This is so much easier than the Imagesolver, which never gets all panels and is such a pain in the *** to get it to recognize the other panels. Thanks mate!
I'd recommend "Mosaic by Coordinates" over this process. Star alignment method runs into issues with small overlap areas, field curvature, or warping/unable to register with large mosaics. Using coordinates solves all of these issues, not to mention it's fewer steps and easier to use.
I have used Mosaic by Coordinates with good results, too! I plan my mosaics with good overlap and field curvature isn't an issue for my setup. But you're right, given issues with this method the Mosaic by Coordinates is an excellent option!
@@WindyCityAstrophotography Certainly no shortage of ways to skin a cat in PI :) Thanks for the videos, community members like yourself have really stepped up demystify this software.
Nick, this process worked like a charm. Only issue I ran into was during the top&bottom joining of a 4panel mosaic, where I had to use overlay with much higher feathering to eliminate the pinching. Thanks for helping to clarify the synthetic starfield approach.
Excellent, and I followed the workflow for my first LRGB two-panel mosaic of the Lagoon Nebula. Worked like a charm. The only change I made was to use "overlay" rather than "average." The latter showed a line, but the former didn't.
Excellent tutorial Nick, very clear and concise. I finally broke down and did a mosaic after all these years - of course it was unplanned as I thought I had the object framed 90 degrees from which it was actually at (🤨). So I decided to make a three panel mosaic out of it (I would not have gotten it all even if it were set like I thought). Your procedure was awesome, even after the first star alignment I could not tell where the they were merged. I did the Ha and OIII separately as you suggested, however, I combined the RGB and then did the mosaic. It did not come out as good as Ha or OIII but it really did not matter as I am only using the RGB for stars. There was one odd thing, I merged the first two panels with no issue (on all sets) but when I did the Register/Match Images it said not enough Putative Star Matches so I just increased the Descriptors per star from 20 to 80 and it worked. Thanks again - Cheers Kurt
Thanks Kurt! Good call on increasing the descriptors; sometimes I get registration failures like that but eventually I get it to work. Glad you were able to salvage the image!
Hi Nick, great timing!! just putting together my first mosaic of the LMC from last night. awesome :) another great presentation, keep up the great work.👏
Hi Nick, thanks so much, very easy to follow tutorial. I’ve recently got into mosaics as it allows some unusual framing. I’ve so far used image Composite Editor, which allows merging of the stacked files before any processing, it has seemed pretty good, though you ideally need images without too much distortion between stacked images. I’ve just used your process and achieved a combined image, even though one had a lot of noise. Kind regards Ian
Hi Ian, thanks so much for watching and I am glad the process worked for you! I have heard about Image Composite Editor, but never tried. Curious: which object you were imaging for the mosaic?
@@WindyCityAstrophotography I’ve done a number of subjects, M31, Bubble and Lobster claw nebulas, the veil nebula etc. I started with doing 14 images of the moon and I have a video on how I did that. I’m shortly going to publish one on doing the Horsehead and Orion together. ICE seems to work very well and take 2 minutes! Kind regards Ian
Great tutorial. I typed it up for future reference and would be happy to forward it to you for posting. FYI, I just imaged the North American Nebula and Pelican Nebula in a 4 panel mosaic with a ZWO 2600MC pro on my Takahashi FSQ-106. I came up with the same process as you did as far as the technique for obtaining a target, framing in telescopius and obtaining and exporting the coordinates to the AsiAir. I wrote that up as well. You did not mention framing in Telescopius and achieving the same framing in the telescopes imaging camera to obtain the desired capture composition. I think some individuals may find a bit of difficulty in getting the composition on the scope that you view and set up in telescopius. You can import the coordinates but if not set to the same rotation in degrees on your telescopes camera, one may not achieve the desired composition. So I start in telescopius in the "My Camera" tab and at the lower section set the framing to 180 degrees East. In AsiAir, there is a new firmware update, "Sky Atlas". It does a number of interesting things one of which is to identify your coordinates with your apparent rotation in degrees. This is an important (and great) new feature as it allows rapid visualization of where the framing is relative to the imported coordinates. By turning my telescopes rotator to rotate the camera ( or rotating a DSLR manually if using one) one can then obtain the exact view seen in Telescopius. I can use my telescopes rotator to rotate the camera on the scope and check the rotation in the Sky Atlas until it displays 180 degrees. I obtain this by rotating the camera and pause my plan on the first image capture. I go back and forth on the rotator and the sky atlas until I achieve the target of 180 degrees. Then I can start my plan and my first images were right on target and my images are framed exactly how I desired and framed in Telescopius. I am happy to send you this with photos for better visualization. As an Fyi, if one is using a ZWO camera and Electronic auto focuser, go into the focuser's settings and set the fine slow step to 5 or 10. I am getting pin point star sizes in the 2.5 to 3 range using this value.
