Cloning the author will result in faster updates and implementation of features

Got an idea for something that SharpCap should do? Share it here.
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'+1' posts are welcome in this area of the forums to indicate your support for a particular feature suggestion. Suggestions that get the most +1's will be seriously considered for inclusion in future versions of SharpCap.
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mAnKiNd
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Cloning the author will result in faster updates and implementation of features

#1

Post by mAnKiNd »

Dear friends,

I see a lot of feature suggestions and a recurring underlying response from the author, so here's my light-bulb-moment to a potential solution:

Sharpcap is really a fantastic program and has without a doubt revolutionized my own approach to astrophotography, as I continue to abandon "orthodox" acquisition approaches and try to push the quality of my live stacking as far and as long as it can go.

Sharpcap could certainly still do with a bunch of features and bug fixes to support all those cameras and users using them in infinite combinations. Many of those features have been requested by myself (i.e. unguided dither button please!) and by the growing community supporting this great astronomical program.

However, because our dear friend Robin is but one semi-mortal man, he can only keep up with so much in the confines of our linear time reality. Therefore, as a life scientist with a semi-decent working knowledge of the following; I propose that we all put together our heads and some funds and get Mr. Glover to the nearest genetics lab and render a few clones of him. This way, he (they) can implement the features we want more fully and provide us with more frequent updates in the more timely manner that we demand. It's either that, or we must patiently wait and we all now how much we hate to wait.

Just a thought, +1 if you agree.
Minos

P.S. I see this post ending up in the 'Not Currently Planned' section.

P.P.S. If you have cringed hard to this friendly little banter, then I guess that was the point :)
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Re: Cloning the author will result in faster updates and implementation of features

#2

Post by admin »

Thanks for the offer Minos :)

I am worried about the long lead time on producing and training a clone - perhaps a 'Calvin & Hobbes' style duplicator would be a better option if anyone has one?

On a serious note, yes, I am limited in the amount of time that I can put into SharpCap, and that time has to get divided between the cool bits like writing new features and other things like providing support and tracking down bogs. All of this has to fit around a day job, family and the desire to sometimes just sit down and chill. That all means I have to be quite picky about what features to add to SharpCap. I do want to say thank you to everyone who has submitted ideas to this area of the forums - I will be reviewing them in the near future as I start to plan out the detail of what will be in the next version of SharpCap. If your idea doesn't get picked for inclusion then please don't be offended - there is truly so much that I could do that I have no chance of doing everything!

cheers,

Robin
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Re: Cloning the author will result in faster updates and implementation of features

#3

Post by mAnKiNd »

I know buddy, I'm just making light humor of it to somehow raise awareness about your superhuman efforts :) However, I'm still determined to get you duplicated - 'Calvin & Hobbes' style! Don't look at me like that, you suggested it...

All the best with striking that balance you speak of, I know it's not easy..keep up the good work :)
Minos
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Re: Cloning the author will result in faster updates and implementation of features

#4

Post by turfpit »

A timely post Minos and full agreement from me.

Cloning is not such a good idea - look what happened to the Asgard in Stargate SG1 :lol:

SharpCap is developed and maintained by one person. Robin is to be congratulated on recently passing the 1,000th post milestone on the forum. Having started to look at updating the documentation from 2.9 to 3.1, the amount of change across the versions is quite surprising.

I have felt for some time that many of the feature requests seem to be trying to turn SharpCap into ACP Observatory Control Software on the cheap. For those who require that kind of control, then see here http://acp.dc3.com/buy-it.html but you won't get much change out of $2,000. That software is created, maintained and supported as a day job.

SharpCap(ture) - the clue is in the name - was (originally) intended to capture images. It is not SharpProc(cess).

Trying to deal with the ever increasing flow of new camera models, camera SDK updates, camera features and maintain the software as a robust imaging platform is quite a task in its own right.

Who is the target audience? We have as examples:
  • Those just starting out with imaging (me).
  • Those who have no permanent installation and need to setup quickly with minimal equipment (me).
  • Those who like to get to some 'off the beaten track' dark site with minimal equipment (me).
  • Those who have permanent observatories and have a keen interest in automation (not me).
If SharpCap tries to be 'all things to all people' then it will lose its way to 'creeping featurism'.

Having worked as a sysadmin for some 30 years, the attributes I prized most in software were robustness, stability and simplicity. I have seen, more than once, the results of 'creeping featurism'.

Step back and ask the big question - "with SharpCap, what are we actually trying to achieve"?

Dave
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Re: Cloning the author will result in faster updates and implementation of features

#5

Post by mAnKiNd »

Good question, to me, Sharpcap is my one-stop-shop for simplicity and efficiency. Everything it does for my workflow, is simply brilliant! In short, this is how I use it:

1) Polar Alignment
2) Open planetarium i.e. CDC, slew to object and plate solve with sharpcap
3) Adjust focus (I do most of my focusing using my own two eyes at high magnification)
4) Adjust acquisition parameters i.e. exposure time, gain, offset to attain "proper" histogram
5) Begin Live Stack with FWHM and Brightness filters appropriately set to reject bad frames
6) Sit back, watch the stack grow (like watching paint dry really, but I love it)
7) Post-process Live Stack

...and that's it, I'm done...some might claim this is insufficient or lacking many "orthodox" astrophotography techniques (i.e. guiding) but believe me, each of those seven steps, has an enormous amount of detail and fidelity one can fine tune and play around with in order to maximise the quality of their acquisition.

I wholeheartedly thank Robin for providing us with this tool, I was struggling a lot more before I started using it and my results were not necessarily better than what I get with the above workflow..

My only request, is to dither unguided (preferably after a set amount of "accepted frames" in the stack) in order to improve sigma clipping in the live stack..I know I know, I'm like a broken record with this feature request...

Cheers
Minos
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Re: Cloning the author will result in faster updates and implementation of features

#6

Post by mAnKiNd »

...forgot to add that it also controls my 6-position filter wheel beautifully...one slot of which contains a dark filter for shooting darks when needed....ahhh teamviewer from inside is bliss :)
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