BlurXTerminator for Pixinsight: A Real WOW

Get a 30-day Free Trial or purchase BlurXTerminator by following this link:
www.rc-astro.com/BlurXTermina...
BlurXTerminator is a new powerful approach to Deconvolution which offers a number of dimensions of improving your images. This is a first look at the tool... and it is pretty cool. Thanks to Russ Croman for his hard work to develop this and also to the PixInsight Developers for making a platform that allows for the accessibility for this kind of innovation in astronomical image processing.
Be certain to watch the follow-up video to this one with Russ Croman himself!:
• BlurXTerminator with R...
This is a comprehensive video (typical for me...) please use the chapters/sections below to navigate the presentation or pick up where you left off.
00:00 Introduction
02:00 Splash Screen Teaser
02:36 Point Spread Function Appreciation
04:13 PSF Intensity Plot
04:45 Poor PSFs (Typical)
06:00 PSFs Found Everywhere in PI
07:10 The RULES (for Decon)
10:08 A First Taste (M16)
10:45 BXT Used on Linear RGB
13:21 Scale Size of BXT
16:54 BXT Controls
20:54 IC405 Demo (scale and halo)
23:52 Using BXT (M4 Demo)
27:00 Star Sharpening and Halos
30:45 Omega Centauri Extreme Demo
32:45 Fixing Seeing and Atmospheric Dispersion!
34:09 Comparing Traditional and BXT Deconvolution
39:05 True Full Processing (M51)
43:42 Final Result (M51)
43:50 Star Correction Example (NGC 7822)
46:39 Beneficial to Mosaics
47:21 Poor Man "Drizzle" (mono data)
48:30 Limits of Sharpening
49:00 M1 (H alpha) Demo
49:50 Avoid non-stellar over-sharpening with Manual PSF
55:55 Scale size of errors (demo)
59:29 BXT Options
1:01:45 NGC 6770 et al Demo
1:07:50 Pretty Pictures Outro
More at:
AdamBlockStudios.com
See the Reviews:
www.adamblockstudios.com/cate...
Those just starting out in PixInsight will enjoy FastTrack Training!
(Updated to include SPCC!!!)
www.adamblockstudios.com/cate...
(see the video • Introducing FastTrack ... )
#PixInsight #BlurXTerminator #NoiseXTerminator #StarXTerminator #Deconvolution #neuralnetworks #NGC6770 #AdamBlockStudios

[@nightskyimaging]

Folks, I have never met Adam Block.......I became a member of Adam Block Studios close to two years ago.. This was the investment that paid more dividends than all of my gear purchases. I paid far less for membership to the studios than the cost of my last guide camera. For the record I do not know Adam Block although I feel like I do from watching ALL of his videos.

[@AdamBlock]

Thanks for that unsolicited kindness!

[@nightskyimaging]

@@AdamBlock You are more than welcome - it is deserved!

[@danielsummerslens13]

Dude! I feel the exact same way - even what's free on youtube has been an absolute game changer for me. thanks Adam!

[@Lasserubinskov]

Your channel is criminally underrated.

[@AdamBlock]

Help Me! LOL thanks for that...

[@starpartyguy5605]

I joined Adam Block Studios several months back and went through all the Pixinsight videos. Gold star for me. It’s a lot of information! But weather (pre-smoke) has been a no go until May new moon. I got a small set of images to work with on M27. So for the past 3 weeks I’ve been going back through the videos to get a better idea of what to do. Was still learning Nina and didn’t get any useful flats. I’m at the deconvolution section, which refers me here. Obviously I’m buying the tool. I just want to thank Adam for all the work he’s put into this project. You said Blur-exterminator is the wow factor. Adam, you are the Wow Factor!

[@markmuratore413]

Great intro to another great tool by Russ. Thank you!

[@Spaced_Out_Bill]

Wow. that is incredible! Thank you for explaining in such detail, especially the psf.

[@olaftopper4813]

Amazing topic. Thanks for those detailed explanation and examples, Adam. And of course a huge thank you to Russel for making this state of the art technology available to the astrophotography community!

[@davidswinnard7565]

The results you show are astounding. Beyond WOW. thanks to Russ the tools, and to you for the clear introduction, description and explanations. I look forward to trying this out.