Great tutorial and love the channel. I haven’t gotten into mosaics yet but I would like to do some wider shots with my RASA 11 and this is what I’ll need. Thanks!
Great Video. Just to make sure I am clear, you stacked each pane first and then joined correct? What about calibration frames? Did you just add the same calibration frames to each stack before joining?
Super useful, easier to follow than written tutorials. I got a little ambitious and started with a 4 panel, so I’m glad you covered that too. Is the process very similar when you start doing 6 or 8 panels (and beyond)?
Great to hear! Yes, I often find video tutorials much easier than written 😀 For 6 or 8 or beyond it's the same idea. The way I think of it is you don't want to be trying to merge more than one "edge" together. It can work, but that's when I've often found issues crop up. So for instance it would be best to avoid a situation where you had 3 panels merged in an L shape and were then trying to fill in the open spot to complete the square because you'd be working on two edges in that case. Pretty much just work two at a time to build it up slowly.
Great video mate can I ask when you start the mosaic process. I mean how much background processing do you do before you start the mosaic. My work flow is Cropping RGB separation Linear RGB combination DBE BGN Colour Calibration Noise reduction SNCR Stretching Then I do the mosaic on the images what is your thoughts if you don’t mind sharing
I've done it a few ways, either by putting together separate channels as mosaics and then combining, or combining channels for the individual panels and then creating mosaic. Either way works, though I try to deal with any gradients as much as possible before combining in either way so that the panels are as "flat" as possible. I would maybe try doing the mosaic before color calibration and before stretching for sure. It can work either way, but you might get more even results by putting the mosaic together sooner rather than later so that things like color calibration and stretching and scnr are done on the whole image, not each panel separately. But play around with it!
Thanks for great video. Very informative and ironic as I just started mosaics. You discussed doing individual mosaics of each filter first and then merging them together in channel combination vs combining the filters first and then merging to form the mosaic . Did you find doing individual filter mosaics first more accurate?
Glad it was helpful! The main benefit I have found in first doing full mosaics of each filter was dealing with gradients. Imaging for Bortle 9 I definitely deal with them and the orientation changes depending on where the object is in the sky, moon, etc. I am able to more accurately remove the gradients dealing with each filter by itself, though I have had good success combining each pane in SHO first and then doing a mosaic of those. Just a little trickier dealing with gradients.
Fab video, thanks. Following upto the DNA linear fit, however when I go to download this file I get a windows script host error "invalid character, code 800A03F6" MS JScript compilation error?? Any suggestions as to how I can get this downloaded, please?
I get that error if I try to open the .js file once it is downloaded, but no trouble downloading it initially. I hope that's the case for you; I suppose it's possible Windows is trying to automatically run it after downloading. Either way, if you have the file in your downloads folder, you need to copy it to your Pixinsight scripts folder as detailed on the Trapped Photons site. Here's the text from there: " To install it, copy it into your PixInsight/src/scripts folder then go to SCRIPTS->’Feature Scripts…’ and click ‘Add’ button. It will ask you for the directory, point it to your PixInsight/src/scripts folder and hit OK. It should find the script and make it available in the SCRIPT menu. It will show up under Utilities->’dnaLinearFit 0.1′." Hope that helps!
I really like your material but you skipped a HUGE step-- the preprocessing in PI of the mosiac panels. You end part one at shooting the mosiac and start part two with merging. I'm not seeing any good videos on the WBPP workflow to process all panels of the mosiac at the same time.
![Дон ДОН, Алаудинов и СБЕЖАВШИЕ из под Курска ахматовцы 😁 [Пародия]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dEfCf5IK26Q/mqdefault.jpg)
![АЛАУДИНОВ у Скабеевой: эти их ВСУ нас НЕ ДОГОНЯТ 😁 [Пародия]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/an0anqU4WGQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks for watching everyone! If you missed Part 1 of Easy Mosaics, give it a watch here: ua-cam.com/video/DbpvP0156fY/v-deo.html
Excellent Video! Followed step by step to create my first 4 panel mosaic. I imaged the Sadr region!
Fantastic! So glad to hear it was useful!
This is so much easier than the Imagesolver, which never gets all panels and is such a pain in the *** to get it to recognize the other panels. Thanks mate!
I'd recommend "Mosaic by Coordinates" over this process. Star alignment method runs into issues with small overlap areas, field curvature, or warping/unable to register with large mosaics. Using coordinates solves all of these issues, not to mention it's fewer steps and easier to use.
I have used Mosaic by Coordinates with good results, too! I plan my mosaics with good overlap and field curvature isn't an issue for my setup. But you're right, given issues with this method the Mosaic by Coordinates is an excellent option!
