I had never used Photoshop before I got into astrophotography. To say it was a learning curve and overwhelming would be an understatement. These videos really help make it approachable, especially when you explain WHY you are performing certain actions. That helps me more in the long run than anything else I think, makes people more independent from tutorial videos much quicker.
Hands down the best video for someone who is a beginner/medium experienced in landscape astrophotography. I have watched dozens of videos on editing the milkyway but yours have been the easiest to follow and most accessible. I was able to download a trial version of gradient exterminator and loved it. Gonna go buy it and re-edit a bunch of my old shots. You have earned a subscriber!
Lovely tutorial, greatly appreciated. I'm just starting with Milky Way imaging. I am however having a problem with the color range selection - "localized color clusters" is not ticked and only Fuzziness slider is available. If I tick it, then range is available. However, with 'selection (rather than 'image') the preview is completely Black. If I leave "localized color clusters" unticked, then my 'selection' preview is available and I can slide the Fuzziness slider accordingly, like in your video. Range slider is still unavailable to me unless I tick the "localized color clusters" option (and then the selection preview goes Black). Clicking OK gives an error "Warning: No pixels are selected". I'm not a Photoshop newbie, and I have triple checked before posting, but cannot see what I am doing wrong. Any ideas?
Excellent video, lots of really good information. I was wondering if there was a way to install HLVG on MacOS? I have the M2 version. I cannot get it to work after placing it in the plugins folder! Any advice?
As always Walt. A superb tutorial. I look forward eagerly to every instalment you produce and have learned so much from you over the last couple of years
I'm new to photoshop and not very knowledgeable in it's workings yet. I can't seem to figure out how to get the plug-ins (HLVG & StarNet) into PS. I keep getting a "wrong type of document" error message. Could you point me in the right direction?
This was one of the most helpful Photoshop Milky Way vids I have seen. Thanks! Do you have any advice for dealing with a red color cast from an Ha astromodified camera?
I was finally able to get some pictures but I'm really struggling with getting started. When I open sequator it looks nothing like it does on your screen and I can't get the pictures into one folder
Been watching your videos for alittle while now. Your post processing videos are an insane amount of help. You are the reason I got the 75-300mm lens for my Canon instead of hopping straight into the expensive refractors etc. I feel learning with that lens is so much more straight forward - learning the basics and perfecting them before introducing other obstacles and challenges that would probably be overwhelming for most. So thank you for the content you put out.
Man I fully agree with you! I think it's so important to start learning on a small rig. Master it as best as you can before upgrading. The process feels so much more natural and rewarding that way.
@@miceasmr193 They can be. I just did a review on one. It would cost about $240/$260 depending on what your needs are. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-anQsAWKB6vE.htmlsi=mf34Rsj4xxCeG2Cr
Hey Walt, Mike from NiteZpeed here....Epic Killer Image man...Very Impressive....Love your Channel....Your processing is very easy to follow...Ill be honest I am not nearly as Good at processing....But, I've learned a few new tricks watching your videos...and I am grateful for your Tutorials and explanations...Stay Spacey Walt...I also want you to know that I am promoting your channel on mine and I hope it helps your Subscriber count....Least I can do to say Thank you....Clear Skies...
Just subscribed your channel. Thank you very much for your videos. Can't wait to test my old Canon 700D with nifty-fifty to capture a nice photo from the Milky Way in Portugal.
WOW, it took me 16 years to go back and look at what I photographed and then tried to PS but was disappointed in the outcome, till today after watching this video. I had seen people use the Star removal step, but yours was easy to follow and free. So I tried it. The galactic clouds are finally visible and look so amazing. My source material is just a 720 second long exposure, with no darks or any of that. I had never heard of that back in 2008, if only this all existed back then. Now i am on the hunt for a tracking mount to do this all over again and properly this time.
Hi Walt!! Great video as always. I think this is a different and newer one compared to the other 50mm video you had, right? Also the StarNet plugin is that the same as StarNet++ or different? Thanks.
Wow. Thank you. I just stumbled on your videos I have learned so much on editing. Your explanations are simple to understand. You've helped to improve my editing in just a few vids.
Love your videos. I left Windows behind 2 years ago for Macs so I can't use sequator any more but have tried Siril but not good with it yet. Thanks for your always informative and entertaining vids.
