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Try NightCap

NightCap is amazing, and I am thrilled to have manual control over the shutter speed on my iPhone camera. Sorry to bump a fortnight-old thread, but I wanted to share a few pictures of the sky I took with NightCap. I would post comparison shots taken with other camera apps, but they are completely black so there’s no point in doing so.

These pictures are all scaled down to 25%, though if you click them they’ll open at 100%. I am posting the results of enhancing the NightCap pictures with PhotoForge2 to make the stars brighter (increase exposure, unsharp mask, etc.). I will also link the non-enhanced versions. It is a testament to the quality of the iPhone light sensor, and the NightCap program, that there is enough detail in the original images for these enhancements to be possible.


Orion


Ursa Major


Leo with Mars

Orion original
Ursa Major original
Leo with Mars original
 
Qaanol said:
NightCap is amazing, and I am thrilled to have manual control over the shutter speed on my iPhone camera. Sorry to bump a fortnight-old thread, but I wanted to share a few pictures of the sky I took with NightCap. I would post comparison shots taken with other camera apps, but they are completely black so there’s no point in doing so.

These pictures are all scaled down to 25%, though if you click them they’ll open at 100%. I am posting the results of enhancing the NightCap pictures with PhotoForge2 to make the stars brighter (increase exposure, unsharp mask, etc.). I will also link the non-enhanced versions. It is a testament to the quality of the iPhone light sensor, and the NightCap program, that there is enough detail in the original images for these enhancements to be possible.

[url=http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6765174/files/images/stars/quarter/orionenhancedquarter.jpg]Image[/url]
Orion

[url=http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6765174/files/images/stars/quarter/ursamajorenhancedquarter.jpg]Image[/url]
Ursa Major

[url=http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6765174/files/images/stars/quarter/leomarsenhancedquarter.jpg]Image[/url]
Leo with Mars

Orion original
Ursa Major original
Leo with Mars original
Click to expand...

Great stuff. I'm quite into astronomy so I love to see it used like this. I've also captured orion a few times, and I've even tried strapping my iPhone to the back of a telescope. It's possible to photograph the orion nebula itself this way! I won't post my photos up as they're pretty poor, but I put that down to 2 things:

1. It's a very small, budget (as in <$50 total!) telescope. With a bigger aperture and better optics the view should be pretty good.
2. Without a proper mount for the iPhone (you can buy iPhone to telescope adaptors) it's near impossible to get a decent shot. It took me around 30 minutes of messing about before I managed to get a photo of anything at all.

My other app 'true nightvision' is very useful for photographing stars btw. It's not so good for the actual photos (it only shoots 1280x720), but it's idea as a preview because it basically shows you the 1s exposure from nightcap plus exposure adjustment, but with a live view. You can see what you'll get from NightCap after enhancement. I'll PM you a code for that. (Ah, or maybe not - your account is too new and you can't use private messages yet. Drop me an email - chris (at) interealtime.com.
 
Thanks for the True NightVision code, that app is indeed quite useful for seeing where the phone is pointed at night.

I just tried my hand at combining multiple images. Here’s the result of 32 NightCap 1-second exposure shots aligned and stacked in the free Mac program ImageFuser, then enhanced with the GIMP:

orion.png

Orion (2448×3264)​
 
Qaanol said:
Thanks for the True NightVision code, that app is indeed quite useful for seeing where the phone is pointed at night.

I just tried my hand at combining multiple images. Here’s the result of 32 NightCap 1-second exposure shots aligned and stacked in the free Mac program ImageFuser, then enhanced with the GIMP:

orion.png

Orion (2448×3264)​
Click to expand...

Great stuff, you captured quite a lot of stars in that one! Plus there's a hint of nebula in the sword! That's pretty amazing going for an unaided phone :)
 
Tompettyphoto said:
Hi, and when is the next ugrade expected to be in the app store for download? (approx?)
G
Click to expand...

Hopefully, a couple of weeks. The bulk of the development is done, there's just some work on the photo review feature and plenty of testing to do. After that it's down to how long apple take to approve it, which is generally a week but could be much longer if they don't like something (I'm not expecting them to object to anything, but then I haven't expected it when they've randomly objected to some minor issue in the past either).

