AstroRVing

StarNet++ Install

For those who need to use the stand alone version on the Mac until PI is updated, here's how. Note, if you're processing mono images, use the mono versions of the files instead of the rgb versions in the steps below.

Download here

1. Download the software, double-click to expand the zip archive into a folder called StarNet_MacOS
2. Drag that folder to your desktop. This just makes it a convenient location to work with from the Terminal app.
3. Open the Terminal app.
4. After the prompt shows up, type the following command and hit enter. This sets the Terminal's working directory to the StarNet folder: cd ~/Desktop/StarNet_MacOS
5. Now type the following commands to change the permissions on the following files which allow them to be executed. If you are asked to enter a password, enter your Mac's system password and hit enter:
   
   • chmod +x ./rgb_starnet++
   • chmod +x ./run_rgb_starnet.sh
6. Make sure the image you want to work on is saved as a 16-bit .tif file without any extra channels, like an alpha channel for example.
7. Copy your image file into the StarNet_MacOS folder
8. The "run_rgb_starnet.sh" file is a shell script with a correctly formatted command to run the "rgb_starnet++" executable. As shipped, it will work on a file named "rgb_test5.tif". So you will have to either rename your file to "rgb_test5.tif" (which is what I do), or open the shell script in a text editor and edit it so that it will use your existing file name.
9. Open the shell script, "run_rgb_starnet.sh", and edit the stride number, which is the number at the end of the command. As shipped, it is set to 64, and it should take several minutes to run at that setting. Lower settings will give a better, smoother result, but will take considerably longer to run. I set mine to 16 and it gives great results, bu takes a few hours to run on a reasonably fast Mac.
10. After changing the stride number, save the shell script file.
11. Now drag the run_rgb_starnet.sh file into the Terminal window. The prompt should be filled in with the file path.
12. Hit enter and the executable should start running. There will be a % finished display at the bottom so you can tell how much is done. Leave Terminal open till it is done.

When it is complete, there should be a new file in the folder with a default name of "rgb_test5_s.tif". If you changed it in the shell file, then it will be whatever you set it to. That is your StarNet processed file without the stars.

Note that you only have to do all of this the first time. Once the folder is set up, permissions set, and the stride number set, there is a lot less to do for subsequent images. Just open Terminal, use the "cd..." command above to set the folder path, copy your file into the folder and rename it, then drag the shell script file to terminal and hit enter.

-Dan