Flat Frame File Type

Anything that doesn't fit into any of the other forums
Post Reply
rac19
Posts: 142
Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2021 2:01 pm

Flat Frame File Type

#1

Post by rac19 »

It doesn't seem to documented in the User Guide but the Tool Bar has a drop down list to select the type of file to capture, most commonly Lights, Darks and Flats, For first two, a new time stamped folder is created and the requisite number of Light or Dark frames are created as individual FITS files. You can also configure the files to include Light, Dark or Flat in the file name.

For Flats, just a single SER file is created and the file name does not include the word Flat.

Does anyone know why this is?

This causes a minor issue for preprocessing in PixInsight because it doesn't seem to accept Master Flats and requires a minimum of three frames. To get around this at the moment, I submit three copies of the Master Flat.
rac19
Posts: 142
Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2021 2:01 pm

Re: Flat Frame File Type

#2

Post by rac19 »

Well actually, the User Guide on this Forum does describe this option, see quote below. It seems to be realted solely to file names and has nothing to do with file formats,

This question now becomes, when you choose "Start Capture" rather than "Master Dark" or "Master Flat", why are the darks captured as single FITS files and the flats as a single SER file? I can only think that below a nominal exposure time, Sharpcap switches from FITS to SER due to the higher frame rate.I will check later, tonight, to see if this can be changed,
Frame Type
This dropdown only shows if the Filename Settings are set to the advanced Filename Templates mode. You can select the type of frame you are capturing here and the type will be substituted into the filename template for any saved files.
rac19
Posts: 142
Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2021 2:01 pm

Re: Flat Frame File Type

#3

Post by rac19 »

I just did some testing. I think that the problem was that the "Output File Type" was set to "Auto". I changed it to "FITS" and now a series FITS files is created regardless of the exposure time is 1 second or 1 millisecond.This should make PixInsight happier. The 1 ms capture is slow but that hardly matters for flats.

I also now have a different folder for each file type, which makes me happier :).
{Date:S}\{TargetName}\{FrameType}\{Time}\{TargetName}_G{Gain}_E{Exposure}_{FrameType}_{Index}
User avatar
admin
Site Admin
Posts: 13173
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2017 3:52 pm
Location: Vale of the White Horse, UK
Contact:

Re: Flat Frame File Type

#4

Post by admin »

Hi,

yes, the frame type is purely used for filenames at the moment.

The output format control (when in auto mode) will choose a video format for short exposures and a still image format for long exposures. The actual formats used are those specified in 'Preferred Video Format' and 'Preferred Still Format' in the settings (although other formats will be used if the preferred format is unsuitable - for instance SharpCap will not try to save RAW colour images in JPG format even if you set that as your preferred still format).

cheers,

Robin
Post Reply