Hi,
I am using Topaz Video AI to upscale my old DVD & BluRay Music Concerts to 8K video!
After a year of testing with Topaz, I believe I have finally achieved something truly mind blowing
in quality and detail!
Upscaling to 8K also seems to stop all the weird facial distortions that I was getting with Topaz when olny upscaling to 4K.
Microsoft Edge (version 117), the latest update, broke the AV1 codec which is needed to play 8K videos on YouTube. Microsoft is currently investigating this.
So, right now you will need to use the Chrome Browser to get the 8K resolution option to show in the Resolution Setting. Otherwise, you can play it in 4K and still get an idea of how amazing Topaz is in upscaling very low quality video to 8K!
This 8K Remaster is not a final version, I am just still practicing to find the best settings for Topaz and Adobe.
I did use the Topaz Motion Deblur setting in this video, which made her face look a little cartoony.
I am no longer using Motion Deblur in my future videos.
I would appreciate any feedback anyone is willing to give on any improvements I could make to my Remaster.
Such as… brightness, saturation and sharpness.
Thanks so much guys!
And thanks to Topaz for finally allowing me to achieve my dreams!
looking at you Original video. I would try to Nyx the video at same resolution, then use Gaia HQ to upscale to 4K
another flow I would try after the Nyx, use Dione DV or Dione TV Upscale to 4K (i have a feeling Dione TV would work better).
if you like you can try playing with the deblur settings when you Nyx it to make it sharper. Unlike the Motion deblur, it does it in a more conservative way.
Thanks for the advice!
I created this before the Nyx model was added.
I will definitely test the Nyx model now!
I believe this Bluray is progressive, so I did not need to deinterlace it. I do normally use the Dione TV for my DVD’s and interlaced Blurays.
Thank you for including the settings screenshot, also!
You have to be careful when Upscaling. Most models tend to just “make stuff up” when going beyond 2x upscale. I’ve never been convinced that Proteus was good for much of anything except used lightly to dehalo or deblock. When I first started using TVAI, all the videos I made that made me go “wow” now just look like an unrealistic mess. Not trying to crap on your work but that upscale looks very unrealistic to me, everything is too bold and shiny which is the problem with Proteus. Before Nyx and Iris, the only tuneable models were Theia but they never seemed to do enough.
Nyx is good but it only works at 1x which is probably why Akila suggested it as a first step since it is adjustable but from what I’ve seen so far it’s alot more realistic than Proteus. Gaia is a good model but it takes alot more GPU than most other models to run. I’ve never done 4k to 8k (I don’t see purpose above 4k) but going above 2x on lower res input videos with Gaia tends to “make up” alot of stuff that’s not there. Gaia is great at pulling out detail at upto 2x, I generally use it for 720p to 1080p upscales.
At the moment I’m really fond of Iris, especially since it has a de-interlacing mode. The problem I ran into with DVDs is a crazy halo effect using Dione DDV and Dione Dehalo was way too overboard at dehaloing. Iris works great with interlaced and progressive DVDs and 4x generally still holds up well. Iris is now my favorite model but it’s really not meant for Higher quality inputs. Nyx is probably better for cleaning up 1080p with compression issues and stuff like that.
Artimus HQ is generally pretty good at not going crazy with HD inputs, MQ and LQ are practically worthless. Not sure how well Artimus HQ does 4k-8k but it’s worth a try for a single process. If you really need to output 8k, then Akila’s suggestion is probably good but I’d think it would take a while. If you just wanted to make 4k look better, Nyx , Gaia or Artimus HQ are probably your best bets.
I do have an 8K television is why I am upscaling to 8K now!
I did also use a LUT in Adobe Premiere that caused a lot of the over shine and exaggerated colors. I am not going to use that LUT anymore.
I think it was the Motion Deblur setting that made things look so unrealistic, cuz they look normal when I turn it off.
I have tried IRIS in deinterlacing my DVD’s and sometimes it makes the eyes look, hard to explain, but like they have interlaced lines in them. So I stopped using it.
I will definitely try the NYX and play around with IRIS and some of the other settings you mention.
I appreciate so much your advice!
Well again, you have to be careful with any model running above 2x as the detail doesn’t actually exist so either the model makes stuff up or it falls flat. I do notice exaggerated eyes in Iris but this generally occurs when it switches to the 4x model. FYI you don’t actually have to upscale to 4x the input resolution for the 4x model to kick in, it used to kick in @ 250% which I think is still the case.
That said, upscaling a 16:9 DVD (720x404 I think) to 1080P generally looks great with Iris with minor exaggerated features sometimes and that is the 4x model. You cannot go crazy with the sliders on the adjustable models other than Thiea, you’ll get odd results.
