Sharpen AI - Save is slow

Topaz Products Product Technical Support
1

Hi All
this is my first post since I am using topaz sharpener. Hope place it in proper category.
Let me say, the more I am using the software the more happy I am. It makes incredible things with the photos. wow

But. Using as plug-in to Lightroom 6.14 (last box version). Raw files about 50mb each converter to 16bit tiff. PC is based on 64-bit Win 10 pro with 16GB RAM and NVIDA GTX 1050 Ti video card and Ryzen 5 3600 6-core CPU. It takes 2-3 min before Topaz save a file. Just one. Really long !
So I was looking what is a bottle neck as CPU looks to operate at max mean 30%.
This is not to apply sharpening mode. This is to save a file. I can see a 3d module on video card operates at 100%, so I believe here is a problem
what card my improve it? let say up to 300EUR / 500 EUR?
or the issue is with some card settings?

Thanks

1 Like
2

If your 3D process is running at 100% then you are using your GPU. that assumes you only have one GPU on your system. If there is another one on the motherboard then you need to set Sharpen AI (and any other AI product) to use the 1050 Ti. Type Graphics into the Windows search bar (lower left) and open Graphics settings. Find the AI program and set to high performance.

If you want higher performance you could go with a Nvidia GTX 1660 Super or if you are willing to go with AMD the RX 5600 XT with 6GB of GDDR6 RAM works well. Processing a 18 Mpx jpg file with saving took 14 seconds with mine. Here is a list of cards (in US dollars) based on performance.

Both AMD and Nvidia are coming out with new cards very soon if you want to wait.

3

Same here. Having issue saving file in Sharpen AI it takes too long to complete. For comparison it is not the case when saving files in Denoise AI which takes fairly acceptable duration to get done.

4

Thanks for reply

think all have set already

heare are some TIFF’s processing time
~50MB file - about 1 minute
~80MB file - about 1:40

Looks graphic card to be changed

5

is there anyone here using GTX 1080 card?
and may share how does it work?

Thanks

6

I don’t think customers should be expected to make an expensive hardware upgrade just to accommodate a new version of the software we use. Hopefully, the Topaz Labs engineers are designing Sharpen AI workarounds that will speed performance for those of us who don’t have the latest, greatest and expensive graphics cards.

1 Like
7

So 1-3 min for a single file save is typical ?
Just trying to get some benchmark

Thanks

8

The update to 2.1.0 has really slowed up processing Topaz AI on my PC.

The base specs are Ryzen 3900, 64GB RAM, NVidia 1080 GTX.

In fact after the initial install it wouldn’t run at first in PS (latest iteration), just crashed the Topaz app, so I think there are some bugs about. I will see if I can install the previous version of AI as the time it takes is no longer acceptable (it flew previously).

1 Like
9

V3.x using < 2% CPU and 5% GPU, Compression on PNG set to 2 (fast), original image 23MB as NEF. Time elapsed 10 minutes and still counting. Killed the process and restarted the application. I am using a mask to limit the sharpening. This time I tried to save as a JPG (10). Time elapsed 20 minutes and still counting. Pretty useless app if you can’t save.

10

When I exited the program and it asked to save it only took a few seconds, strange seems like their save image button does not work. Also tried the “Save As” under File. It did not work either. Annoying to say the least.

11

Sharpen AI 3.1.2 has been trying to save a file for 15 minutes. All processes (CPU, Disk, GPU) are running at 3% or less. Seems to be stuck on Initializing AIEngine. PNG save

12

So you clearly have a problem in your installation because here Sharpen AI 3.1.2 takes just 15.4 seconds to process a 4912 x 3264px TIFF image and save it as a PNG (Using auto settings and motion mode)

I can’t see where you have posted details of your hardware, or what your OS version is. Have you checked whether it meets the minimum requirements?

Is the location of the source file and for the destination file both on local hard drives?
What is the pixel size and the format of the source file, and what are your preference settings?

13

If hardware is running at < 3% it’s not the hardware.
If it works on jpg, but not png, it’s not the install.

Just in case you may be a dev and not a fanboy. Here are the specs that may help you diagnose the issue.

Windows 10 64, RAM 16GB, AMD 6-core, GeForce GTX 1660 Super
Out of Focus, very blurry, mask used, default setting 33,22, 0

14

Draw your own conclusions from the linked video - 4912 x 3264 px TIFF with masking, using your settings and saving as PNG.

https://we.tl/t-QFHvfBrz1H

i7-10700 10 Gen CPU, 32GB RAM
GTX 1660 OC 6GB Graphics card (471.11 Driver)
Windows 10 Pro 21H1 Build 19043.1110
Topaz Sharpen A! 3.1.2

For the benefit of anyone reading this after the WeTransfer link expires, the time to process and save was 16 secs

15

I don’t understand why you are using TIFF as a starting point.
Nikon uses NEF, Canon uses CRW, Fuji uses CFA, Minolta uses MRW. Does not appear you are comparing apples to apples.

FYI: My starting file was NEF.

16

Simply that I normally develop my RAW images in other software.

And Sony uses ARW. Once the image has opened in SharpenAI, whether it was RAW or TIFF has nothing to do with this particular issue.

So the following link is to a short video showing a 4912 x 3264px .ARW raw image from a Sony SLT-A57 camera being processed in Sharpen AI, and saved to PNG, again using your settings.

For the benefit of anyone reading this after the WeTransfer link expires, the time to process and save was 17 secs