Why use black video?

[John28850210ubid]

Okay, so my question is, in this article about upscaling a video, it says that I need to create a black video to which I should apply the UpRez filter. And my question is, why is that that I should apply it to this newly created black video instead of the just video itself? Is there any advantage to this method?

[R Neil Haugen]

It looks like they are using a customized version of the Track Matte effect on the black "slug" clip on V2. That's why. The steps are nearly identical to normal Track Matte usage.

With of course, the output on V1 it also appears.

[John28850210ubid]

I'm afraid you didn't get what I was trying to ask. I was asking why do you need to apply this effect (for increasing the quality of the image) to this black slug above it and not to the video itself.

[R Neil Haugen]

I understood your request and directly answered it.

Because they are apparently using a customized Track Matte effect as I said before. This is how that effect works. A three layer stack.

This is a unique modification but seems to be the case.

[John28850210ubid]

No, I'm afraid we're not on the same page. Okay, let me reformulate my question then. Why use track matte at all when you can aplly this effect (upscaling) to the original video?

[Ann Bens]

You will have to ask BorisFX as why they have designed it to work that way.

@R Neil Haugen btw it's a 2 layer stack.

I find the tutorial kind of messy

(2160p with non-square pixels in one image, as said SD to UHD is not going to give a good result).

[Ali Jaber]

I had a look at the tutorial, the plugin is not using a normal scale that can be applied to the original clip, the plugin is creating new pixels, the original clip's resolution is FHD, and there is no way to double its resolution directly.

So, you need the black video because you need a 4K placeholder to be able to hold the newly created pixels by the plugin. That's why I believe you can use any 4K footage instead of the black video, apply the plugin to it, and you will have the same result. Of course using a black video would be better, as you can change its duration easily to match the FHD clip.

[R Neil Haugen]

Great sleuthing there!

[John28850210ubid]

I don't get your reply. 😞 What dou mean by 

the plugin is not using a normal scale

[Ali Jaber]

The plugin is using the 4K black video to store the 4K resolution clip that the plugin creates. Just like any AI upscaling software, like Topaz Video AI for example: you import a FHD clip and export an UHD clip, you don't replace the original one, but you create a higher resolution clip.
In the case of Boris plugin, it's "exporting" the upscaled clip directly to the black video.
Anyway, the workflow of the plugin is really simple, you don't have to understand what's hapening in the background: import the clip (FHD for example), create a sequence and a black video of the resolution that you want your clip to be (UHD for example), and do the steps mentioned in that tutorial.

[John28850210ubid]

In the case of Boris plugin, it's "exporting" the upscaled clip directly to the black video.

So why is it said to use it on a black video instead of the target video itself?

[Ali Jaber]

Because the original video itself is FHD, and the plugin is creating a higher resolution clip (UHD), the original clip doesn't have enough pixels to hold the created clip which have more pixels.

Immagine that: you have 1 litre bottle of water (your original clip), you found a magic container  where if you pour your 1 liter of water, it will transform it into 4 litres (the Boris plugin). You did that and now you want to take those 4 litres and go away, but you can't pour them back in the 1 litre bottle (original clip), you need a bigger 4 liters bottle to handle those (the UHD black video).

Just like you can't pour 4 liters of water back into a 1-liter bottle, the FHD video can't hold the information required for the higher resolution clip created by the plugin. That's why the plugin needs a new, blank UHD video (like a bigger bottle) with enough space to store the additional information (pixels) for the enhanced clip.

[John28850210ubid]

hmm, so I followed this instruction, however the quality of my video didn't change a bit...

p.s. maybe you know some verified, really working solutions to upscale the quality of videos?

[Ann Bens]

Post screenshots before and after.

[Ali Jaber]

To be able to see the diffrence, your zoom level should be at 100% in the program monitor, at this zoom level toggle on and off the black solid and see if there is any difference in quality between your original clip and the black solid. You may need to scale your original clip to 200% to match the scale of the black solid for the purpose of comparison .

[John28850210ubid]

Ok, thanks for your guidelines. I checked, and the difference is very small, to the point of pointlessness of its use

[Ali Jaber]

Topaz Video AI, a paid standalone application, offers superior upscaling quality. While it's a bit expensive, if you have a large number of clips to upscale, it becomes a very cost-effective option in the long run.

[John28850210ubid]

thanks