(Photo by Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty Images
(Exclusive) Adobe is announcing today that it has closed its acquisition of Topaz Labs, a long-time Dallas-based creator of software tools now using AI to sharpen, steady, upscale, clean up and otherwise improve still images and video of all kinds.
“Topaz Labs has earned the trust of filmmakers, photographers and designers for technology that recovers detail, improves clarity, maintains temporal consistency and produces video and image results that feel authentic,” wrote Deepa Subramaniam, Adobe’s VP, Product Marketing for Creative Professionals, in a blog post released today.
The acquisition is a potentially massive strategic deal for Adobe as it expands its suite of AI-based tools in Firefly and its more traditional software packages to edit, create, improve and output video, still images and other related content.
The software, especially after it’s fully incorporated into Adobe’s existing software suites, holds promise to fix one of the biggest challenges of AI-created video: generative video often just isn’t of adequate quality to be included alongside traditionally filmed professional 4K video. It also has proven a valuable tool for projects relying on poor-quality vintage footage.
For that kind of work, Topaz and MTI Film last year jointly received a tech & engineering Emmy for “AI Image/Video Enhancement for High Quality TV Catalog Restoration.”
“Its proprietary Neurostream technology lets professionals process complex AI models on their own devices or Topaz Lab’s cloud-based option,” Subramaniam wrote. “Restoring archival footage, refining low-light shots, enhancing mobile clips, preparing content for the big screen and bringing AI-generated videos to professional quality through creative upscaling will soon be possible within even more existing workflows, helping creatives accomplish more of the work they love.”
Though the initial purchase price was undisclosed, subsequent SEC filings put the purchase price at $340 million, valuing the company for more than a conventional software-revenue multiple, given its potential impacts on Adobe’s value.
Topaz’s technology has been used frequently in documentary films relying on poor-quality vintage footage. Goldcrest Post, for instance, used Topaz Video on HBO’s Billy Joel: And So It Goes documentary, according to Topaz. The company’s tools were used to improve the quality of vintage VHS and standard-definition video of older concert footage so it could seamlessly sit alongside contemporary 4K-resolution interviews.
Topaz tools also were used to upscale extremely low-resolution footage for Jeremy Workman’s documentary Secret Mall Apartment, produced by Jesse Eisenberg. Overall, Topaz claims millions of users, including 20 of the world’s 50 largest companies.
Topaz has three core products: Topaz Video, Topaz Photo and Gigapixel, and also has a collection of AI models, including Astra, which is used to improve video resolution, known as upscaling.
Among other benefits, the Topaz tools are compact, and can run directly on a local device rather than depending on expensive cloud-based calls to do their work. That could be invaluable as AI experimentation moves to a more cost-conscious stage of use.
Its products were already incorporated into Adobe’s three-year-old Firefly AI toolbox, which provides access to the company’s own generative-video capabilities but also those of about two-dozen image and video AI tools from major providers such as Google, Kling and Runway.
Adobe reiterated in today’s post that Topaz CEO Eric Yang will continue to oversee the unit, whose products will remain available as stand-alone products, not just part of Adobe’s sprawling collection of Creative Cloud services.
Bringing Topaz’s tools fully into the fold holds promise the company will be able to improve some of the biggest Achilles’ heels of generative video, which typically need upscaling, sharpening, noise removal and other tweaks before being ready for professional use.
At last week’s IBC broadcasting conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, the company announced new capabilities within its Premiere Pro and After Effects software using AI to generate brief video clips to extend inadequately long coverage, and to generate sound effects based on a user’s own spoken prompts.
The ability to use AI to generate soundscapes and music also were released in beta form during the conference, as were several AI-based audio tools to enhance audio, separate crosstalk from multiple speakers and dynamically “duck” dialog, music and other sounds.
The company also continues to roll out MCP integrations with many of the biggest AI large language models.
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