My 256MP Camera!!

petersmart

petersmart

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Well I don't actually have one - but I do have a 256MP photograph produced from a new program from Topaz Labs - AI Gigapixel.
I've been trying this program for the last few days and it is AWESOME!
I've tried re-sizing programs before but this is definitely the best I've ever used.
Topaz seems to be going a different way for PP - instead of using your PC they now use the video card for most of the processing - meaning that you can use a moderate PC with a reasonably fast card and get good results.
I produced a 256MP image (!) from a 1DS Mk2 image using an Nvidia 1GB card in my Z600 workstation with 48 GB RAM - but it also worked on an i3 machine with 16GB RAM.
It took about 45 mins to produce it so it is a slow process on a 1GB card but I have now purchased a 2GB card from Ebay for £15.00 and that is faster.
It is also faster if you first crop the image you want to enlarge to the view you want then enlarge it - last night I batch processed 50 images to 2x the original size of the crop and they were all finished overnight.
It also means that you can now use a small camera and get excellent results.

This pic is a crop from an old 350D image (8MP) which has an equivalent size of over 40MP!

350D-6.jpg

You can get a free 30 day trial here:

https://topazlabs.com/a-i-gigapixel-story/

It's a stand alone program so you don't need Topaz Studios to run it.

If you do try it it's a good idea to just go for 200% enlargement at first since different video cards may crash if you try to do too much - my 1GB card coped very slowly with upscaling the 17MP image from my 1Ds Mk2 to 256 MP but the 2GB card crashes at anything over 200% - even for the 350D (8MP) images.

Further images are here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/20926615@N05/albums/72157700442514594

Good luck with it.
 
That looks excellent Pete. I was planning to give it a go in the next few days (I've got all the other Topaz stuff) but had some concerns above my 2Gb graphics card......seems like it's not unusable within limits.

Bob
 
Interesting concept, I look forward to seeing more images ... at the moment they look a bit like OTT sharpening TBH. :)
 
gramps said:
Interesting concept, I look forward to seeing more images ... at the moment they look a bit like OTT sharpening TBH. :)
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Well it's possible - I do like to see sharpness :)

In fact the images were processed in Easy HDR 3 after upscaling with the sharpness turned up a bit before final editing in Serif PhotoPlus X3 which I've had for years.

But I'm quite happy with the results and it looks as if this program could be very useful.

Topaz describe it as "Artistic Intelligence" not "Artificial Intelligence" - LOL

And as long as the original images are reasonably sharp the results are very impressive - especially when allied with other editing programs.
 
Canon Bob said:
That looks excellent Pete. I was planning to give it a go in the next few days (I've got all the other Topaz stuff) but had some concerns above my 2Gb graphics card......seems like it's not unusable within limits.

Bob
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Topaz has a list of cards which they recommend but, as I said, I've tried 2 and got some success with both - the 1GB card was a Geforce GT710 and the 2GB card a Gigabyte GF GT 610.

And since the program is free to try for 30 days well worth a look.

I will certainly be buying it myself even if it is a bit slow ATM.

It also means that I won't be looking to upgrade my cameras - why spend at least £2000 on a new camera when this program can give these results?
 
Just for kicks and performance testing, I thought I'd give it a go.. the software seems a bit buggy though, it showed it processing one image and did a different image - but I restarted it afresh and got the following result.

First I Tried 600% scale, converting 6200 x 8272 pixels -> 37200 x 49632 pixels
After 17 minutes it was 80% done, it jumped from 5GB to 13GB memory usage and 100% CPU usage then the software crashed.

Then I tried the same image at 400%, converting 6200 x 8272 pixels -> 24800 x 33088 pixels
It took 20 minutes

From this 50MP image to
https://www.dropbox.com/s/45mshafvt9dpox6/B1514248.jpg?dl=0

To this 820MP image
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fndhn78fg20t6fv/B1514248_output.jpg?dl=0


So how to compare them? there is no discernable difference viewing the images at monitor sizes - even if i crop in a bit.. so I thought I'll crop in a lot.