@@WindyCityAstrophotography Certainly no shortage of ways to skin a cat in PI :) Thanks for the videos, community members like yourself have really stepped up demystify this software.
Great job. Very clear explanation and easy step by step process. Just nailed my first mosaic. Thank you!
So glad to hear it! Thanks!
Phenomenal tutorial! using this to create potentially my favorite image yet! Im doing a large mosaic with the redcat 51 of the Sadar region
Excellent, glad to hear it!
Hi . I did with redcat 51 2x2 Orion mosaic . Thanks! Perfekt ! 👍👍👍
Nick, this process worked like a charm. Only issue I ran into was during the top&bottom joining of a 4panel mosaic, where I had to use overlay with much higher feathering to eliminate the pinching. Thanks for helping to clarify the synthetic starfield approach.
Awesome, glad to hear it! Yes I have had a couple times where I have needed to tweak those values. Glad you got it figured out 😎
Excellent, and I followed the workflow for my first LRGB two-panel mosaic of the Lagoon Nebula. Worked like a charm. The only change I made was to use "overlay" rather than "average." The latter showed a line, but the former didn't.
Thank you so much! Really helped me out as a novice pixinsight user 😅
Awesome! Glad to hear it. Even after you know Pixinsight pretty well there are tons of parts that make you feel like a novice again 😆
Excellent tutorial Nick, very clear and concise. I finally broke down and did a mosaic after all these years - of course it was unplanned as I thought I had the object framed 90 degrees from which it was actually at (🤨). So I decided to make a three panel mosaic out of it (I would not have gotten it all even if it were set like I thought). Your procedure was awesome, even after the first star alignment I could not tell where the they were merged. I did the Ha and OIII separately as you suggested, however, I combined the RGB and then did the mosaic. It did not come out as good as Ha or OIII but it really did not matter as I am only using the RGB for stars. There was one odd thing, I merged the first two panels with no issue (on all sets) but when I did the Register/Match Images it said not enough Putative Star Matches so I just increased the Descriptors per star from 20 to 80 and it worked. Thanks again - Cheers Kurt
Thanks Kurt! Good call on increasing the descriptors; sometimes I get registration failures like that but eventually I get it to work. Glad you were able to salvage the image!
Did u combine two panels, then how did u combine the third panel ? please elaborate a bit
Yeah I first combined two panels and made one image and then combied the third into that. @@spacefromhome511
Hi Nick, great timing!! just putting together my first mosaic of the LMC from last night. awesome :) another great presentation, keep up the great work.👏
Fantastic! I can't wait to see the finished product; very jealous you get to image LMC 😄
Hi Nick, thanks so much, very easy to follow tutorial. I’ve recently got into mosaics as it allows some unusual framing. I’ve so far used image Composite Editor, which allows merging of the stacked files before any processing, it has seemed pretty good, though you ideally need images without too much distortion between stacked images. I’ve just used your process and achieved a combined image, even though one had a lot of noise. Kind regards Ian
Hi Ian, thanks so much for watching and I am glad the process worked for you! I have heard about Image Composite Editor, but never tried. Curious: which object you were imaging for the mosaic?
@@WindyCityAstrophotography I’ve done a number of subjects, M31, Bubble and Lobster claw nebulas, the veil nebula etc. I started with doing 14 images of the moon and I have a video on how I did that. I’m shortly going to publish one on doing the Horsehead and Orion together. ICE seems to work very well and take 2 minutes! Kind regards Ian
Great tutorial. I typed it up for future reference and would be happy to forward it to you for posting. FYI, I just imaged the North American Nebula and Pelican Nebula in a 4 panel mosaic with a ZWO 2600MC pro on my Takahashi FSQ-106. I came up with the same process as you did as far as the technique for obtaining a target, framing in telescopius and obtaining and exporting the coordinates to the AsiAir. I wrote that up as well.
You did not mention framing in Telescopius and achieving the same framing in the telescopes imaging camera to obtain the desired capture composition. I think some individuals may find a bit of difficulty in getting the composition on the scope that you view and set up in telescopius.
You can import the coordinates but if not set to the same rotation in degrees on your telescopes camera, one may not achieve the desired composition. So I start in telescopius in the "My Camera" tab and at the lower section set the framing to 180 degrees East. In AsiAir, there is a new firmware update, "Sky Atlas". It does a number of interesting things one of which is to identify your coordinates with your apparent rotation in degrees. This is an important (and great) new feature as it allows rapid visualization of where the framing is relative to the imported coordinates.
