Topaz Gigapixel AI / Denoise AI / Sharpen AI (NOT Adjust AI *ugh*)

Nov 28, 2019
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312
When it comes to computer generated graphics, very much so in case of 2D images, Waifu2x with it's forks and additions (Waifu2x-caffe, Waifu2x-Extension with Vulkan ncnn etc) used to be the best choice for upscaling graphics, often with quality enhancement instead of loss. For the quick and dirty approach, sometimes with surprising great results, I got Topaz Gigapixel AI, starting out with version 2.something. You can't adjust and tinker much with it , it either made you really happy or - quite often - just made you laugh, frown heavily or both. I barely used it for a longer while and then, with versions reaching 4.x, gave it another try. And it had improved a TON! Still not on par with Waifu2x-caffe, my favorite at the time, but every now and then a savior when Waifu2x didn't produce satisfying results on images I really, really wanted to keep but that were too small for a true viewing pleasure.

Jump ahead half a year, Waifu2x-Extension GUI comes loaded with not only Waifu2x-Caffe for anime and 3D art, but also SRMD-ncnn-vulkan and RealSR-ncnn-vulkan, which are awesome on real life people and scenery: The perfect toolset in one GUI! But... yeah, the quality in SRMD and RealSR come at the quite immensely greater cost in time. Without a super expensive rig with top of the line graphics cards there is little joy in upscaling a gallery of more than 10 or 20 pics.

Then Gigapixel AI goes version 5 and things get very, very different. As far as I know they use machine learning models based on nvidia's AI and ML technology and either they had a huge breakthrough or Topaz has taken the use of the given options to absolute master class levels. The difference in quality and detail between Gigapixel AI 4 and 5 is astonishing and if you left that program to rot and die after being not impressed with earlier version 1-3 you wouldn't believe it's the same piece of software from the same company. Well, except for the utterly and annoyingly oversimplyfied user interface that doesn't give you more options than a drunk toddler might use - that hasn't changed at all *sighs*. But, seriously, you rarely have to fiddle much with anything to get impressive results, be it 2D, 3D or real life stuff. If you want a program that can handle larger galleries in a timespan that doesn't make you wonder whether your razor is still charged to get rid of beard you'll have when it's done without compromising too painfully on quality you should give it a look. And update as frequently as they offer updates (about every other week). It gets better from ever .X to .X version.

Having been so joyfully surprised in the huge jump in quality by Gigapixel AI, I also gave Topaz' Sharpen AI and Denoise AI another try. Both didn't impress me on the last look a half year before. And both shared the increase in quality with Gigapixel. Both are not as over the top in either sharpening or muddying and bluring the image anymore but restrained and focused on a subtle but very pleasing approach and result.
OK, I said, now I wanna see what has happened to their "Adjust AI", which, as you probably guessed, adjusts coloring and filtering of images. And it turned out to be the perfect example of every great family having at least one black sheep in their rows ;). Pretty much every other free or cheaper software can be worked to better results, fingers off unless you are the kind of person "that was just always very different from anyone esle they know when talking colors and contrasts") ;D.

In case you were wondering: No, I am not affiliated with Topaz. I just rarely see their software mentioned when talking about upscaling and image enhancement on forums for computer generated 2D and 3D graphics and just had to throw my joyful experiences with them out there :D (also I got bored and needed to kill time until my next Daz render is finished :D )
 

Ackerlight

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Jun 5, 2018
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I am actually an Alpha tester for Topaz Labs. (My specialty though is more in video and video editing). I pretty much have and used all their products. If someone has any questions, let me know. All their AI is custom trained. They are not using existing NVIDIA AI models or engines.
 
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Nov 28, 2019
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They are not using existing NVIDIA AI models or engines.
That part became very obvious to me when I ran a direct comparison between the latest Nvidia and intel denoiser tools at the time. I was surprised at how much better the results are now than the ones from the company who created the software and machine learning tech it's based on (as far as I know that's nvidia's Tensor stuff, isn't it?)
 

Ackerlight

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Jun 5, 2018
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They are now using Tensorflow but it is their own AI that they wrote. It is not based upon any other implementation. It just uses the various libraries.
 
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