It's turned out to be a pretty major update by the way. I've built a completely new focus + exposure control system, and reaction from the testers so far has been extremely positive :)
 
psonice said:
Hopefully, a couple of weeks. The bulk of the development is done, there's just some work on the photo review feature and plenty of testing to do. After that it's down to how long apple take to approve it, which is generally a week but could be much longer if they don't like something (I'm not expecting them to object to anything, but then I haven't expected it when they've randomly objected to some minor issue in the past either).

It's turned out to be a pretty major update by the way. I've built a completely new focus + exposure control system, and reaction from the testers so far has been extremely positive :)
Click to expand...
I very much look forward to the new version and hope it gets approved quickly. Will it include an option to use True NightVision style enhancement and zoom in the onscreen preview (not for saving the pictures, but just for lining up the shot)? If so, then combined with exposure lock it ought to get better previews than True NightVision, and not having to press a physical button to switch between apps means the camera’s line of sight won’t get pushed around. If not, I’d like to request that for version 2.1.

Here’s my latest picture, taken with a cheap $10 telephoto lens (8× by my measurements, even though the packaging said 6×). Once again merging 32 NightCap 1-second exposures with ImageFuser then enhancing with Gimp. My Gimp enhancement technique involves making several copies of the base image in separate layers, then adjusting the Levels until a given region of the picture looks good. Masking each layer to its own region then merging them down makes it so every part of the picture gets enhanced appropriately.

orionbeltsword.png


Even with only this moderate zoom, stars are resolved that I don’t know what they’re called because SkySafari 3 doesn’t list them (and of all the star chart apps I’ve tried—Star Walk, Star Chart, SkyView Free, Stellarium—SkySafari has the largest catalog and the best interface.) Well, the pro version of SkySafari probably lists them, but that costs a lot more.
 
psonice said:
Hopefully, a couple of weeks. The bulk of the development is done, there's just some work on the photo review feature and plenty of testing to do. After that it's down to how long apple take to approve it, which is generally a week but could be much longer if they don't like something (I'm not expecting them to object to anything, but then I haven't expected it when they've randomly objected to some minor issue in the past either).

It's turned out to be a pretty major update by the way. I've built a completely new focus + exposure control system, and reaction from the testers so far has been extremely positive :)
Click to expand...

great! will it be free for people that already own the app?
 
Qaanol said:
I very much look forward to the new version and hope it gets approved quickly. Will it include an option to use True NightVision style enhancement and zoom in the onscreen preview (not for saving the pictures, but just for lining up the shot)? If so, then combined with exposure lock it ought to get better previews than True NightVision, and not having to press a physical button to switch between apps means the camera’s line of sight won’t get pushed around. If not, I’d like to request that for version 2.1.
Click to expand...

No software enhancement in this version. It's something I might add later though, depending on what feedback on NightCap 2 is like.

Here’s my latest picture, taken with a cheap $10 telephoto lens (8× by my measurements, even though the packaging said 6×). Once again merging 32 NightCap 1-second exposures with ImageFuser then enhancing with Gimp. My Gimp enhancement technique involves making several copies of the base image in separate layers, then adjusting the Levels until a given region of the picture looks good. Masking each layer to its own region then merging them down makes it so every part of the picture gets enhanced appropriately.

orionbeltsword.png


Even with only this moderate zoom, stars are resolved that I don’t know what they’re called because SkySafari 3 doesn’t list them (and of all the star chart apps I’ve tried—Star Walk, Star Chart, SkyView Free, Stellarium—SkySafari has the largest catalog and the best interface.) Well, the pro version of SkySafari probably lists them, but that costs a lot more.
Click to expand...

Now that's seriously good! The nebula is visible, but I'm most impressed by the number of stars you've managed to catch there!

I have skysafari 3 plus and starmap pro - both show all the stars there I think, after a quick look. Actually I thought at first that you'd got this wrong - sometimes it's possible to get the processing just slightly wrong, and instead of removing the noise you end up removing most and leaving a few dots that look like stars. That seemed a lot more likely than catching so many with an iPhone, so I had to check, and nope they're stars! :)

Tompettyphoto said:
great! will it be free for people that already own the app?
Click to expand...

