Hi Sascha, another awesome, well presented, every important topic video. All new and critical information I never knew those details after doing this for 9 years... lessons learned - take advantage and study it - as it takes too long or maybe never to learn it on your own. Follow-up please: so you mentioned about stretching before recombining let's say in RGB - but I don't know the rational behind it... there are some folks I've seen do it before stretching - I have done it before - because I did not know any better, and the results were dissappointing to the degree that the picture looked better without Luminance - so again: why stretched / and how best to stretach - (a) RGB combo in linear, then stretch, strech lum, then add i no linear or (b) combo RGB+L in linear then stretch or (c) stretch each RGBL separately then combo in Non-linear? thanks

Very useful info, thanks Sasha. Due to cloudy nights in 🇨🇭, I have been imaging with a Seestar lately. While the device is amazing and produces surprisingly good subs, the background - gradient and edges - can be tricky to clean. Will try Normalize and the extended options.

Going back to PixInsight, your tutorial is amazing. Not too into details, but all the good details ! well done !

Amazing stretch! Thanks for the tutorial! I have never managed a stretch where I didn't think a linear to darken the shadows was essential. ❤

i'm not convinced. After a gradient remove we must redo the STF. And then it's not so great.

Best video I could find on this process after viewing several others. 😊

Hi Sascha, I Stack my images in APP and I use a OSC. When I put them in pixinsight my image is all green so when do I use gradient correction. Many thanks, Ady

Great video. Thank you for the discount code! Saves slightly more than the promotion they're currently running.

Do you know if its only PLL wifi compatible equipment that works with Ghost mode? If you have an Optec Focus Lynx or Starlight Instruments Focis Boss II units, these can be configured with wifi. Would these also connect and work with PLL Ghost mode?

Excellent review. I’ve been seriously considering the Mac mini, and I think you just sold me on it. Any options to upgrade the internal memory etc?

Hi Sasch, first of all - your Spanish is great - but seriously - I am fluent - if you ever would like/need some translation into/from Spanish - let me know - there is also the AWS translation and transcription service - but my service if free to you 🙂 So, at first I was very excited about the DBXtract script, I have the Optonlong L-nHance, L-uLtimate, and the pricey Radian Triad Quadband filter. I have used Lukomatico tutoridal, which is quite involved but works - so having something a bit more systematic and methodical, the way you always do it - would be very welcome. So here is the thing... while you covered the basics of using the script, it left me with the devil-is-in-the details, meaning (a) what ratios or further tweaking to I combine them, (b) do I create a synthetic luminance, (c) do I do it pre or post stretching, (d) do you just use ChannelCombination, LRBGCombination or PixelMath to mix - what post mixing processing do you recommend... I have been added for over 2 hrs trying to mix and match combination, ratios and not getting near as good as with Lukomatico's approach. I am hoping you do a follow-up part two - to see how it all plays out end-to-end - you know: the Sascha Way :-) Danke.

ok my pc is over kill, that took 10 seconds

Truly quality content as all your videos! Having a question: I'm planning to shoot OSC with Askar D1 and D2 filters. Then use R from both images and combine 2 Gs and 2 Bs into synthetic B. Assuming I have 5h with D1 and 5h with D2 what will happen with noise? Will pixel math work similarly to single subframes? Moreover, if both filters pass o3 will the combination of their B and G channels increase definition in o3 structures?

Thanks!

I have found your proposed methodology to work extremely well on images I have tried it on, thus far. Great work by yourself and Seti Astro 👍🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾!!

Fantastic video. Thank you.

Nice presentation, but you are clearly biased. And this is not a good comparison.

Your videos are incredible! Thanks alot for all the very informative videos and tutorials!

That’s a great image you captured! Can you share the details? Is that your FRA400 with the Moravian C1X? Which filters, how many subs/length…

Sasha, great video as always. I have two issues with mine though. First, in NINA under Switch I do not get anything in the Gauges section. I just get the Switches section data. Second, under the Safety Monitor I did get the sky quality meter briefly (I don’t have the echo yet) but now it won’t work. Seems like the ascom driver has some bugs.

Great tutorial, very informative and a delivery style that really suits my own learning need and level understanding.

21:34 What's the length of Askar 103 in cm with 0,6x reducer installed?

Great video, i've learned a lot! About adding a signature, I have mine in a png file with transparent background, which I add using a simple add operation in pixelmath. You can resize it an use the crop process to put the signature where you want before adding it to the final image.

amazing 3 videos, gonna hop into nina this autum and your videos really made me stress way less about the transition from asiair. Thank you!

