It’s absolutely a marketing ploy and a slap in the face to continue to promote the Studio version in the perpetual product. For those who continue to use the perpetual version, that large blue update button will continue to draw your attention in perpetuity. The update has nothing to do with those with perpetual license. Does anyone really believe that Topaz will spend any resources for updates, however minor, to 7.1.x?
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That has been my problem for the longest time since after v5.3.6. For that reason I didn’t upgrade it, or I reverted to it all the time. But… it looks like the Studio version finally gives a CFR, at least v1.0.0. I didn’t test with v1.0.1.
So my plan is to use the Studio version mainly for Starlight and stick with v5.3.6 for interpolation and all the other models.
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Bye Bye Topaz Labs. Been with you for years. Just saw the new subscription prices. Will not be going any where near your now, totally over priced, software
Adios
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I don’t suppose you know whether there were any actual new model releases or upgrades after 5.3.6 do you?
Because every version after that is full of bugs or a step back for my use, and starlight has never worked for me (and I’m not convinced they even care about fixing it for ‘legacy’ use)
Given that I’ll be unable to use the new ‘studio’ either (because it won’t work offline for more than a few hours - another promise broken) I’m genuinely wondering whether there is any point at all using anything later than version 5ish, purely in terms of the quality of the export. I prefer the earlier workflows as well.
I also don’t know whether you can use newer models with older versions?
Anyone else can chip in? What’s the last version that had an actual convincing reason to upgrade?
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7.0.2 works for me stable using SLM (and also other models are ok). Except frame interpolation be carefull and check outputs for VFR, shouldn’t happen anymore but not for sure since mplayer. Before that I also used 5.3.6 for a long time. If they hadn’t released local Starlight I would probably still be on 5.3.6
Edit: If in V7 frame interpolation is broken (vfr), you can additional install one of the 5.x Beta (before mplayer), then use the beta just for frame interpolation projects. Beta has the advantage, you can have it installed parallel to the live.
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omg, 7.1.5 just poped on my TVAI v7.1.0 with fixing the redownloading issue, though I am not sure about upgrading.
The only new model released since v5.3.6 is Starlight, so nothing lost between that version and v7.1.4.
I am not thrilled about the online/offline requirement (even though I will not haul my 50-60 pounds rig around) and that begs a question which @dakota.wixom might be able to answer or anyone else from the team: if I loose internet connection (provider issue or network switch) and the export is in progress will that render the whole thing useless? (i.e. watermark, automatic error etc.) . Don’t forget, a 90 minutes video processed with Starlight will take 5-6 days from what I remember with a speed of 0.6 fps, using a RTX 4090 24VRAM. I had 2 power glitches in the last 2 weeks while I was away from home and the computer would not restart automatically. (I wish that would be a setting in Windows to restart automatically after a power failure, just like macOS has.)
I am pretty sure you can not use newer (tweaked/updated) models on an older versions of software. The app is probably making a “check” and most likely the models have a different “signature” that needs to be validated by the application. I compared the checksum of the models between different versions of the software and they don’t match, so something changes. A change of a number, as small as a different number (i.e. 3 vs 4) in the model changes the whole binary structure end result, checksum etc.
Personally I can use the Studio version (all hardware requirements met) and it doesn’t make a difference financially for me since I have the Founder status (just received confirmation by email). The big thing since v5.3.6 (Starlight) is not something that I use currently. I tried it but only for testing purposes. I am waiting, as long as I have to, for all the optimizations to evolve to the point where I can gain something out of it.
Right now I am processing everything I can with the older models (Artemis, Iris, Proteus & Rhea) and I can’t complain about the end result. I have personal settings (1-pass or 2-pass) but what I found the most reliable is Rhea (not XL) for MQ videos and the additional “Focus Fix” set to normal. Prior, I was doing a 2-pass (Iris & Proteus) but now the difference in quality is huge.
But… I have a long list of LQ videos which have to be processed/upscaled and I am hoping that by the time I get to them something better will be available from Topaz.
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Rhea XL was introduced in Video AI 5.4.
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I know for a fact that when running Starlight Mini from the command line in 7.0.2, the authorization check takes place at the start of the export. The program displays status messages stating that an auth check is taking place, and shows the result. This includes whether watermarking is turned on or off.
Running other models from the command line via ffmpeg does not display similar status messages, but it’s possible that the auth happens but is silent.
I know the GUI performs an auth check at startup. It may or may not perform an additional check at the start of each export. I think it highly unlikely that multiple auth checks happen during a single export, because that’s not how the command line behaves.
Yes, I guess the best thing is to have a dual-install of both, the 5.3.6 (for all „traditional“ models and mostly bug free at that) plus 7.0.2 for local use of Starlight mini.
All other versions you don’t really need…
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Yes you can do, when you now what you do, this two versions also are my favorite… but I recommend using additional beta to everyone because when you use two or more live versions they are sharing model folders by default, so users must do seperate model folders…and then there are still the same regkeys. You just have to expect that something might not work properly anymore, but it doesn’t have to be that way. There’s simply no guarantee when you have installed more than one live.
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Not on the Mac…
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Thanks for this, appreciate it.
Regarding your questions about offline use: I emailed them about it (since Topaz is unusable to me without offline use) and they told me there would only be a 6 hour window you could be offline. (update: this was actually a forum reply from dakota. They said “Currently we require authorization upon app launch in the Studio Version, and it can be used offline for up to 6 hours.”
This is worthless to me - I can’t use any new Topaz product now whether I like it or not since I need to be offline for days at a time, and I’m furious honestly.
But what’s worse is that while it’s long enough to protect against a very short internet outage, if you’re in the middle of processing something that takes days it seems you could easily lose it all if your connection is bad.
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I know for a fact that when running Starlight Mini from the command line in 7.0.2, the authorization check takes place at the start of the export.
If it’s the case that starlight does an auth check every time in 7.x then I’m even more annoyed, because I asked them why starlight wouldn’t work offline in 7.x versions (gets caught in a download loop) and everything official I’ve seen said it was a bug. But if starlight won’t work without an auth check every time then doesn’t mean that it’s broken for offline use by design? Unless the auth check itself is the bug.
The authorization mechanism stores an auth file on your local computer.
When you run a Starlight Mini export from the command line, the program first checks to see if the local auth file exists. If the auth file does not exist, the software contacts the Topaz license server, then creates the local auth file (assuming that the authorization succeeded); otherwise, if the local auth file already exists, the program checks a timestamp in the file. If the timestamp is older than 6 hours, the software contacts the Topaz license server and attempts to renew the auth file.
This is all behavior that I have observed. I’m assuming that other models work similarly.
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Thanks for the info. Is this in the legacy 7.x version or Studio? Because I was promised that the perpetual legacy versions would continue to work offline as normal, and that should include the version of starlight it launched with. I’ve repeatedly asked them about this issue and never once have I been told starlight can’t work offline in the legacy version. I could not be more sick of how this is being handled, and the endless bugs.
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This is in 7.x.
I’ve not yet installed Studio.
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Ok, thank you. Then I need some answers from Topaz because they have told me in writing that it not working offline is an error they are looking into, and that all legacy products will permanently be useable offline.
Well, they never were.
Yes, they were. I have been doing so for years. I don’t mean ‘never need to authenticate’, I mean that they allowed offline use for long enough gaps to be useable, and that this will permantently be the case.
So long as you authenticated every now and then they would work offline for weeks, which allowed you to use the software in locations where there is no internet and on machines that have to be kept firewalled. And I have been repeatedly promised this will continue with the legacy version, which should include the version of starlight released with 7.x.
