Autofocus during imaging

[Nyx]

tl;dr Give us an option to autofocus every X subs.

I was playing with v4.0 and the sequencer the other day and while I love the idea of using SharpCap exclusively for my imaging needs, the lack of autofocus during the main imaging loop is a deal breaker for me.

I'm currently imaging with a star tracker, so things like platesolving and meridian flips aren't important for me. BUT, I like my stars tight and I don't want to have to fiddle with my rig unless I really have to.

For my needs a simple option to run the autofocus routine every X subs would do the trick. I already use SharpCap for polar alignment and framing. Autofocus in the main imaging loop is the one thing missing.

Clear skies!

[chongo228]

You can currently do this. Perhaps you just need to change the way your sequence is written. My bare-bones but reliable sequence is in the link below. I have some more complicated ones but the idea is the same. I keep the images and dither in the same sequence and then auto-focus between imaging runs. I loop back to the start after autofocus and it runs again. Before I start the night I'll change time/amount of frames to match how long I plan to image or how often I want to focus for things link temperature swings or filter changes.


This image is from one of the first versions of the sequencer so some of the steps may not be necessary anymore. Hope this gives you something to build off of. viewtopic.php?f=18&t=3607

[admin]

Hi,

the current status of this is (as chongo228 points out) that the repeat autofocus cannot be set up directly with the sequence planner tool, but can easily be achieved using the more powerful sequence editor. You can even start in the planner to get most of the sequence designed for you, then click the 'advanced edit' button which will transfer that sequence to the editor for further adjustment.

You could probably also do something in the sequence planner by misusing the 'refocus when filter changed option' - even if you are not using filters, set up a simulator filter wheel, set that option and set a sequence that captures 5 frames with 'simulated red', refocus for 5 frames with 'simulated blue' etc.

Hope this helps,

Robin