Thanks for the great easy to follow video (the best way I am able to learn) Just rewatched the video and took better nites. I had a good night under the stars July 2, 2022 taking images to be stacked and stitched together. 20mm, 35mm 2 frames & 50mm 4 frames 2x2. I tried a graduated blue filter used for the lower portion of the frame helped with light polution a lot! $15 Ebay find. I have the images stacked and hope to start working on the 3 different views of the milkyway (I am still trying different approaches to see what I like, leaning towards the stitched 35mm) I plan to merge the sky with some of the cemetery monuments from the 1800 from the location I was parked next to.
Hi sir! I love the final process of your photo! The detail of milky way Its amazing . I tried and follow your video and the outcome is gorgeous. I hope you can make a video tutorial with the same process of milky way but with foreground(esp. with trees). I’ve struggle how to get a sharp and fine edges of the foreground specially with trees.. i tried the sky replacement but the edges is not good. Thank you and God bless sir!
Hi. How come you only made use of Darks? All other say one must use, Darks, Flats and often also Biases. It is perhaps only because of the Wide Field of View? Thanx for sharing. Great Pics.
Hi! Flats are usually used for vignetting and also to remove any dust in your imaging train. With this camera and lens I did not see the need as the vignetting was very minimal. If you are getting multiple hours of exposure time with a bigger telescope or lens I would highly recommend flats and bias.
@@deltaastrophotography Doesn't PS have a tool that removes vignetting on lenses? I barely use it now that I have PixInsight but could've sworn is has it for camera lenses.
I find it amazing that so many astrophotographers are also into music and playing instruments. I play guitar and see on many youtube videos astrophotographers have their musical instruments in the background. Not sure if there is some connection between them other than both hobbies take ALOT of practice.
You've given me hope on my processing. Gathering data, I'm good at... processing.... I suck at it soooooooooooo bad. But I'm hoping from what you have done here, I can come close to doing as well with my data. Thanks
Nicely done. Pretty good video, I've seen quite a lot of videos when I was learning over the course of two years and this is definitely one of the better ones. I have to say though, I think you went too hard on the stars in my opinion. I think what makes the milky way so stunning is the vast star networks and I feel toning the stars down as you did really limited the amount in which the galaxy can pop.
What an absolutely brilliant tutorial Walt! I watched one of your videos earlier this evening the nifty fifty, where you mentioned a processing episode. I continued watching the channel and found this video extremely helpful so thanks for taking the time to create this video. I watch quite a number of the guys on YT such as Trevor, Nico, Alyn Wallace and down here in Oz Richard Tatti and John Rutter, amongst others. I have to say this single PS video is by far one of the most concise and relatively easy to follow for me anyhow as I've just moved over to LR PS from Capture One as it couldn't do a lot of what you have demonstrated in this video(image layers) and my frustration levels were building! I have book marked this video and subscribed Walt! Thanks again.
Fantastic video Walt! I need to use this on my image of the core and RHO OPHIUCHUS. I don't have gradient x terminator but I have another tool from them called star xterminator for star removal. I find that it works a bit better than Starnet++. It's also faster and easier to use. Check it out of you haven't already. Keep up the great work and Clear skies!!!!
Hi! I actually use StarXTerminator in all my personal projects! I think Starnet version 2 has caught up with StarXTerminator. It's really fast and the results looks smooth! I still prefer StarXTerminator though because I never have to leave Photoshop. It's just a plugin and it's super simple to use!
With starnet removal, does the noise get significantly worse? Mine seems too. But then again i only have 40Min of data. Great video! Do you ever plan to make a tutorial using gimp?
The more data i have, the better Starnet looks. Also the less I stretch before removing the stars, the better it looks. I do plan on trying Gimp at some point! Thanks for reminding me!
Hi Walt! Thanks so much for this tutorial. I have been looking forward to this ever since your last video. It's really hard to find guides on how to get started with astrophotography along with how to edit. This is amazing!! One question I have is do you need the star tracker to get results like this? I noticed you mentioned you did 3 minute exposures with the star tracker. I imagine if you did not have the tracker and did a 3 minute exposure you would get a lot of star trails? Especially if you are taking a bunch of images... so it seems like a star tracker is necessary for this? Let me know your thoughts!
You do not need a star tracker to get results like this! Just raise your ISO and open your Aperture as wide as it goes. Use a much slower shutter speed. Something like 5 seconds with a Nifty Fifty. Then take a lot more photos than 20! You might have to reposition your camera every ten minutes to keep the Milky Way framed right.
Bloomin' 'eck, what a star. Best processing video ever! I really mean that, I'm so happy right now. Honestly, I would have paid for this and been happy to do so. Thank you SOOOOO much, my friend. :)