[@Grolabolator]

Awesome video, again, thank you Adam and obviously another fantastic tool from Russell Croman

[@normanhey8016]

Russell has hit another one out of the park. You've done it again, too, with this demonstration of its powerful results. Thanks to both of you.

[@davidf9494]

Absolutely a fantastic addition to Pixinsight. Thank for a very informative tutorial on this new method!

[@ericsmiths]

Wow. Extraordinary results. I was hoping at some point Russ would do something like this but this exceeded all my expectations. Thank you for being so quick in releasing this tutorial. It’s going to transform everyone’s images and make beautiful images from amateur equipment and even more stunning images from high end equipment.

[@jrlpereira]

Wow! Thank you, Russel and Adam for dissecting it!

[@Vincenhouse]

Oh yes, that's a very big WOW ! Thanks for your high quality video!

[@KhalifaAlgady]

This is incredible, like magic! thanks for sharing.

[@MarkManner]

Really incredible. Thanks to Russ, and to you Adam for tutoring us as usual. [and 6770 is spectacular!]

[@jamesmorse7867]

Thanks so much for your continued focus on Russ Croman’s work! His new modules are forcing me to go back and revisit all my old data sets. And now I have to start over all again :). And having watched, WOW!!! Bought it as soon as I saw this!

[@alneid2707]

Thanks for walking through the tool. It is impressive!

[@NeilCorke]

Thank you Adam for the in-depth demonstration. I’ll be adding this to the other tools from Russ.

[@RickBohart]

As a subscriber, thanks for this video and all your other videos. Some of the best money I've spent on this hobby.

[@timwhite1111]

Well, I'll be downloading the trial and having a go as soon as Christmas/work is out of the way! Great video, thanks.

[@lenjones2268]

It is truly incredible...just applied to some old TIFFS and WOW!!!!...thankyou RC and Adam for this 1st video

[@afryhover]

Another excellent tool, thanks for the demonstration and info 👍

[@arnsteindale5531]

Just great. I recon this tool will be helpful for many people. Thanx Adam.

[@dmintz88]

Wow! Excellent video, Adam! The difference of what you were able to do with your M4 data, compared to when you originally processed it during your first time using PixInsight, is dramatic - and really speaks to the effectiveness of this tool!

[@kscheben]

This looks absolutely amazing! Thanks again Adam for everything you do to keep our hobby moving forward!

[@AdamBlock]

Thanks for watching!

[@olegsastrophotography1771]

Hello from UKRAINE! Excellent tool! Thank you for review!

[@briankotak403]

Absolutely wow! I just got into astrophotography last year and boy did I time my entry well. Incredible improvements in telescope designs, go-to mounts, acquisition, CMOS cameras and post processing. Russell's tools are incredible. Thanks for taking the time to provide detailed explanations in all of your videos! Dr B from Manitoba, Canada

[@astrofotoperu]

Hi Adam, thank you very much for this review. I was blown away by Noise Xterminator's simplicity and efficiency. Blur Xterminator has that same feel. Looks really promising!

[@physmc1]

This is extremely cool. Thanks for sharing this guide.

[@AdamBlock]

Thanks for you r kind words.This was all done in just a few days... so not polished.. .but hopefully useful.

[@RandallWagoner]

WOW, is right!!! Thank you for the detailed explanation Mr. Block. I will be purchasing this tool...

[@brianvalente]

Nice Adam! Thanks for being ahead of the curve

[@AdamBlock]

Thank you my friend.

[@chandrainsky]

Amazing tool and equally amazing presentation of its capabilities!

[@AdamBlock]

Thank you! Best I could do on short notice!

[@trinigunbankashi8871]

Holy Moly !!! In essence, it is the tools that constantly daydreams; for a beginner like myself, deconvolution is really challenging. It has been quite satisfying to see an expert's review. I'll attempt it in my few sessions. Ty Adam !

[@MayfieldCreekObservatory]

Amazing stuff Adam. I bought it the minute I saw your endorsement. Amazingly I brought up an image of M51 last year shot at roughly 733 mm with my Stellarvue triplet and with the BlurXterminator it is allowing me to zoom in and present a larger image that actually holds up. Cool stuff. Thanks for the info and video!

