Topaz Gigapixel AI version 4 is released

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Hi folks,

A major upgrade, free for existing license holders, was released today.

EDIT: Here is a quick video overview of the functionality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itxW_SB2Na0

Because there is too much to post about, here is the list of changes:
https://help.topazlabs.com/hc/en-us/articles/360014088412-A-I-Gigapixel-Changelog

I'm sure there will be some issues left (like incomplete EXIF), but they are working on those and things are getting better with each version.

The best news is that the image quality has been improved even further, and more user control is offered in the balance between noise reduction and sharpening. The improved quality does come at a price of slower processing and of more required memory. One does have the option of dropping the quality a bit though, which should then process the tasks a bit faster. I'm glad we get to choose, but I'll be running on the Max quality setting most of the time.

Not only will this allow to produce decent quality (printed) output from a smartphone at a larger size, or even (by temporarily converting the frames to e.g. JPEG images) upscale videoclips that were shot at a lower resolution, but it will also allow even higher quality large format output at the printer's higher native resolution (600 / 720 PPI).

Some sample output will be posted here later, if nobody else beats me to it.

Cheers,
Bart

[vjbelle]

This latest version limits me top 22000 pixels in any direction (a warning message appears and the program scales the image back to 22000 pixels).  This  limitation did not exist in the previous version.  If this cannot be exceeded then this version is of no use to me. 

Victor

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

This latest version limits me top 22000 pixels in any direction (a warning message appears and the program scales the image back to 22000 pixels).  This  limitation did not exist in the previous version.  If this cannot be exceeded then this version is of no use to me.

Hi Victor,

That limitation is partly due to TIFF file size limitations (2 or 4GB depending on TIFF library) and memory requirements for the calculations.
By changing the bit depth to 8-bit/channel (enough for an 8-b/ch print pipeline), Gigapixel AI can upscale images to 32000 on the long side.

I too would like a higher upper limit, even though 32000 pixels means 106.67 inches (or 2.7 meters) @ 300PPI.
As a work-around, you can feed the application 2 or more sliced portions of the image, upscale them individually, and join them afterward (while staying within the size limitations of the file format you use).

Cheers,
Bart

[digitaldog]

A workaround would be to support PSB but apparently they don't want to pay Adobe the licensing fees to do so......

[MichaelEzra]

Gigapixel AI seems to have blur suppression as well.
I wonder what would be the best workflow for using both Gigapixel AI and Sharpen AI for the maximum benefit from both.

[vjbelle]

The prior version did not have that limitation..... Slicing up the image is a workaround but, for sure, with lots more work. 

I did try two different methods as another workaround:  The goal is 28800 pixels on the long side for the image I am working with.  I use AI at 300 PPI to upsample to 14400 and then use PS (preserve details) for the second upsampling to 28800 (600 PPI).  I also tried using AI with the maximum width of 22000 pixels and then used PS (preserve details) for the second upsampling to 28800.  Oddly enough there is a slight advantage, with this particular image, letting PS upsample from 14400 - by slight I mean very slight.  Slicing the image in half does require very careful alignment in reassembly but is doable.  I use 48 inches as my long width (28800 Pixels @ 600 PPI) for images that I print in 16X9 format.  File size is 2.85GB - very doable for a tiff file.  I upsample to 600 PPI to eliminate any other interpolation in the printing path. 

Victor

Edit:  Actually slicing/cropping the image into two images is a fairly easy process.  Alignment is very easy...... so this is a doable workaround. 

[vjbelle]

I did start a ticket with Topaz and they immediately came back with the BS that Tiff has a file size limitation of 4GB.  That's fine except they wrote code that put the cart in front of the horse.  Why not have the program calculate SIZE with the given pixel/inch dimensions and determine whether or not a 4GB ceiling is exceeded?  THEN they could have a warning that the file size exceeds Tiff specifications.  Even a full sized 4X3 600 PPI image with the long side at 48 inches is within the 4GB limitation.

Victor

[vjbelle]

A workaround would be to support PSB but apparently they don't want to pay Adobe the licensing fees to do so......

As usual and appreciated your observation is spot on the money.....

Victor

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Gigapixel AI seems to have blur suppression as well.
I wonder what would be the best workflow for using both Gigapixel AI and Sharpen AI for the maximum benefit from both.

Yes, one of the version 4 improvements is the separation between noise reduction and blur reduction.

When using both Sharpen AI (SAI) and Gigapixel AI (GAI), I'd gravitate towards using SAI with slightly more moderate settings, to make sure that no artifacts are created that will be magnified. GAI by itself will already add higher resolution edge detail, so even without SAI it will produce something stunning. If SAI can deal with noise, then I'd reduce the noise reduction in GAI to the minimum.

Cheers,
Bart

[Christopher]

It’s kinda strange to call something Gigapixel and not offer psb or bigtif support... for me for now kinda pointless.


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[Paul2660]

Has anyone else had trouble with the logon? Since I updated to 4.0, I can't login even though I can easily login to the main topaz site.  I did change my password to take out special characters, however still no luck. This is on windows 10.

Sounds like this might have been a mistake anyway due to the tiff limits. 

Topaz has no way to go back either. 

Note to self, don't allow upgrades until you check.

Paul C

[Arlen]

Login works fine for me, and I'm also on Windows 10. Version 4.0.2 of AIG.

[Paul2660]

Per their site, they did a change to their authentication server.  I can't login with any version of Gigapixel AI, Mac or Windows. 

IMO what a joke.  This is not the first time they have had issues around the authentication server.

Still waiting on them for a response.    I can login to my account with no problems which of course shows I own gigapixel AI. 

Paul C

[Paul2660]

No response, 7 hours later, still same problem.  Topaz has it documented on their site, but they have not fixed the issue. 

Can't use any version of the software since the issue is with the authentication server. 

Going to be forced to purchase a new license under a different email address.

Paul C

[faberryman]

Going to be forced to purchase a new license under a different email address.

Why not wait a day or two until the problem is resolved?

[Jack Hogan]

Why not wait a day or two until the problem is resolved?

I've been waiting for two years, still don't have all my licenses working after repeated emails.  They really messed up when they went with a different sign-in in Topaza Studio.

[Paul2660]

Finally gave up,  Purchased a 2nd license. Had too much to get done for client.  Sadly their software is the only gave in town right now. 

Responses from their tech support have been less than adequate and imply my original issue was never even considered, even though Topaz admits on their site they have had issues with Authentication since they changed out their process.  They even have a knowledge base article about it, yes I tried all of that on Monday.

Great code, less than stellar support.  I have never needed it until now and greatly disappointed. 

Paul C