How To Upconvert 8mm Films with DaVinci Resolve and Topaz Video AI

How To Upconvert 8mm Films with DaVinci Resolve and Topaz Video AI
This video provides a tutorial on how to upconvert your 8mm movies from 1080p (and 720p) to 4k. We do the up-conversions with two different programs, DaVinci Resolve (Studio) and Topaz Video AI. It is an easy-to-follow step-by-step tutorial. It includes 2k to 4k comparisons with both software’s, along with a 4k to 4k comparison to see if one up-conversion software fared any better than the other.
Links to my 3-part series:
“How To Digitize 8mm Films”
Part 1 - Film to Digital
Part 1 includes a hands-on tutorial on how to digitize 8mm movies. I also make suggestions and show how I organize my movie files for efficiency, which will make your editing easier.
Part 1 Link
• How To Digitize 8mm Fi...
Part 2 - Syncing Sound and Fixing Drift
Part 2 covers specific and unique important information for syncing the sound of 8mm films. I will also include downloadable files to help you with the 8mm editing process. Those downloadable file links will be in the Description of Part 2.
Part 2 Link
• How To Digitize 8mm Fi...
Part 3 - Color Correction and Sharpen
Part 3 is a step-by-step tutorial about how to color-correct and sharpen your 8mm films.
Part 3 Link
• How To Digitize 8mm Fi...
If you don’t have an editing program, I suggest you download the free version of DaVinci Resolve, yes free. It does not expire and is fully functional. The only difference between the free version and the Studio (paid) version is some of the plugins are not there. In most cases, the free version should suffice. I placed a link to Black Magic Design (DaVinci Resolve) below.
LINKS:
Wolverine MovieMaker Pro $399.99 (1080p @ 20fps)
www.amazon.com/Wolverine-Digi...
DaVinci Resolve 18 Free and Studio versions (Fully functional free version / Studio $295.00 US)
www.blackmagicdesign.com/prod...
Topaz Video AI (Great sales around holidays)
www.topazlabs.com/topaz-video-ai
MrAlexTech (DaVinci Resolve tutorials)
/ mralextech
Casey Faris (DaVinci Resolve tutorials)
/ caseyfaris777
Film Simplified (DaVinci Resolve training courses)
*View free tutorials and then wait for a huge full bundle sale
filmsimplified.com
Jamie Fenn (DaVinci Resolve advanced tutorials)
/ jamiefenn
8mm Restoration (My 8mm KZbin Channel)
/ @8mmrestoration

[@johnnycaps1]

For many hard drive space is so cheap that it might not be a factor when it comes to file size, however the render time is and will probably be a factor for a long time. No pun intended. At least 6X more time to render with Topaz AI. Topaz shines when "improving" VHS, SuperVHS, and Hi8 to something that is almost watchable, but again the render times are horrendous. On a 2hr VHS tape, start the Topaz process, walk away, come back in a day or so and it should be finished. The price one pays.

[@craigw.scribner6490]

Thanks! Very helpful!

[@bobstark8749]

Neat channel! I never did the 8mm film route, but shot many "home movies" with VHS, and DV tape camcorders. Eventually I digitized all of those movies and they currently live on my media server. I too have DR Studio for my video work. I can see many similarities here with my experiences. I haven't done video upscaling, but plan to try it once I get a more powerful GPU. Resolve has some great tools for video manipulation and restoration. Black Magic keeps improving and I bet that they'll be able to improve on AI usage and that 4k upscaled video quality. I wish Davinci Fairlight Audio had more tools for audio restoration. Maybe I just have to accept that DR can't be all things to all people. I going to watch more of your 8mm digitization series. I'm quite sure there's things I can use here. Keep up the good work!

[@23432]

Hi Bob, looks like we are doing the same post process for S8 films. I was just watching the How to Upconvert 8mm.... I suggest you try using IRIS instead of Proteus under Enhancement. After trying many variations and settings (that is crazy time consuming), I use Iris. Manual settings and set sharpness to 100. Nothing else. It's amazing. You might need to back off the 100 sharpness depending on the film.

[@pjwilken5372]

I purchased Topaz to convert/improve old VHS videos (just beginning). I really appreciate demos and accurate comparisons. Like your laid-back style and yet really thorough close comparisons. I believe I'll download the free version of DaVinci Resolve 18 to compare since yours is the first video I've watched that was simple enough for me to follow :) Though I have no 8MM film to work on, I'll keep an eye on your channel for other helpful information. Good form.

[@Kamikaze3557]

Thanks for the upload, always looking to grab a few new tricks in these software packages. I owned both programs you use here, I only use Topaz for my final quality renders (Many times I use DaVinci Resolve last tho,read on…) they have an option for 2 instances of enhancement, big improvement. I seldom use auto settings, motion deblur i never use, ( I use the anti-alias/deblur in the enhancement section ) motion deblur introduces to many artifacts on clips that I have used. I use stabilization a lot but set between 10-15 % full-frame and the other check boxes un checked, on some clips I’ll occasionally go near 20% . You can or will get warpy looking video if set above 20% depending on footage. After export from Topaz video AI and need smaller file sizes I’ll run it thu DaVinci with no corrections other than the deliver tab settings to match input video to output in order to reduce size, always compare the footages afterwards as well as file size. I always use mp4 as many clips I upload to KZbin.

[@frankbuis4575]

thx