[@bronco_fv]

Sold! Thanks Russ and Adam! Oh btw Adam, you’re a great marketeer for Russ’ product 😀

[@kekkoukedarake110]

I simply say "Thank you for such a complete introduction of BlurXTerminator". Impact is clear and I already started to use and see impossibles now possible.

[@lukomatico]

Good grief this looks incredible, Russ's work is wild! - Thanks for sharing this and demonstrating so comprehensively Adam, you're the man! :-D

[@AdamBlock]

Well... as I recall you posted a video called the "BEST TOOL EVER" ... I chose to avoid that since things are changing and things don't always age well. lol Thanks for watching. It isn't polished... but best I could put together in just a few days- both processing and making a video.

[@lukomatico]

@@AdamBlock Oh mate, you've done a wonderful job on the video - You're far too modest! 🙂 RE: "BEST TOOL EVER" well, it might be time for me to make a "BEST TOOL EVER PT2" LOL! :-D Clear skies!

[@deep_space_dave]

Hey Adam! This was a lengthy video but I didn't notice until it was over as the wealth of information you have shared about this new tool is very generous. Russel is really becoming the AI whisperer when it comes to training the neural net to do impossible feats like this. Your deconvolution videos on your site were very helpful but also very time consuming as deconv can be. This is like magic! I am happy to have learned the process the manual way to appreciate what Russ has created here. Thanks for the video! CS!

[@AdamBlock]

Thanks Dave!

[@AmyAstro]

Fantastic demonstration!

[@jjlodgephotography]

Another excellent and informative video Adam! Just this morning I thought to myself, 'I wonder if Russ is working on a sharpening program, that would be so cool'.

[@jeromeyesavage9628]

Yes, completely changed and massively simplified my workflow....

[@johnparker9524]

Thank you so much for your time and the effort you put into this!!

[@photonmillenium]

BXT seems really impressive ! Thanks for this video !

[@walsc]

I saw this new tool before I watched your video. I instantly purchased it before trying it myself, because Russ's tools are the ones I use the most, they are unbelieveable good. At first I was a bit shocked when the price showed up, but it is really worth the money, it is what you need.

[@jontalbot9884]

Speechless! What a fantastic tool...

[@astro7996]

Is this even real life? What an awesome tool! Thanks Adam for explaining in detail how to use it and show the results with different types of DSOs.

[@olly7248]

This is going straight into my Pixinsight workflow, thank you for doing this tutorial 👍🏻😀

[@AdamBlock]

Thank you for watching!

[@chrismorley9339]

A very useful review of BXT thanks Adam. Your final four animated images are sensational!

[@AdamBlock]

Thank you!

[@kevinburke8608]

The BlurXterminator tool along with StarXTerminator will manage my biggest flaws in imaging. I'm about to tear down my CGX because at 30s, I have to reject 50% of my subs for star eccentricity alone. I'll still fix it, but I plan on getting this tool and fixing some of my favorite images I have taken in the past. I have already had great results with his star removal tool that makes it feel like I'm almost cheating. Also Adam's "Fundimentals" program has allowed me to use PixInsight far more effectively and plan on moving onto his other program. This last year has been gamechanging for me.

[@markwindsor4137]

What!! This is an amazing step forward. I've been trying EZ Decon and also applying your decon steps Adam, but always end up with unwanted ringing or other problems. I'll be revisiting a recently completed nebula image and stepping through it again by adding this tool into the fold. Thanks for bringing this to our attention Adam - your AB Studios lessons have re-energized my astrophotography goals.

[@pksacoma]

You are right… it is a wow…I did some polls on Facebook…. But here I found the answers… Your explanations are excellent…. Thank you so much

[@AdamBlock]

Thanks for watching!

[@martinheitkamper1070]

Excellent video, esp.regarding the background infos and your expectations! Got my BXT license immediately as I already use SXT and NXT very successful

[@AdamBlock]

Thanks for watching the video!

[@bbonic]

Thanks for sharing! I'm already testing!

