Topaz Video AI v4.0.0

Video AI Releases
256

I don’t understand why it’s necessary to reinvent the interface every update.

The 100% preview issue is after 2 years STILL not fixed.

Up to 2.6.4 it was working great, simple interface, good overview of everything. Since then the UI and usability has declined (imo) and processing, loading of models etc is now so slow while it used to start processing the video immediately. Now it’s downloading model every time I do a preview, sometimes taking 30 sec before it starts processing the video.

The naming and placing of new functions / menu items is also confusing and not logical:
You have a top ‘View’ menu but you put all your playback commands there. Makes no sense.
So what happens is I at first assume your ‘Step back’ command means something else because ‘View’ is not about playback.
And it goes on like this.

You place some functionality like switching from 1 to 2 at multiple places in the interface (I don’t even understand what this switching command means it just selects the other screen, why we need buttons for that when we have a mouse?)

Very top right next to 1/2 there is this ↔ icon. This symbol means something like ‘fit video (width) to screen’ or ‘stretch’, but what is does is switch focus between screen 1 & 2. Confusing.

The right-click menu always displays ‘Set to original’ even though the original is already there. Confusing.
But the 2nd screen doesn’t show the scaled video. It only displays the original in both windows at same scale. I have to open in Explorer to view the result.

To sum up, this 4.0 interface is so unnecessary, overly complicated for an app that really only does 1 thing, and so, so confusing. I can’t use this or take this update seriously.

This reinvention of wheels that are proven for years and years that they already work great, changing UI literally every update… what is up with that.

Topaz at it’s core (the engine + datasets) is simply GREAT!! I love it.
The interface has always looked a bit unusual and forced but it worked. Just. Fine.
At the end of V2 there was no more need for UI design thinking. For the time being you did the thinking. It was time for polishing and incorporating some of that basic functionality you would expect to see in every video/timeline application.

Unfortunately in my view the very opposite has happened and for me it’s becoming a bit of a joke now. Sad to say it.

9 Likes
258

Some Priority on the Live Preview and Frame Sync Preview would be nice.
Also a correct working Preview when changing framerates…so that it´s able to view what would be exported…

It´s also really importand to see what is currently exported so you can see when something goes wrong and needs to be adjusted…

For the future please remove all error from version 3 before start thinking of an v4

4 Likes
259

I bought TVAI just to improve the image quality of videos supported by KI. I already use other programs for other editing and design of videos, but I don’t need TVAI for that.

I imagine the workflow in TVAI like this:

Step 1: Detecting those scenes in the video that are particularly critical in terms of image quality.

The PREVIEW NEXT function (5 up to 900 frames) can be used for this purpose

• Mark the first critical position P1 and test which AI model produces the best image quality with which settings.

• It would be very helpful here if TVAI had a Subject / Face Detection function available to intervene specifically.

• The setting found in this “Preview Next” is finally saved as Favorite F1.

• Then go to the next critical scene position P2 and test whether favorite F1 also achieves the best result. If not, work out the favorite F2.

• These steps are now repeated as often as necessary, and finally there is a series of combinations (Pn/Fm) for the critical scenes with the corresponding AI favorites.

Step 2: Preview and final export with all other necessary settings.

Of course, this is a laborious procedure, but fully automatic with one single setting for all scenes in the video is suboptimal, even with AI.

I hope that TOPAZ will focus on improving video image quality again in the future:

• Allow (save and process) sequences of position-related favorites,

• AI models with subject / face detection (especially for small objects with low resolution in the original)

4 Likes
260

Horrific horrible utterly unusable version 4.0. went right to the trash where it belongs, and downloaded the previous version again. Just not usable … so so so so many problems and mistakes and buttons not working . essential features were removed right from the bat… if i were the CEO of this shop, i would have fired the coders heres …

3 Likes
261

Totally agree, i threw it right to the trash can.

263

Still no color management? Why?

2 Likes
264

I use TMPGEnc Video Mastering Works 7 because It has advanced features for dealing with more complex situations such as a mixed interlace video, but other free software such as VirtualDub are capable of doing the basic IVCT. The concept’s the same.

Yes, TVAI currently is not good for that but we finally got the Telecine feature, it simply must do the job.

265

Hello, does the preview not loop anymore?
Any help appreciated.

2 Likes
267

I delete v4.0.0 and back to v3.5.4 . Topaz Why ? :confused: Nothing is better !

268

I use this prog almost every day, as it is now my de facto video enhancement prog, but it definitely seems like there’s too many cooks in the kitchen that are working on surprise meals on a rotating basis without knowing what meal is to be prepared beforehand, not saying how the teams run at all, but that’s the impression I get. ⇐ Here’s to it being proven wrong!

The problems still affecting the prog:

  • Stabilisation’s rolling shutter/fix jittery motion will produce severe blurring artefacts, particularly occurring with motion blurred visuals, even wiping out the image/limbs/head/etc from the subject’s motion blurred frames.

  • The frame interpolation bug that adds duped frames: they had a fix for it, but the bug is back, particularly when using the aforementioned stabilisation augments and deblur, hopefully they’ll kill the bug once and for all!

Other than those issues, the prog runs magnificently and augments my workflow well, so no other complaints save for those two glaring issues, yeah the UI is a bit borked for most as it’s too confusing, but I’m not overly bothered by it as I’m not necessarily considered a normal person by any stretch of the word! :face_with_spiral_eyes: :nerd_face:

EDIT: May or may not be an issue with the prog, but FFMPEG is a resource hog, draining my 24 cores to nearly 90% have to force affinity settings!

5 Likes
269

Definetly agree. The only I don’t agree with is that 3.1.9 works it is an absolute mess for Arc cards still; when i use a manuel settings for proteus it only works for 30% of the process then error. Gaia works but it doesn’t compare to proteus for anime upscale.

270

This version is worse than previous

1] The fact you disabled Crop for preview, made preview rendering slower, for me its difference from 10fps per second to 7.7 for 4K bluray remux [remove the snow, film noise, and “artistic intention” new movies come as if they were filmed under thin layer of tiny black dots].
So it takes more time to find good settings

2] the 2 previews is confusing, every time i clicked Preview it wanted to generate 2 files, i found how to disable the second one.

3] The location of crop is hidden, not in your face like it was

4] you disabled double click on preview to open the file in external player, now its right click> open in external player

and other annoyances, i went back to previous version

7 Likes
271

IMO we went back 2 steps with 4.0
Its not an improvement. Very confusing and features I think 99% of the users can do without. It only adds more frustration to the whole video improvement aspect.

4 Likes
272

I cannot use this version. Keeps crashing. Waiting till next weeks update.

273

OH MY GOD. When are you going to fix the Apollo fast? The coolest preset and the most glitchy. There is a mosaic effect and freeze frames at the place of frame junctions. But it creates frames very well. I’ve been asking you for this for about 10 updates now :smiley:

274

I couldn’t resist. :grin:

2 Likes
275

Is it just me or is Nyx V2 awful? Output looks like an over sharpened mess.

276

It’s not you. There is something wrong with it in this version.

1 Like
277

Every once in a while Topaz has a complete failure. Oh well.

278

If I were CEO, heads would roll. :crazy_face:

2 Likes