Nice tutorial. I originally started using Histogram Transformation on my images but when GHS was released I started to use that. While it can produce some very exact and pleasing stretching, lately I've found that I'm spending way too much time fiddling with the options and still not getting a perfectly satisfying image...so I'm now moving back to Histogram Transformation and I'm finding it's more than satisfactory, especially when combined with Curves.

@SKYST0RY

7 ай бұрын

I think you'll find the Histogram Transformation tool to be the best choice. It gives you manual control and you can tweak it, see the outcomes as you go, and refine it on the Curves tool. Keep an eye out for the Curves video that I am going to make soon. It is the other half of the equation.

This tip is a game-changer! While I usually rely on GHS, this method takes image stretching to a whole new level of refinement. I'm truly impressed, and I can't thank you enough for sharing this amazing tip with me. Great job!

@SKYST0RY

7 ай бұрын

I am glad you found it useful. It definitely makes the whole process a lot easier and puts you back in control.

2024. I recall those first few years of KZread. It was so clean, fun spirited, new and joyful.

@SKYST0RY

4 ай бұрын

The internet can be full of toxicity. I've long since decided just to mute trolls and move on without giving them further thought.

Great video and I support one comment that it takes a bit of time with GHS. I plan to compare both, but certainly your simple method looks like it could solve a lot of my headaches - "fiddling until I get it just right" Thank you and Clear Skies!

@SKYST0RY

7 ай бұрын

It's the curves where you want to do your fiddling, and when you learn curves the fiddling goes very fast.

Sometimes I really like the hyper saturated stuff, they remind me of the photos printed in books from the 70's which I am very nostalgic for.

@SKYST0RY

7 ай бұрын

That makes perfect sense. An emotional connection is a perfectly valid reason to enjoy a style.

This is the original at least to me method of stretching an image, from way back when, before GHS was devised. GHS can be tricky but it is a much more refined way to stretch the histogram, giving you much greater control. Also I don’t understand why you need a separate compositor application after all Pixel Maths is all that any application is doing behind the scenes, whether it’s Photoshop, Pixinsight or Afinity. Can you explain this?

@SKYST0RY

7 ай бұрын

Manually stretching the histogram through the HT tool allows you to have precise manual control. Over time, you will learn to recognize relevant data vs optional data and/or noise on the histogram and can control what you want to incorporate. You can choose whether to stretch to keep all the information or reduce for contrast. You can see the outcomes immediately. It's all in your control. The curves tool takes this further and gives you additional refined control over the light curve. Automation isn't always better; sometimes it's just automated. PixelMath is okay for recompositing plates back together but it essentially just does something like a screen or overlay composite. With Affinity Photo (and there are probably other good tools for compositing plates back together) you can see the outcomes live as you sample each compositing method. This can lead to some interesting and occasionally very nice results you wouldn't have otherwise gotten. In future videos, I will cover these points further.

@SKYST0RY

7 ай бұрын

@@neverfox Sorry, I thought you were referring to that GHS script for PixelMath in the top right of my desktop, third icon down from the right, visible in most any of my editing videos. I tried the script and didn't care for the outcomes. Haven't used it in ages. I dabbled a bit with the GHS tool you're referring to but felt it was unnecessary. The HT tool stretch isn't finicky; it's use is straightforward and it can be made in a few seconds. Good old HT just seems a more elegant tool for the job to me.

nice tip! But I was hoping you're going to address misaligned individual R, G, B histograms too? Shouldn't the have 1. equal or very similar black points and 2. equal or similar x values of their histogram peaks in order to avoid color bias? As a colorblind astrophotographer I always struggle on visually evaluating if there is a color tint in the background...😄

@SKYST0RY

7 ай бұрын

I wish I could help you here, but not being color blind I don't think I could give you good experience-based advice. There are so many other elements to color that also need to be adjusted, such as saturation, vibrance and temperature. Where the black point begins is just one part of that equation.

🤯

Did you run the colour calibration & SCNR on the whole image and then remove the stars or run a separate colour calibration & SCNR once the stars where removed?

@SKYST0RY

25 күн бұрын

It's been so long since I made this video, I don't recall the exact procedure. My usual process with OSC data was to plate solve then run SPCC to color calibrate, then remove the stars. However, I've come to dislike SPCC and don't use it at all anymore.

Interesting.

GHS is just a pain...you end up producing a curve that you could get in curves straight away. I also start with auto stretching the histogram by dragging the STF on it.

@SKYST0RY

4 ай бұрын

Exactly! I cannot figure any worthwhile reason to go about using GHS. It is just reinventing the wheel, or, in this case, the curves tool, which is a much more elegant and precise tool for the same task.

What software are you using?

@SKYST0RY

7 ай бұрын

PixInsight and Affinity Photo.