Graphic User Interface Ideas

Software Siril
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Multichannel
Multichannel1898Ă—1045 146 KB
OSC Multi session
OSC Multi session1898Ă—1045 136 KB

Hello There,
Been a fan and user of Siril for some time now.

Disclaimer: in no way I feel entitled to have a say in what Siril does or is, this is just a couple of suggestion made by talking with people that found the GUI of Siril hard to approach, and in some cases they found Siril came short of doing something, and if it did the way to do certain things is way too convoluted.

Back to the topic.
I found Many of the implementation of Siril fantastic, cdeconvolution, Photometric Color Calibration are just a couple of example of processed that are faster and in my opinio better than corresponding features in other softwares that shall remain unnamed.

I do want to make a suggestion when it comes to the GUI and the way to load files into SIRIL.
Scripts are great and all, customization made by the community is something I don’t want to see go away.
It is though alienating towards many users.
At this point I’d like to make a suggestion, is there any chance for developers to bring Siril to look more like the two images linked?
It tooked me half an hour to just lay down a template of what I think a good loading files page should look like, by no means is complete or perfect and much more experienced people will and should point out its flaws.

In short, the idea is to have an OSC page where files can be load by simply clicking on the drop down menu, navigating to where the files are and selecting them all.
I also though of adding a plus button to add addition sessons in case the object we are trying to stack has been imaged on different night, or required a different set of calibration files.

For OSC cameras
Working as follows: Lights 1 are to be clibrated with files loaded into Darks 1, flats 1, darkflats1 and bias 1.
Same thing applies for lights 2, and in the end have siril integrate all the calibrated files.

For Mono Cameras
Similar to the second page which is the Multi channel dedicated one, selecting a set of lights, choosing the filter 8for which Siril will determined the appropriate calibration files)
And spit out the calibrated masters for each channel.

I know, I think I’m asking too much, but I see the potential this software has and I like it way too much, it just need a couple of refinements in my opinion.

To whoever responds thank you for taking the time, and if what I propose is not possible i understand.

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Hello.

Thanks for taking time to write and draw suggestions. That is very nice and I really appreciate!
For what I can see, you suggest something very close to what APP does.

However, in siril we use a different approach with the “sequences”. IMO, sequence are very easy to used, easier than loading files. Or maybe I don’t understand your idea.
Also, do you know sirilic? A tool that can be used next to Siril, more information here. Maybe it is exaclty what you want as it can handle everything you are asking.

Of course, I don’t say our UI is perfect. It is absolutely not the case and a lot of improvements are needed.

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Thanks for responding.
Let me say I’m a total noob when it comes to software languages, I made the images using photoshop.

Back to the point though, I never used APP, saw a couple of videos but never ivestigated it.
the fact I wanted to put foreward is that many users, me included, find the use of sequences as currently implemented in Siril quite disconcerning, loading files is IMO much more straightforeward.

Having said that, is not like not implementing what I suggested is going to keep me from using Siril, is too much of a good software to pass on it and we do appreciate every seconds you guys put into it

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Disconcerting, maybe. But once you understand how it works you use FITS files, or SER files or FITS sequence (one single FITS file containing many frames) in the same way. This is very powerful and this is for me the best asset of Siril. Really.

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I do recognize the potential really.
problem is, batch processing, if on one hand scripts and sequences are a way to get a one click stack on the other they require going through your files and redo many thing if you want to integrate more images taken on different nights.
Seems like the best way to do it is using scripts, but even then I crashed into a wall when wanting to use Darkflats instead of biases which I don’t take.
Say you have 3 sessions all taken in different night at 3 different temperatures and requiring different calibartion files.
Given I use an imax294 and an imx183 based cameras.
therefore I never use bias frames, I need to use darkflats, which as I saw is not an option in Siril
Also I might want to have my result drizzled by 2
The layout I suggested would require some loading yes, but it would require the user the least amount of time spent ffiddling around trying to get to the point of integrating all the calibrated files.
plus having calibrated files requires redoing a sequence so that siril can recognize it.

I know It might sounds like a fringe case but many of us do require some kind of ease of use without ever touching the backend of the program.

I say this because I’m just trying to pitch the program to many members of the italian facebook group “astrofarm”

the lack of tutorial also seem to be a point of contention among many users, I did find it a little bit of an obstacle but got around it pretty quick.
it’s just that the sequence based workflow seems not to be that well suited to cover all the subtulties of each user’s requirements and it forces you to micromanage every step, even those that arent necessary like creating and aplying master calibration files.

Sorry for the comment, again, it may seem quite aggressive, rude and impolite, but it’s just your average me trying to get to know the program better.

Plus if you know how or where I can get a script that will integrate an OSC camera using darkflats instead of bias frames and can drizzleX2 please let me know, I wouldn’t know how to edit or create a way to do it in Siril.

Thank you again for dedicating your time responding up until now.

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What is the difference between darkflat and biases? None except the exposure in fact. So put the darkflat in the biases folder. That’s all.
And drizzle is given in default scripts too: OSS_PreprocessgWithDrizzle

And again, for more complex use you have sirilic that is a front end for script generator, and more. I gave you the link of the documentation.

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Hi Vittorio, I don’t think what you describe is a fringe case. I thought default scripts featured dark-flats actually, but anyway, for siril, it’s just a name, what matters is how the files are used, and siril can process them like any file. So indeed there is a human interface issue. But it’s a complex process to process images of different kind into a single image, and from the siril point of view, the tool that does each step of the process is provided.

Then came the scripts. Here too, siril just interprets a list of steps for the processing, but they have to be programmed in some way, so the default scripts do it one way, which doesn’t suit everybody. Other scripts exist, but there will always be a case that is not handled. For specific uses, and also for these uses (Siril - FAQ), users should see past the scripts automation and use siril manually.

We have worked on tutorials and a beginning of documentation for 0.99.8, you can find them in the faq/tutorials/docs pages of the new website. More will come.

That being said, to solve the human interface problem, as like you said you’re not the only one saying this, somebody created a new graphical user interface that is more ergonomic and supports the fringe cases: sirilic. It automates script creation with user inputs. That way, siril can still be a tool that processes images, and sirilic can be the interface you are looking for.

It’s not that we don’t want to change what we currently have with siril, it’s just that it’s way too much work for us, and someone spent a lot of time to do it already with sirilic.

I hope you’ll understand.

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