Before Iris, I had 2 recipes for DVDs, I always double the framerate through deinterlacing if it was interlaced or interpolation if it was progressive. Sometimes I used Dione DDV @ original res followed by Proteus to either 1080P or 960P. Other times I used YADIF in 2x mode in an external program to deinterlace followed by Gaia @ original res, followed by Proteus to clean up. All that’s replaced by 1 Iris pass. Sometimes I intentionally go higher on the output res I want just to get the 4x model to kick in if the 2x model isn’t doing enough. If 2x is good it’s great cuz Iris 2x res is really fast and framerate doubling on interlaced DVDs is free so no need to run interpolation.
As long as Iris doesn’t get weird @4x, the only thing I noticed is that it tends to dehalo a bit much even when the slider is down but it’s not inconsistent like Dione Dehalo. Sometimes I just add a bit of contrast back in outside of Topaz to counteract the dehalo effect.
I did not know that abut the 4x an and IRIS. I will have to test this.
I was originally deinterlacing at the original 480 resolution, but then it would get all the distortions in faces and eyes. And like mouths breaking in half and stuff, lol
So then I found that if I deinterlace from 480 to 8K, it no longer has these distortions. Not sure why.
I used to deinterlace at 480 and then run it thru Adobe Premiere at 480 and then put it back thru Topaz to 4K or 8K and that seemed to not have the distortions. So maybe I will try that recipe again with IRIS to see if it is better with the eyes.
not bad! but the effect is quite plastic anyway, I have never yet worked with 1080p at 4k or 8k, but given that 1080p already has a lot of details, I think you could do much better (I think it’s harder to go from sd to hd) because in sd there really isn’t much basic detail. for motion deblur it does a good job in general but on my sd sequences there are sometimes strange artifacts so I stopped using it. Gaia is great even with SD resolution as long as there are no more artifacts and too much noise. I noticed that by using it after iris, it restores the details quite a bit and it gives the video a less “plastic” effect. I think that for your 1080p source I will use nyx in x1, iris up to 4k and gaia up to 8k. and use gaia from 4k to 8k, you will definitely have to be patient I think
That sounds interesting!
I will definitly try it out!
It does take time. I have a 4090 and it takes about 2-3 hours to run a 5 minute 480 or 1080 video to 8K.
If I run it at a lower res it takes about 30min to an hour.
So I don’t mind and will give it a try.
Thanks!
480 to 8k? That is asking way too much to be honest. I’m sometimes amazed at what Topaz can do, but you shouldn’t even bother trying to do that IMO. I’d like to see someone disagree with me that beyond 4x resolution there is 0 to gain, other than a big filesize.
I agree with most of that but I don’t think Gaia really does much of anything as a 2nd process that can’t be done on the first. Gaia works on original detail, once it’s gone Gaia has nothing to work with. I used Gaia on SD alot too, but Gaia does not handle large compression artifacts well, they turn into noise. That’s why I used to run Proteus to clean up gaia but that whipes out some of Gaia’s detail too. Iris seems to offer much of what gaia did without the fakeness of Proteus.
I have an 8K tv so I am just wishing it to look the best for my tv!
I do think it looks way better than 4K or lower looks on my tv.
I will have to upload what it looks like before I run it through Adobe Premiere.
Premiere is what made it look so fake and plasticy.
It will take me some time but I will let you know when I have something uploaded for you to see and hopefully you will be impressed!
you can use Dione AI also on progressive videos.
I use them all the time
it is less aggressive then Proteus and retains much more details. the problem is that Gaia meant for higher quality input. once you clean it with Nyx, it might meet the quality threshold. I started using this method on my older Video 8 Videos and it seems to generate very good results.
I always wonder why in these discussions somebody doesn’t just upload a short sample clip and anyone who thinks they can do it better can just prove their results.
Leo7onFire, why don’t you just post a short sample clip of what your trying to do? Work your magic on it and maybe someone else in here will take a crack at it too.
but the effect is quite plastic anyway, I have never yet worked with 1080p at 4k or 8k, but given that 1080p already has a lot of details, I think you could do much better (I think it’s harder to go from sd to hd) because in sd there really isn’t much basic detail. for motion deblur it does a good job in general but on my sd sequences there are sometimes strange artifacts so I stopped using it. Gaia is great even with SD resolution as long as there are no more artifacts and too much noise. I noticed that by using it after iris, it restores the details quite a bit and it gives the video a less “plastic” effect. I think that for your 1080p source I will use nyx in x1, iris up to 4k and gaia up to 8k. and use gaia from 4k to 8k, you will definitely have to be patient I think