Yes, it'll be a free update. I get pretty angry when I've paid for an app and then I'm asked for more money for an update a few months later, so I'm not charging for updates to my own apps ;) I really hate apps that're free then try to charge you for silly stuff too. Like that pinball game that was free, but you had to pay if you wanted more than one ball. Devs have to make money, but making people angry seems like the wrong way to do it ;)
 
psonice said:
Yes, it'll be a free update. I get pretty angry when I've paid for an app and then I'm asked for more money for an update a few months later, so I'm not charging for updates to my own apps ;) I really hate apps that're free then try to charge you for silly stuff too. Like that pinball game that was free, but you had to pay if you wanted more than one ball. Devs have to make money, but making people angry seems like the wrong way to do it ;)
Click to expand...

Awesome! I am looking forward to download the update!!!

Cheers,

G
 
psonice said:
Hopefully, a couple of weeks. The bulk of the development is done, there's just some work on the photo review feature and plenty of testing to do. After that it's down to how long apple take to approve it, which is generally a week but could be much longer if they don't like something (I'm not expecting them to object to anything, but then I haven't expected it when they've randomly objected to some minor issue in the past either).

It's turned out to be a pretty major update by the way. I've built a completely new focus + exposure control system, and reaction from the testers so far has been extremely positive :)
Click to expand...

This sounds like perfect up I will download it tomorrow and I will let you know
 
Tompettyphoto said:
hi psonice, any news on the update of nightcap?
@.@ me photographer luvs yer app n want the upgrade uga-uga
Click to expand...

Current news: it's in apple's review queue, so I guess it should (assuming they don't reject it - no reason why they should) be available sometime this week.

I'll post a few screenshots in the next few days, but here's a rough overview of what made it into 2.0:

  • A whole new focus + exposure + whitebalance control system. You can now individually lock exposure, focus and white balance. And it's a *very* efficient setup - very intuitive, and it performs very well. I've not seen this setup in any other app - most seem to go for the horrible "drag triangle to set focus, drag square to set exposure" which is frankly awful in comparison :)
  • Whole new UI, still kept clean and simple but polished up plenty.
  • Self-timer. Selection of 1,3,5,10 second timers.
  • On-screen exposure + ISO display.
  • Much improved support for EXIF, including geo-tagging.
  • Grid overlay to aid composition
  • Improved photo review screen (you can now swipe to see previous photos).

With the new focus/exposure controls, it's now an app that my testers are telling me is seriously good in daylight too - if that continues to be the feedback I get, it'll get a name change to something more suitable in the next update.

Oh yeah, one other feature... almost. Volume shutter control is there. But disabled. Sorry :) Reason is that I've seen other apps being rejected by apple still for using this feature -even though others are approved. I don't want to delay nightcap 2 by a month because of that, so it's disabled. As soon as 2.0 goes live I'll submit 2.1 with it enabled. Annoying, but best for everyone.
 
psonice said:
Current news: it's in apple's review queue, so I guess it should (assuming they don't reject it - no reason why they should) be available sometime this week.

I'll post a few screenshots in the next few days, but here's a rough overview of what made it into 2.0:

  • A whole new focus + exposure + whitebalance control system. You can now individually lock exposure, focus and white balance. And it's a *very* efficient setup - very intuitive, and it performs very well. I've not seen this setup in any other app - most seem to go for the horrible "drag triangle to set focus, drag square to set exposure" which is frankly awful in comparison :)
  • Whole new UI, still kept clean and simple but polished up plenty.
  • Self-timer. Selection of 1,3,5,10 second timers.
  • On-screen exposure + ISO display.
  • Much improved support for EXIF, including geo-tagging.
  • Grid overlay to aid composition
  • Improved photo review screen (you can now swipe to see previous photos).

With the new focus/exposure controls, it's now an app that my testers are telling me is seriously good in daylight too - if that continues to be the feedback I get, it'll get a name change to something more suitable in the next update.

Oh yeah, one other feature... almost. Volume shutter control is there. But disabled. Sorry :) Reason is that I've seen other apps being rejected by apple still for using this feature -even though others are approved. I don't want to delay nightcap 2 by a month because of that, so it's disabled. As soon as 2.0 goes live I'll submit 2.1 with it enabled. Annoying, but best for everyone.
Click to expand...
Awesome, I look forward to it. The volume trigger in 2.1 will be great for taking pictures without the possibility of moving the camera (yay headphones!).