I used photoshop to increase the 50MP image to the same size as the 820MP images - there are a few resampling options - I chose auto and it took 20 seconds

Then I'll take roughly the same crop of each and compare them. Original, then blown up by Topaz then Photoshop..

original by dancook1982, on Flickr

topaz_crop by dancook1982, on Flickr

ps_auto_resample_crop by dancook1982, on Flickr

If you compare them less closely, the photoshop artifacts are for the illusion of sharpening.

original by dancook1982, on Flickr

topaz_crop by dancook1982, on Flickr

ps_auto_resample_crop by dancook1982, on Flickr


All the while Topaz only used about 2.5gb of GPU memory at any time - but used up to 80% GPU processing power

gpuperformance.png
 
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To me the Topaz one looks much better.
I found that when I had a 256 MP image it was almost impossible to edit it in any of my normal editing programs.
But I was able to put it into Easy HDR 3 and start it.
I have a Z600 with 2 Xeon cores and 48GB RAM and it was the first time I've ever seen all 12 cores go to 100% and stay there!
Luckily I have a small program called core-temp to monitor it and before it was finished it warned me that the core temps had reached my switch off point of 75C so I shut it down.
I then re-started it and set the fans to 50% and then it managed to stay at about 60C and finish.
Quite incredible to be able to get a pic that big!
 
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petersmart said:
To me the Topaz one looks much better.
Click to expand...

Working at a much smaller scale so I can see a real application for it, Topaz does appear to indeed do good things...

Original -> Photoshop Auto Resample 400% -> Topaz 400%

bird_eye_original by dancook1982, on Flickr

bird_eye_photoshop by dancook1982, on Flickr

bird_eye_topaz by dancook1982, on Flickr

added a bicubic smooth option in PS, closer without the over sharpening, but not as clear.

bird_eye_bicubic_smooth by dancook1982, on Flickr
 
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dancook said:
Working at a much smaller scale so I can see a real application for it, Topaz does appear to indeed do good things...
Click to expand...

Definitely a much cleaner result and I'm certainly impressed with it and even with a small Video card it does a great job.

And, as I said, if it can turn my 8MP or 10MP cameras into cameras that can give 40MP images or larger I can see a resurgence in smaller high quality cameras fitted with high quality lenses.
 
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petersmart said:
Definitely a much cleaner result and I'm certainly impressed with it and even with a small Video card it does a great job.

And, as I said, if it can turn my 8MP or 10MP cameras into cameras that can give 40MP images or larger I can see a resurgence in smaller high quality cameras fitted with high quality lenses.
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The EM5MK2 already does that in hi res mode (as long as the subject it still.)

Works a treat too.
 
petersmart said:
Topaz has a list of cards which they recommend but, as I said, I've tried 2 and got some success with both - the 1GB card was a Geforce GT710 and the 2GB card a Gigabyte GF GT 610.

......
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I looked at the requirements and met the minimum spec.....mine's a Geforce GT750 with 2Gb
 
Canon Bob said:
I looked at the requirements and met the minimum spec.....mine's a Geforce GT750 with 2Gb
Click to expand...

Well worth giving it a try then - do what I do to start with - crop your image to the ratio you want then upscale it using AI Gigapixel - then edit it.

I did that with 50 images last night and batched them at 200% - all finished when I got up this morning.

Good Luck.
 
I've just been running through a few tests and it's certainly impressive. I shoot a lot of field sports and there are the inevitable action shots that are just too far away to maintain the quality after cropping. I've just cropped a 900x600 panel out of an image and done a 200% enlargement and then resaved at my normal 1500x 1000 for web viewing......turns my 300/2.8 into a poor man's 400/2.8. 2-3 minutes on my desktop with 'enhance' checked.
 
Certainly sounds like an interesting product that brings new potential to those who can never justify something like a Phase One

It does seem that unlike the issues with using GPU acceleration on LR, Topaz have taken the process of upsizing to a whole new level......pun intended ;)

Need to check my GPU specs.....but might need to buy a new one if "needed"???

Edit ~ My GPU is the nVidia GeForce GT610 (i.e. the 600 series which is on the unsupported list) but with the min spec of 2GB of VRAM

Worth a try???
 
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Box Brownie said:
Certainly sounds like an interesting product that brings new potential to those who can never justify something like a Phase One

It does seem that unlike the issues with using GPU acceleration on LR, Topaz have taken the process of upsizing to a whole new level......pun intended ;)

Need to check my GPU specs.....but might need to buy a new one if "needed"???
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"never justify something like a Phase One" - Justify? what about can't afford one - not at over £40,000!! :(

Apart from that you would also need an ultra fast computer to edit the 150MP files it produces - apart from finding a program which could actually edit them.
 