[@MartiN-dn8rd]

Thank you for this very informative tutorial. I tried it right away and the results are incredible. Moreover, it works even with my latest Mars images when you set the PSF manually.

[@niraj_dave]

this is like falling in love with Astronomy all over again...this is really blowing my mind..and I will certainly to reconsider doing PXS purchase after doing a trial of it a while back. This tool seems to be worth every penny for sure. Thanks a ton Adam.

[@AdamBlock]

Thank you

[@Xanthus723]

I hereby dub thee Russ Croman the best tool creator in the galaxy (probably). Thanks for the in depth look at this tool I'm excited to go back through my stuff!

[@stefanidno]

Unreal!!! Thanks for this video

[@jonathanpearceff]

Perfect timing! I have been trying to get my head around Deconvolution and failed, even using EZDeconv hasn’t been very successful, and now this comes along. Thanks for breaking the news.

[@markmayer9290]

Minute 42: The differences are easily visible in your post. This looks like a spectacular advance. Than's for sharing a detailed insight into how to use it.

[@ricklaird2218]

fantastic video. always a great teacher. thanks

[@redabdab]

Many thanks Adam. I am now trying this out. VERY useful to know that NR should not be done first. I would always assume you should reduce noise before sharpening (lest you sharpen the noise too!). So very happy to stand corrected!

[@glentyan2505]

The de-ringing looks impressive... indeed no black eyes.

[@AdamBlock]

No one wants a black eye of any kind!

[@andrewstott7880]

Adam, Thanks for the video

[@AdamBlock]

your welcome

[@occamsRazor496]

Many thanks for the video Adam. Very comprehensive review of what looks like a great new tool. You mention your video about fully processing M51. I always have trouble processing galaxies in PI so would find this useful. Which of your packages is this included in? Thanks

[@fabiopaolini2561]

A great gift for Christmas!

[@astrounclejoe2572]

Thanks Adam. I got it when Russ put it out there and was already using it but this provided a great deal of context and info. Agree it would be nice to display or log the PSF being used but trial and error works for now. Thanks again

[@appalachianghostwalks3094]

Absolutely 💯 amazing 👏

[@novameld5406]

You said WOW. I literally exclaimed "Holy $@&!". Look forward to seeing this integrated into your future Horizons workflows as well.

[@AdamBlock]

LOL I do plan on making some AdamBlockStudios.com specific videos on this...

[@lenjones2268]

I "get" your statement re using BE in Linear state before extended processing but it still has an incredible performance on old finished TIFFS

[@kmh032008]

This will vastly improve “effective seeing” for those of us with larger oversampled scopes for our average seeing conditions. My 9.25 just got a new lease on life.

[@stuparker776]

Wow Adam how cool.Just got it!!!

[@swimswithtrout1870]

I'm going to download it right now. I had to go back through all of my old images when NoiseXterminator came out, and then again, to a lesser degree with StarXterminator AI11, but it looks like another 3-4 months of re-does is going to be in order.

[@filipgloria]

OMG! This is revolutionary!

[@AdamBlock]

It really is...

[@Deeko76]

Fantastic work! AI models are certainly shining in these application areas at the moment. In terms of workload, I would normally use EZ-Decon on the integrated mono channels and then combine into RGB. With BXT in the workload, would I no longer use EZ-Decon and just apply BXT to the combined RGB or LRGB image? Thanks!

[@midnightlightning1]

Awesome video and function, many thanks Adam. I noticed you have PI configured so that Images display over the top of Icons (minimised images). In my config the Icons show on top of the Images - how do I change it?

[@DamianVines]

I know I already commented once and asked a question sorry :) I am a member of you site if that matters :) My second question is what impact might this have one relaxing any subframe selection parameters as they relate to eccentricity...? Knowing that we have potentially more correction available for fixing eccentricity, might we allow more eccentric star though the subframe selector now? Thereby giving us access to subs we might have rejected before?

[@Nodalema]

Amazing. Thanks Russ and Adam. Would drizzling before running blurXterminator interfere with its function?

[@AdamBlock]

No... Drizzling is part of the integration of data. BXT operates on integrated images. So all is fine!

[@andygaras]

I wasnt all that impressed with NoiseTermintorX but i've tried blurXterminator and its a game changer, unreal.

