VEAI V1 & V2 had numerous encoding/decoding problems, including black frames, duplicate frames, missing frames, speed changes, and audio sync issues, among others. Additionally, it only supported two software (CPU) encode video output formats: H264 and ProRes 422. These problems persisted for a considerable period, leading some developers to quit their jobs.
However, most of the issues have been resolved since they switched to using FFMPEG as the backend starting from V3. It took them over 8 months to rewrite the program, from the initial prototype to the final release.
You can find the Topaz customized FFMPEG in Github.
Topaz loves to keep changing the UI, as it is the easiest way to entice people to upgrade. The new interface is noticeable at first glance.
However, I believe that most users care more about the quality of the processed video rather than the interface. Unfortunately, the development of new AI models takes a long time. For instance, Proteus was released in V2.3 (Jun 2021), and the next significant improvement, Iris, was released two years later in V3.3 (Jun 2023).