Any chance of introducing a feature to automatically take N consecutive pictures and average them pixel-wise (simple stacking), saving the final result to the camera roll? You know, the way all those other apps pretend to do long exposure, only this is for noise-reduction purposes.
 
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NightCap 2.0:

nightcap2.jpg


On there you can see the new on-screen exposure / ISO display, the red button is the shutter button (it's on timer mode), and you can see the focus / exposure / white balance lock buttons.

The way it works is simple. No "tap to focus", or targets to drag around to set the various focus/exposure targets. You just point the little square in the middle at whatever you want to focus on. Normally it's coloured - green for focused, red while it's refocusing. Once it's locked you tap the focus lock button and it's fixed. Same for exposure and white balance, but because they're separated you can set exposure for a different part of the image quickly and easily.

In that shot, I'd set the focus over the trees, the exposure over the moon, and the white balance on a building behind me because auto whitebalance tends to kill the colours in a sunset, making the sunset pale yellow instead of orange or red. All very quick and easy to do :)

That's the Moon/Venus/Jupiter conjunction by the way, taken last night. The moon is the brightest one, Jupiter is 2nd brightest (higher up), Venus is slightly to the left of the moon.

Qaanol said:
Awesome, I look forward to it. The volume trigger in 2.1 will be great for taking pictures without the possibility of moving the camera (yay headphones!).
Click to expand...

Setting the timer to 1 second will do the same job with only minor inconvenience in 2.0. But yep, headphones for instant shutter in 2.1 :)

Any chance of introducing a feature to automatically take N consecutive pictures and average them pixel-wise (simple stacking), saving the final result to the camera roll? You know, the way all those other apps pretend to do long exposure, only this is for noise-reduction purposes.
Click to expand...

This is something I'm considering, but I'm not sure yet. I'm thinking that while the camera is doing 1s exposures, it should be possible to take 1 photo per second. I have a very, very fast image processing engine that would handle averaging at 8 megapixels with ease (it'd probably handle 20fps+!). I'd have to test this out but if it worked out it could be a very interesting feature. It'd certainly be possible to add more image correction features too, for built-in lightening / exposure adjustment / whatever.

First I need to get the free / lite version of nightcap done (did I mention that? It'll be limited to 640x480 and will have ads, but it should be a good way to try nightcap out for free). Then I need to finish an update for Camera Boost (iPad camera app - I'm adding full iPad 3 support. That's where my fast image processing video comes from, it's doing realtime effects + enhancement at the full screen res - 3.1 megapixels at 20fps :D). Then I'll come back to NightCap.
 
psonice said:
The way it works is simple. No "tap to focus", or targets to drag around to set the various focus/exposure targets. You just point the little square in the middle at whatever you want to focus on. Normally it's coloured - green for focused, red while it's refocusing. Once it's locked you tap the focus lock button and it's fixed. Same for exposure and white balance, but because they're separated you can set exposure for a different part of the image quickly and easily.
Click to expand...
Oh, interesting. I can see how this could be useful, but it can also be extremely inconvenient.

Notably, if I want to take several pictures with the phone on a tripod, and I want the shots to be at different exposure levels, with different focus points, and different white balances, without moving the camera between pictures, I don’t see how that will be possible with your system. And I often do take such bracketed sets for various purposes, including HDR post-processing.

I’d really like an option for either the standard “drag boxes to set exposure/focus/white balance” functionality, or another method that I have in mind, which I will tell you about in an email.

Edit: With your interface there having a separate button to lock each of the three camera settings, you could provide a single box for the user to drag around. Whichever ones of the three settings are unlocked, those get adjusted for wherever the user places that single box. I think that would provide the optimal mix of simplicity and functionality for me.
 
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Qaanol said:
Oh, interesting. I can see how this could be useful, but it can also be extremely inconvenient.

Notably, if I want to take several pictures with the phone on a tripod, and I want the shots to be at different exposure levels, with different focus points, and different white balances, without moving the camera between pictures, I don’t see how that will be possible with your system. And I often do take such bracketed sets for various purposes, including HDR post-processing.

