I was experimenting with this over the summer. I was trying to remaster and upscale some classic photos. I did not want to share the results because I do not have permission to use copyright photos and I do not have consent of the person in the photo.
Then I saw a VHS LoRA which is able to make images look like VHS stills. This gave me the idea to try out a process to show what is currently possible. This is just a single image. Upscaling an entire video and making it cohesive will be difficult.
My process for this was:
1. Generate a 460x360 image that looks like a VHS still. This is the first attached image. 2. Outpaint 80px to the left and 80 to the right to get a 640x360 image. This goes from a 4:3 ratio to 16:9. New pixels are generated which adds to the background. This is the 2nd attached image. 3. Upscale to 1920x1080. This is the 3rd attached image.
The 4th image is just a cheesy graphic I made to show all 3 in 1.
When I tried this with classic photos, I did not like the result. There were more pixels, but it looked like a different person. Subtle changes in the face change the identity. This result shows that happening, especially in the hair. There is more details in the hair, but it is less wavy. Other aspects look a bit better like her lips and teeth. She looks a little too much different. The clumpy looking mud turned into a creamy mud.
This entire experiment took me one afternoon. The tech to do this with video and not just 1 frame will become available. It will probably be incorporated into video editing software.
* Do you think AI will be used to remaster classics and VHS?
* Do you wish for classics to be remastered? Or is it off-putting that the pixels in the mess are changed to be fake?
Edit: Added a gif showing FILM (interpolation) between the initial image and final result.
People continue to wildly underestimate what AI will be capable of, and how soon. What can be done now is not a good guide to what things will be like a year from now. Yes, you will be able to remaster, extend, recast, switch substances, anything you like!
Do you think AI will be used to remaster classics and VHS?
Depending on how you define AI, I think it already has. And for several years now. Instead of a digital artist fixing each frame of a film or video, repeating the same tasks over and over again, AI can be set to do this.
Do you wish for classics to be remastered?
In many cases, yes, depending on how far the changes go. If its basic fixes, fine. If its George Lucas Star Wars-level remastering, no.
Example: There's a really cute girl in the background of the 3's Company bake-off pie fight. Wish she'd gotten nailed. If a "remastering" puts her on the receiving end of a pie, thats too much. But cleaning up the post-scene pie fight video, definitely. (The cute girl is nowhere to be seen, unfortunately.)
* Do you think AI will be used to remaster classics and VHS?
* Do you wish for classics to be remastered? Or is it off-putting that the pixels in the mess are changed to be fake?
Yes I think it will be used more and if you don't try to generate new pixels to achieve a 16:9 ratio the software is there and becomes better with each iteration. I use Topaz Video AI to remaster my older scenes. And after the one year since I first used the software I already could re-remaster the first scenes I did, because the AI models and the software keep getting better.
Generative fill is already normal for Photoshop users, it'll be a matter of time till it is widely available in video enhancement software too. However while it would not put me off to have additional AI generated picels there, I am not sure if it is worth the effort. One has to keep the cost for this in check. And I assume generative fill for video (that's consistent and does not put you off while viewing) may use a lot of computing power.
* Do you think AI will be used to remaster classics and VHS?
* Do you wish for classics to be remastered? Or is it off-putting that the pixels in the mess are changed to be fake?
Yes I think it will be used more and if you don't try to generate new pixels to achieve a 16:9 ratio the software is there and becomes better with each iteration. I use Topaz Video AI to remaster my older scenes. And after the one year since I first used the software I already could re-remaster the first scenes I did, because the AI models and the software keep getting better.
Generative fill is already normal for Photoshop users, it'll be a matter of time till it is widely available in video enhancement software too. However while it would not put me off to have additional AI generated picels there, I am not sure if it is worth the effort. One has to keep the cost for this in check. And I assume generative fill for video (that's consistent and does not put you off while viewing) may use a lot of computing power.
Very cool. I had no idea that software like this already existed. I am not into editing.
There are some classics that I really wish were remastered. The problem is that the producer or current copyright owner might have no interest in doing it. It might cost more for the license than it would make from selling remastered videos. They might not care to work out a contract to have it done or license it out to someone interested in doing it. Some of the videos that I want remastered the most are least likely to ever happen. I guess I can only privately do it with my own money and time.
The other issue with some classics is either poor audio or music track backgrounds. I would really want the audio to be remastered. There are some subtle sounds that I really want to hear instead of music.
One day I hope I see high resolution video of some classics featuring some of the models that I had a crush on
My guess is you will see it more widely used on older TV shows and movies. Some have been restored, but there are thousands of hours of western moves and pre 1990s TV shoes that could be brushed up.There is such a demand for mass market content.
That will further develop the technology for full video quality upgrade. Then maybe it will come to the home user, small video producers who have large libraries of 640 x 360 video