StarTools

Hi as an absolute newb it would be helpful if you had a standardised workflow I could initially follow. Does such a thing exist?
Many Thanks

Hi,

Much depends on your data, the rule of thumb being that the better your data, the more 'standard' and 'replicable' your workflow will be. StarTools has many modules and ways to fix problems that were introduced during acquisition. The thing is though that such problems typically stem from having a sparse or budget setup - these problems and their workarounds will be different for everyone.
However if your data is of high quality, things become a lot easier. For a start, have a look at the YouTube videos to see some typical workflows.

You'll notice that they will all roughly go like this;

• load an image, indicate it is still linear (start Tracking)
• DEVELOP or AUTO DEVELOP for first inspection - pay particular attention to dark artifacts/'anomalies' (ex. stacking artifacts, dust donuts, dead pixel clumps)
• crop away any stacking artifacts
• fix gradients or light pollution in WIPE. mask out any remaining dark anomalies if needed, if a DSO is (mostly) screen filling, you can protect the DSO from being wiped by masking out parts of it.
• redo DEVELOP or AUTO DEVELOP for final global stretch
• apply deconvolution using DECON
• fix shadows and highlights using HDR module and/or CONTRAST module
• sharpen using SHARP module,
• do final COLOR correction
• switch off Tracking (perform extremely targeted noise reduction).

Hope this helps!

Hi, this does indeed help. The ap kit I have is good, it's the person using it that's the problem!
What you outlined is what I was looking for as it provides a framework until I gain experience.
Many Thanks,

Gordon