DV Footage Upscale CRF Advice

[taigi]

Hi all,

I’m working with old DV footage. My process is: run some filters to clean/enhance the video, upscale with NNEDI to the next size step, upscale again with Topaz AI up to 2K resolution.

For the earlier, lower-res steps (before NNEDI and Topaz), I saved my files at CRF 9.

Now that my footage is upscaled to 2K, what CRF should I use for the final export?

Thanks for any advice.

[johnmeyer]

Does upscaling make it look any better?

[taigi]

Does upscaling make it look any better?

I’ve tried upscaling before, and sometimes it helps a bit, but it really depends. If you use some of those AI upscalers, it can actually look a little sharper, especially if the original isn’t too terrible. It’s not going to make it look perfect or truly HD, but sometimes it’s a noticeable improvement.

[lollo]

For the earlier, lower-res steps (before NNEDI and Topaz), I saved my files at CRF 9.

Why? Nnedi output can be a lossless HuffYUV if processed with AviSynth, so no crf applies.

In any case, I doubt that a double step nnedi+Topaz is better than a single nnedi or Topaz upscale.

[taigi]

Topaz presets are a bit stubborn. If I don't upscale the material beforehand, it ends up with a plastic look. I chose NNEDI because it provides the best quality.