Using AI to Resurrect Old Footage | Topaz Review

I have tons of old footage that I love from my first days as a filmmaker, when I traveled the world and shot a short documentary every single week about a fascinating or inspirational person. But so much of this footage was shot in HD (or less) on the Canon 60D and 5D and just doesn't hold up compared to the footage that cameras can capture today.

But Topaz Labs has a software called VIDEO AI that claims to be able to resurrect this old footage, bring it back from the dead, and make it indiscernible from the high-resolution cameras of 2023 and beyond.

Today, we take some old footage and test out whether Topaz can live up to the promise and actually bring footage back form the dead!
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0:00 - Intro
0:13 - What is Topaz AI?
0:28 - Why Topaz AI is important to me
1:00 - How Topaz AI Works
1:58 - Pulling footage for Topaz AI
3:32 - Opening up and using Topaz AI
4:40 - The waiting is the hardest part
5:13 - Taking a look at the results
8:42 - Initial thoughts
9:06 - side by side comparisons
10:47 - Final thoughts

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#documentary #careeradvice #filmmaking #cinematography #cinematic #directorofphotography #film #ai #videoai

[johnt]

Maybe my eyes are defective, but I see no difference. I think the whole point is to take "old" subpar video and enhance that. I have no idea why you are taking high quality HD video and enhancing it when it doesnt need to be enhanced.

[dmitripopov]

This was the final convincement that I needed. Buying it right now. Thank you!

[delcanvideoproductions]

At 9m13s the detail in the dip of the bridge seems sharper in the HD clip than in the 8k. May be it's just my eyes ! I have used Topaz to improve a scanned and very old 16mm clip with very impressive results. The difficulty is choosing the right model and settings.

[rocheuro]

nice results! some of the clips looks really impressive! and the other "some" looks like nothing changed. But honestly it is actually a pretty solid upscale with real details.

I use only 2x upscale - because them it not look so digital. In H265 Main10 format. The best user case is upsacale action cam video to 8K and get beter dinamig range, remove noiss and final result its more sharp.

[gordoyfeodecojones]

There are shots were you can see an improvement, but then you have 00:09:55 and it's actually wors looking due that "unfocus look" as soon the subject moves.

Between 00:09:55 to 00:09:59 it's switching constantly. Not worth it IMHO.

[JoeSzilagy]

Regarding at 3:25, when the Rode Go II was uncomfortable...actually, early on in the video the lines in your T-shirt made me think you were wearing a magnetic pendant for it (with string), like the ones used for the little Insta360 Go 2 series cameras, that go underneath a shirt. It made me realize that (by wearing a magnetic pendant with a chain or string on the 'outside' of a T-shirt with the Rode Go II on top) would probably be quite comfortable! Thank you Sheldon for the unintentional good idea!
The Wailing wall Topaz footage was superb. I think older, low-quality footage (from VHS tapes, and the little camcorders that came right after, with the mini-tapes) would be really cool to see improved.

[rocheuro]

i think topaz sometimes is great at detecting the scene and objects especially in wide fov scenes and also often faces and details of human face. on the other hand there are scenes where it looks like nothing changed or totally minimal. all in all impressive anyway. Bad it takes so much time on such a good graphic card! on my old mx250 gt it would take ages !

[azwb]

What is the ordering recommendation for Topaz correction? 1) Color First 2)Upscaling 3) Grain 4) ? - I hear you should do each one separately.

[marcystarnes]

my question is do you go thru your regular video processing then use the Topaz Video AI or do that before building your clips

[HK-qdou]

I tried the trial version and I'm not getting good results when I'm trying to upgrade AI generated videos from 720 to HD

[MelvinDlaCruz]

The question I have about the software is this, what is more cost-effective. Upscale your video fron 1080 60p to 4k 60p or record in 4k 30p and interpolate to 60p.

Can you compare this?

[waipahutube]

Great video! question what kind of computer and how long does it take to upscale from hd to 4k or 8k? i have a macbook pro 16 intel i9 and it takes hours to upscale from hd to 4k. thank you

[BuzzJones]

I've heard some say no upscaling or Video Enhancing Software will make 720 look like 1080p then some say it does.
Will this or another program be able to make old VHS & 8mm Home Videos look better ??
Thanks

[two.six]

I've been tinkering with Video AI on some old captures from a friend's VHSC home videos. I am not a professional videographer, so when I say "tinkering, " that's what I mean. I'm just experimenting with different settings to see what happens. It certainly seems to improve the videos' clarity, but it drops frames occasionally. So, I'm not sure if I'm just doing something wrong with the settings or if it is some other issue.

[pokepress]

Have you used it on any pro analog (Betacam, U-Matic) footage? I have 3.x and while it’s an improvement, I feel like it could be further optimized.

[joanacolhado]

PLESE help me!! i just downloaded topaz and am not being able to export my videos. it just says "error" but not why. i was able to export it once, but the whole clip was literally just a black screen, and it only had the audio. other from that, it keeps saying error in my exports tab and also on the video preview. i know nothing about this app and don't know what is wrong :(

[lynneaparo]

I have a vhs tape that was broke in a vhs tape recorder. It is my wedding tape! I was married in 1987. I have saved this tape all these hoping technology would get better. Heard Alot about AI. Anyway is this something that you can do?

[sprocketslip]

I keep seeing advertisements for this program. I’ve watched a few YouTube videos. Curiosity is killing me. I got it by it. 😂

[ElliottChildress]

stuff. Have you tried it with longer videos?