My Simple LRGB Processing Workflow

LRGB imaging can be quite intimidating, especially when coming from the world of color cameras such as DSLRs! How the heck to process those weird monochrome images into a color image?? Let's have a look (using PixInsight) in this video! It is of course possible to do exactly the same in Photoshop, Gimp, or Siril.
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#astrophotography

[@ChucksAstrophotography]

It's been so long since I've done LRGB, this will be a good refresher when the time comes. Excellent color in the final image.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thanks Chuck! Yeah I haven't done LRGB in a while either, so doing the video was a good refresher for me too ;)

[@paulwilson8367]

When Chuck rolls out his scope, the stars know they have met their match.

[@ChucksAstrophotography]

@@paulwilson8367 lol

[@James-yd8tg]

I've been imaging with my son since he was in 7th grade now 5 years have gone by wow! Were making 2 large changes to our imaging at the same time. Switching from SGP to NINA. And switching from OSC to QHY268M Mono and CFW. I've been binge watching all your videos to help us understand the ins and outs of both these changes were making and let me tell you! Your videos have been an immense help for us making these changes to the way we do things so thank you very much! Side note: My son says don't go out in the sun your going to turn more red than M16 ! LOL but seriously super helpful!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

That's awesome James! And yes your son is right about me and the sun lol

[@Baskeva]

Dude, this was the best and most simple guide ever. I've never had such a simple process before, thank you!!!

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

I'm just getting into LRGB imaging (ZWO ASI 1600mm Pro) so yes, this video was interesting and informative. Thank you, Cuiv

[@njcck]

Cuiv, I know this video is older, but I want you to know that it really helped me a lot. I received my filters a couple of weeks ago, just took my first LRGB image and processed using your work flow. I was delighted with the result.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

This is awesome to hear! It's always great to see older videos still be relevant and helpful! :D

[@CrashEd1664]

Great new processing flow - gonna use this and the EZ tools next time. Thanks for the video 👍

[@prnzssLuna]

My monochrome camera arrived yesterday (ASI 183), so I'll make sure to follow this thoroughly. Thanks :)

[@ACEOFSPACE2000]

Thanks for the info Cuiv

[@steveleonard2856]

Such an awesome video. Love the shortcuts and clear technical advice!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thank you!

[@jonkjon]

Re-watching this again today as I finally managed to have some clear skies. Can't thank you enough for all of your videos. They are truly helpful. After watching this again today, I saw where you mentioned about binning RGB differently than luminance. A recommendation for another video would be how to handle processing these differing bins. i.e. how binning differently affects the processing steps as well as any necessary changes in capturing calibration frames. Thanks again....

[@fazergazer]

I’m super excited to try this on my Triangulum Galaxy I collected using the do it yourself electronic assisted astronomy scope you described. I put a 178MM on there with a 5 position 1.25” LRGBH filter wheel. I have other fancier imaging trains, but this little scope is a great outreach tool, and the mono data will mesh nicely with this! I converted the Az GTi mount over to equatorial and use guiding now so no problem with longer exposures.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Woohoo! That is awesome! So you're all ready for full processing :)

[@stephenselwood1941]

Many thanks for this video. I've not yet processed an LRGB set of images and as luck would have it my target was also M101. It's certainly a step up from my unmodified Nikon D750. I now realise I made a mistake in my imaging and took roughly equal LRGB all binned 1x1 (it's all a learning curve) if things don't work out I'll try and get some more luminance when the clouds go away. So tonight will be a later night for me as I try to follow along with your workflow, you make it seem very easy, (I'll regret saying easy when I am processing) I have your final image a target I can try and aim for. I really enjoy most of your videos keep up the great work

[@damiengalanaud3817]

Great tutorial, thanks a lot ! Damien

[@doccortex1203]

Thanks. Always enjoy your vids. Moving from OSC to Mono, so very helpfull.

[@johngraham7045]

Thanks for the video. I do monochrome planetary. Need to learn this process in PS.

[@SenpaiSkyy]

02:17 “Play with my data” 😏

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Mmmmmh lol

[@captainwasabi]

Nice, I'm trying to learn PixInsight right now. I've got the trial version that I've been playing with. I'll have to try splitting out one of my images into RGB/L and give this a go.

[@wanderingquestions7501]

Thanks. Some unique tips & ideas

[@simonworger]

Thanks you very much for this tutorial. I've just switched to mono so this will help a lot.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

My pleasure, please enjoy!

[@dekemp1986]

thanks for that. in a few months i will have saved enough 'budget' to get my first Mono camera and filterkit. this will help to get met hit the ground running :)

[@dekemp1986]

Hey, I actually rediscovered this video now i am starting my first LRGB imaging process! LOL

[@GG-hb7xo]

Perfect explained. Thx!

