SharpCap 4.0 Beta Now Available

Discussions, Bug Reports and Issues related to Beta versions of SharpCap
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SharpCap 4.0 Beta Now Available

#1

Post by admin »

Hi folks,

Ok, so here we are - finally... A version of SharpCap 4.0 for you to play around with.

Note: SharpCap 3.3 is now going to be SharpCap 4.0

Remember that this is still early testing, so the program (particularly new features) may be unstable, or even unfinished. I would certainly suggest trying things out with a camera in daylight before trying to image for real, and also having a backup plan (like SharpCap 3.2) in case the new version fails on you while imaging.

The two main changes are the sequencer tool and the addition of still camera mode. See separate posts viewtopic.php?f=38&t=3109 and viewtopic.php?f=38&t=2947. These are likely to be the areas where there is the most instability and the most likelihood of further changes/tweaks/improvements.

Before I get to the download links, please can I encourage everyone to post in this forum with any bugs/glitches/problems/suggestions or any other thoughts they have about the new version. If you have a problem that causes a crash, please submit the bug report and then post here too if possible. If you are reporting a problem that doesn't involve a crash then please try to include a screenshot of the problem and the SharpCap log - having those two things makes tracking down bugs much easier.

Right, the important bits... The download links can now be found on this page :

https://www.sharpcap.co.uk/sharpcap/sha ... s/4-0-beta

Please note that I have a new code signing certificate, which may mean you get warnings about the downloads. These warnings will go away once enough people have downloaded and reported them as safe. Apologies about this.

And finally, a quick summary of what's new ...
  • The Sequencer - at long last - this is the big one and there's lots to see here!
  • Still mode - Just deselect the live view button in the toolbar. Most cameras support this. Some tools will put the camera back into live mode.
  • ADC alignment tool - the planets are back and this might come in handy.
  • Pixel brightness readout - right now at the bottom of the reticules list - suggestions for a better location welcome
  • Focuser backlash compensation option and Focus offset support when changing filters
  • ADV output format support for occultation imagers
  • Feature tracking improvements - track using camera ROI and track on object center-of-brightness
  • Option to flip the directions of the mount movement buttons
  • Mount movement hotkeys - CTRL + I/J/K/L or CTRL + Numpad 2/4/6/8
  • More than doubled performance in seeing monitor frame analysis
  • Dual views of the image in two monitor view
  • Live stack settings saved in capture settings files
  • Numerous other bug fixes and small improvements
Enjoy,

Robin
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Menno555
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Re: SharpCap 3.3 Beta Now Available

#2

Post by Menno555 »

Great!!
Will give it a go during day and during the night somewhere in 2 years when the clouds and rain disappear ;)
Jean-Francois
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Re: SharpCap 3.3 Beta Now Available

#3

Post by Jean-Francois »

Hello,

I test some new features:

Pixel brightness readout - right now at the bottom of the reticules list - suggestions for a better location welcome

- location ? ... why not to show all the time the mouse coordinates and the pixel value in the lower line ? (between Previewing and Memory)
- with my QHY-174 camera and 130 image/s ... the pixel brightness readout is a "blub" of numbers.
- proposal SharpCap can start to show an average value with a camera live view above 5 fps or 10 fps.
- alternative ... SharpCap shows all the time 2 values ... one at the frequency of the images, the other an average from 1 s or other value
- is it possible to add the step-wise movement of the cross with the keyboard left, right , up and down keys? (for example to place the pixel readout precisely on a hot pixel or the center of a star/asteroid/moon for checking that no saturation occurs at that position).


ADC alignment tool - the planets are back and this might come in handy

- is the ADC working only with a color camera ? I have nothing on the screen


Jean-Francois
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Re: SharpCap 3.3 Beta Now Available

#4

Post by procyon12 »

Hello,

in addition regarding the pixel brightness tool:

it disappears near the right and bottom borders of an image.

