calibration frames, can be assigned to all channels or some channels or 1 channel, giving you all the freedom that is needed (I think) to properly process everything in 1 single go...

Does this sounds okay?

Kind regards,

Mabula

Hi Mabula,

That sounds very flexible.  

You said:  "You will be able to assign a session name of your own as well, so you can assign a date to it for your convenience."

Could I assign more than one date to this session?  E.g., I may take flats at the beginning and end of the night - two different calendar dates.  Or I may decide to group together flats from December in one session and January in another session, but that is more than one calendar date per session.

Thanks!

Rowland

Hi Rowland @rowland-f-archer-jr,

You can assign any custom name to a session, it doesn't need to be a date 😉 Just use a name so you know what session it is and which calibration frames belong to which light frames.

Kind regards,

Mabula

That works!  No more questions for now 🙂 !

Thanks,

Rowland