1.9.0 is still in beta (second beta started last week) so I don’t think we will get 1.9.0 before at least next week, most likely february. Also the new betas are focusing on Arthemis [and Dione] rather than Gaia flavours, which still the same as 1.8.1
What model do you guys recommend for animation, is GaiaCG suitable for that or does it not matter? I did a few tests but couldn’t really see much difference. I want to upscale Ghibli films to 4K
Gaia-CG is good for animations, and so is Arthemis HQ. Test both and see what looks the best to you
I have heard rumors, that the new 1.9.0 beta version does include a deinterlacing model that is based on or at least includes Dione DV - is there a possible way I could apply for a beta tester status? I do work privately on a project within a community to restore and enhance old TV-series/movies and those guys rely on me to deliver quality. I would also like to help by commenting on possible ways to increase the usability of VEAI on DVD-restoration. Thanks.
I think you can send a request here Topaz labs video beta testing group - Topaz Discussion Forum
Thanks, I just did. Fingers crossed.
Also, on the topic of AI-models to use for “restoring/enhancing” older DVDs: I found the model “Artemis AA v9” to be very useful.
While I was primarily using Gaia HQ before, it tended to cause slight artefact enhancements with smaller or distant elements in a video (for example eyes, font/text, gadgets/badges on uniforms etc.).
With Artemiss AA, the picture may look less sharp then Gaia HQ, but it does handle the before mentioned issues better, especially when the upscaled footage is watched on a bigger screen.
Also, I would suggest to “pre-filter” your source material - which is an absolute must on interlaced sources. That way, you can get your source as clean as possible in order to be enhanced by Topaz VEAI. I primarily speak from experiences with “old” Star Trek Series (Deep Space Nine and Voyager).
In that case, the source is interlaced, has a lot of grain and color bleeding/rainbowing, dot crawl and generally looks soft. Those issues should be taken care of before feeding the file into VEAI.
While VEAI does a great job upscaling/enhancing, it (sometimes) tends to increase pre-existing artefacts if they are not handled carefully in advance.
Still, great software that I am using on a daily basis.
In 1.9.0.2beta the Artemis-MQ v10 is a very good alternative for animations (tested with some Charlie Brown episodes 480p->4K). The results are very clean and edges have a very good anti-aliasing (better than Gaia-CG v1.0.1/v6). There are also no Gaia-like pattern artifacts.
I saw only 1 problem: some fine structures mostly in the background are not captured, they are missing in the upscaled 4K. It’s like a cleaned look, could be look little bit artificial.
Gaia-CG v1.0.1 / v6 is capturing more fine details and the sharpness is higher, but the inofficial Gaia-CG v6 produces to much artificial pattern. I’m still thinking Gaia-CG 1.0.1 (VEAI 1.6.1) would be the optimal model.
Is it me or Gaia-HQ v5 got slightly downgraded (V1.9.0), i checked the same video that i upscaled from two previous versions vs 1.9.0 and it’s worse in a way. Gaia-HQ had always the best quality and was more sharpened / detailed vs all the other methods, as they look way more soft / blurry …, idk why, for example Artemis v9 was always worse, HQ V10 still looks worse than Gaia-HQ v5 and takes 1 hour more to uscale (using 3090, ca. 720 to 4K) … Or they’re ment each for different scenarios? It’s just that i was exited for the new version, but it actually visually nerfed Gaia-HQ v5 … VRAM of the 3090 gets filled only to max 10.5GB as far as i’ve tested, with 13GB more available … while upscaling 720p and 1106x620 to 8K!
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Still using 1.7.1. Do I need to uninstall this before installing newer updates?
@CodeGrey Which of the Artemis v9 models (LQ, MQ, HQ) you would prefer for DS9 and VOY upscaling? Do you scale the DVD source to 1080p or 4K?
They just released 1.9.0, FYI
Did you select to delete previous versions at install?
Actually, right now I am very partial to Artemis AA v9.
I wasn’t at first, since it does not produce as much of a “sharpened” output as other models, but sharpening and upscaling can be a two-edged sword with Trek-content.
I do extensive pre-filtering with StaxRip even before feeding it into VEAI, but I found that almost every AI-model causes certain elements (font/text-related like console readings and so on, smaller things like uniform badges and eyes) or things that are in the background to suffer from ringing or artefacting around egdes. Artemis AA sort of “preserves the softness/a bit of the blur” so that when the image is upscaled, it doesn’t look “scratchy” or “grainy”.
We should be petitioning Paramount to give DS9 and Voyager the TNG remastering treatment, not doing our own upscales.
Hate to burst your bubble - several have tried and failed. It’s a rather complicated subject, mostly involving the money and work necessary combined with declining BluRay-sales and difficulties of re-creating cgi/vfx completely.
But I do agree, those series would deserve it. And even if they were just to do a decent upscale, like Stargate SG-1 on Bluray this year. It’s not that impressive, but still better than DVDs.
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I agree that upscales from the best quality master tapes they have is better than just pushing out the same SD masters but it’s Trek, it deserves a beautiful canvas.
I completely agree. I have done a lot of work with both NTSC and PAL-sources and no matter which way you turn, I am sorry to say, the source material is crap (not the content, just the way they were compressed and handled). I mean seriously, Trek was and still is one of the biggest and long-living cash-cows for paramount/cbs, but sadly I have seen DVDs from “less prominent shows” that were better in terms of quality. And before you think I am comparing shows that were produced later on, I am talking 90’s shows.
Cheers got a full series scan, Seinfeld, Friends. Great sitcoms but Trek? It’s built for HD. The beautiful hand painted backdrops, the sets, the alien make-up, the ship scenes, the early CGI that would benefit from reconstruction or a re-render. The Dominion War arc in HD with dynamic battles, even the creation of a special War mini-series.
It’s already been released.