[@mars_man5619]

Thanks Adam hope to see you at NEIAC.

[@N4GW]

Excellent video

[@AdamBlock]

Thank you!

[@matth6161]

Silly question. You said best time to apply is just after dbe and color correction when you first make an rgb image. Imaging LRGB am I to do LRGB combine use decon then split the Lum for further processing? Idk maybe I have been going about this all wrong. Do I not need to process LUM separately? I have been since I began.

[@chrismcgrew4692]

For narrowband HSO data, would one need to do an RGB combine and color calibration in the linear phase before using BxT, or run BxT on each narrowband channel individually before combining?

[@astromatz]

Hi Adam, thank you for your exceptional video on this amazing tool! May I ask how you link the GPU to work with Pixinsght? I really like your image at the end!

[@paulwilson8367]

I have now tried BlurX-Terminator twice. Perhaps for reasons totally not connected to BXT, my small stars get "dots" in the center. That's a type of artifact that I would see in conventional deconvolution. That's why I made the association. I am now using a smaller sensor camera (ASI294) instead of my ASI2600s, which had been shredding my corner stars. Just my results so far, I left BXT at its default values. What other things can cause dotted stars?

[@gagaboul3423]

Looks promising! I hope it can do wonders with planetary

[@crawfprof]

Extraordinary Adam. For a first reaction, it's excellent. I've added BlurXTerminator to my workflow now but am enduring the "dilemma of choice" phenomenon. Which of my images to I start with? I have a good idea after seeing your video.

[@PierreVandevenne]

Thanks for analysis! I've just tested it on some of my own data: extremely impressive on good initial data, ok to good on not so good data (tracking error, pinched optics). Better on mono channels than on OSC data. But a huge time saver compared to the complete manual process which leads, at least in my case, to worse results... You can't stop progress I guess... but for people who have been through the tedious deconvolution and denoising learning processes in Pixinsight this is a bit of a slap in the face ;)

[@AdamBlock]

hear hear!

[@Luftbubblan]

Very interesting. And now also the name Deconvolution started to make more sense, as in the past it seemt to me like it should be called Convolution and vice versa :D

[@rafaberrios8142]

Narrow band? Where would we use this in our workflow? I’d like to remove stars at the beginning, like your rosette color modifier video. All three masters? Ha? First step Once combined?

[@brandlc]

As ever (and totally expected from Adam), an in depth, clear explanation - thanks! One question - I wonder if BXT could be used on science images as well?

[@AdamBlock]

Thank you!

[@arisblan5171]

amazing!!! thanks a lot

[@garyseven4370]

Adam, I was following along on your NGC1333 Fundamentals video, but started the process with SXT and then BXT. When I hit the Unsharp Mask procedure, I was wondering if that counted as "Double Decon"?

[@AdamBlock]

Unsharp mask is not deconvolution. It is blind to any sense of PSFs and it operates as a kernal filter across all pixels (at a desired scale). It is a contrast enhancing process like many others.

[@AdamBlock]

Re-reading... but if you mean doing USM before BXT... yeah, this would be a no-no.

[@TheCassese]

Hi Adam, thank you for this very good walk through the blurexterminator. Do you think applying the bluexterminator on individual monochrome images is better than doing it on the combined colored image? I am thinking specifically on SHO processing

[@AdamBlock]

It is complicated. If you are matching star sizes..no- not a good idea of course. If you are doing this on non-stellar- you can do it on the individual images- but you should use the same (manual) PSF. However, when you do this- there is no correction for optical aberrations. This is the benefit of doing it on a full color image (whether starless or not).

[@M31glow]

Hi Adam, great post!! Have you ever used Topaz AI denoise and/or Sharpen on one of your Astro images? Just wondering what your thoughts are on the comparison between BlurX and Topaz AI denoise and sharpen?

[@robertgrenader858]

Your video was not specifically clear, where does NoiseX slot into your workflow? After running Image Solver, but before doing a desnoise? And will it work with OCS images, or do I have to extract a Luminance layer as part of an OSC to Hubbell palete workflow?

