Narrowband Color Mapper Script

I downloaded the NBCM script successfullly in the resource manager, quit Pixinsight, restarted and Pixinsight crashed. I quit and restarted again and could not find the script in utilities or anyplace else. And oddly, I could not find anything for this script on the PI Forum.

I have OS X 12.6.7 on a 2017 iMacPro.

Gary

Comments

  • Hmm... I am not certain. I am not seeing an reports of issues of PI crashing or anything.
    If you are not using the latest version of PixInsight there is a chance the fact this script has a signature file is an issue. (use the latest version of PI ! )

    I would try runt he Feature Scripts scan and see if it picks it up. Presumably it is on your computer.

    -the Blockhead
  • I have 1.8.9-1 Ripley. Going to 1.8.9-2 was next on my list. I was waiting to see how it would be received, but maybe it's time. But I see that Pixinsight has just frozen up again. I don't remember any prior problems with Pixinsight freezing or crashing. I'll have to reboot and see if I can run the scan.
  • I can see no reason why a PI crash would be related to this script. The signature file should not be an issue - not least because 1.8.9-1 supports these anyway. I think there is something unrelated to NBCM going on. I would suggest upgrading to 1.8.9-2, I think the issues that were causing most people concerns with 1.8.9-2 have been fixed in the latest version now available. Furthermore NBCM works better under 1.8.9-2 anyway.
  • I ran the Feature Script and NB Color Mapper doesn't show up. I ran the update again and rebooted and I'm still not seeing it.
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  • Adam,

    I installed 16.8.9-2 and ran the updates. All is well. The NBColour Mapper is there. Thanks.

    Gary
  • Are you reluctant to upgrade to 1.8.9-2 for some reason?

    If so, all I can suggest is that you find the updates.xri file in your PixInsight directory and delete/move this - then restart PixInsight. This will force a full download of all updates including official PI updates and all third party scripts/modules that you have in your repository list.
  • I'm going to try the NBCM on the JWST NIRCam and MIRI images, which use wideband and medium band IR filters. Do you forsee any problems?

    Gary
  • No - should work fine!
  • I was reluctant to upgrade, as the upgrade was new and I worry about bugs in new software, but I did upgrade and so far all is well. Thanks for the comments.
  • I tried NBCM and didn't do very well. Today, after a little more time thinking about background neutralization and color mapping, I tried it again and I like it. My experience is described at this LINK.

    Will NBCM become a process?
  • Adam and Mike,

    I am assuming you would like some constructive feedback on NBColourMapper. The more I use it the better I like the ability to see changes on the screen as I edit swatches. But I’ve also generated a few questions.

    1. I have some new information on the problem of having to double-click Update to install a swatch. I revised all the swatches of a palette to obtain a new configuration without adding and defining a new palette. I assumed I was just editing the old palette. The main changes were to saturation, which I changed in several instances from .5 to .75. My sequence was: Add swatch with +  —> Select View —> Edit —> change saturation —> Update. The first click on Update installs the color in the top window, but a second click is needed to install the file ID.

    2. I noticed that these revised changes were unstable over shutdowns and restarts. After shutting off the computer and returning a day later, half my changes had reverted to the palette previously defined. What, exactly, does one have to do to ensure changes are saved? I’m just guessing that one must define a new palette for each change in a palette.

    The following points pertain to RGB files created with NBCM from six JWST CEERS filter images. The filter images are from Pointing #6, panel A, at this LINK.

    3. With a freshly combined and color calibrated non-linear RGB file, I find it almost impossible to use GeneralizedHyperbolicStretch to increase contrast in brighter galaxies. A click in the Realtime Preview window sends the yellow vertical line almost to the right edge of the histogram window and the sliders are not very functional. Could it be that combining six files results in too many bright pixels? The galaxies have centers that are too bright (see attachments), so I will experiment with dropping or suppressing files. Does using a mask that protects the background create a problem? I have been using a luminence mask.

    4. A new linear color calibrated (or not) RGB file seems to work well with NoiseExterminator and an inverted-luminance mask, but not with BlurExterminator and a luminance mask. That is, the Realtime Preview window shows no desirable effect, and in fact little effect at all with or without a mask. The same is also true of MultiscaleMedianTransform and ColorSaturation.

