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Upscaling FF video to HD

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Offline Martin Beswick

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Upscaling FF video to HD
« on: December 28, 2021, 12:31:34 AM »
I swear that I am not affiliated with any software companies or using this post to better my own financial interests in anyway -- but a few weeks ago I found a mainstream post in which someone was using consumer-grade software to convert old SD broadcast footage from the 70's and 80s to HD or even 4k with remarkable results.  (Specifically converting the infamous Star Wars TV Holiday Special from a cruddy bootleg to full 4K glory)

Now if you're a long-time, middle-aged FF fan like me you likely have your own stash of very old or very highly compressed FF clips on your hard-drive.  After checking reviews I downloaded the free trial of Video Enhance AI and experimented a bit ... and while I'm still figuring this all out, and some of my attempts have proven better than others, I'm already completely stunned by the results. And to be clear - I don't have any kind of monster computer, I'm just using a fairly standard mac desktop and/or laptop.

Be aware that it does take a very long time to process (anywhere from hours to days depending on length of clip and desired final definition) --- but with each new re-render I feel like I'm getting better results.  (I imagine anyone with some kind of monster processor would likely see faster results)

Again, I swear I'm in no way affiliated with the company - but it's on sale for $149 until 12/31, after which it goes back up to $199.   That's a heft buy-in of course, but for me it's been thrilling to see some classic FF content in HD (often for the first time ever) -- or even to bring out more details and definition in fairly recent HD downloads.  I'm assuming other, older folks like me would be similarly intrigued to experiment. 

I'm still getting the hang of it.  Also -  out of respect for the producers - I'm not trading or sharing videos from currently active FF producers, I've just been doing this for my own enjoyment on my private collection.
« Last Edit: December 28, 2021, 12:43:11 AM by Martin Beswick »

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Offline clark85

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Re: Upscaling FF video to HD
« Reply #1 on: December 28, 2021, 06:55:00 AM »
oohh i tried some free version of some software i dont think I used it right but this looks like a good improvement, something to ponder.
« Last Edit: December 28, 2021, 06:55:22 AM by clark85 »

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Offline psy999999

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Re: Upscaling FF video to HD
« Reply #2 on: December 29, 2021, 12:41:56 AM »
Many thanks

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Offline dudewheresmycatfyt

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Re: Upscaling FF video to HD
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2022, 09:12:38 PM »
wow. i had the exact same thought when i came to know of this software - for upscaling old clips... i think the first screenshot you have shared is rough stuff? one of my favorite fights... the video quality does look much better in the image on the right. i might purchase the software - if it goes on sale again. thanks for testing it out and sharing the results with us.

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Offline highrain75

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Re: Upscaling FF video to HD
« Reply #4 on: January 05, 2022, 02:05:42 PM »
Well, price be damned, I went and got the Topaz Video Enhance AI software based on this post. I"ve been collecting for decades and was keen to refurbish some of my older vids; BSA, Brandenburg collection, Academy, etc... and...

After a bit of experimentation (and lots of tutorial watching), the results are quite good! It struggles a tiny by with faces, but I think that's just my lack of experience.

Thanks for the tip!

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Offline psy999999

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Re: Upscaling FF video to HD
« Reply #5 on: January 05, 2022, 02:20:57 PM »
Well, price be damned, I went and got the Topaz Video Enhance AI software based on this post. I"ve been collecting for decades and was keen to refurbish some of my older vids; BSA, Brandenburg collection, Academy, etc... and...

After a bit of experimentation (and lots of tutorial watching), the results are quite good! It struggles a tiny by with faces, but I think that's just my lack of experience.

Thanks for the tip!

Getting noticeable improvement in older vhs quality video isr than it looks.  Would you share the settings you found effective?

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Offline Martin Beswick

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Re: Upscaling FF video to HD
« Reply #6 on: January 05, 2022, 07:10:13 PM »
It's becoming a bit addictive for me. I'm glad I stared doing this over the holidays when work is fairly chill, otherwise I would have lost hours of productivity doing this stuff.  I should also really watch some of the tutorials at some point instead of just experimenting wildly. Having said that, I have noticed a few things:

- Deinterlacing certain clips has been the trickiest thing for me so far, and I didn't realize until after a multi-day render (seriously) that the final converted video would not have audio.  But in that case I used Davinci Resolve (free yet incredibly robust video editing software) to resync the old audio to the new clip and export it out again.

- Even though most of the native clips I upscale are progressive, I've sometimes seen better results selecting CG as native video type. It's weird.

- Videos with higher grade production value and lighting are always gonna look better. In my experience the size of the original clip doesn't seem to matter as much as the amount of lighting in the original clip.  Bad compression is bad compression irregardless, but a low-rez/size clip of something shot in a well-lit studio or outdoors often still upscales better that even some my HD clips where the original footage is underlit or moody. 

I'm just gonna put this out into the universe in the hope that it somehow manifests ... but it would be incredible if someone took the original masters of the California Wildcats videos and upscaled them for the HD age. Younger fans might scoff at the big hair and outfits but I bet more than a few of us Gen X types would gleefully fire up our charge cards to see $600 Wager or The Newcomer in 4k. 

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« Last Edit: January 05, 2022, 07:11:08 PM by Martin Beswick »

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Offline TheRef

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Re: Upscaling FF video to HD
« Reply #7 on: January 05, 2022, 09:34:36 PM »
I'd love to have California Wildcat's "The Naked Edge" in HD. That's probably my all-time favorite full body breast-to-breast and pussy-to-pussy battle.

Probably my favorite finish also with the victor's body fully on top of the losing woman's and alternating slamming her breasts and pussy into her until she admits who the better woman truly is.

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Offline highrain75

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Re: Upscaling FF video to HD
« Reply #8 on: January 06, 2022, 02:55:34 PM »
Well, price be damned, I went and got the Topaz Video Enhance AI software based on this post. I"ve been collecting for decades and was keen to refurbish some of my older vids; BSA, Brandenburg collection, Academy, etc... and...

After a bit of experimentation (and lots of tutorial watching), the results are quite good! It struggles a tiny by with faces, but I think that's just my lack of experience.

Thanks for the tip!

Getting noticeable improvement in older vhs quality video isr than it looks.  Would you share the settings you found effective?


So, right now i'm using Dion Interlaced Robust 200% and as you can see, its really is fantastic -- inlcuding rendering the face.

I've also used Artemis High Quality 100% on another video, and it was ok. I'm finding I can trust the recommended models when you hit the lightbulb button.

In terms of Audio, yes that has been an issue. Solved within Avidemux, where I strip the audio from the original video and then using the same software integrate it into the upscaled one.


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Offline psy999999

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Re: Upscaling FF video to HD
« Reply #9 on: January 06, 2022, 05:11:31 PM »
https://youtu.be/xozfzVCW6Lk

This is an example of a movie scene Catfight probably originally made on a vcr.  I would really like to be able to upscale this to a much higher definition, and appreciate the benefit of your experience if you are able to do so with something like this.

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Offline rmouse

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Re: Upscaling FF video to HD
« Reply #10 on: January 08, 2022, 12:08:08 PM »

What file format does this software work on?  Does it work on mp4's or does it require the files to be in some kind of proprietary format?

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Offline psy999999

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Re: Upscaling FF video to HD
« Reply #11 on: January 08, 2022, 05:32:39 PM »

What file format does this software work on?  Does it work on mp4's or does it require the files to be in some kind of proprietary format?

Nothing proprietary.  The ad list a wide range of typical video formats