[@christopherdeaver5372]

More Pixinsight Videos Please. BUT SLOW DOWN WHEN COVERING PI. SLOW TALKING ALWAYS MAKES THE SALE. Always enjoy your content. Your stuff is the best.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thanks Christopher! It's a tight rope to be walking in terms of speed - I know from the KZbin stats that many people watch the videos at 2x speed for instance... I'll keep that in mind.

[@karenfuenzalida9391]

Great!!

[@anata5127]

This is terrific! Over processing never worked for me. Always get “cheese” looking DSO.

[@manuelpiton8417]

Thanks a lot for your new tips and for the time you spent to make good content on your channel! ;-)

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

My pleasure!

[@montygiavelli8125]

I did your LRGB processing on the Filamentary Nebula (ASI294MM pro camera). The Photometric Color Calibration failed to finish (couldn't plate solve) so I did an EZ Star Reduction and then the Photometric Color Calibration finished. I only had 1.5 hours of data and bad conditions - this may have led to the failure ??? Your videos have really helped me move forward. This was my first mono camera imaging session. thanks, Monty

[@davidmisisco]

Hi Cuiv. Can you direct us to a reference, or explain a bit more, the process of resampling the L data? You spoke about 1x1 binning for the L and 2x2 for the RGB and the need for resampling before combining. How is that done?

[@normanhey8555]

Great information as usual and informative even for people like me with OSC and DSLR cameras. I am supposing that you could follow the same process with OSC data by extracting RGB and a luminance layer, and applying the same processes and compare with "normal" OSC processing. Or because I too am lazy, I could ask if you have already tried this comparison and if so, what were your results?

[@TheSplitfinity]

Just FYI when you get to 11:00 or so and talk about EZ Script Decon you should first have folks make sure and have the starnet PB files linked. I could not keep up, perhaps I was too far behind to begin with.

[@JohnMcGFrance]

Very useful as always. Just getting used to PI. Could you do a video on drizzling please? I’ve heard the term but really not sure what it is or how you do/use it. Thank you.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Good idea! Thanks for the suggestion!

[@redabdab]

Thanks Cuiv! This is very helpful. Can I ask, do you *have* to do the stretch before LRGB combination? Or could you do them the other way around?

[@gjjhg6683]

No, you have to stretch before. At least : histogram+liner match+gradient

[@stormingbarney4498]

Never realised you could drag and drop the dynamic crop to other windows

[@jimbob4484]

Hey Quiv, another Excellent tutorial. Thank you! Are you on Astrobin by any chance? I am trying to get into the habit of summarizing the processing steps I use for each project and reference tutorials I have learned from (including yours) 🙂

[@paulwilson8367]

I have been doing "just" RGB without the "L". My scope requires camera removal to change filters, no EFW. So I hoped that a full night on each color would make up for no "L". Perhaps this is a significant mistake. What percentage of time should "L" get compared to RGB for good results? How do you split them up? Equal number of frames for each? More of L?

[@brandonrunyon]

Missing the Geek, hope he's doing good. His videos are 👍

[@volens31]

Brilliant Cuiv thankyou. That has filled in so many gaps for me. What is the spec on your processing PC??

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

It's an Intel 7700K with 32GB or RAM

[@astronomynotebook]

Ideally with any software it would be the best to stay in 32 bit processing and to do specifically certain linear and nonlinear processing according to process you are using. Siril is 16 bit processsing...and has a linear auto stretch....can we do background neutralization in this program in a linear stage?

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Yes the BN is supposed to be run in the linear stage in Siril as well. In my experience it is less good than PI's DBE or ABE though..

[@javiercuellolopez5610]

OMG. I’m an amateur. I prefer a color cmos. For Dso, I have a Ed72 on Azgti-eq mode. Bortle 6. What do you recommend, asi533mc or asi294mc. Thanks master !!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

I personally prefer the ASI533MC as it's very easy to deal with. Or if you have the budget, the 2600MC :D

[@MrGeert1972]

Can you bin LRGB all in 1x1 or do you need to bin RGB 2x2?

[@richardpalfreyman9045]

Cuiv, it appears that the EZ processing suite no longer works with the newer PI versions. What are you using instead? Thanks.

[@claudiotenreiro3111]

Jolly good !, now, where/how did you get EZ script ?, you mention that was done by people from NINA but I am not sure how to get access to it. You are right about the flexibility of working with LRGB images.

[@claudiotenreiro3111]

@@captainwasabi I do appreciate very much, thanks.