Christian
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Re: SharpCap 3.3 Beta Now Available

#5

Post by admin »

Hi,

thank you both for the feedback :)

The pixel readout can have an impact on performance, so I would prefer not to show it/calculate it all the time.

The status bar at the bottom is already pretty much full up under some circumstances – for instance if you have a cooled camera or are using the GPS features on the qhy camera. There isn't any more space down there that is guaranteed to be available unless I start adding a second row.

I'll see what can be done about the speed of readout and perhaps doing some sort of averaging. If you want to read out the value of a particular pixel, you can just zoom in using <CTRL> and the mouse wheel until the pixels are big enough to confidently choose the one you want.

I've noted down the fact that the readout box should adjust its location when the mouse cursor is near the bottom right of the image and will try to fix that for the next update.

Thanks, Robin
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Re: SharpCap 3.3 Beta Now Available

#6

Post by Menno555 »

Jean-Francois wrote: Sat Sep 05, 2020 9:14 pm
ADC alignment tool - the planets are back and this might come in handy

- is the ADC working only with a color camera ? I have nothing on the screen

Jean-Francois
I think it's only for color, yes. The ADC itself lets you align the color shifting (or whatever it's called) and the SharpCap ADC tool helps to align those colors.
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Re: SharpCap 3.3 Beta Now Available

#7

Post by Jean-Francois »

Hello,

The status bar ... OK, you have right ... I do the test with my desktop computer and my 4K monitor. Also the status bar is very long . on the monitor.
If I will use SharpCap on my laptop, it is correct the laptop has less pixel in horizontal.

OK, for the zoom with the <CTRL> mouse wheel ... it works. I do until now only the zoom with the Zoom-button (limited to 800x).
The mouse wheel allows to go up to 2000x (in a ROI).

Regards,
Jean-Francois
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Re: SharpCap 3.3 Beta Now Available

#8

Post by Ricker »

Robin, are the 32 and 64 bit versions equivalent?

I have noted that I do not appear to be able to utilise video mode with my ZWO ASI120mm USB2 version.

Rich
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Re: SharpCap 3.3 Beta Now Available

#9

Post by admin »

Hi,

aside from the fact that you can have more memory in the 64 bit version and that the 64 bit version doesn't include support for a small number of camera brands (iNova, Point Grey, StarlightXpress), the two should be equivalent.

I wouldn't have expected any difference between the behaviour for the ZWO camera from 3.2 to 3.3 – I haven't changed anything ZWO specific in 3.3. I don't have the USB two version of the 120 MM/MC on hand to test with, but the USB3 version works as expected with both still mode and video mode. I do recall that there were some reliability issues with the USB2 120 models when using 16 bit mode that crept in as the ZWO software was updated over the years.

Robin
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Re: SharpCap 3.3 Beta Now Available

#10

Post by Jean-Francois »

Hello,

I remark the same with my camera 120 MM and 120 MC (both USB 2.0 version) on my desktop computer.
Both cameras work fine with my laptop, but when I try the new ADC tool in SC 3.3 some days ago from my desktop computer,
it was not possible to use the camera. It was not only the problem of SharpCap ... the 120 MM and the 120 MC were not working with the ZWO software (with the last version and drivers). I try again on my laptop ... both working good.

The point is the USB 3.0 connection. Something is not working when the camera (USB 2.0 model) is plugged to the USB 3.0.
I found on the ZWO website an firmware update for the 120 MM/MC ... I test it, but you have the choice for 2 version. I do not understand the real difference between the version, also I try both.
After installing one update, the camera was working with USB 3.0 on my desktop ... but no more with USB 2.0 on my laptop :-(
Also I install the other firmware so that the cameras are now working back with my laptop (so no more with my desktop with USB 3.0, note, you can ask why I do not use the USB 2.0 from my desktop computer ? ... it has no USB 2.0 more).

Regards,
Jean-Francois
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