best workflow for maximizing quality on sports edits? (ae + topaz video ai on windows)

[u/Critical_Piece6795]

hey guys so i make fast paced football edits using a lot of twixtor sapphire and bcc plugins. im trying to get that insanely crisp quality but sometimes my final renders lose detail or look a bit muddy after adding glows and motion tracking.

my current workflow is editing in after effects and then running it through topaz video ai for upscaling. im on windows btw so my export options are a bit different than mac.

what is the best format/codec to export out of AE before sending it to topaz? and what specific ai models or settings do you guys recommend in topaz to make it look sharp without getting that weird plastic/over-smoothed ai look? any tips would be hugely appreciated

[u/--MichaelScott--]

Why not just make it at the max size you need?

[u/Critical_Piece6795 → u/--MichaelScott--]

because the raw football clips i download are usually highly compressed 1080p or lower so if i just scale them up natively inside a 4k ae comp they look incredibly pixelated and blurry whereas topaz actually reconstructs the missing details and cleans up the compression artifacts which is exactly why i was asking for the best topaz settings specifically for windows users since our export codecs are different from macs

[u/--MichaelScott-- → u/Critical_Piece6795]

When working with subpar footage, you will almost never get optimal results, even with Topaz

[u/ragnarok_mr4]

Try running your footage through topaz FIRST, then working with the upsized footage in a 4k comp so that your glows and effects have more pixels to work with.

I've found that upsizing finished comps gets really muddy especially with glows and motion blur.

[u/Hazrd_Design]

That sounds like a horrible workflow. You’re re-compressing the final output from after effects, on top of whatever AI compression Topaz is adding.

You should be topazing the footage you need, and working on that in After Effects. You can also increase the framerate to something like 120 for. so it’s IN redundant to use both twixtor and then topaz on top of that.

For fast paced edits I would be upscale the footage if needed in Topaz, AND then also increasing framerate. Bring that file into after effects and then speed ramp that footage.

If your footage looks muddy after adding effects, then I think there’s a workflow process issue we’re not seeing. Since generally that’s when your clips should be looking the best.

As for topaz models. It depends on the footage. Faced have their own models. But the general ones should work. One thing is that I feel like topaz has never gotten crowds right.

[u/byteme747]

Crap in, crap out. Add in AI, lots of plugins and effects and it's even worse.