StarTools

Ivo just wondering what features / improvements If any , do you see in Startools for the future releases , anything that can be shared .

Too many to list!

Some major things under consideration (no guarantee when/if these will see implementation);

• Dynamic interface adaptation (to the type of dataset being processed)
• Anisotropic deconvolution (e.g. take into account any distortions of the PSF across the image)
• Separated visual Ha processing in addition to current luminance and chroma separation (e.g. easy Ha accentuation)
• Real-time gradient removal
• Dedicated data prep module
• Enhanced chromatic aberration tools
• Project saving

Many improvements directly relate to increases in available processing power or storage.
In the last 10 years, up until ~3 years ago, we have generally seen a stagnation in CPU power and storage capacities increases (for various reasons). It appears things have now picked up again and we are seeing significant improvements in consumer-oriented machines. What has gradually changed though, is the pervasiveness of GPU cores - whether discrete or integrated on the CPU die. Almost everyone has some sort of accelerated core at their disposal and it is finally time to capitalise on this pervasiveness.

I'm still in the middle of re-writing and optimizing many modules to take better advantage of GPU architectures.
GPU processing has opened the door to new algorithms and techniques that were not feasible before, some of which are listed above. Exciting times!

Excellent news ivo thanks for sharing .

admin wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 4:38 am

• Real-time gradient removal

No more Do button in Wipe in 1.7.421.

Also, the Shrink module has been completely re-written with some implications for

admin wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 4:38 am

• Enhanced chromatic aberration tools

excellent ivo.

with all the great updates ivo ,where to next with startools ,really starting to shine now

Still a couple of bullet points on that list left...
There are some behind-the-scenes things I'd like to sort out though with high priority, particularly documentation/internationalisation related.
StarTools has users in almost every country on Earth, and better support for some other major languages (Spanish, German amongst other things) is sorely needed. A consolidated application configuration scheme (which is tangentially related) is also very high on the list right now.

On top of that, there are some other important improvements I have been researching (related to noise modelling, as well as using intermediate stacker output from APP). I also recently got the Android version I did many years ago, to re-compile for more modern architectures.

As usual, no guarantees of any of this coming to fruition or any timelines...

admin wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 4:38 am
Many improvements directly relate to increases in available processing power or storage.
In the last 10 years, up until ~3 years ago, we have generally seen a stagnation in CPU power and storage capacities increases (for various reasons). It appears things have now picked up again and we are seeing significant improvements in consumer-oriented machines. What has gradually changed though, is the pervasiveness of GPU cores - whether discrete or integrated on the CPU die. Almost everyone has some sort of accelerated core at their disposal and it is finally time to capitalise on this pervasiveness.

I don't know if I'm going about this the right way, but hopefully Ivo will see these questions.

I'm thinking about a new system from System 76 in Denver. I've had several of their products, and they've been a good vendor in my opinion.
I'm looking at a system which has:

Ryzen 9 5900x 4.8ghz cpus AND
a GEForce GT710 192 Cuda Cores GPU

I've run other AMD CPUs in the past and they were fine, no issues.
Since my Desktop doesn't have a GPU I suspect this one will be fine but I'm looking for confirmation.
I'm just a bit nervous about moving off Intel CPUs.

Does anyone see any issues with the above configuration?

Regards,
Troy Galebach

Hi Troy,

From the CPU side that should be beastly PC indeed.
However, the one thing you will definitely want to upgrade in that configuration is the GT710 GPU.

Sadly, GPU prices are pretty poor right now due to shortages. It may be worth waiting, you may wish to source a cheaper (or second hand) card elsewhere, or you may want to go with an Intel system that has an iGPU (which still outperforms the GT 710) to get you by for the time being.

AMD is currently the place to be for top-performance, though Intel is starting to become decent bang-for-buck due to lowering its prices to reflect is (relatively) poorer performance-per-Watt. Either manufacturers create great chips, and you can't go wrong with either.

For AMD, go Ryzen 7 or Ryzen 9. For Intel go i7 or i9.

If you can wait 6 months, I'd see if prices drop and new tech makes it to market.

Hope this helps!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!