Nik v. Topaz

Just go to the Preferences item in the pull down menus and make sure GPU is highlighted and set the GPU memory usage to high - it is set to medium by default. It's under File > Preferences

E.J. Peiker wrote:Just go to the Preferences item in the pull down menus and make sure GPU is highlighted and set the GPU memory usage to high - it is set to medium by default.  It's under File > Preferences

As always, thanks so much, E.J.

Interesting thread. I use AI Clear and DeNoise depending on the image. If it is relatively noisy I us DeNoise. On my system it doesn't take too long, but it is slower than AI Clear. At first I thought it didn't sharpen as much as AI Clear but after recent updates it seems to be better. There are still some images for which I think AI Clear is better. The sharpening of details while having good noise control is super. I hope Topaz doesn't do anything to disable AI Clear.

RE AI sharpen, yes it is a bit slow. However, I haven't experienced anything like 20 minutes. Perhaps 2 minutes on a 5D4 file.

Ed Cordes wrote:Interesting thread.  I use AI Clear and DeNoise depending on the image.  If it is relatively noisy I us DeNoise.  On my system it doesn't take too long, but it is slower than AI Clear.  At first I thought it didn't sharpen as much as AI Clear but after recent updates it seems to be better. There are still some images for which I think AI Clear is better.  The sharpening of details while having good noise control is super.  I hope Topaz doesn't do anything to disable AI Clear.

RE AI sharpen, yes it is a bit slow. However, I haven't experienced anything like 20 minutes.  Perhaps 2 minutes on a 5D4 file.

Realize that AI Clear is included in Sharpen AI - got to the right side to where it says Select a Sharpen Mode, there you can select AI Clear.  So even if they do pull it out of Studio, which I agree would be a mistake, the algorithm is available in Sharpen AI

E.J. Peik wrote: Realize that AI Clear is included in Sharpen AI - got to the right side to where it says Select a Sharpen Mode, there you can select AI Clear.  So even if they do pull it out of Studio, which I agree would be a mistake, the algorithm is available in Sharpen AI

On the versions I just downloaded, AI Clear is an option in Denoise, but not in Sharpen.    But that doesn't change your point.  I am seeing one difference in the implementation in Denoise vs in Studio, which is the lack of the opacity slider in Denoise.  I hope they leave it in Studio. 

E.J. Peiker wrote:  AI Clear inside Studio is litterally lightyears ahead in that it can tell the difference between a smooth background and fine detail and actually enhances fine detail while eliminating noise on the background. 

In short, I much prefer Studio and the add ons to Studio - it also runs as a plug-in to Photoshop.

 I downloaded and installed Studio but I don't see AI Clear.  Based on what you said it can do, I'm interested.  Using Windows, is it a Mac only thing?
Thanks

Baywing wrote:

E.J. Peiker wrote:  AI Clear inside Studio is litterally lightyears ahead in that it can tell the difference between a smooth background and fine detail and actually enhances fine detail while eliminating noise on the background. 

In short, I much prefer Studio and the add ons to Studio - it also runs as a plug-in to Photoshop.

 I downloaded and installed Studio but I don't see AI Clear.  Based on what you said it can do, I'm interested.  Using Windows, is it a Mac only thing?
Thanks

Studio is free, AI Clear you must purchase. 

In the Topaz studio The AI Clear offered ‘try pro’ for 20 something days. I purchased it. I hope it does not go away, is it not offered in the studio any longer? I am currently trying Denoise and Sharpen. In Denoise, AI Clear is one of three choices but I find it a bit clunky vs. the AI Clear in the studio.

From Topaz:  AI Clear is no longer offered as such, but it has been included in AI Noise.  I would have paid the "plug in" fee but at $80 for AI Noise, it seems a bit steep.

Baywing wrote:From Topaz:  AI Clear is no longer offered as such, but it has been included in AI Noise.  I would have paid the "plug in" fee but at $80 for AI Noise, it seems a bit steep.

Topaz keeps running discounts, some 50% so keep checking.

E.J. Peiker wrote:It;s how much RAM your video card has.  you can look that up on the video card manufacturers website for your exact card.  your card maxes out at just 2MB if it is fully populated.  Your machine doesn't have enough video horsepower either on the Intel side or the nVidia side for a good experience.

That mirrors my experience, too. I recently replaced my old Geforce GTX 570 (1280 MB) with the GTX 1070 (8 GB RAM). AI Sharpen runs MUCH faster now.  A 16bit Tiff file of my 1dxII required around 40 sec while it took several minutes with the old card. Surprisingly AI Sharpen had worked with the old card, at least, though the memory was below the minimum requirements listed on the Topaz' website . My computer has 32 MB RAM but the CPU (i-2600K Sandybridge) is not up to today's standards, though.

Wolfgang