Looking for opinions regarding an upscale plug-in...

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sayde
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Looking for opinions regarding an upscale plug-in...

Post by sayde » Sat Dec 27, 2008 12:30 am

http://www.topazlabs.com/topazlabs/03pr ... z_enhance/

Here's the link. I tried using it myself by converting a 480x272 source to 704x396. And while I did notice an increase in footage quality, I wasn't all too sure if this same increase in quality could've been obtained through the use of some avisynth filters. But then again, this was the very first time I used the plug in. So there's a good possibility I didn't set the filters to the right settings in order to get the best possible results. There's also the fact that I'm not very good at looking for all the little details within the footage to come to a solid conclusion on the matter.

To sum this up, I'm looking for some opinions with regards to how effective this upscale plug in really is. If you've used it before, tell me what you think. Or download it and mess around with the plug-in for yourself. I just want to know if this plug-in is really worth my time or not. Because at the moment, I'm not entirely sure.

*edit*
Image
*edit#2*
Image

Here's a sample. The left side shows the results using the plug-in. The right side shows what the original 480x272 footage looks like after being upscaled to 704x396 without any filters. These results could most likely be reproduced w/ avisynth, right?
Last edited by sayde on Sun Dec 28, 2008 4:48 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Bauzi
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Re: Looking for opinions regarding an upscale plug-in...

Post by Bauzi » Sat Dec 27, 2008 6:11 am

I don´t know, but:
Price: $349.00. Includes one year of Topaz Enhance upgrades.
Are they serious? :shock:

Well you could try a simpel resize and add a sort of sharpen filters in your script. Maybe it helps, but the ressolut from this plug In definatly looks good!

I maybe would use it in some situations, but wouldn´t try to make SD to HD footage with it.
You can find me on YT under "Bauzi514". Subscribe to never miss my AMV releases. :amv:

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Zarxrax
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Re: Looking for opinions regarding an upscale plug-in...

Post by Zarxrax » Sat Dec 27, 2008 12:14 pm

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=141948

This example is for an rgb image, so the method wont work directly with yv12 video, but can easily be adapted (basically just take the last 4 filters from one of the lines).

sayde
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Re: Looking for opinions regarding an upscale plug-in...

Post by sayde » Sun Dec 28, 2008 6:54 am

Thanks for the responses so far.
Zarxrax wrote:http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=141948

This example is for an rgb image, so the method wont work directly with yv12 video, but can easily be adapted (basically just take the last 4 filters from one of the lines).
Do you know where I can download this "nnediresize" filter? Because for whatever reason, Virtualdub's not recognizing the command.

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kmv
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Re: Looking for opinions regarding an upscale plug-in...

Post by kmv » Sun Dec 28, 2008 11:08 am

sayde wrote:Do you know where I can download this "nnediresize" filter? Because for whatever reason, Virtualdub's not recognizing the command.
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=129953

The link is in the first post. I suggest you read the thread too.

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JaddziaDax
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Re: Looking for opinions regarding an upscale plug-in...

Post by JaddziaDax » Sun Dec 28, 2008 11:43 am

is it just me or is the bewb on her left side bigger than the right?

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Zarxrax
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Re: Looking for opinions regarding an upscale plug-in...

Post by Zarxrax » Sun Dec 28, 2008 12:06 pm

JaddziaDax wrote:is it just me or is the bewb on her left side bigger than the right?
Behold, the power of avisynth!

oh, wait... thats not avisynth...

sayde
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Re: Looking for opinions regarding an upscale plug-in...

Post by sayde » Sun Dec 28, 2008 4:48 pm

kmv wrote:
sayde wrote:Do you know where I can download this "nnediresize" filter? Because for whatever reason, Virtualdub's not recognizing the command.
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=129953

The link is in the first post. I suggest you read the thread too.
Thanks for the link. I finally managed to get the script to work now. So I edited the first post to include my results using the info Zarxrax gave me. Both seem to work good. But the one rendered using topazenhance looks to have produced a more stronger result from what I can see.

But while I'm sure there are many more filters I could add to the script in order to improve the avisynth render even further, ultimately what it comes down to is that both the plugin and the filters greatly lengthen the rendering process by an equal amount (which is understandable). So I think for now, I'll probably stick with topazenhance - if only for the fact that it seems easier to use and allows me to preview any adjusted settings with greater speed and convenience.

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