Bit of help with sharpcap please.

[Guest Jamie S]

I've been having a play with the cam I modded, I managed to get some good footage on screen, but when I'm playing it back, it seems to only have 5 or so frames throughout the clip, which I set to capture 2000 frames, and shows 2000 frames on registax, any clues as to what I'm doing wrong? Thanks

[catman161]

What the file size in MB/GB?

[Guest Jamie S]

I have some that are 5mb, and some that are 300mb?

[catman161]

If registax is showing that it has 2000 frames, it most likely has 2000 frames. I you use the slider along the bottom of registax window you can scroll through all the frames and pick the most in focus one to use as a reference frame and then move through the stacking process. I use Autostakkert! 2 (AS!2) to stack mostly now and tend to get better results.

[Guest Jamie S]

When I use the slider to skip through the frames it does the same as the video and the subject only moves 5-6 times throughout, staying on each image for 4-500 frames, out of interest what does the frame divisor function do in sharpcap?

Edited January 27, 2014 by Jamie S

[Guest Jamie S]

*edited above

Edited January 27, 2014 by Jamie S

[catman161]

When you say "the subject" do you mean the planet/area I the moon you recorded? If yes, it is good that it doesn't move as it means your tracking on your mount is good. You will not see a lot of movement of the "subject" you are recording. Can you upload the avi file to Dropbox and post a link so we can download it and have a look? It's very difficult to know what you mean without seeing it. Thanks

[tuckstar]

what frame speed are you using. I find anything over 10 FPS and it drops most of the frames as it can't compress them quickly enough.

[Guest Jamie S]

It's Not that its moving but more stuttering along the screen, in say 3 sec jumps, I'm allowing the planet to drift across as im on a manual mount, I was recording at 50fps, is that too high? I found that to stop the image stuttering I set the frame divisor to 100? I was only having a mess around, but enjoyed it, it's just these stuttering AVi's I'm left with. Thanks a lot, I'll try and upload a video later.

Jamie

[Guest Jamie S]

I made no sense above, the frame divisor bit was when I was capturing, as when it was at 1, when I hit capture it made Jupiter stutter across the live view screen? But by increasing the divisor, it stopped that?

[Guest Jamie S]

Here's a link to an AVI I made of the best stuff, (rubbish still I know but it was my first tinker with software, camera, etc) it's 600mb mind!, when loaded in registax it says there is 4800 frames, but when using the frame selector most of them appear to be the same frame? It must be user error but with the clouds last night I never had much time to experiment.

[Guest Jamie S]

Forgot to paste, lol,

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ek628v57cztlem7/Jupiter%20260114-%20vdub%2Bcas.avi

[stash]

Hi James,

 

  I am a totally Astro beginner who ,like yourself, uses SharpCap. From my own use and my IT knowledge(my work) I would conclude the following:-

 

1. Sounds like 50 FPS is too high for the Driver/SharpCap - try lowering it without the Frame Divisor being more than 1, until it works

2.  The Screen judder means that your PC, my guess a laptop, is being overloaded - laptops are no match for dedicated video boards on desktops but then you loose portability. Could also be Processor overload - depends on spec of PC.  Exposure rate ,IMO,also alters the achieved  frame rate

3. Make sure you have the latest version of SharpCap2 which seem to be a lot better and less prone to freezing.

4. Same goes for Web Cam driver

5. What resolution are you recording(not screen res) at try something lower - e.g. 1200 X 800 @ 30 FPS might be too much but 800 x 600 @ 30 FPS might be OK - This will also effect (2)

6. Size of AVI depends on Resolution,Frame Rate, Time/No of frames etc but Faster,better etc means bigger AVI - some of mine have been 1gb+

7. What USB version do you use - the speed of USB1 is slower than USB2/3 and if you share other devices , especially on the same controller, the number of frames actually captured will drop especially at high FPS etc.

8. What compression algorithim are you able to use - YUY2 ,Raw or other - try them they alter the available frame rates and may help.

 

And lots of other bits !!!!!

 

A good article to read , Felix gave me - thanks, is http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php?/topic/176799-Planet-Astrophotography-with-a-Manual-Dobsonian-Tutorial - not sure if you have a Dob but some bit should apply.

 

In the end its trial and error - but its fun and how else do your learn   and I am really a visual Obs who does(tries) Astrophotography for fun.

 

No doubt the  more experienced guys(Thats 99.99% on this site)  will point out my errors.