By turning my telescopes rotator to rotate the camera ( or rotating a DSLR manually if using one) one can then obtain the exact view seen in Telescopius. I can use my telescopes rotator to rotate the camera on the scope and check the rotation in the Sky Atlas until it displays 180 degrees. I obtain this by rotating the camera and pause my plan on the first image capture. I go back and forth on the rotator and the sky atlas until I achieve the target of 180 degrees. Then I can start my plan and my first images were right on target and my images are framed exactly how I desired and framed in Telescopius. I am happy to send you this with photos for better visualization.
As an Fyi, if one is using a ZWO camera and Electronic auto focuser, go into the focuser's settings and set the fine slow step to 5 or 10. I am getting pin point star sizes in the 2.5 to 3 range using this value.
Timely info as I am currently collecting data for a 2-panel mosaic. Count me as subscriber 685.
Fantastic, glad to hear it! 😀 What target are you imaging?
Clear and well presented, thanks!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
Great tutorial and love the channel. I haven’t gotten into mosaics yet but I would like to do some wider shots with my RASA 11 and this is what I’ll need. Thanks!
Oooh yeah for an 11 it will be especially helpful plus you get that awesome focal length! What camera do you shoot with?
@@WindyCityAstrophotography I use both the 2600MC and the 2600MM. APS-C works real well with the 11” and I use Baader’s UFC for filters.
Thanks so much 👍 Very clear tutorial 👏😊
You're very welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks!
Thanks so much!
Great Video. Just to make sure I am clear, you stacked each pane first and then joined correct? What about calibration frames? Did you just add the same calibration frames to each stack before joining?
Super useful, easier to follow than written tutorials. I got a little ambitious and started with a 4 panel, so I’m glad you covered that too. Is the process very similar when you start doing 6 or 8 panels (and beyond)?
Great to hear! Yes, I often find video tutorials much easier than written 😀 For 6 or 8 or beyond it's the same idea. The way I think of it is you don't want to be trying to merge more than one "edge" together. It can work, but that's when I've often found issues crop up. So for instance it would be best to avoid a situation where you had 3 panels merged in an L shape and were then trying to fill in the open spot to complete the square because you'd be working on two edges in that case. Pretty much just work two at a time to build it up slowly.
@@WindyCityAstrophotography That makes a lot of sense. this all gets much more involved with a mono cam but I find it to be worth it. thanks again!
Great video mate can I ask when you start the mosaic process. I mean how much background processing do you do before you start the mosaic.
My work flow is
Cropping
RGB separation
Linear
RGB combination
DBE
BGN
Colour Calibration
Noise reduction
SNCR
Stretching
Then I do the mosaic on the images what is your thoughts if you don’t mind sharing
I've done it a few ways, either by putting together separate channels as mosaics and then combining, or combining channels for the individual panels and then creating mosaic. Either way works, though I try to deal with any gradients as much as possible before combining in either way so that the panels are as "flat" as possible. I would maybe try doing the mosaic before color calibration and before stretching for sure. It can work either way, but you might get more even results by putting the mosaic together sooner rather than later so that things like color calibration and stretching and scnr are done on the whole image, not each panel separately. But play around with it!
Thanks for great video. Very informative and ironic as I just started mosaics. You discussed doing individual mosaics of each filter first and then merging them together in channel combination vs combining the filters first and then merging to form the mosaic . Did you find doing individual filter mosaics first more accurate?
Glad it was helpful! The main benefit I have found in first doing full mosaics of each filter was dealing with gradients. Imaging for Bortle 9 I definitely deal with them and the orientation changes depending on where the object is in the sky, moon, etc. I am able to more accurately remove the gradients dealing with each filter by itself, though I have had good success combining each pane in SHO first and then doing a mosaic of those. Just a little trickier dealing with gradients.
Fab video, thanks. Following upto the DNA linear fit, however when I go to download this file I get a windows script host error "invalid character, code 800A03F6" MS JScript compilation error?? Any suggestions as to how I can get this downloaded, please?
I get that error if I try to open the .js file once it is downloaded, but no trouble downloading it initially. I hope that's the case for you; I suppose it's possible Windows is trying to automatically run it after downloading. Either way, if you have the file in your downloads folder, you need to copy it to your Pixinsight scripts folder as detailed on the Trapped Photons site. Here's the text from there:
" To install it, copy it into your PixInsight/src/scripts folder then go to SCRIPTS->’Feature Scripts…’ and click ‘Add’ button. It will ask you for the directory, point it to your PixInsight/src/scripts folder and hit OK. It should find the script and make it available in the SCRIPT menu. It will show up under Utilities->’dnaLinearFit 0.1′."
Hope that helps!
I really like your material but you skipped a HUGE step-- the preprocessing in PI of the mosiac panels. You end part one at shooting the mosiac and start part two with merging. I'm not seeing any good videos on the WBPP workflow to process all panels of the mosiac at the same time.