TPE Web 4.0 Launches Today with Shot Alignment and Celestial Target Planning

We’re pleased to announce that TPE Web 4.0 launches today, 2 July.

4.0 is a huge upgrade packed with new features and new technologies. We’ve modernised pretty much everything in the app, with new map technology and a variety of dynamic map overlays. And we’ve extended the capabilities of TPE to cater to astrophotographers, nightscapers and deepscapers with an in-depth celestial target catalogue, annual and monthly local visibility calendars, and an exciting new 3D virtual viewfinder to help you compose your shots in advance.

New Features for Landscape, Astro and Nightscape Planning

Every subscription level – Free, Supporter, PRO – has access to numerous new features in 4.0.

Free and Supporter Plans

• 3D Buildings Layer
• Elevation and Aspect Map Overlays
• Dynamic Hillshade Layer
• Map Styling Options (greyscale, desaturated, inverted, and more)
• Camera and Lens Gear
• Map-based field-of-view visualisation
• Terrain and Hillshading in the 3D page
• Milky Way position and visualisation
• Access to the Celestial Landmarks target list and visibility calendars for basic night photography planning

PRO

• All the above, plus
• Dynamic map shadows and hillshading
• Slope maps
• Planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
• Planetary opposition and elongation events
• High-resolution 8k Milky Way and Stars in 3D
• Field-of-view-aware 3D Virtual Viewfinder for shot composition
• Look up any celestial target (star, galaxy, DSO, etc.) and check local visibility times and shooting windows
• Access to multiple curated celestial target lists for astrophotography planning
• Additional camera and lens allowance

MAX

With 4.0, we’re also introducing a new top subscription tier, MAX. Existing PRO subscribers have complimentary access to MAX features until 16 July. They include:

• Dynamic solar irradiance map overlay
• Viewshed and Horizon Profile tools to determine what is visible from the primary pin position
• Target Visibility maps: the map shows where a target, e.g., the Moon, is visible, accounting for topography and a user-configurable altitude offset, making it incredibly quick to rule potential shooting locations in or out
• Shot Alignment: when you need to align a celestial target, be it the Sun, the Moon, a planet, or any DSO, with a landmark, the Shot Alignment tool shows all the potential shooting locations that will achieve the alignment
• High-resolution Tiled Milky Way and Stars: sharp up to 600 mm focal length for astrophotography and deepscape planning and visualisation
• Celestial Target Position Windows: specify an azimuth/altitude window through which a celestial target must pass. This is intended for deepscape planning, where a DSO should pass by a landmark to achieve the required true deepscape composition, but it also applies to astrophotography in locations with restricted sky access.

Shot Alignment

Perhaps the single most powerful addition in TPE Web 4.0 is the shot alignment tool. This tool solves the reverse shot alignment problem. Historically, the more advanced planning apps, including TPE, catered to the forward alignment problem: “ if I stand here and point my camera in a given direction, when will the Moon appear behind the landmark? ” That’s fine, but usually you care more about the alignment than the exact shooting location.

TPE Web 4.0’s new shot alignment feature solves the reverse question: “ if I want the Moon (or any of the supported celestial targets) to appear behind this landmark, where can I position the camera during a given time window? ”

As objects such as the Moon change in both altitude and azimuth over time, the alignment position changes quickly on the ground, particularly near rise or set. Shot alignment helps you understand how the set of potential shooting locations evolves over time, so you can build excellent situational awareness ahead of time, and know exactly what your options are in case of the unexpected.

What’s particularly powerful is the speed of the tool. Like all the new dynamic overlays in TPE, the information updates in milliseconds. There’s no need to wait for a long-running analysis to see the results – just drag and drop the map pin, or adjust the time, and everything updates before your eyes. This makes exploration of shot scenarios highly efficient and interactive.

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We hope you enjoy exploring all the new features in TPE Web 4.0. It’s been great fun working on the new version these last few months, and I appreciate all the positive feedback we’ve received during the preview period.

I’d particularly like to thank Rick Whitacre for his invaluable input and guidance in the design of the celestial target and alignment functionality. Rick is an expert deepscape photographer – a demanding combination of astro- and landscape photography techniques – and that expertise has greatly informed the shape of the 4.0 release. So, thanks again, Rick!