SharpCap Still Mode
Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2020 7:19 pm
Still Mode is a big change for SharpCap – up until now SharpCap has always run cameras as though they are audio cameras. That means taking images all the time and displaying them on screen, but saving them only when you (effectively) press the record button. This has worked well for WebCams and for a vast range of USB2 and USB3 CMOS cameras, but it can cause problems for high resolution CCD cameras and for DSLR cameras connected via the new Ascom drivers that are being written. For these types of cameras, downloading an image may take a long time and may lock-up SharpCap application making it almost unusable. Having the option to change into still camera mode should make these cameras much more usable in SharpCap.
You can switch between video mode and still mode by toggling the 'Live View' button at the left-hand end of the toolbar.
In video mode your toolbar will look like this:
If you turn off live view in order to enter still mode, it will look like this:
The main difference is that you will notice in still mode are:
* No images will be captured from the camera unless you press one of the capturing buttons
* A new 'Framing Shot' button appears on the toolbar. This will take a single image from the camera but will not save it to file.
* If your camera has adjustable gain and SharpCap understands the way that the gain control of your camera works then there will be a 'Framing Shot Quick' button available in the drop-down under the 'Framing Shot' button. The quick version of the button will increase the gain to maximum, reduce the exposure so as to keep the brightness roughly the same, take a single shot and show it on screen and then put the gain and exposure back to their original values.
* Enabling some tools, such as live stack will automatically move the camera back into video mode. Closing these tools should put the camera back into still mode. If you think there are any cases where the tool should not be putting the camera into video mode, or it is putting into video mode unnecessarily, please let me know.
* The existing capture buttons – 'Start Capture', 'Quick Capture' and 'Snapshot' still work as they do in video mode, although the implementation is slightly different behind-the-scenes.
* If you are using the sequencer tool for deep sky imaging, then prefer to use still mode for capturing rather than video mode. Certain features of the sequencing tools such as periodic dithering require the camera to be running in still mode so that the dinner can happen between frames.
Most of the commonly used cameras in SharpCap (apart from WebCams) support switching the camera between still mode and video mode. This currently includes at least : Altair, Ascom, Atik, Moravian, QHY, SX, ZWO, Test Camera. I will consider adding other types of camera to this list if there is demand and the camera SDK supports taking individual frames.
Note that if you wish to start a camera specifically in live mode or specifically in still mode, you should select the correct state of the 'Live View' button before opening the camera.
As always, shout out with any additional questions.
Robin
You can switch between video mode and still mode by toggling the 'Live View' button at the left-hand end of the toolbar.
In video mode your toolbar will look like this:
If you turn off live view in order to enter still mode, it will look like this:
The main difference is that you will notice in still mode are:
* No images will be captured from the camera unless you press one of the capturing buttons
* A new 'Framing Shot' button appears on the toolbar. This will take a single image from the camera but will not save it to file.
* If your camera has adjustable gain and SharpCap understands the way that the gain control of your camera works then there will be a 'Framing Shot Quick' button available in the drop-down under the 'Framing Shot' button. The quick version of the button will increase the gain to maximum, reduce the exposure so as to keep the brightness roughly the same, take a single shot and show it on screen and then put the gain and exposure back to their original values.
* Enabling some tools, such as live stack will automatically move the camera back into video mode. Closing these tools should put the camera back into still mode. If you think there are any cases where the tool should not be putting the camera into video mode, or it is putting into video mode unnecessarily, please let me know.
* The existing capture buttons – 'Start Capture', 'Quick Capture' and 'Snapshot' still work as they do in video mode, although the implementation is slightly different behind-the-scenes.
* If you are using the sequencer tool for deep sky imaging, then prefer to use still mode for capturing rather than video mode. Certain features of the sequencing tools such as periodic dithering require the camera to be running in still mode so that the dinner can happen between frames.
Most of the commonly used cameras in SharpCap (apart from WebCams) support switching the camera between still mode and video mode. This currently includes at least : Altair, Ascom, Atik, Moravian, QHY, SX, ZWO, Test Camera. I will consider adding other types of camera to this list if there is demand and the camera SDK supports taking individual frames.
Note that if you wish to start a camera specifically in live mode or specifically in still mode, you should select the correct state of the 'Live View' button before opening the camera.
As always, shout out with any additional questions.
Robin