The footage used for side by side was shot at what appears to be Clybourn station on CNW Kenosha/Harvard Subdivision. The Beatrice Foods sign is a dead giveaway.
I have watched 1000's of hours of uploaded railfan content here on UA-cam -- so I feel qualified to comment! First, thank you to you! ...and to all those putting up vintage railfan videos to be viewed and shared. Imo right now as-is without A.I. you're a channel worth being subscribed to! A.I. upscaling does muddle details (and trains are all about details) but I personally don't find this off-putting if I'm not trying to build a model of it! The crispness and upscaling can be pretty good. Upscaling sometimes leads to terrible stuttering motion from smoothing out the fuzzy motion blur (trains are especially difficult) -- try a frame interpolation to add more fps if the A.I. software has it? 60fps or 120fps? The highest quality original digitization may always be preferable, even though in 2025 I still watch 360p videos sometimes. Don't be afraid to put some high quality videos through the A.I. too and see how they come out! I sometimes wish color correction or colorization could be done to match known colors (MILW orange, for example) -- but that might be asking too much lol Thanks for sharing footage and railfan moments in the first place and regardless of how the A.I. goes it should be fine :-)
Thank you for the thoughtful comment. I see AI enhancement as a "kinda nice thing to have" but not necessary. I know many people will overlook quality issues if the subject matter is rare or gone and can't be replicated anymore. Funny - I almost posted the side by side of a Milw Road train but at the last minute went with the CNW scoots.
From film to digital copy to AI enhancement to upload to UA-cam to be compressed and streamed to my screen. The ai looked better but this really isn’t the best way to demonstrate how much better. Love your videos. Keep up the good work.
The thing is I remember the original scenes from the 8mm and Super 8 home movies. But the kids today weren’t around for the details. As such any enhancement is a plus for the generations going forward.
One must recall that interpolation introduces artifacts, especially with non-linear methods and more so with AI. AI makes guesses and the detail it introduces is based on such a guess. If you use AI-upscaling software, I recommend you mention it in the description, to avoid causing confusion in case it introduces spurious details.
Well if it was me I would definitely make use of it. The old footage most of which can never be replicated is valuable especially if it was shot using good gear for the time. This tool simply adds value to it, as long as you keep an eye on how much "enhancing" is been done by the program, and keep it within realistic limits it will pay for itself many times over. Just the satisfaction alone of viewing footage that is now sharper, cleaner, clearer and steadier is priceless.
True. I see people "enhance" images by sharpening it over and over. And while they end up with a sharper image, it has an odd look to it that isn't quite realistic.
The AI footage did look smoother but I'm sure there's limitations as to how much it can make things look better. Some of the items being brought out for show are just too grainy or dark and it's doubtful if it can be fixed. Thanks for the comparison
My only concern with AI and I'm pretty sure in the music industry you lose your copyright ability over something that you make with AI. I wonder if that's the same for video?
I like it as an alternative to the cost of digitally remastering railroad film, if it was a very significant find perhaps I would want more money spent but for home video such as this AI looks great
The AI here has pretty good results but I wouldn't fully replace the original footage if I where you. Some small details may get misinterpreted by the AI. It also loses a bit of the nostalgic look and feel of the old 8mm film. So keep a copy of the original that you can always come back to. Maybe one more fun AI thing to experiment with is adding inbetween frames/making the framerate higher.
I find the vintage video charming, even with its imperfections. But I don't see any harm in the AI enhancement that you demo'd for us if youre itching to try it. I assume there are several levels of enhancement you can choose from during the process.
The AI software does enhance, basically augmenting and filling in the gaps just enough to reduce the grainy gaps within the transferred film. I do not like seeing the AI used on the human face, it looks awful in that application I think.
Luckily most railfan videos do not deal with the human face but this software that I used had an application just for face closeups (thus recognizing that faces are an issue)
I personally prefer the original footage over the AI. AI upscaling makes everything look "muddy", even if the provided footage is great. Textures will look like a watercolor painting and look fake. When something has been upscaled using AI, it feels like it loses its soul. That's just my 2 cents though. Mileage may vary.