Question: can it shoot less than 1 second with the imager? And the sequencer has changed in the new version. It looks simpler but does not follow right with this video. Are you going to update this sequence on the new sequencer?

Unboxing: 6:26 You're welcomed

Excellent tutorial

I have owned and used CPCs with forks and wedges for about 35 years. 8”, 11” and an 11” Edge Hd for the past 5 years. All have been pier mounted in a backyard roll off roof obs. Never had any serious thoughts until recently about deforking. The two main issues that are prompting this are the I am limited to max declinations of 60 degrees to prevent camera from crashing in to the mount unless I am using Hyperstar. Recently I purchased a StarSense Autoguider and when I use it in conjunction with CPWI the mount will randomly disconnect. I have tried everything, even contacted Celestron, so far with no positive results. I think the I may have a bug in my mount electronics.

[General Comments] Very nice to review this after taking the EASY 1-2-3 series to really understand the ins and outs of the OSC (color) workflow. Learned about parameters and tweaks in SPCC and guess what the end blew me away - as I have been using (lazy me) just the star + starless PixMath equation - now I will be using Sascha's recommended formula. I love the way that Sascha explains the trade-offs. [Question] Sascha, regarding Unsharp - I found that even the slightest application "Unsharp" re-introduces noise to the image, this bothers me as it comes at the end and usually I've done all my denoising... I've played with the parameters to see if I can strike a balance - but it's hit or miss (i.e., I am just guessing) and wanted to know if there is a more methodical approach to do the sharpening at the end with the "Unsharp" tool?

This is half the cost of the upgrade to the Edge version. Hmm…..

It seemns not to work anymore getting Network error: Could not resolve host: DBXtract_0.4.zip

Great video as always. I have the Askar 120 APO and I tried to connect to the Sesto Senso (as you did at 9:47) I clamp on the coarse focuser. The Sesto is not fixed. It will rotate. Shouldn't you connect to the black part of the focuser? Thanks

There are so many advantages to a german equatorial mount. Some even can track way past the meridian flip. And even if the mount cant track past the meridian flip, the other headaches of a wedged fork, especially the weight in the bigger models, that you have to lift even higher and at an angle. I had a c11 on a G11 and loved it for years, but I had to put everything in storage because I had to move onto my boat. Eventually I was spotted loading musical instruments into storage by some tweakers hanging out, and it got broken into and I lost pretty much everything I owned. It was an older G11 with the non folding tripod, which just looks like pipes and some strange rocket launcher to a tweaker, so they didn't take it, or my counterweights and guidescope rings and other losmandy hardware. When my situation improved a bit 18 months later (I had been kicked out of the marina which is why I was putting even more stuff in storage because I was going to have to live in my van until I was able to get housing, which ended up taking 18 months), I put the tripod and gear up on a facebook used astronomy gear page, and someone who knew me had an old 10" meade LX6/premiere, which I got in trade, so it was almost like replacing my C11 rig for free. I don't like big scopes in forks on wedges, but I had to take advantage of it because it is better than nothing. It even came with the giant trunk case that used to come with meade scopes back in the day. This was MUCH harder to setup than my G11, which had a 40# mount head, that only had to be lifted to tripod height and not at an angle. The 50# 10" w/fork is much harder to deal with and transport, as the single case is much harder to fit in a vehicle than 2 smaller cases for the OTA and mount head, not to mention the massive super wedge, which is a pain to take on and off the tripod, so most just leave it attached, is a heavy and awkward load as well, and not at all compact like a folded or dissambled g11 tripod. And in many cases, certainly my lx6 or an LX90 in 10" and larger, less stable. Yes the CPC is probably the best fork on the market, I love them for what they are, and sold many more of them than lx90s and lx200s during the 2006-2011 period I worked ar opt, but I still didnt recommend them for use on a wedge for astrophotography, unless they had a permanent observatory and just didnt want to pay the higher price for an EQ system. With all the balance weights and the more difficulty in polar alignment (yes a wedge is a bit more fidgety that way), they really only make sense in permanet installations, unless it is just an 8" which is much easier to deal with than a 10, 11 or 12. Needless to say my 10" has only been taken to a dark site once, as another friend sold me a powerstar c8 for $200 and a beat up 10" starhopper for $60, and i now had an easier to transport and set up 10", and a respectable 8" for a price I could afford. But i still had plans to use that old 10" at public outreach events after the pandemic, or occasionally bring it to a dark site, since it does have better optics than the dob, which needs a recoat on the primary, and of course tracking which helps at higer powers. I cant use my 28mm 82deg or 20mm 100deg eyepieces on it though, as it overwhelmed the dec clutch and I would have to buy a weight rail system for it... another fork/wedge issue adding cost weight and hassle. I had another run of bad luck though, losing the van that was loaded with my 8" dob, 127 mak, omni102, CG5 and nexstar GT mounts, and an old vixen 60mm refractor on its AZ mount, and several guitars/basses and a few amps, and new in box electronic drum set among other personal valuables still in the van from when I lived in it. I was in a compromised situation, it was broken down and got impounded and I was prevented from getting it out in time. My stuff was literally legally stolen by a corrupt city in an even more corrupt county. And the vehicle I got stuck with is way to small for even the 10" dob let alone the 10" meade. The c8 might even be too big unless I take it without the case, and i prefer not to do that, so I havent done any observing in the last 3 years. I agree in the case of someone with a cpc800, just buying a wedge instead of deforking (you don't have to throw it away, there is a market for working CPC and gps and later LX200 forks), as a much cheaper solution, but on the bigger models, it only makes sense for permanent installations. The CPC is the best visual and planetary/lunar imaging as ab alt az, but for those planning to do long exposures, the best advice is to stear clear of the forks and just buy a cgem, cgx or cgx-l (cge back in the day) version of the same scope. I miss my CG11 rig dearly, not to mention my other scopes and music/audio/recording gear and everything else I own, but I am thankful to at least own these vintage fork/wedge replacements for the GEM mounted 11" and 8" scopes, even though replacing my televue refractors with even chinese apos is out of my range. That 10" may come off the forks eventually, unless a cheap 10-12" truss dob comes my way.

