Use a denoiser as a preprocess. There are many good denoiser filters for Avisynth or for a more easy to use you have the excellent Neatvideo plugin to use with some NLE or free VirtualDub but the plugin itself is not free.
I disagree about using denoising as a preprocess. It degrades the result.
Denoise as a post process. I recommend Selur Hybrid with these settings:
Adjust “Final temporal smoothing” until the result looks like what you want. The higher the number, the more denoising.
I thought Theia algorithm could handle the denoise process. So it’s not that good ? Which one is the best. I prefer to pay to get a very good product if it’s what it takes.
Thank you very much
I will try the post process too.
I’m not sure it will work on The Outer Limits (1995) The noise level is very high here and there, in almost every scene. I’m starting to think the only way to restore this one would require me to manually modify each pixel one by one… it would take hundreds of years 
Thank you very much
GAIA-HQ is very sensitive to noise and what is called motion inconsistency comes mostly from random noise and compression artifacts from the source.
It may depend on the source but for all the test I ran, QTGMC works best as a preprocess than as a postprocess and not to mention that it is extremely slow with HD inputs and if set to preset placebo this can take hours.
And with QTGMC preprocess on an avisynth script you can even bypass reencoding by using AVFS virtual file system and feed directly your avisynth script in VEAI.
I never use THEIA models. Even with denoise set at 0 it looks often plastic and if you lower the recovery details then compression artifacts/noise from the source are re-added and sometimes amplified.
Hi Topaz Team,
I’d like to suggest a new workflow ideology,
Since currently each model maybe a mix of various repair techniques,
i would suggest to modularise these further.
now this is all pseudo and im just making up things for this example,
but i think you will get the idea.
for example lets say behind the scenes there exists:
Noise Reduction
Texture Smoothing
Texture Regeneration AI
Edge Smoothing
In the setting you have the ability to see the effects on a single frame
in real time, each module has a slider and as you adjust them you are able
to see the effects instantly, once the best settings are found for that user
they can then choose to begin processing the video:
Models would be a combination of settings at a default level, for example:
Gaia-HQ may look like:
Texture Regeneration AI: 90%
Noise Reduction 50%
Gaia-CG:
Texture Smoothing: 90%
Noise Reduction: 100%
im just thinking out loud, this is a lot of work to change and redesign i imagine,
but i believe its worth considering, giving the user the ability to experiment and
find the best results for their input video on a single frame in real-time would really
enhance the product in my opinion.
/Rob.
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What is your source? I don’t have this myself but the best result is going to be upscaling from an original DVD. The Australian Box set produced by ViaVision (42 discs!) is the only one that I am aware of that is unedited. Again, I don’t have this, so if it’s interlaced, it needs to be deinterlaced before upscaling. If your source is interlaced, that could be what you’re interpreting as “noise.”
I agree, it’s exactly the first word that comes to my mind: plastic. At 30 sharpen 30 Restore details and 0 reduce noise it’s a bit less plastic that said, but no way as good as Gaia HQ with the other SD DVD TV shows and movies I’ve upscaled to HD or 4K. But “The Outer Limit 1995” is too much for Gaia when the background noise level is high. I’m not an expert, I usually don’t use scripts, it’s not something I’m very familiar with for video editing.
I prefer to buy softwares such as Topaz Video Enhanced AI. But I guess I reach the limit of what I can do unless I manage to use those tools you’re talking about. I still try to experiment with Topaz Video Enhanced AI.
I’ve published several snapshots here: Topaz - Album on Imgur
Thanks again
Hi Chase, I just found the set you’re refering to. I think it’s the same with another boxing but I’m not sure
https://www.amazon.ca/Outer-Limits-Complete-Second-Seventh/dp/B004E5BQDW/ref=sr_1_9?crid=3U3IUFPB0V3EB&dchild=1&keywords=the+outer+limits+complete+series&qid=1604179222&s=dvd&sprefix=the+outer+limits%2Cdvd%2C151&sr=1-9
(I didn’t pay 500$, I bought it 2 years ago it was less expensive I also have season 3 and 4 from the first set on the market)
I’ve posted some snapshops here Topaz - Album on Imgur A reviewer on Amazon UK for the same DVD set said it is interlaced, other users on Amazon US and Canada said quality was good.