    5. I have tried to be attentive to the backgrounds. I notice that my backgrounds always end up quite dark, generally as a result of trying to balance colors and obtain optimally sharp detail in the galaxies. Is there a suggestion on how I might obtain a little more visible background and still preserve these virtues? I am not entirely convinced that more visible background would be a good thing, because the galaxies in the background are so tiny that they might blur out.

    Since the images seem to be turning out quite well, these may not be problems at all. But they are things I would like to understand better. Best of luck with the script. Any chance of it becoming a process soon? It would be nice to be able to look back at a filter image without quitting the script.

    Gary
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  • Hi Gary

    Thanks for taking the time to provide this helpful feedback. I'm sure Adam will have some comments but I will pitch in with a few observations.

    To address your questions by number:

    1) I can't reproduce the double click required on "Update" - I tried following your sequence but I must be doing something different. I do appreciate that the palette/swatch controls may take get some getting used to. To create a new palette with the swatches you are using for your image, the easiest way is to get the image as you want it with each layer coloured with the hue/saturation you want - then add a new palette, it will have no swatches initially, then click the tool button with the picture icon just below the swatches area. This will add all the swatches used in your current image to the new palette.

    2) I think the method  you are using is not updating the swatches. This is why you are seeing an apparent "instability".

    3) I am not sure exactly what you are doing here. It may be helpful if you could share your images and walk us through what is happening.

    4) I don't think I would expect BXT to do very much. I believe BXT was trained with HST and JWST images as the target to aim for - so the BXT AI is probably looking at your images and saying "well that's what I have been trained to aim for so I don't need to do anything!". Also I would not normally use BXT with a luminance mask? I have not seen any problems using other processes after NBColourMapper - again concrete examples may help here. 

    5) I think I would need to have a better grasp of your workflow before commenting on this one.

    CS, Mike






  • Mike,

    Thanks for the comments. I will get back with examples the next time I work on one of the CEERS images. My workflow, such as it is, is pretty simple: crop the six filter images, apply NBColourMapper with background neutralization, ColorCalibration using the centers of the brightest galaxies for white reference and no structure-detection, NoiseExterminator, and HistogramTransformation, using STF and HistogramTransformation recursively until satisfied. As I mentioned, other processes don't seem to accomplish much.

    To generalize my experience with the results of NBCM, I have found that assigning a color appropriate to each wavelength and combining them with equal weights produces a neutral image. Since I want to distinguish the objects according to the wavelengths they emit, I have tried to emphasize the two longest wavelength filters with red saturation set at .75 to 1.0 for both filters and the two shortest wavelength filters with blue saturation set at .75 to 1.0. I have set the two mid-wavelength filters with green saturation at .5 for both. This produces the spectrum you see in the attached images of my previous posting. Reds are equally deep-red, greens may be less deep green, blues are deep-blue, but not violet. One could call this composition "big shoulders". I think the mid-wavelength filters in Green are being used mainly as luminance.

    Why would you not use BXT with a luminance mask? I was worried that it might create noise following my use of noise exterminator.

    Gary
  • Hi Gary

    Just to pick up on the BXT/luminance mask issue.

    If you think what BXT is doing, it is taking the PSF of your star images and applying a deconvolution algorithm to adjust back towards a more "ideal" form. This involves adjustment across the entire extent of the PSF. If you apply a luminance mask you will be modifying this adjustment so it is mainly concentrated on the bright star core and will be progressively less effective in the dimmer "wings" of the PSF. That isn't what we want to achieve.

    Also, I would suggest that you use BXT before NXT. I think the rationale for this order is best explained by Russ Croman on this website as follows:

    "As an example, we can confidently state that noise reduction (of any sort) should not be applied before deconvolution (of any sort). Noise reduction tends to destroy the low-contrast information at fine scales that deconvolution needs to function well, and it gives the deconvolution algorithm a false sense of the signal-to-noise ratio in the image. Applying deconvolution after noise reduction may produce an image that “looks sharper,” but the accuracy of those sharper details would be highly questionable."

    I hope this helps.

    Mike
  • Mike,

    That's really good to know. Thanks.

    Gary
  • Mike,
    Have you seen the conversation posting I left on the PI Forum? I violated Croman's dictum today with tolerable results, and I have previously followed it with less good results, so I will have to experiment some more with that.
    Gary
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