 

Best of luck

 

P.S  Your AVI was 4880 frames in REG 6 and with min default processing gave me the following pic

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9aHac2P5RgVYWVCbU9WZzlLcDQ/edit?usp=sharing

 

like to know your set up - Jamie

Edited January 27, 2014 by stash

[Guest Jamie S]

Hi Clive, thanks for taking the time to write your reply, yes i am too, just eager to have a go, lol.

I will try capturing at 10fps tonight if the skies clear, I also was recording in RGB32 and at 640x480, I didn't think of the processor thinking about it, I know my wife had a bit open on the laptop when I nabbed it for an hour last night, as she was in the middle of an assignment.

Hopefully it's clearer for longer tonight as, without tracking, it's a case of having to keep an eye on Jupiter, and fiddle with the laptop, but practice makes perfect I suppose so I best get plenty in. 😄

[stash]

Hi Jamie ,

 

No problem. Here are some settings from Sharpcap2 on one of my runs (don't use the settings as they were wrong) to give you an idea 

 

[Video Camera           ]
Frame Divisor=1
Resolution=640x480
Frame Rate (fps)=30.00
Colour Space / Compression=YUY2
Pan=0
Tilt=0
Zoom=0
Exposure=-3(Auto)
Brightness=128
Contrast=32
Hue=0
Saturation=53
Sharpness=0
Gamma=180
WhiteBalance=4670(Auto)
BacklightCompensation=0
Gain=31

 

That produced an avi of 1.2gb  and was 1095 frames in Reg 6 before processing - Nothing as good as yours - my jupiter moved all over the place  . As you say looking/fiddling at the Laptop is a pain - Best pf luck and Clear Skies for tonight

[Guest Jamie S]

Thanks for having a play with the image, similar to what I achieved, but better, 😄. Was there truly that many frames in there? As it seemed to be clumps of the same frame to me?

[stash]

i think Its because your tracking was so good ,so you cant tell one frame from the next when you see it on the screen. Putting it thru Castrator,before Reg6, gave the same frame count as Reg6. I would be happy with that.

 

What is your Cam if you do mind me being nosey !

[Guest Jamie S]

Thanks, it's a Playstation Eye camera, with a nose piece fitted and IR filter removed.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/p7fm8b9r9ryo1ml/Photo%2025-01-2014%2012%2004%2007.jpg

I was looking in to a webcam to use, and remembered I had this so I googled whether there were any drivers available to run on windows, and stumbled across somebody that had modded one for astro use. So I got the tools out and stripped it.

I have a SW150PL, on an EQ3-2 mount, 2xbarlow.

Still learning what I'm doing and everyday I learn something new, which is good.

[tuckstar]

50 FPS is too fast, I use between 5&10.

[stash]

Well I think your AVI/Picture were great - I modded a  Lifecam HD and didn't get as good a picture/avi yours. If I could capture what I could see then I would be happier.

 

Did you have any filters on when you did the capture of Jupiture ?

[catman161]

hey Jamie,

 

I have had a look at your footage (thanks for uploading it) It is definitely (as others have said already) a capture problem and 50fps is far too fast. keep it at 5 or 10fps and adjust the gain/exposure to suit. Frame divisor should be fine at 1 really but if it is not working for you then adjust that as you see fit. allot of this stuff is about experimenting when you first start out and that is part of the fun

 

I had a mess around wit your footage in registax and photoshop CS2 and saw that you manged to capture one fo Jupiter's moons also. Great shot for a first attempt so keep at it

 

Here is my proces of your footage:

 

Jupiter 260114- vdub+cas PSProcess by Gattouomo161, on Flickr

[Guest Jamie S]

Well I think your AVI/Picture were great - I modded a Lifecam HD and didn't get as good a picture/avi yours. If I could capture what I could see then I would be happier.

Did you have any filters on when you did the capture of Jupiture ?

That's good then, maybe I've fell across a reasonable starting out cam.

No I have no filters at the moment,

[Guest Jamie S]

hey Jamie,

I have had a look at your footage (thanks for uploading it) It is definitely (as others have said already) a capture problem and 50fps is far too fast. keep it at 5 or 10fps and adjust the gain/exposure to suit. Frame divisor should be fine at 1 really but if it is not working for you then adjust that as you see fit. allot of this stuff is about experimenting when you first start out and that is part of the fun

I had a mess around wit your footage in registax and photoshop CS2 and saw that you manged to capture one fo Jupiter's moons also. Great shot for a first attempt so keep at it

Here is my proces of your footage:

Jupiter 260114- vdub+cas PSProcess by Gattouomo161, on Flickr

Thanks for that, that looks good.

I'll keep playing about with it and use the information and advice you guys have given me. 😃