What size refractor is good for some limited planetary imaging?

[General Comments] There is a reason why Sascha introduces the BXT, NXT tools - while there are "equivalent" tools in PixInsight, namely Deconvolution and Multi-Linear Transformation, respectively - these PI tools are extremely difficult to master, I read the book, the tutorial, and improvement was always sort-of-kinda hit but mostly miss - and I was never able to consistently reproduce satisfactory results. I want to be respectful to everybody's budget... but yes, for the cost of a filter (or two) to not leverage these tools to enhance your product (again, if you can afford it) is to short-change yourself. I know, I waited, then I tried the RC tools... and never looked back. I think that for Sascha to introduce these tools here is a perfect fit. Regarding the three part 1, 2 3 tutorial series, it was very well thought out and laid out. I have been using PI for 5+ years and learned quite a bit, I too got hung up with Histogram Transformation for years - because it was "good enough" and yes, because GHS looked scary... but the approach described in this video is very useful - learned quite a bit more about the different options. [Final Analysis] yes of course these three courses are just awesome for someone starting out - I would say it gets you 70+ there - and gives you "almost" instant gratification if you are impatient like me - then we can go back and polish our workflow and learn more nuances with Sascha's other video tutorials 🙂 [Question] So Sasha I have an older book for PixInsight by Patrick Moore - good book, still useful - probably a bit dated by now - still if you're the sort of that likes to be formal in the reading, he did a great job... anyway... in there he recommends splitting an OSC capture into its R, G, & B, components and individually processing them for Background Modelization and afterwards, recombining them. I believe the rationale was that light-pollution affected the different color channels differently - however, I found this to be hit-or-miss and was never able to consistencly reproduce better results - I was wondering what you're experience with this strategy is? Oh yes, almost forgot: AWESOME JOB! Thank You! PS: Sascha, my BXT does not allow me to check the "correct first" box - thoughts?

Another Hit from Sascha: [What I learned] regarding SPCC never new how to read the resulting curve, is it good? is it bad? now I do :-), Moving the midtones in the Screen Transformation for a stretch, using the cursor to get the readout for the curves transformation and properly set the S-curve, using control points for your saturation. Again, best decision I did re my processing... almost embarrassing as I've been with PixInsight for several years... lessons learned: Do NOT skip on the fundamentals! [Follow-Up Question] regarding the gradient removal, I notice you used the "subtraction" again to get rid of the corner gradient that was still left over after the first application. Is there a way to really tell what is Light Pollution versus Vignetting - I understand that division is recommended for vignetting, and of course - I do trial and error - but was wondering if you have some "rules of thumb/heuristics" to decide when to use Subtraction vs Division in Gradient / Background Modelization. [General Comments] To restate from other previous comments, this is a superior production, in that the content, the instructions, the voice-track and the visuals (zooming in on the process and menus, highlighting key items) significantly augments the tutorial. While other authors do a good job at their tutorials, I have issues with not keeping up - either they talk to fast, or they assume where I can find a process or menu setting, and I have to pause the video endless times to track the conversation and make it match the PI menu/step flow - Not with Sascha - his balance is perfect and allows someone to follow him along! GREAT JOB! THANK YOU!!