I didn’t see anything problematic with the AI. It was clearer, sharper, and… so…better. If the original quality is not great, the AI is likely to be a definite improvement. And with these old, hand held, poorly digitized films, the originals are rarely great. But I love them either way!! 😊👍👍
I imagine it will be like CD's replacing records...now we are seeing a nostalgic swing back to vinyl. Everybody will probably enhance their videos with AI, then the pendulum will swing back as people rediscover the retro look of original movies....
I used HitPaw AI Video Enhancement. I kind of just arbitrarily picked them and used the free trial. So the video is not meant to be an endorsement of the product... although I think there was a definite improvement in the video.
I use AI on video and I am satisfied. It can actually save clips that are really poor otherwise. This is AI enhanced video DV tape. ua-cam.com/video/BkYjVqbBqyA/v-deo.html
The footage used for side by side was shot at what appears to be Clybourn station on CNW Kenosha/Harvard Subdivision. The Beatrice Foods sign is a dead giveaway.
Yes indeed - I spent many years riding through there twice a day on the NW Line so it was fun to see this footage.
I have watched 1000's of hours of uploaded railfan content here on UA-cam -- so I feel qualified to comment!
First, thank you to you! ...and to all those putting up vintage railfan videos to be viewed and shared. Imo right now as-is without A.I. you're a channel worth being subscribed to!
A.I. upscaling does muddle details (and trains are all about details) but I personally don't find this off-putting if I'm not trying to build a model of it! The crispness and upscaling can be pretty good.
Upscaling sometimes leads to terrible stuttering motion from smoothing out the fuzzy motion blur (trains are especially difficult) -- try a frame interpolation to add more fps if the A.I. software has it? 60fps or 120fps?
The highest quality original digitization may always be preferable, even though in 2025 I still watch 360p videos sometimes. Don't be afraid to put some high quality videos through the A.I. too and see how they come out!
I sometimes wish color correction or colorization could be done to match known colors (MILW orange, for example) -- but that might be asking too much lol
Thanks for sharing footage and railfan moments in the first place and regardless of how the A.I. goes it should be fine :-)
I just realized I think I found your channel for the GP9 audio -- so ironic that I'm commenting about the visual aspect to your vids, sorry!
Thank you for the thoughtful comment. I see AI enhancement as a "kinda nice thing to have" but not necessary. I know many people will overlook quality issues if the subject matter is rare or gone and can't be replicated anymore. Funny - I almost posted the side by side of a Milw Road train but at the last minute went with the CNW scoots.
From film to digital copy to AI enhancement to upload to UA-cam to be compressed and streamed to my screen. The ai looked better but this really isn’t the best way to demonstrate how much better. Love your videos. Keep up the good work.
I liked it ..thank you
The thing is I remember the original scenes from the 8mm and Super 8 home movies. But the kids today weren’t around for the details. As such any enhancement is a plus for the generations going forward.
One must recall that interpolation introduces artifacts, especially with non-linear methods and more so with AI. AI makes guesses and the detail it introduces is based on such a guess. If you use AI-upscaling software, I recommend you mention it in the description, to avoid causing confusion in case it introduces spurious details.
Definitely do plan on labeling a video as AI enhanced if it is. Thank you.
Well if it was me I would definitely make use of it. The old footage most of which can never be replicated is valuable especially if it was shot using good gear for the time. This tool simply adds value to it, as long as you keep an eye on how much "enhancing" is been done by the program, and keep it within realistic limits it will pay for itself many times over. Just the satisfaction alone of viewing footage that is now sharper, cleaner, clearer and steadier is priceless.
True. I see people "enhance" images by sharpening it over and over. And while they end up with a sharper image, it has an odd look to it that isn't quite realistic.
The AI footage did look smoother but I'm sure there's limitations as to how much it can make things look better. Some of the items being brought out for show are just too grainy or dark and it's doubtful if it can be fixed. Thanks for the comparison
Yes, I realize "garbage in, garbage out" applies, but when a video is kind of OK to start with, I think AI can give it a little boost.
