processing and stacking

[MarkH]

From a total beginners point of veiw I'm just getting started, what software would people recommend. Also some pointers at what order to approach the dark art of processing

[Carole]

Stacking:

For a beginner Deep Sky Stacker which is free is pretty good, though some people graduate onto fancier paid software as they become more experienced.  Really depends how technical you are and what you can cope with.  Mark uses Iris which I believe is free but it's not a walk in the park.

Processing:
Photoshop CS3 onwards is excellent for this.  Some are using Pixinsight but it is not exactly straightforward for the beginner. 

HTH

Carole

[Ivor]

This is one of those big questions which can go in so many different directions and everyone has a different opinion. The first piece of advice I'd give you is don't spend any money on software until your are sure it is the right product for you, there are so many good tools out there which are either freeware or try before you buy there's no need.

If you bought the Canon DSLR you were discussing a very popular tool in the club is APT, it's easy to use and I believe there is a demo version. IRIS is another great application (and free) but in my opinion it is more suited to intermediate to advance users.

Deep Sky Stacker is a great post capture tool, the manual has lots of details and explains all the Darks, Flats, Bias process pretty well, I think I must of read it thirty times before I started getting my head around it. There's load of Youtube tutorials so you should be alright. I haven't used it for a while but I do remember it being slow.

I used FITS Liberator to stretch my images before processing in Photoshop, GIMP is one of the free alternative there might be others as well.

I bought a few books along the way, of which I'd say only one has really been any really use and that goes into a lot of details about processing in Photoshop. With a bit of googling you will find loads of information so do that first.

There are lots of targets you can capture with subs under 40 secs, practice with these, learnt how your kit works before adding more layers of complication.
I've not seen you discuss guiding yet, when you get there I'd recommend PHD2.

Do play with all of these applications inside in the warm beforehand, there is nothing more frustrating than having problems on those rare clear nights.

That lot alone should keep you busy for a few months

[The Thing]

From a total beginners point of veiw I'm just getting started, what software would people recommend. Also some pointers at what order to approach the dark art of processing

I would start with Deep Sky Stacker and GIMP for finishing, simply because they are free and good to learn on. When you have the concepts and practice in your head you can make informed decisions as to which way to go with the software. Also as you progress the quality of the subs you take will get better and you will be able to get more out of them.

I use IRIS for stacking and sometimes DSS if I can't be bothered  (IRIS requires the mind to be functioning well!). IRIS can be scripted which makes the stacking part much easier and produces more consistent results than DSS. It can also be used for most of the finishing if you are prepared to put the time in learning the commands. I have been using Irfanview for a little basic gamma tweaking etc. and I now have StarTools but it isn't cutting the mustard yet - more learning!

[Mike]

A book I would highly recommend is 'The New CCD Astronomy' by Wodaski. It goes into great detail about every stage of capturing and processing.

[MarkH]

Thank you guys that has all been very helpful. Ivor, I have phd so will be guiding through my finderscope. Duncan, I meant to mention at the weekend that some mates and I make cider each year with apples from my garden, this is on sale at my local at it's beer festival and is very popular, we usually get 150-200 pints usually about 7-8 % when I get my share i'll put some by for you. Mike that book looks interesting, I hadn't even considered that there had been books written on the subject. i'll have to get my hands on that. Thank you all I think i'll be starting with the simple stuff.

[MarkH]

A thought just dawned on me, I already have paint shop pro x is that compatible/suitable for processing ?

[Ivor]

If it supports 16 bit images it should be fine.