The (new) old way to make a great mask in PixInsight!

[@JonnyBravo0311]

That mask blur PM is likely from Bill Blanshan. He's got a bunch of PM scripts, including various color masks, narrowband normalization, star reduction, etc. I've never used ACDNR as a mask generation tool. I usually battle the RangeSelection process. I'm going to have to try the technique you present here.

[@feraxks]

Considering the only process icons I have downloaded came from Bill Blanshan and MaskBlur is one of the icons, I believe you are correct.

[@bertmoyaers3814]

I confirm. Bill is the genius who created the mask blur script as well as the color mask scripts and many other great tools.

[@bertmoyaers3814]

Another great video and yes this will be one of the processes I will start using in my workflow. Thanks Shawn!

[@thomasschmidtkunz3130]

Thanks!

[@golandr7347]

Thanks a lot for spreading this useful and easy-to-do technique!

[@4auswanderer]

Thank you very much. I don't know this technic before. Thanksssssss 🙂

[@timburgess1528]

Excellent thank you!

[@AstroGuina]

Great video. Thanks again!

[@astrobri]

Thanks Shawn

[@Northof40cdn]

Thanks for sharing this Shawn. As with most info you put out here, I will trying this out for myself

[@VisibledarkAstro]

Thank you for the super thanks! :)

[@sking3571]

Nice to highlight this method. I use this with Starless images and or stars only to really focus on the object I want to work on.

[@haythemhamdi3995]

Very very extremely useful I was looking for a different way to create masks in pixinsight thank you for this video

[@GrahamHazlegreaves]

Very helpful indeed, thanks.

[@mupangamwanakatwe1300]

As usual, top-notch stuff and brilliantly presented! Keep ‘em rolling in 👍👏👏

[@davecurtis8833]

Great tip Sean. I will be adding it to my workflow. I like how you can adjust the midtones etc of the mask not to include the background.

[@Jdlbt]

Great tip as always. You can achieve a similar mask with a HistogramTransformation on the luminance followed by image inversion. No need for the ACDNR tool though it's good to know it's there.

[@cccard2491]

Thanks, have enjoyed your videos looking forward to more content!!

[@bengterlandsson7921]

Thanks Shawn! Been using range masking until not. Seems to me that this SCNR mask technique gives one much better control of the mask creation. Need to test this asap.

[@andrewweller5119]

this looks to be a much better way for making masks to me. i shall try it and see. thanks!

[@briankotak403]

Awesome new tip for masks Shawn. Thanks so much. I don’t find the range selection option under mask generation that good. Dr B from Manitoba, Canada 🇨🇦

[@briankotak403]

Tried this on M101 processing last night. Fabulous! Did a dynamic crop, stretched the image, split the galaxy from the stars using Starnet2 and then created the mask using ACDNR on the starless image. Very good result and made working on the galaxy so much easier. Again, thanks Shawn!

[@enteringintospace4685]

Hey! Love the control of this mask!

[@VisibledarkAstro]

Thanks for reminding me about it!

[@kayedsss]

Thank you very much! You are a reference for me in pixinsight!

[@normhughes9777]

seems like a great little tool. i will have to play with that one. seems easier than Game Script lol. Thanks for this Shawn

[@richardheinsohn2624]

Hi Shawn, I've used ACDNR in the past but have not used it for awhile. Never thought of using it as a mask generator. Now you give me something else to try :)

[@AstroWorldTV]

Great job my friend!

[@mattestabrook]

Good video, Shawn! I've had good success with this trick. Also, I believe the Mask Blur PixelMath script is by Bill Blanshan.

[@VisibledarkAstro]

Is it Bill's? OK. I really can't recall. That would make sense though! Thanks.

[@travlon5101]

@@VisibledarkAstro Yes, it's Bills, but I think Luke did a good tutorial on the mask colors and blur.

[@gomanastro]

Agree, came with his pre-made scripts for the different color masks

[@JuanLopez-jk9mu]

Brilliant, especially for getting that weird background to look more like gray and not blotchy.

[@John_Hudson_922]

text is pretty hard to read, any chance you can capture in 4k?

[@VisibledarkAstro]

I had to use my ultra wide monitor to record this. my other two monitors (1920x1080) died on me suddenly and almost at the same time. I just got another 1920 monitor so that should fix the text being difficult to see. Better fit format wise for the video using 1920 x 1080 I find.

[@AncalimeNL]

You have an ultrawide monitor nowadays?

[@VisibledarkAstro]

ya I had to record on my 34in monitor. My other two monitors decided to die around the same time. I just got another new monitor. I'll switch back to recording with 1920x1080 monitor now. Better fit in the video.