Introduction
The AI Enhance tool sharpens, upscales and restores video using models from Topaz Labs, plus one from Bria. To use it, open a clip's Video Settings and choose AI Enhance, then pick a model under Select Provider
When you have a video open in the Editor you will see the 'Enhance' button in the top left corner of the workspace.
Do you always need to upscale?
Often not. Several of Pencil's frontier video models generate at high resolution, up to 2K or 4K in some cases, so if you generate at the size you need, there may be nothing to upscale.
Video upscaling is capped at 2x, and it only helps when you have not already reached the top resolution at the generation stage. A clip that is already at its model's maximum has no further headroom.
You can still use the upscalers on hi-res videos to try to enhance the look, but the resolution will be the same as the input video, so it may then work as an improver, but not as an upscaler.
The better habit is to generate at high resolution from the outset. Reach for the Enhance upscalers mainly when you generated at a lower resolution and now need the clip larger, or when you are restoring degraded source footage.
Which video model should you use?
Each model suits a different kind of footage:
Starlight Precise 2.5 is Topaz's newest and most advanced video model, from early 2026. It is a diffusion model that rebuilds genuine detail rather than simply sharpening pixels, so it is the strongest choice for bringing low-resolution or AI-generated footage up to 4K, and for heavy restoration. It produces natural faces and skin with minimal artefacts.
AI Video Enhance is the established, fully manual model. It upscales and enhances with adjustable detail, noise, blur and motion controls, so reach for it when you want hands-on control over restoring or refining footage.
Proteus Natural, also from early 2026, is a versatile general-purpose upscaler that balances sharpness with natural texture across standard live-action footage. It keeps the controls simple, mainly a creativity setting and a few basics, which makes it a sound everyday default.
One non-Topaz option, Bria Video, also appears in the list. It is not an upscaler: it removes video backgrounds for a clean, studio-quality result without a green screen.
Starlight Precise 2.5 and Proteus Natural controls
Starlight Precise 2.5 and Proteus Natural keep things simpler than AI Video Enhance. With these models you just need to set the the upscale ratio under Enhancement Options, choose a Creativity level, and use the Optimized Mode (which is faster but lower quality) and Enable CLC (content lighting correction) toggles.
AI Video Enhance controls
Source setup. Match your footage with Video Type: Progressive for modern digital video, Interlaced for older broadcast or DVD content drawn in alternating lines, and Progressive Interlaced for partially converted footage. For interlaced footage, Field Order controls how the alternating lines are handled, with Auto, TopFirst or BottomFirst.
Parameter mode sets how much control you take: Auto applies Topaz's recommended settings, Relative lets you weight them, and Manual gives you full control.
Scaling and focus. Enhancement Options sets how much to upscale. Focus Fix Level applies AI sharpening to correct mild or heavy blur, with None, Normal or Strong.
Detail, noise and artefacts. Compression reduces artefacts like blockiness or banding from low-quality files, with a slider for how much clean-up to apply.
Detailing recovers fine textures and edges, though too much can look unnatural. Noise Reduction removes grain or digital noise, with higher values smoother but softer.
Add Noise adds subtle grain for a natural look or to hide banding. Halo reduces the bright outlines that over-sharpening or compression can leave, and is best used sparingly. Anti Aliasing smooths jagged, stair-stepped edges, especially on text and diagonals. Blur softens the image to reduce harshness, and is most useful at low levels.
Grain. Grain adds film-like grain for a natural or vintage look, Grain Size sets how fine or coarse it appears, and Preserve Details protects small features from being smoothed away.
Motion and frame rate. Slow Motion creates a slow-motion effect from 1x to 16x by interpolating new frames.
Frame Rate sets the output frames per second, either matching the source or adjusting for smoothness.
Detect Duplicate Frames finds and removes repeated frames to improve smoothness and reduce flicker, and Duplicate Threshold controls how similar frames must be to count as duplicates.