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petersmart said:
"never justify something like a Phase One" - Justify? what about can't afford one - not at over £40,000!! :(

Apart from that you would also need an ultra fast computer to edit the 150MP files it produces - apart from finding a program which could actually edit them.
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Should I get my :coat:;)

But back to us normal kit folk....................this AI program does look like a game changer and if 'we' are going to want fine detailed upsized images (re: upsizing ~ I have (as part of my On1 Photo RAW) but not yet used On1 Resize which does get good reviews) the $99 cost of Topaz AI Ggapixel is not out of order. Though I surmise to speed the batch processing up 'we' will need the more powerfull best GPU cards. But that will be seen a budget compared to those corporates that can afford the likes of a Phase One. (Thinks ~ what about users of the Canon 5Ds with its 50MP files ~ the Topaz software even for them could bring dividends???)
 
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Box Brownie said:
......(Thinks ~ what about users of the Canon 5Ds with its 50MP files ~ the Topaz software even for them could bring dividends???)
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I've got a 5DSR and a Pentax 645Z so I can see how things run with 50Mp raw files....not tonight though.
 
Canon Bob said:
I've got a 5DSR and a Pentax 645Z so I can see how things run with 50Mp raw files....not tonight though.
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I look forward to seeing what you make of it..........with a 50MP starting even a modest(?) upsizing of 100% to a 100MP will quite a beneficial step.
 
Photoshop has new algorithm called "Preserve Details 2.0"

It is by far their best implementation so far and blows all the other inbuilt options out of the water. It is also very very quick or near instant.
I did a 200% x 200% blow up of a bird shot and was pretty happy with the result. It is slightly imperfect but really it went from barely printable on A3 to an easy A2.

I am sure the Topaz thing will get it better but by how much??? I can't even test as my video card is old integrated intel with shared memory so probably no good.
 
This does look to be good, but I'm struggling to understand why? I have a 5dmkiii and know I can print to A1 easy enough. I don't think I'd every need to print larger than this. It also reminds me of the old gadget show episode where they used what I'm sure was a 12 or 15mp Nikon to print a huge shot a Susie Perry that looked fine
 
BigJohn said:
This does look to be good, but I'm struggling to understand why? I have a 5dmkiii and know I can print to A1 easy enough. I don't think I'd every need to print larger than this. It also reminds me of the old gadget show episode where they used what I'm sure was a 12 or 15mp Nikon to print a huge shot a Susie Perry that looked fine
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Well for me it means that I no longer need to lust for the Canon 5D MKIV with its 30MP files - not since I can now produce larger images than that with a Canon 350D or Canon 40D !

I also have a Canon 40D and Canon 1D Mk III and 1D Mk IIN - all under 12 MP.

And upscaling the 10MP files from my 1D Mk III are very impressive - at 800 ISO there is very little noise evident - one of the advantages of lower MP count and a large sensor (1.3 crop in the case of the 1D3N)

And smaller cameras do have some advantages over super MP cameras - namely diffraction limiting.

I have seen examples of this in cameras with a small sensor and large MP count - where fine detail is lost and cannot be recovered even with this program.

So for anyone with an older camera or low MP camera this program definitely looks like a winner.
 
It's quite effective. Combine with their AI Watermark removal tool(TM pending*) and some people won't ever need to pay for an image again :)


*not yet anyway.
 
BigJohn said:
This does look to be good, but I'm struggling to understand why? I have a 5dmkiii and know I can print to A1 easy enough. I don't think I'd every need to print larger than this. It also reminds me of the old gadget show episode where they used what I'm sure was a 12 or 15mp Nikon to print a huge shot a Susie Perry that looked fine
Click to expand...

Normally, no - this wouldn't be of much use. A1 is enough for * most * customers. Sometimes you get an odd request for 3m x 2m and that's where the trouble begins without MF camera. And sometimes it happens it is an older image from archives or a heavier crop. Wildlife shooters would be particularly interested I imagine.

I'd expect to use it 2-5 times per year max. So it is hard to justify the outlay for a SINGLE plugin (not a suite) just to have a play. I'm sure there will be a few specialists or agencies that would find it a lot more useful. It is a nice product at the end of the day and I will make a prediction that Adobe's version will quietly make it into Photoshop CC within 2 years, all inclusive.
 
One thing I did note when watching the You Tube presentation of AI Gigapixel was that the AI could "use its imagination" to fill in details on a photograph to make it more realistic.

Because it had been trained on thousands of images it "knows" what could be in a photo and can fill in details in a photo which isn't actually there.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAL2q_Lhlw8


From 6.30 mins.

I thought WOW now AI has an imagination - incredible!
.
 
Topaz have just released an update that runs on the CPU....useful for folk with a non-compliant graphics card.
 
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