New Feature : Planetary Live Stacking

[admin]

Hi Peter,

they kind of work with the templates in a modified way at the moment - the two things that I am aiming for are

1) All images/videos from a stack should end up in a single folder, not spread around the place (like live stacking does)

2) The target name should be something like 'Stack of Jupiter' when Jupiter is set as the target in the UI so that you can see what you have got fairly easily.

Additionally, 'Timelapse' is added where appropriate when saving timelapse videos.

The initial naming of the folder that is used to save everything is based on the 'Sequence (still files)' template.

How do you need to rename - maybe understanding the details will help see where it could be altered without changing everything.

cheers,

Robin

[PeterC65]

Hi Robin,

I have the templates set as follows:
Single File (Video): {TargetName}\Captures\{TargetName} {Filter} {Exposure} x{Gain} D{Date} T{Time}
Sequence (Stills): {TargetName}\Snapshots\{TargetName} {Filter} {Exposure} x{Gain} D{Date} T{Time} I{Index:2}
Live Stack (Deep Sky): {TargetName}\Stack@{DateTime}\{TargetName} {Filter} {SubExposure} x{Gain} {StackedFrames}frames
Live Stack (Raw Frames): {TargetName}\Stack@{DateTime}\{TargetName} {Filter} {SubExposure} x{Gain} Frame{Index:4}
Live Stack (Processed): {TargetName}\{TargetName} {Filter} {SubExposure} x{Gain} {StackedFrames}frames D{Date} T{Time}

For both DSOs and Planets I mostly save the live stack with adjustments.

For DSOs the path and filenames are:
Save with Adjustments: M42\M42 Visible 8.0s x12.5 6frames D08_04_2025 T15_31_10
Save as 16 Bit Stack: M42\Stack@08_04_2025T15_31_10\M42 Visible 8.0s x12.5 6frames
Saved Raw Frames: M42\Stack@08_04_2025T15_31_10\M42 Visible 8.0s x12.5 Frame0001 etc

For Planets the path and filenames are:
Save as seen to PNG: Stack of Jupiter\Snapshots\Snapshot at 15_36_53 of Jupiter_00001_Visible
Timelapse: Stack of Jupiter\Snapshots\Timelapse of Jupiter15_38_15_Visible

The issues I have are:
• For Planets I get the folder ‘Stack of Jupiter’ rather than just ‘Jupiter’ as I would for a DSO. Why not make them consistent? If people want ‘Stack of ‘ in front of the target name then they can add that in the templates.
• For Planets the files go in a sub-folder called ‘Snapshots’. I assume this is coming from the Sequence (Stills) template but what is being saved is a processed live stack not a single frame, so surely the right template to use is the Live Stack (Processed) template? I could change the Sequence (Stills) template but then my DSO single frame snapshots would get mixed up with my processed live stack images.
• For Planets the processed live stack filename bears no relation to what I’ve set up in the templates. It starts with ‘Snapshot at …’ rather than the name of the target, the filter selected is at the end of the filename, there is no record of the exposure, gain, and number of frames, and no record of the date. I have to edit all of these things manually, opening the CameraSettings file to find out what the exposure, gain, and number of frames were.
• For Planets the timelapse filename also bears no relation to the templates. Personally I name the timelapse as I would a DSO and store it in a subfolder called ‘Timelapse’ as I do for ‘Captures’ and ‘Stack@...’.

What I would like to see (to be consistent with DSOs) is:
Save as seen to PNG: Jupiter\Jupiter Visible 50ms x100 200frames D08_04_25 T15_36_53
Timelapse: Jupiter\Timelapse\Jupiter Visible 50ms x100 200frames D08_04_25 T15_38_15

The templates feature is really useful for DSO live stacking. Why not use it for Planetary live stacking, with extensions where necessary, such as:
Live Stack (Timelapse): {TargetName}\Timelapse\{TargetName} {Filter} {SubExposure} x{Gain} {StackedFrames}frames D{Date} T{Time}

Peter

[admin]

Hi Peter,

thanks for the full explanation - I will have to consider this and work out if I can address these issues while also meeting the default ideas I outlined above about how the files should be organised.

cheers,

Robin

[admin]

Just a quick note on some new improvements added to live planetary stacking in the latest SharpCap release (4.1.14012).

* The 'surface' alignment mode now tracks better if the image has drifted a long way (more than about 200 pixels)
* The names of saved settings profiles that were previously fixed can now be edited. Note that you need to 'Save' a profile after editing the name for the new name to be saved for next time.
* There is a new option (defaulted to 'on') that automatically sets the length of frame quality history to use when using frame filtering. When enabled, this will make sure that the history length multiplied by the fraction of frames selected in the quality filter matches the target stack length, automatically adjusting if you change the target stack length or the fraction of frames to stack.
* The 'Help' tab has been renamed to 'Getting Started' and moved to a more prominent position. Additionally, this now contains some buttons that apply sensible preset settings for various types of target...

Screenshot 2025-12-10 152132.jpg (157.24 KiB) Viewed 958 times

You can see the available preset buttons above - for small and large planets and partial/full solar/lunar imaging. Here, the small/large distinction is about the size of the planet on the image... less than about 200 to 300 pixels counts as small and seems to do better with single point stacking, whereas larger planets give better quality with multi point stacking.

The settings used for each preset are summarised if you hover over the 'i' information icons to the left of the buttons. These settings were determined by repeatedly reprocessing previous captures (both my own and those shared by others) using different settings to see which produced the best results. They won't be the very best for any situation, but should be a good start for further adjustment and fine tuning.

One thing you will notice when using these presets is that when you press the button it will fairly immediately apply most of the settings, but the sharpening will be delayed for a couple of seconds. This allows at least a handful of frames to build up in the case that settings changes caused the stack to reset. The code applies what is essentially an extreme version of the normal auto-sharpen in this case - the image will look too noisy initially, but as more frames are stacked the noise will fade leaving a reasonably sharpened image. It's still a good idea to use auto-sharpen again once the stack has hit full length, or to manually tweak the sharpening.

cheers,

Robin