Download: Windows, Mac. Released December 22, 2020.
Fixes:
Is this a release candidate or has it been released?
If itâs an RC, itâs in the wrong place. Previous RCs have been in the Beta section, not the release section, and the title should say Release Candidate or RC at least.
If itâs there itâs the official release and it is on the Topaz main products downloads
https://topazlabs.com/downloads/
But itâs just a minor update. As I even never experienced the bugs fixed I think it doesnât worth in my case to update to this release.
Why? WHY? I have lost all my downloaded models over 30 gb or so just for a minor fix? The moment I hit install it has deleted all the models.I thought this was figured out in 1.8.0 now back to where we start about the installer and why on earth canât you make a 1-2 mb patch to replace/modify or overwrite that needs to be changed?
All of your models will re-download as your app requests them.
Your app ships with a default set, and downloads optimal models for your loaded video at run time.
If you are concerned about losing the models we can take that into account, but we did not think people would be looking into their models folder and worrying about things like this.
There is an installer feature we are working that will let users keep their old models, but there are many things to consider with such a feature.
Backwards compatibility is not always possible and sometimes architecturally not worth the cost, so if we did for example create a new type of model, we would want a way to start with a fresh slate and not have any old files lying around.
Also, that is an extra 30GB you now have freed up that you can use for anything else. Of course over time your app will keep downloading models and the folder will get large again,
we are working on a solution to this for setting a size limit on the models folder but it is not out yet,
I hope that helps clarify and please let us know if there is anything else we can answer for you 
Yes I do worry about my models and I donât want to lose time for downloading again and again each and every-time I want to upscale something when a new version is released.That is why 1.8.0 was a big change for me asking to keep my models or not. Also I may have used my old models if they are still compatible.
It is non-sense that Topaz worries about my model space.I highly disagree about deleting models folder when a new version arrives(at least it can ask for a fresh setup) and if there are incompatible models on the future release,the program can say it is incompatible/do not load on the interface or ask for delete.
Now I have to re-download all back again with loading multi resolution videos,click upscale million times different upscale settings.
This is not good at all and if this is going to be the default behavior on the future releases,it is a very unfortunate move and mistake.
Agreed, kind of.
I think if it we will re download the same files, thereâs no use in deleting them, so a âkeep old modelsâ option in the installer IS a good thing. Specially because I donât like to cycle my SSD nand only because I have to delete and download the same files again and again. It is only killing my SSD quicker.
IF, and only IF old models become unusable/useless/not compatible for a new version then it should state, even if itâs just a line, in the installer, saying âold models are not compatible so we are deleting themâ.
On the other hand, I donât see the use of opening various different projects with all sorts of different settings only to download every model, unless you have an unreliable internet connection that may not work when needed. The software will download necessary models when the project asks for it so you can just use it as normal and, eventually, it will download every model.
I keep a âModelsâ folder on a separate drive. The first thing I do after installing a new version is to copy the models over to a subfolder of âModelsâ for that specific version.
This is why, and itâs not only available for Topaz products, everyone should do regular backups of their system drive. There are many good software for that task out there. This is the basics, always have a backup of your system OS to recover in case of hardware failure or files deleted by accident.
That is what I meant.Yes SSD life in long term is a concern,but also if I am going to re-download the same models again and again that is what made me mad about it.
1)You lose time when you press the upscale button cos it gets downloaded from internet then it initialize.This takes time from user + extra bandwidth is spent + extra power consumption.
2)For your question if we have our models in hdd which are ready to use almost in any resolution for each model we know that next time or anytime,any resolution video will be faster to initialize when pressed preview or for the final output.It is like having the whole package in place.
3)Not everyone has great internet connection in all around the world.Imagine the waiting time to load the model.So huge data in total will be very problematic to download if they are deleted for no reason.They are well deserved to be kept by the user.
4)I also mentioned mini patches to go from 1.8.0 to 1.8.1 so to say.If not everything is changed between versions why is it forced to be downloaded 1.8 gb setup each time?
5)I am using VEAI almost from the alpha stages without gui,back then it was called gigapixel for videos.I was giving a lot of feedback in the past but then I quited the beta program,cos I thought I am not that very useful anymore and there was/is this behavior unfortunately for Topaz going forward and backward at some point.This happened again going from 1.8.0 to 1.8.1.
I would expect an excuse like: Sorry we forgot the installer to ask for fresh install or keep models this version but it will be included on the next one.
Every message about it very clearly calls it a Release CANDIDATEâŠnot a release, but itâs posted in the Releases section.
I think something you guys need to and MUST take into consideration is when you get a model with a good reaction from the testers, such as the reaction to Artemis 9, you should NEVER make that model unusable, meaning that the files are locked, backed up, kept safe, and every future version has the ability to use them. This really isnât so much an option as an absolutely necessity. You canât put out a product that works great in one release, and then just toss it aside in the next release for the sake of the next higher number in the seriesâŠthat maybe you guys think is better, but the user base prefers the previous. Youâve already got users who are passionate about versions that are many iterations old, and every new set of models continues to expand the issue. What is the endgame? Is VEAI to be a product that gets new models throughout itâs entire life-cycle (for the sake of annual renewals)âŠor will it be a stable, final release product that only gets occasional updates when something truly groundbreaking gets added to it?
I would say that goes for EVERY app function. Itâs never a good option to remove a function for the sake of adding another that doesnât necessarily replaces it.
Bitrate option shouldâve never been removed. If some people prefer CRF, then ok, put it there aswell, but other people prefer using bitrate, and they just removed bitrate for the sake of having CRF option.
@ATharp It seems a lot of people (myself included) take pains to download all the models, including older models, and keep them together in the same folder so they are all accessible in the application. You have to look at it from the userâs perspective. One-shot model downloads would be great.
I agree. I think they are largely looking at the application from a developerâs perspective and expect customers/users to ride their rollercoaster however it loops and dips.
Hey guys, I did mention that we are developing an installer feature to let you keep your models, but it is not released yet.
Thanks all for your feedback we do appreciate it a lot.
Well, no. You canât keep previous versions of functions. Nothing does that. Causes too much chaos in the code. Look at Photoshop, etc. If they change how âŠcropping is doneâŠthey donât give you three different ways to crop. You get the new one. If you donât like it, you use an old version of the software. That doesnât work with VEAI if they continue to mess with the models and what you can download or not download. Itâs not the same thing.
But will the software be such that older models continue to work with newer versions of the program itself? Or will there come a point where model xxx no longer works with version x.x of the code? Thatâs more important really.
Also, itâs not just a matter of keeping them. We need a button that says âDownload ALL missing modelsâ or something akin to it. A one-shot download is what I think we are all looking for right now.
Thatâs the DEVs decision. You can keep that if you want - until you get to a point where the new version is so different from the last that it actually a totally different thing, then of course itâs impossible to keep older functions.
Having the option to choose bitrate does not break the software nor does make it impossible to have CRF. Both options are already on the codec. Itâs just a GUI DEV option to let you use it or not
