Today we’re very excited to release the first alpha for Video AI 5.4
5.4.0.8.a.mpv.hyp
Windows
macOS - Coming soon, current release is Windows-only.
Please let us know any problems / bugs you run into !
This release includes two major updates focused on output quality and app performance:
1. All-new, GPU-accelerated video player
Video AI 5.4 uses an mpv-based video player that unlocks incredible improvements to playback performance. Scrub through highly-compressed input videos, or massive uncompressed media with near-instant responsiveness. This new player also supports HDR displays and audio playback! The old live preview with “Render” button is also brought back.
Playback on 8k video with old player:
Playback on 8k video with new player:
Known issues:
Video fps across inputs sometimes inherits incorrect fps value from other inputs.
Dragging the comparison bar in Split View during playback could have a lagging visual effect.
HDR videos on SDR displays are NOT tonemapped and may look over-exposed.
2. Hyperion SDR-to-HDR Alpha #6
This alpha brings the ability to perform comparisons with HDR output videos on supported displays for the first time. This greatly improves the experience when working with Hyperion. The model itself has been updated for further color accuracy improvements – we believe this is our most color-accurate model yet.
Changelog from 5.4.0.7.a → 5.4.0.8.a
Fixed overbright display of HDR previews on SDR displays. (Tone-mapping still subject to improvement for SDR displays).
Fixed issue where toggling full-screen will position player incorrectly in some conditions.
Changelog from 5.4.0.6.a → 5.4.0.7.a
Fixed issue where changing input setting will seek the video back to beginning.
Fixed bug where turning on Live Render causes exports to use PNG format.
Fixed issue where timeline duration is not updated when changing input FPS for image sequence inputs.
Fixed issue loading image sequence starting from non-zero frame.
Question about the highlight threshold slider - does it reset to default/auto selected value each time you enable SDR to HDR? Or is it ‘sticky’ from the last value it was set at?
Maximizing or resizing the TVAI window is faulty, and there are situations where the program window’s header (bar) becomes inaccessible (goes off-screen).
I think I might be doing something wrong, but shouldn’t the final product of the SDR->HDR transformation be a video file? Otherwise, I’m getting a directory with PNG frames…"
Interesting approach for preview playback - it is faster now and more robust!
This alpha has a regression bug though - doesn’t seem to apply frame interpolation like stable version (fixed in 5.3.5).
Yes, in Live Render the frames are being created as PNG files, which is killing performance, I believe. Previously, there were little MP4 chunks of data, although of insufficient quality - is it possible to reenable this kind of temp files creation but with decent AVC encoding parameters? These don’t need to be crazy good, just ‘medium’ preset should so the trick.
Brothers, I get that this is an alpha version, but even so… Whatever I choose for export, the result is always the same… A massive file of hundreds of gigs, appearing as “PNG” encoded, and that’s if I select “export as.” If I go for “quick export,” it gives me a folder full of PNG frames. If it’s supposed to behave like this at this stage of development, shouldn’t you, Topaz team, let us know?
I hope that the new player has been validated for color accuracy for each of BT.601, 709, BT2xxx and RGB sources & outputs. MPV is generally one of the better players for color accuracy, but there’s still a lot of FFmpeg & SDL2 buried deep down in MPV - both of which are famous for having colorspace and colorspace conversion challenges. MPV and it’s library libplacebo are a good choice, but please do test the color accuracy.
Please do ensure in release QC/QA that the player renders the correct colors for appropriate color models, before and after upscale - testing the playback rendering with the O/S level RGB/sRGB “Color Picker” and a premium color calibration device such as a Calibrite Plus/Pro, which are basically the same cost as a single Topaz TVAI license.
The integral player needs to be considered a reference player with regard to color accuracy of the source and the output - and should be verified with an external calibration unit as part of QC & regression test.
Don’t forget to share any improvements and optimizations back up to the MVP open source community. They are GoodPeople™ over at MPV…
Hello Geekoo! There’s a new version of alpha 5.4.0.7.a with fixes for the issue where exports initiated while Live Render is turned on are using PNG formats. Let us know if it fixes the issue you are facing! Thank you for the help on alpha testing!
Fixed bug where turning on Live Render causes exports to use PNG format. - VEAI 5.4.0.7a seems to still create PNG files while using this option, therefore, the playback never happens. I’m using H.265 HEVC ‘constant’ for the codec settings.
Hi mikmod1, yes there’s one more fix going into 5.4.0.7.a right now with the same download link but a new MSI file, building right now and will be available soon. Live render and the old button-generated live previews should be able to play in the new build, still with PNG files for now. “Render” button generates temp PNG files but will remove them when process finishes and replace with a final preview file with same format as your export settings.
We are looking into using other formats for Live Render rather than PNG and will update any information as soon as possible!
Thank you! Would it be possible to use small AVC MP4 chunks of already compressed video to save on space? Single PNG file at 1080p seems to be over 11MB, and the rendered playback currently doesn’t even occur in the end in Live Render mode.
Would AVIF or WebP format help?
I use HDD for TEMP folder, to save my OS SSD from the torment. That could also introduce some lag, but not this much.
Yes, eventually we want Live render to consume less memory. We are looking into output formats that are more ideal while keeping the experience of Live render.
Outputting to h265, I got a 4:2:0 colorspace once, but still no HDR.