If the quality is better I will order that from Australia. But I think it’s the same one.
From Wikipedia:
" Season 1 was released uncut and with extra features on DVD in the US (MGM, 2005), UK (20th Century Fox, 2007) and Germany (Fox/MGM, 2008). Because sales of the set did not meet expectations no further seasons were released.
In 2010, Canada’s Alliance Home Entertainment released all seven seasons on DVD. Season 1 mirrored the content of the earlier MGM set, while season 2 was also uncensored, with the exception of one episode, “Paradise”.[6] Seasons 3–6 all contain numerous censored episodes and are of noticeably poorer visual quality than the first two.[7] Season 7 contains the original unedited episodes, as unlike the previous seasons, it was produced with no nudity or swearing.
In 2013, TGG Direct released the seventh season in the US, again unedited but of marginally inferior visual quality than the Alliance season 7 DVDs.[8] The 5-disc set is titled The Outer Limits: The Complete Final Season , and in 2014 it was split and re-released as 3-disc Volume One and 2-disc Volume Two set"
Thank you very much
I looked into this some, and from what I’ve been reading, the Australian release from ViaVision is a 2020 release and is different than the Canadian source. I can’t confirm that myself. I did try e-mailing them and asking them. This is the ViaVision DVD set on Amazon, and should have high quality picture, and also be uncut. It’s ~$110 but that’s actually pretty good for 42 DVD’s. The “noisy” source is from the Canadian DVD’s released by Alliance (that’s the one you linked above on Amazon.ca), and they actually contain censored syndicated versions of seasons 3 through 6.
A big question for me is that the original episodes should be NTSC interlaced at 29.97 fps. I’m not sure how that gets converted for PAL… does it drop frames, or slow down? I’ve seen examples in Star Trek how it’s pitched higher for PAL, but that’s always confused me, as PAL should only speed up when going from 23.976 fps to 25 fps.
According to Wikipedia, the complete uncut episodes have appeared on Hulu recently in decent (standard definition) quality… they may be from the same source as the ViaVision DVD’s.
At ~45 minutes run time per episode and almost 150 episodes, that’s going to take a long time, even on GeForce 2000 or 3000 series.
I found this posted by an Amazon reviewer on the Alliance “noisy” DVD’s:
Season 1: I own both the earlier MGM release and this one. The content is identical, particularly regarding “Valerie 23” and “Caught in the Act.” Digitally remastered; picture quality is a solid 8.5-9/10. Standard issue and quality of DVD case; discs arrived unscratched; easy to remove and replace the discs in and out of the case w\o damaging them. Off to a good start.
Season 2: “Paradise” edited for nudity. All other episodes uncut, uncensored for nudity; digitally remastered. Picture quality a solid 9/10. Standard type and quality of DVD case; discs arrived unscratched; easy to remove and replace the discs in and out of the case w\o damaging them. Still happy.
Season 3: Now I know what the gripe is about. DVD case is poorly designed; discs difficult to remove and replace without scratching. Picture quality appears to be direct transfer from VHS with no digital enhancement; near bootleg quality; 6-6.5/10. Heavily edited for nudity/language, esp. disappointing in the first regard is “Bits of Love.”
Season 4: New, good packaging, but the problem of poor (VHS) picture quality persists; 6-6.5/10. Heavily edited content; in particular, if you are looking for the unedited version of “Lithia,” you won’t find it here.
Season 5: They did such a good job of restoring the picture quality of the first two seasons that I have to ask myself again why they stopped there; again a disappointing 6-6.5/10. Heavily censored for nudity/language. If you are looking for the uncut version of the “Human Operators” et. al., I hope you copied it off of Showtime. Good packaging.