I’d really like an option for either the standard “drag boxes to set exposure/focus/white balance” functionality, or another method that I have in mind, which I will tell you about in an email.

Edit: With your interface there having a separate button to lock each of the three camera settings, you could provide a single box for the user to drag around. Whichever ones of the three settings are unlocked, those get adjusted for wherever the user places that single box. I think that would provide the optimal mix of simplicity and functionality for me.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is something I've been considering. NightCap one had the standard 'tap to focus and expose' feature, allowing you to set the exposure + focus together quite quickly. V2.0 has much more flexible (and intuitive I'd say) control.

But there could be cases where you need that extra flexibility too. Well, I figured I'd see if people asked for the movement before adding it. No point in making it too complex if people don't use it. But now that you've asked, I'll get it added back in :)
 
It would be nice if you could combine the focus/exp/AWB lock functionality with the ability to move the targets to different points on the display if desired. If you had all three targets start in the center (like other apps do with foc/exp), the user could still point to any object (including outside the final frame), and lock any of the parameters, leaving all targets in the center. This is the functionality you provide in v2.0. But, you could still allow the user to move the targets away from screen center to allow real-time foc/exp/AWB calculation, or lock any or all of these parameters. I especially like the ability to lock these parameters

One problem is "what do you do with the target on the screen after you've locked the parameter?" If you lock and leave the target on the screen, and then shift the camera to a different subject, the remaining target will no longer be on the object that you locked on. Maybe one solution is to make the target disappear after you've locked the parameter, as it might no longer be in the right location.

But, I already like the functionality you provide (ability to lock) better than moving foc/exp targets and letting them remain active.

Oh, and increased exp. time is great, too -- can't forget that!

Regards,
Tom
 
TJ61 said:
It would be nice if you could combine the focus/exp/AWB lock functionality with the ability to move the targets to different points on the display if desired. If you had all three targets start in the center (like other apps do with foc/exp), the user could still point to any object (including outside the final frame), and lock any of the parameters, leaving all targets in the center. This is the functionality you provide in v2.0. But, you could still allow the user to move the targets away from screen center to allow real-time foc/exp/AWB calculation, or lock any or all of these parameters. I especially like the ability to lock these parameters
Click to expand...

There's only a single target here - this is the real improvement. Instead of trying to drag multiple targets around and cluttering the screen up, you just point the camera at something and lock the focus or exposure. Move it somewhere else, lock something else. It's much easier to use. The target is also fixed in the centre, although I'll add the ability to move it in the next update (it's not really necessary for normal use, but if you're trying to use it on a tripod it helps a whole lot as Qaanol suggested). If you think of a standard point and shoot, you just aim the camera at what you want exposed and press the button half-way to lock exposure + focus. This is similar, but you gives you control over exactly what gets locked.

When the target is movable, it will be just as easy - you'll be able to tap on one thing, lock focus, tap on another, lock exposure.

Oh, and white balance: it seems there's no way to target that. I think the camera firmware is analysing the whole scene. It can still be locked though - it's good for sunsets, point the camera at grass or something white, lock WB, move back to the sunset... and you get all the reds and golds back :)

One problem is "what do you do with the target on the screen after you've locked the parameter?" If you lock and leave the target on the screen, and then shift the camera to a different subject, the remaining target will no longer be on the object that you locked on. Maybe one solution is to make the target disappear after you've locked the parameter, as it might no longer be in the right location.
Click to expand...

With just the one target it's not really an issue. If you've locked something, then that stays locked, if not it'll continue to adjust based on what's under the target. So you can point at a person on the right, wait for focus (target turns green), lock focus (target turns white because focus is no longer active), then point at something on the left and lock exposure. Return to the middle and shoot away.

But, I already like the functionality you provide (ability to lock) better than moving foc/exp targets and letting them remain active.
Click to expand...

Some apps do let you set the targets separately and lock them. Problem is, it's so incredibly clunky (especially on a small iPhone screen) that it's really hard to use, and pretty much useless if you're in a hurry.

Oh, and increased exp. time is great, too -- can't forget that!

Regards,
Tom
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the feedback :)
 
psonice said:
There's only a single target here - this is the real improvement.
Click to expand...