[@chrismcgrew4692]

In PixInsight, how exactly does one resample a 1x1 LUM to work with 2x2 RGB? And when is it done? Linear phase, non linear phase?

[@sagniksingha8956]

Hey, I am a beginner in PixInsight. I was wondering how I would add H-alpha data to LRGB for the m82 galaxy? Do I have to combine the H-alpha and R data and then combine the Luminance data? And what if I take images in infrared?

[@grandpajunkrat9753]

What kind of free software was that what you were talking about?

[@fazergazer]

Would you recommend collecting L in 1x1 binning and RGB in 2x2 binning?

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Overall yes, details can be gotten from the L!

[@johnsmith-rd9rr]

Greetings again Cuiv! Watching your older videos as I transition from OSC to Mono. 1 quick question, I take the lights through each filter, then flats and flat darks for each filter. I took a set of darks to match the exposure and gain of the lights. Do I just need the 1 set of darks or do I need to ALSO take darks matching the exposure and gain through EACH filter? Thank you in advance

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Hello! FYI dark flats can be replaced by just bias frames for recent cooled sensors. With IMX571 or equivalent, I take 1s long bias, flats, and lights and don't bother with the darks. Dark frames and bias frames require darkness so the filter doesn't matter. You can reuse darks or bias for any filter as long as temp, gain, offset, etc. Match

[@johnsmith-rd9rr]

@@CuivTheLazyGeek I just got a QHY 183 M for a decent price used. I made a set of darks with same gain,temp and exposure as I planned with my lights. I then used NINA's flat wizard for the different filter flats. My question was, the darks I made with the same gain and exposure as the lights, wont have the same filter offsets, so I need a set of darks with same gain and exposure through each filter to match the filter offsets? ugh...

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

@@johnsmith-rd9rr No, darks or bias don't care at all about optical configuration since there is no light reaching the sensor! You could take darks with the camera off the scope and it would still be fine. Even flats don't really care about filter offset

[@johnsmith-rd9rr]

@@CuivTheLazyGeek Thats what I thought but you mentioned offsets and I went..."uh-oh"

[@nikivan]

Shouldn't the deconvolution be done before the AEB?

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

I'm actually not aware of such a restriction... the ABE just removes the gradient from the image but I don't think it would affect a next step deconvolution - let me know if there's something I simply don't know there!

[@neverfox]

Typically BE is the first thing done after cropping. All it really is is further calibration of the frame, just as you did to the individual subs, so it shouldn't negatively impact other processes. More likely, other processes would negatively impact BE.

[@zerolife7088]

Can you make a tutorial LRGB Processing Workflow using Siril.

[@simonworger]

I can't get the Photometric Colour Calibration to work, always fails on the plate solve. Tried everything.

[@derekderek2570]

I just want you to know I'm about to pull the trigger on a set on nice filters and a nice mono astrocam like a 1600mm or something similar. Going to use your OPT affiliation link! Not sure when I'm making the buy but wanted you to know I support your channel! Thanks for all your videos Cuiv.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thanks so much Derek! This is much appreciated!

[@carlosrojasrodriguez930]

Hi, I have a problem with my images. I think I did something wrong in stacking because I shot mono lrgb and have color noise in my images before combining. Plz help!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

That sounds... weird. Definitely not normal. Did you use DSS in RGB mode for the frames somehow?

[@carlosrojasrodriguez930]

@@CuivTheLazyGeek Yes, thanks for replying. I was using the old pixinsight batch preprocessing and now using the new one it automatically registers they are mono images. One issue though, I get too much color noise in the final image (combined and all). That might be because I took almost no luminance and no flats. Thanks for the help

[@stephen2615]

I would say I am your number one fan but as a lawyer, I know about stalking laws so I won't. :) I saw a video where this guy uses masks in Photoshop to greatly increase the nebulosity that can be seen around the Orion Nebula while keeping stars visible. I use it to increase the otherwise hidden data in galaxies and nebulae. Can PixInsight do that?

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

In PI I think you'd just have a blurred out star mask to achieve this - but usually you'd just remove the stars and then place them back in the image...

[@poggerschampion2765]

Feels like I could do the exact same things to my data and get a different result everytime. I will never understand how this works

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Yeah I know the feeling. It can be quite frustrating. Small variations have a butterfly effect on later steps. If it's any consolation, it's worse with Narrowband...

[@christopherdeaver5372]

Can you start posting some of your videos on Rumble. Many of us are moving to that platform because of censorship on KZbin.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Not in the plans at the moment... I actually have never heard of Rumble and don't personally have issues with KZbin at this stage.

[@thijrtuigynv]

Very difficult