SharpCap image format problem SOLVED

Discussion of using SharpCap for Deep Sky Imaging
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PetePeterson
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SharpCap image format problem SOLVED

#1

Post by PetePeterson »

Hi All,

New to the group. After 10 years of scientific imaging I picked up pair of ZWO ASI series cameras to get back into DSO imaging- a 2600MC Pro and a 174MM. SharpCap stacking frequently discards as many frames as it stacks and I've been forced to attempt align and stack using ImagesPlus3. And while ImagesPlus will process individual SharpCap images (both already stacked and individual frames) the SharpCap fits formating is being rejected for the ImagesPlus3 align/stack process.

SharpCap stacked frames and individual raw frame are formated as ASIFitsView and the individual frames will open in ImagesPlus using File/Open. But when one tries to use ImagesPlus to download a set of raw images to stack within ImagesPlus using the Image Set Operations menu I'm getting the error message "All light frames and either selected frames must be the same size and their color type must match the selected Image Set Process Type. Display the list of light frames with different color type."

The image set process type is set correctly at OSC RGB. And all of the frames were generated sequentially without setup change.

This SharpCap forum seems to be the proper place to ask about the ASIFitsView formating. Anyone encountered this problem.
Last edited by PetePeterson on Thu Nov 19, 2020 8:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: SharpCap image format problem

#2

Post by admin »

Hi,

not quite sure if you are using darks/flats or not, but if you are then I would look at the FITS headers of each type of file to check they are the same. FITSLiberator is my goto tool for this.

If you aren't using darks/flats then the error message you are getting is particularly cryptic and not clear at all! I suspec that even in that case the FITS headers are the key - maybe some header that the software expects is missing of different to an expected value. If you can find files that work and compare the headers with those that do not then it might be possible to start puzzling out why.

If we are really lucky then there may be other forum members who have experience with ImagePlus3.

cheers,

Robin
PetePeterson
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Re: SharpCap image format problem

#3

Post by PetePeterson »

Thanks for the feedback Robin.

ImagesPlus3 doesn't reject the aligned & stacked SharpCap image. And since I'm using the stacked SharpCap dark it doesn't reject that either. Neither does it reject a single raw image pulled from the SharpCap raw image file. But try to stack the raw images in ImagesPlus3 and

I've gone into the raw files and renamed ASIFitsView to FITS and it didn't help.

Researching further, this appears to be a custom ZWO ASI format introduced in ASI Studio V1.1that facilitates stretching. standard FITS file. In ASI Studio V1.1 the ASIFitsView. is an independent small tool allowing you to view the fits files and stretch the histogram. It is not a standard FITS file, It isn't compatible with Apple computers. And perhaps it isn't 100% compatible with ImagesPlus3 either.

So the question is, can SharpCap override the ASIFitsView format with a standard FITS format? Or convert? SharpCap is so neat that I've not tried operating my ASI 2600MC with ASI Studio. Although ImagesPlus3 is outdated it was huge up until a few years ago. It has relatively simple processing and is now freeware. Can't believe that ZWO would have an incompatibility - if that's wat this is....

What if I were to simply save the files without using SharpCap's align and stack routine? Might work but it'd be a real bummer not to be able to view image stacking as they accumulate.
PetePeterson
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Joined: Fri Oct 30, 2020 8:39 pm
Location: Rhode Island, USA
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Re: SharpCap image format problem

#4

Post by PetePeterson »

Following up on Robin's ROWORDER suggestion I’ve set ImagesPlus to RGB generic RG.GB and GB.RG and RG.BG and the 5 other frame types available.
All to no avail. Have upgraded to SharpCap Pro (overdue) to see if that'll help. And have also emailed Astrosharp Co in the hopes that they'll have an idea on this. Since I can align and stack my friend's FITs images in ImagesPlus I just have to suspect that the problem lies with SharpCap.
PetePeterson
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Joined: Fri Oct 30, 2020 8:39 pm
Location: Rhode Island, USA
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Re: SharpCap image format problem

#5

Post by PetePeterson »

PROBLEM SOLVED. I'd been using RGB Color Space rather than RAW16. Both saved as ASIFitsView format but they actually differ. Last night's raw files generated with RAW16 aligned and stacked just fine in ImagesPlus3. This will be a fallback approach for those times when SharpCap doesn't latch onto enough alignment stars and ignores a bunch of otherwise usable frames.
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