My only concern with AI and I'm pretty sure in the music industry you lose your copyright ability over something that you make with AI. I wonder if that's the same for video?
I like it as an alternative to the cost of digitally remastering railroad film, if it was a very significant find perhaps I would want more money spent but for home video such as this AI looks great
Exactly. It is a business decision in this case for me - the cost to acquire the software versus the cost to have the movie reels redigitized.
Not bad for what it is. The expensive digitalization is better but for just general footage this is more than adequate IMO
The side by side rolling was a little less fuzzy. It didn't wash out the "vintage" look ya get with the super 8 films. Go for it Bee!
Thanks man!!
The AI here has pretty good results but I wouldn't fully replace the original footage if I where you. Some small details may get misinterpreted by the AI. It also loses a bit of the nostalgic look and feel of the old 8mm film. So keep a copy of the original that you can always come back to.
Maybe one more fun AI thing to experiment with is adding inbetween frames/making the framerate higher.
Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I figure I'll only use AI if it makes a meaningful improvement and I'll label the video as being enhanced.
I would say it cleaned up the video quite well. I wonder if this would work on my old VHS footage? Thanks for the heads up!
It should work with your old VHS footage-that is what it is designed to do.
I find the vintage video charming, even with its imperfections. But I don't see any harm in the AI enhancement that you demo'd for us if youre itching to try it. I assume there are several levels of enhancement you can choose from during the process.
The AI software does enhance, basically augmenting and filling in the gaps just enough to reduce the grainy gaps within the transferred film. I do not like seeing the AI used on the human face, it looks awful in that application I think.
Luckily most railfan videos do not deal with the human face but this software that I used had an application just for face closeups (thus recognizing that faces are an issue)
I personally prefer the original footage over the AI. AI upscaling makes everything look "muddy", even if the provided footage is great. Textures will look like a watercolor painting and look fake.
When something has been upscaled using AI, it feels like it loses its soul. That's just my 2 cents though. Mileage may vary.
the ai one is taller *im glad it isnt as cursed as i thought it was going to be*
Video starts at 2:02. Until then, it's some guy's nostrils talking a bunch.
I didn’t see anything problematic with the AI. It was clearer, sharper, and… so…better. If the original quality is not great, the AI is likely to be a definite improvement. And with these old, hand held, poorly digitized films, the originals are rarely great. But I love them either way!! 😊👍👍
It can also do things (allegedly) like reduce shake.
Ai will sometimes purposely throw in its obvious Ai details such as the Nose appearing taller , so the old footage is a timeless win for me
I imagine it will be like CD's replacing records...now we are seeing a nostalgic swing back to vinyl. Everybody will probably enhance their videos with AI, then the pendulum will swing back as people rediscover the retro look of original movies....
The AI modified version was noticeably sharper, and this was just on an iPhone 13 screen!
On my IPad the AI enhanced images were markedly better.
he AI enhanced version is clearer than the original version. What software did you use for this experiment? (Posted on 17 January 2025 at 2356 CST.)
I used HitPaw AI Video Enhancement. I kind of just arbitrarily picked them and used the free trial. So the video is not meant to be an endorsement of the product... although I think there was a definite improvement in the video.
I give the AI a thumbs up.
Cool - thank you for the reply.
I like the original better.
Interesting!...Just curious on why your preference for the original.
The ai enhanced kinda looks like a fake train, the original looks ok to me.
AI a bit better
I agree with the "little" qualifier. Not sure you get any quantum leaps in quality.
I use AI on video and I am satisfied. It can actually save clips that are really poor otherwise. This is AI enhanced video DV tape. ua-cam.com/video/BkYjVqbBqyA/v-deo.html
ruins it and makes it false. stop doing this bullshit.
AI is another excuse for people to be lazy the comparison is negegatle
PEople using various AI technologies lazily doesn't mean that's all it is for, though.