Yes, I did understand that, and I agree that this is an improvement all by itself.

I didn't make myself very clear, but I was commenting on the idea of re-introducing the movable targets as Qaanol brought up, and how you might implement that. Specifically, I was trying to describe a way that you might combine both options.

And, re:AWB -- you're right, that doesn't deserve a "target" as it's a function of the entire frame! Oops.

Can't wait to try out v2.0!

Regards,
Tom
 
I recently discovered iStopMotion and would love to take a timeline of the night sky but struggling to show anything at all. Those pictures posted before look much better. Now just need to combine all these capabilities! hehe
 
TJ61 said:
I didn't make myself very clear, but I was commenting on the idea of re-introducing the movable targets as Qaanol brought up, and how you might implement that. Specifically, I was trying to describe a way that you might combine both options.
Click to expand...

Ok, I'm with you now! Moving the target will be pretty simple - you'll just drag that target around the screen (or tap where you want it to go). If you lock parameters it doesn't need to disappear, because (unless you've locked everything) it's generally still active. If you lock everything it'll still indicate where it's targeting next time you unlock something, so it's still useful to have on-screen.

Picoman said:
I recently discovered iStopMotion and would love to take a timeline of the night sky but struggling to show anything at all. Those pictures posted before look much better. Now just need to combine all these capabilities! hehe
Click to expand...

Timelapse is something that's on the list - not sure yet if or when it'll be added, so no promises, but it's been requested a few times and I think it would be pretty cool (especially for sunset / night use).
 
Well, now that the feature request flood gates are opening....

Have you considered adding various flash capabilities to the long exposure time? Seems like you could easily go way beyond the capabilities of a decent point-n-shoot in this respect, if the iOS allows. I'm thinking slow-sync flash with a choice of when the flash fires, as demonstrated here. Or, multiple flashes throughout a single exposure to get a strobe flash effect/multi-exposure effect.

I'd also give a "me too" to the request for timelapse; would it be possible to combine the frames into a movie? I guess the photos would have to be lower res, and the framerate would have to be set very low. That seems like a tall order. But, I find the less you know about iOS, the easier it is to come up with "great" ideas!

Regards,
Tom
 
TJ61 said:
Well, now that the feature request flood gates are opening....

Have you considered adding various flash capabilities to the long exposure time? Seems like you could easily go way beyond the capabilities of a decent point-n-shoot in this respect, if the iOS allows. I'm thinking slow-sync flash with a choice of when the flash fires, as demonstrated here. Or, multiple flashes throughout a single exposure to get a strobe flash effect/multi-exposure effect.
Click to expand...

Yes I have - and I've experimented quite a bit too. Short answer: it's *very* hard to get anything good. When the regular flash is activated iOS overrides any manual controls and exposure locks, so that's definitely out. I also tried strobing the flash during exposure but got pretty poor results. I abandoned the idea at that point because there were more important features to add first, but I might come back to it for another go.

I'd also give a "me too" to the request for timelapse; would it be possible to combine the frames into a movie? I guess the photos would have to be lower res, and the framerate would have to be set very low. That seems like a tall order. But, I find the less you know about iOS, the easier it is to come up with "great" ideas!
Click to expand...

Haha, I see some classic ideas suggested from people with really no clue at all :D But these are good suggestions, don't worry :) There are 2 ways to do time-lapse. The first (and easiest) is just to take a series of photos and save them - you can create a video with some other app later at very high res.

The other way is to save out a video. This isn't really an issue for me, I've written a very high end image + video processing engine that would handle this easily. Only question is what res to support. HD (720p on iPhone 4, 1080 on 4S) certainly isn't a problem, but maybe higher is possible? I don't see why the video encoder can't write out video at the camera's native res, unless there's some hardware or software limit. The catch: You couldn't play that back on the device. But it would look amazing! Maybe 1080p makes more sense though, few people have a screen larger than that to play it back on.

Anyway, first I have lots to do: NightCap 2 will hopefully be live *very* soon, the free version is done and ready to be submitted over the weekend, and then I have to get NightCap 2.1 uploaded with a few fixes and volume + support. Then Camera Boost 3 for the iPad. After that my schedule is clear, but I'll have to see if anything more important comes up in the next few weeks.
 
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