[@mikebritton2084]

I can't wait to see what I can do with halos introduced by my filters. Awesome

[@msenin]

@Adam Block For narrowband images from mono cameras there's an issue of star sizes being different. HA is usually the sharpest and SII usually has the most bloated stars. Also difference in seeing (due to weather or object's angle above horizon) through the session can make a difference. Would you recommend to do channel combination/pixel math or whatever you use to make colour NB images to use source images with original star sizes and leaving it to BlurXterminator to correct stars with colour fringes in the RGB image, or apply some other process to make sure stars are same size before combining mono masters into RGB image?

[@AdamBlock]

My answer... get real RGB stars. (I am serious). NB stars are kind of a silly thing. They are NOT narrowband objects- why treat them as such? This issue of star sizes... oh yeah, NOW people start to understand the intricacies of this issue. For years people would tell me I blab on and on about these technicalities... but no one was doing LRGB in the same way. Now with NB images of incommensurate stars and availability of easy deconvolution it all becomes important again. The bottom line is whether doing LRGB or in your special case of RGB- yeah the star sizes (PSFs ) need to be similar or weird halos and artifacts will be an issue. I would not rely on BXT to "fix" the halos or fringing for this. You could use BXT (maybe) to match PSFs. That is the long answer..the short answer is I do not know precisely- this isn't a permutation I have yet to deal with.

[@msenin]

@@AdamBlock because RGB stars are so big compared to NB stars, especially HA stars, that I can barely see the object behind the dense field of stars. Also neither StarXterminator nor StarNet2 is not always able to remove/mask smallest stars so after replacing stars with RGB I still have little yellow/orange SHO or red HOO stars. I tried using MMT to smooth them out but it also blurs the details of the nebulosity. I tried both EZ Star Reduction and “Bill’s method” and they are not being able to pick up smallest stars. 😢 One thing I want to experiment with is unscreen HA stars and use them as a luminance layer for unscreened RGB stars which should reduce their sizes without creating dark rings around them as most algorithms do (both EZ Star Reduction methods, Bill’s method and BXT). And then rescreen them onto RGB image.

[@msenin]

You implied that local Deconvolution is dependent on local PSF, which lead you to conclude that BXT won’t work iteratively - you can’t fix star shapes first and then run stellar and non-stellar sharpening as a separate step because the first step will have modified the PSFs for all stars. So it means we have only one shot to sharpen the image and correct stars, correct? Also where in the process would you apply NoiseXterminator? Still in linear phase? Applying it before BXT would also modify PSF so definitely it can’t be used before BXT. For narrowband images: apply BXT and NXT on each channel first or create a channel combination and then apply sharpening and denoising on the colour image (after colour calibration and SCNR)?

[@DamianVines]

This is mind-blowing :) I can't wait to implement this in my typical narrowband workflow. I typically often use star exterminator on each filter first and then stretch just the nebulosity. With the intention of re-introducing a separately captured RBG stars dataset. Given this, I assume I'd run BlurX first on each filter right after integration, then StarX and continue my workflow? And of course run BlurX on the RBG dataset as well before re-introduction. Thank you so much for getting this video out so quickly :)

[@rrcroman]

It's probably best to run BlurXTerminator on color images rather than individual channels. The network is trained to look at all channels together, and do things like correct for unequal FWHM values between the channels. It can't do this if it doesn't see all of the channels simultaneously.

[@DamianVines]

@@rrcroman Thank you so much Russell for your reply, this process is really amazing, great work! Since the process has to be run on linear data I suppose it’s not possible to use it in a narrowband workflow where one typically stretches individual channels separately?

[@rrcroman]

For NB, I would 1) channel combine linear to SHO, 2) calibrate color using SPCC NB mode or ColorCalibration with nebula as white reference (both are described in the SPCC doc), 3) run BXT. After BXT decon, if other palette/stretching choices are desired, extract back to separate channels and have at it.

[@DamianVines]

@@rrcroman This is excellent, thank you Russell

[@AstroHunter5280]

Incredible video! Question, do you recommend running the BlurX immediately after DBE?

[@AdamBlock]

You will want to do the color calibration of your data (SPCC) before BXT. Otherwise you do not want to do any stretching or noise reduction before using it.