- Mar 12, 2022
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Crash course for Video upscaling:
Get a copy of Topaz Video AI 3.1.6.
You should only really do this with a high power graphics card. I use a 3080. Maybe if you have a threadripper CPU or a high core fast intel it might work, but I cbf trying that.
Check the settings so that you're processing with your GPU if you have it and high VRAM usage.
Put your file onto the program.
If it's below 720p then don't upscale it any higher than to 1280x720p. Use Artemis LQ or Iris.
If it's a decent quality file that's around 720 res or higher then you can go to 1920x1080 (aka 1080p) or whatever direct upscaling percentage gets you near it (ie if you have a old square file). Use Artemis High Quality.
4k will take forever so for just porn, don't bother upscaling, just be happy if your file is already 1080p unless you've got a lot of time and don't need to do anything else with the PC for a while. Upscaling an hour long file to 4k can take literally days.
If you're going to do framerate enhancements and upscaling I would suggest doing the upscale FIRST then use Chronos Fast to update the FPS (just pick 60fps btw, anything more is wasteful).
You can trim the start & finishing times.
Ensure if you're keeping the sound that you've got the option to keep sound selected.
You don't really have to do much more than set the start & finish and then hit the go button.
Giving it a pass in handbrake after is useful, the files are often quite large and it's easier to leave the quality at default then chop it down to size with something like NVENC GPU encoding at CQ 27.
One other tip is to turn off ALL FILTERS in handbrake. None of them are needed, and if you're using an NVENC encoding method (which is designed to make quicker encodes using the power of an Nvidia GPU), some of those filters are CPU only, and will cause your CPU to generate huge amounts of heat while also making the encode slower.
edit - I prefer h264 for video files and those that are 1080p or lower. If you are a streamer or using 4k then h.265 is probably a better choice. I've had a few issues with 265 encoded files on some devices so I err on the side of caution since the additional space savings of 265 aren't that important to me.
Handbrake Summary:
Summary: Format MP4. Web Optimized.
Dimensions: Anamorphic None, Modulus 2, Cropping Automatic.
Filters: All OFF.
Video: H.264 Nvidia NVENC (if you have a recent Nvidia GPU, which you need if you're doing upscaling anyway). Constant framerate. Constant Quality 27 (28 is lower space, but lower quality, 26 is higher quality but more space. Higher than 28 will eventually start artefacting, lower than 26 you will ensure retention of quality but file size goes up). Slow encoder preset. Profile auto, encoder level auto. No advanced options.
Audio: I use AAC (AVOCODEC) with Bitrate: 160, Stereo.
Examples - You'll need to open the file directly to get the full size images.
720 Source:
1080 Upscale:
This one is a 'worst case scenario' kind of deal, it's source is a 400x300 clip that's very old, probably not the original source and is quite grainy, and it's scaled up 3.5x, which you can compare to going from 1280x720 to 1080p which is only 1.5x
1438x1080 upscale:
I've found that doing 720p up to 1080p is fine for watching on large screens (TV's, PC monitors etc).
Doing sub 720p I'd just stick to 2x, anything more won't give good results in my experience and wastes time/energy. Results on big screens aren't great, but I've found they're perfectly acceptable for phones/ipads.
Get a copy of Topaz Video AI 3.1.6.
You should only really do this with a high power graphics card. I use a 3080. Maybe if you have a threadripper CPU or a high core fast intel it might work, but I cbf trying that.
Check the settings so that you're processing with your GPU if you have it and high VRAM usage.
Put your file onto the program.
If it's below 720p then don't upscale it any higher than to 1280x720p. Use Artemis LQ or Iris.
If it's a decent quality file that's around 720 res or higher then you can go to 1920x1080 (aka 1080p) or whatever direct upscaling percentage gets you near it (ie if you have a old square file). Use Artemis High Quality.
4k will take forever so for just porn, don't bother upscaling, just be happy if your file is already 1080p unless you've got a lot of time and don't need to do anything else with the PC for a while. Upscaling an hour long file to 4k can take literally days.
If you're going to do framerate enhancements and upscaling I would suggest doing the upscale FIRST then use Chronos Fast to update the FPS (just pick 60fps btw, anything more is wasteful).
You can trim the start & finishing times.
Ensure if you're keeping the sound that you've got the option to keep sound selected.
You don't really have to do much more than set the start & finish and then hit the go button.
Giving it a pass in handbrake after is useful, the files are often quite large and it's easier to leave the quality at default then chop it down to size with something like NVENC GPU encoding at CQ 27.
One other tip is to turn off ALL FILTERS in handbrake. None of them are needed, and if you're using an NVENC encoding method (which is designed to make quicker encodes using the power of an Nvidia GPU), some of those filters are CPU only, and will cause your CPU to generate huge amounts of heat while also making the encode slower.
edit - I prefer h264 for video files and those that are 1080p or lower. If you are a streamer or using 4k then h.265 is probably a better choice. I've had a few issues with 265 encoded files on some devices so I err on the side of caution since the additional space savings of 265 aren't that important to me.
Handbrake Summary:
Summary: Format MP4. Web Optimized.
Dimensions: Anamorphic None, Modulus 2, Cropping Automatic.
Filters: All OFF.
Video: H.264 Nvidia NVENC (if you have a recent Nvidia GPU, which you need if you're doing upscaling anyway). Constant framerate. Constant Quality 27 (28 is lower space, but lower quality, 26 is higher quality but more space. Higher than 28 will eventually start artefacting, lower than 26 you will ensure retention of quality but file size goes up). Slow encoder preset. Profile auto, encoder level auto. No advanced options.
Audio: I use AAC (AVOCODEC) with Bitrate: 160, Stereo.
Examples - You'll need to open the file directly to get the full size images.
720 Source:
1080 Upscale:
This one is a 'worst case scenario' kind of deal, it's source is a 400x300 clip that's very old, probably not the original source and is quite grainy, and it's scaled up 3.5x, which you can compare to going from 1280x720 to 1080p which is only 1.5x
1438x1080 upscale:
I've found that doing 720p up to 1080p is fine for watching on large screens (TV's, PC monitors etc).
Doing sub 720p I'd just stick to 2x, anything more won't give good results in my experience and wastes time/energy. Results on big screens aren't great, but I've found they're perfectly acceptable for phones/ipads.
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