Season 6: Ditto season 6. Picture quality an abysmal 6-6.5/10; this, as seasons 3-5, almost unbearably bad to watch in terms of picture quality. Nudity/language, completely censored. Good packaging.
Season 7: Digitally remastered. Picture quality 8.5-9/10. Episodes content is unaltered from the original showing. This is because the SciFi channel took over production of the 7th season and produced a nudity/obscenity free final season of the series. Good packaging.
Sorry for the long post, just though it would be helpful… The 1990’s Outer Limits would be great to have in HD. Of course I would prefer actual new HD transfers on Blu-Ray. 
It is very helpful as a matter of fact. I didn’t even think about PAL. In Canada it’s NTSC. I’m not sure PAL is supported on my dvd blue ray usb reader. I’ll have to verify.
At this point buying the viavision set is the only way to know for sure. I don’t think I’ll get any better result from any upscaling software, unless I spend a lot of time working on those plugins and scripts. It would take long. Almost every episode has a different quality, some are very noisy as some others are not that bad.
In retrospect, I should have known it would be next to impossible to magically transform a very badly all about the place noisy tv show in a wonderful HD or 4K tv show. Upscaling softwares use algorithms, not magic. Neuron learning is not yet guessing well, it doesn’t differentiate a face from a background. Not for The Outer Limits 1995
Thanks again, really appreciated
The program crashes after 11-12 hours of work. From 1.6 and up. 1.5.3 and below works fine. MSI 1060 graphics card.
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yup. VEAI is unstable as hell as it is right now. Works that takes days breaks after hours or even very close to ending. I’m right at 2 weeks on a encode that should have taken ‘only’ 5 days (still 3 days to go). I was against breaking the project into several files because I’m afraid it drops frames but if it breaks another time it might be the only way.
That’s why I’m hoping they’re working more on stability than on making things “faster” (tbh unless they use tensor cores they not going to make significantly faster anyway)
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i have converted 27 videos so far using video enhance and the only algorithm i like is Gaia. Second to Gaia is Artemis LQ for motion consistency. However what i dont like about artemis is it looks too much like a blocky painting but i do like the motion. Is there a way topaz where u can combine motion consistency with gaia as another algorithm alternative. Also what i have noticed is for me to get the best look of a video, i have to first downconvert an hd or 4k file to a LOSSLESS 360p using another program prior to upscaling to 8k. if i convert the source directly from 1080p or 4k to 8k, the results do not improve. But when i convert the lossless 360p file to 8k, i see dramatic beautiful differences over the original 1080p or 4k file. I have no idea if its a bug but converting from hd to 8k or 4k sucks but converting from 360p to 4k or 8k is amazing. For this reason in my prework flow i convert to 360p lossless first. You can see some of the many videos i converted from dvd to faux 8k here - YouTube
Add support for Radeon GPUs. Please.
For those who report low GPU load (~30%), look GPU load with another tool that Windows Task Manager. I also have 30% in the Task manager but 100% in Afterburner.
And speed are normal.
VEAI is limited to 2X/4X upscale so I don’t know how you can go from 360p to 8K. It’s in fact 1440p upconvert to 4320p using traditional method if you set custom size. Like choosing 300% is in fact upscaling 400% then downscaled X0.75.
Or are you doing 2 passes ? I tried once and the results were horrible.
I don’t know how he/she is doing it, but I usually do 2 or 3 passes when converting sub-HD to 4k and is either better than or the same as converting directly to 4k.
My workflow for the last projects has been:
– If original file is ‘blocky’: first 100% denoise/deblock
– If original file is lower than 720p: upscale to 720p or 1080p
– upscale to 4k
– finally reencode using NVenc (if VEAI could encode already using H265 would be awesome but since it encodes to a very ‘low efficiency’ H264 profile I see myself in the need of reencoding it to H265 using NVenc)
Could you tell me a good software to reencode to NVenc without losing too much quality? A front end one would be great if you can
