Topaz Video AI v3.1.5

[JakSpoon (Jacopo)]

@jcolas

It’s just less convenient than it was in V2.6.4. I have to calculate (and not forget to) a bitrate depending on the target dimensions and frame rate.
I already lost a day of work because I was outputting at 4K60 and did not change the bitrate from the one I used for 1080p24.

And lost some more time because after more than a day of calculations I went out of space on my internal 2TB SSD, not expecting a so big output at 500Mb/s.

Just reproducing the Auto H264 bitrate from V2.6.4 would be great.

The best thing are just one: re-introduce of CRF and x264 and x265 encoders like 2.6.4!

[ForSerious]

Yes and no. My biggest problem with VEAI 2.6.4 was that the H.264 encoder could not handle black or dark colors at all. At any CRF value, it would add super noticeable grey blocks where colors were supposed to be fading to black.

[david.123 (New Profile Picture!)]

We all need to start a side project compiling FFmpeg with the Video AI libraries and adding support for x264, x265. From what I’ve read it’s quite complex to do this though…you basically need to be a programmer.

[david.123 (New Profile Picture!)]

Maybe they could store the output in system RAM as well as the processed file so when you navigate to different parts of the preview, the response is almost instant.

[Excelsor]

Totally agree… CRF and that each one configure it in the quality they prefer… I don’t know why they took a step back by removing CRF when it is much more practical for everyone.

[david-1264]

When I try and preview it says “downloading mod…” for quite a while then 3 times it’s said “AI error” then clicking on that shows a box with “…model failed, download failed”.

It hasn’t done that with previous versions. Is it doing some timeout that’s failing if you have a slow download speed, and if so can that be changed to not time out like that? Could it be failing to download because lots of other people are downloading the updates at the same time?

Also saying just “downloading mod…” could be more informative if it showed how much it’s downloaded in MB, the Mbps it’s downloading it at and what % of the model it’s downloaded and what model it’s downloading. There’s plenty of space on that line for more info on the file being downloaded so we could see how far it gets. And if there is a timeout and has to be one can’t that timeout value be edited in the preferences screen? I can’t use the app currently as previewing fails every time on the model download.

[david.123 (New Profile Picture!)]

@david-1264

Also saying just “downloading mod…” could be more informative if it showed how much it’s downloaded in MB, the Mbps it’s downloading it at and what % of the model it’s downloaded and what model it’s downloading.

Agreed! Excellent idea - I would also like to see the detail of the model download statuses to show ‘starting’, then ‘% complete’ and an updating number on the %. Takes the mystery out of it a bit.

[Martyprod (Marty)]

for the same reason why there is not yet the frame numbers and timecode instead.

i’m maybe wrong but i think CRF can be used by ediring the json encoders file. but i’m maybe wrong.

[vista.joel]

@nipun.nath Please also add a way to set the encoder preset to another level than medium. Not being able to do that forces me to use the command line because efficient compression is very important in some cases. For a stutter-free crystal clear experience with stereoscopic 360 degree footage on a Meta Quest 2, video has to have 8192x4320px and the bitrate has to stay under 100 MBit/s. With preset medium it’s blurry, with very slow it is not. Please!

[altern]

here it is:

2023-02-15-12-31-14-Main.tzlog (14.3 KB)

[david-1264]

Here’s an example of the errors from the log file where it can’t download the models (but had no problem downloading the files for the installation of this version of the app).

> :AIINFO: Downloading Model chf-v3-fp16-256x352-ov.tz
> 
> 
> 2023-02-16 21-44-37 Thread: 42148 Info OUT: 3 2023-02-16 21-44-37,361 Thread: 41004 Info RESULT for  https://veai-models.topazlabs.com /chf-v3-fp16-256x352-ov.tz  is  0
> 
> 2023-02-16 21-44-37,361 Thread: 41004 Critical Attempt 0 failed for https://veai-models.topazlabs.com /chf-v3-fp16-256x352-ov.tz
> 
> 
> 2023-02-16 21-44-38 Thread: 42148 Info OUT: 3 2023-02-16 21-44-38,562 Thread: 41004 Info RESULT for  https://veai-models.topazlabs.com /chf-v3-fp16-256x352-ov.tz  is  0
> 
> 2023-02-16 21-44-38,562 Thread: 41004 Critical Attempt 1 failed for https://veai-models.topazlabs.com /chf-v3-fp16-256x352-ov.tz

Also if it’s supposed to put “Topaz Video AI Owner” next to the username if you own this software why doesn’t it show that next to my username? I own the the software and can have updates on it until 20 October 2023.

[JakSpoon (Jacopo)]

@ForSerious

Yes and no. My biggest problem with VEAI 2.6.4 was that the H.264 encoder could not handle black or dark colors at all. At any CRF value, it would add super noticeable grey blocks where colors were supposed to be fading to black

I really don’t think the problem you cite is from CRF encoding… but rather from some issue with the old program!

[JakSpoon (Jacopo)]

@Excelsor

Totally agree… CRF and that each one configure it in the quality they prefer… I don’t know why they took a step back by removing CRF when it is much more practical for everyone.

The CRF encoding method has unfortunately been removed because it is only applicable to software encoders such as x264 and x265, which were not added because of a “licensing” problem of some kind-they are freeware software, I really don’t understand this limitation yet!

[Martyprod (Marty)]

using open source code does not mean you can do anything with it. there are limitations related to the use for commercial purpose. If the licence allow it , it has some “consequencies”. as an example, one of them is that the software which use the “open source” software under licence is to put the software which use the source under the same licence, or to publish his whole code, etc… there are some other kind of limitations depending of the licence.

[DaveL]

@david-1264

Also if it's supposed to put "Topaz Video AI Owner" next to the username 
if you own this software why doesn't it show that next to my username? 
I own the the software and can have updates on it until 20 October 2023.

Because you add that yourself through an option in your personal preferences.

[ForSerious]

Sigh. I just ran a 4 hour job and it came out with a watermark. The other job that was running at the same time came out fine. Never had a watermark issue before.

It would be nice to be warned when, using the CLI, if it’s watermarking, or in trial mode, or it failed to login.

[TicoRodriguez]

I also spent a day carving the watermark out of a 2 hour movie.
I would like to see a solution to the license error, like making it so that FFMPEG cannot be started without some option.

Do not start with an expired license when running the CLI

Do not start with an expired license when running the CLI. In the case of GUI, a watermark appears in the preview in case of an expired license (or error), but in the case of CLI, the process continues without any action, which can be a waste of time. For example, how about adding the following options to the filter. licence <int> ..FV....... Run with watermark if no license (from 0 to 1) (default 0) In the GUI, set license=1 to execute with watermark, and in the CLI, set…

[q91632]

It doesn’t need to be so complicated. Although none of the existing encoders support CRF, most of them have similar solutions. The current graphics acceleration technology makes it several times faster than CPU encoding while maintaining a certain quality. Most users should not need it, of course, the premise is that you have compatible hardware.

[david.123 (New Profile Picture!)]

TBH I use nvenc_hevc qp encoding and visually it has no quality loss at least to my eyes, and a good file size.

[q91632]

So x264 and x265 are not essential encoders, Video AI just lacks a parameter setting.