SharpCap Forums

Hello;
I want to get a live stacked image.
What would be the steps to follow?
Let me explain.
I focus and frame the object to be photographed in the Sharpcap.
1° Do I have to configure the total stacking minutes beforehand?
2° Do I have to click somewhere after opening the live stacking?
3° After having configured the total stacking time, when that configured stacking time ends, is the final stacked image automatically saved? or do I have to click somewhere for that?
Is the final image saved automatically when the configured total stacking time ends? or is it saved when I click save?
I hope someone can clarify this for me because I am not clear on how to do it.
Greetings.

Hi,

you *can* set SharpCap up to stack for a particular amount of time, then save the stacked image and reset the stack and start again (see the 'Advanced' section at the bottom of the left hand side of the live stack window - https://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/4.1/#Left%20Panel), but that is not the default behaviour, or the natural way that live stacking works.

The more normal way is that you just start live stacking and let the image improve as more frames are stacked - during this time you might well adjust the histogram stretch and colour balance in live stacking (and maybe tweak the image with some of the enhancement options). Often you will find that as more frames are added to the stack and the noise level drops, you can use a stronger stretch of the image to bring out more faint detail without the noise becoming a problem.

Once you are happy with the image (or want to move on to a new target), you can save the stack in one of a number of formats (depending on whether you just want to save the final result, or if you plan to apply further processing - see https://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/4.1/#Actions%20Group).

Essentially, live stacking is, by default, designed to be an interactive process where you are manually controlling the software during stacking (or at least at the start and end of each stack).

cheers,

Robin