I have a Mac Mini 2018 with an i7 CPU and 64 GB RAM. It runs video editors like Lightworks and Final Cut Pro just fine. Encoding is very quick. I also use Handbrake for encoding as well. It’s also very fast. A two hour file only takes 15 minutes to encode in 1080p.
(Apologies to anybody reading this, or if I broke any rules. I go on a rant, and maybe that’s an incorrect way to approach this.)
Since Topaz Video AI is not available for purchase anymore for this type of Mac, I settled for UniFab, after reading a few reviews and websites. I was hoping it could help upscale the resolution of my videos to 1080p, and increase the framerate to 60 fps. I’ve done some test videos using the Topaz Video AI trial install, so I was expecting UniFab to be similar in options.
However, I’ve tried three different, but short, videos for testing, and two crashed during upscaling, one just stalled and never progressed further, and of the two that crashed, one encoded only audio, no picture.
I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.
Maybe I need a specific video type and/or codec used?
The idea is that, eventually, I’m going to have to use UniFab’s upscaling for longer video files, some that run up to 32 hours and 30 minutes maximum for my video work for clients. I understand that can take like three months to render (used Topaz trial for an experiment), but that’s the work I do. (NDAs prevent me from discussing specifics of my work.)
With the economy poor in my region, and inflation a tad out of control (in my opinion), and I am not getting political, just sharing my area’s unique situation, and also being disabled, video editing for clients seemed like a good way for work, with a small, but enough earned, personal income.
It took me five years to save for Topaz Video AI, only to learn they don’t sell older versions after October of 2025. (Rumor.)
If UniFab’s upscale, or using of various tools thereof, provides the same level of quality, I’m all for it. I really would like to recommend it to stick to Topaz.
Thank you to anybody who read this.
(I’ll keep experimenting with my files.)