Such a useful video, thank you Sascha. I happen to have never realised the BlurXT comes before NoiseXT :) but it makes complete sense now that you explained it

FAN REVIEW - This Video [CONTENT] Too Good to be True - but it is! I've been using PixInsight for FIVE years... I thought this was going to be a 101 overview for me, instead - I learned how to really properly use Drizzle, and adjust the settings per the situation, I also learned how to use the cosmetic template, which I never have done before (because I didn't know) - and quiet a few useful and some very important tips. Thank you! [DELIVERY QUALITY] OUTSTANDING - Sascha's pace is perfect - too often the authors just race through it, Sascha is very articulate and has found the perfect pace. Now the other thing is, and I know this is extra work for Sascha, but wow, thank you for stepping through the menu and highlighting the critical content and selection - the visuals for this are just excellent - often on other videos I have to stop, and search and search and search to find that submenu or button - so the delivery is excellent. [QUESTION] So I thought that PixInsight scaled regular darks for Flats - and I have never used Dark Flats - however, I will start now - based on this tutorial / recommendation - overall, I've been doing good with Flats, but I would love to get the expert opinion on how many Flats, optimal ADU setting: if have shot a series at 32, 28, and 24 K ADU - and cannot notice a difference. I chose to take them at the same temperature as my lights - although folks have said temp is not important - so if you have a tutorial on calibration that goes into that detail please point the way. One last question, I have done trial and error regarding the CFA flat scaling factors - can't notice a difference - don't know what it does either - any thoughts - use / don't use? Ok, last question, this time it's true... I go with periods that I use Blink, and then I use SubFrameSelector - but heuristics - I've never really seem to see a huge difference... I've read that the rejection algorithms should take care of "most' data - I let Elon Musks satellites go by - ok - but me too: with the 3-lane streak from planes - I get rid of those altogether - so are there any tips on the integration rejection algorithms that have worked well for you? To the general public: if you are using PI - I have spent years going through various material, some of it is quite good - some of it is truly worthy of patronizing... Sascha's videos are top notch and bring a lot of value! Thank You

Amazing class, thanks for sharing the information. I am learning.🙏🙏

Hi, I had seen your video on AutoDBE and I tried to use it and I must say that it gave me good results with remarkable ease of use. But I agree with you that Gradient Correction is superior. My problems are two: the first is that I am not expert from a technical point of view and I don't know how the settings must be made to obtain a good result. The second is that not knowing the English language, I find myself in even more difficulty! However, I wanted to ask a question: I photograph in LRGB and therefore, apart from the Luminance for RGB, is it preferable to act on separate channels, or is it better to combine the image first and then use GC? Thanks and sorry for the English, but I used google translator.

Impressive tutorial, congratulations.

He usually goes like this my meat Alex 200 motherboard is fried and now it doesn’t work so I’m going to defer it so I don’t have to throw the whole scope away

Thanks Sasha! I just got the C1/C2 filters and will give this a go today.

I feel your pain about the weather. It's pretty much the same here in Wisconsin, USA, lots of rain, clouds, more rain, flooding, and then more clouds. Ugh!

I've actually never managed to get good results from the Gradient Correction tool in PixInsight! Once I set it up so that it seems to visually do a good job (as you show in this video), once I look at the actually background/gradient model that was removed, it's an absolute horror show (especially when examined via ABE on the background model), even worse than GraXpert with smoothing of 0 (and the issue is visible even when the correction wasn't that aggressive, with plenty of threshold room)... I see details from the nebula that have been nuked to oblivion - in fact I wonder if your Pleaides example at around 9:14 shows this specifically, there's dark nebulosity in the area that has been "pacified" by GC that may not have survived contact with the process. Pax Gradientacorrectica in other words :p I also see a "wave" pattern in the correction that appears as some sort of low frequency noise in the image background if I push it too much... So to me, for now, GC is not a good choice (maybe it's my data?) - but I'm hoping MARS can overcome these shortcomings!! Also good luck with your weather it looks rough... hope your home is staying strong.

Thanks for your Test Sascha. In clear word's : Gradient correction is still the best way to go. 😉