Topaz Labs Mask AI

[Jill Morgan]

I have downloaded the trial for Topaz labs Mask AI which is part of their Creative Bundle.  Very impressed so far with my limited experiments.  I do a lot of images of furry critters, so masking around their hair with grass and tree backgrounds has always been a challenge.  Did a few samples and it has done a good job.  It just seems to leave a very small haze around the masked area.  Can't get rid of it.  Anyone else using this software and know how to do that?

 

Jill

 

 

Edited August 15, 2020 by Jill Morgan

[Betty LaRue]

18 minutes ago, Jill Morgan said:

I have downloaded the trial for Topaz labs Mask AI which is part of their Creative Bundle.  Very impressed so far with my limited experiments.  I do a lot of images of furry critters, so masking around their hair with grass and tree backgrounds has always been a challenge.  Did a few samples and it has done a good job.  It just seems to leave a very small haze around the masked area.  Can't get rid of it.  Anyone else using this software and know how to do that?

 

Jill

 

 

Have you played with the sliders under “Edge”?

[Jill Morgan]

7 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

Have you played with the sliders under “Edge”?

 

I have, but it tends to remove a lot of the hairs and flattens the edges.  Can't seem to get it to just remove that halo around the dog.

 

Jill

[MDM]

I recall you use Photoshop so I assume you have tried the tools in Select and Mask but the Refine Edge tool in recent versions combined with the other tools can be very good for hair if you have patience and follow some of the expert tutorials on how to do it. 

[Jill Morgan]

7 minutes ago, MDM said:

I recall you use Photoshop so I assume you have tried the tools in Select and Mask but the Refine Edge tool in recent versions combined with the other tools can be very good for hair if you have patience and follow some of the expert tutorials on how to do it. 

 

I have used the select and mask, which is great if you have a solid background, but terrible if there is grass, trees etc around your subject.

 

I put my saved png from Mask AI in PS and used the select and mask to hopefully get rid of that halo, but couldn't.

 

And when working on a white dog, it is real difficult.  Have to shove it in ACR filter, darken the image, so I can actually see what I am doing.

 

Jill

[Michael Ventura]

Jill, if you can bring it into PS and have the critter selected, halo and all.  Go to "Select", then "Modify", then "Contract".  You can select how many pixels to contract.  I would start small, like 1px, and work bigger until you see the halo disappear.

[MDM]

I’ve used a few of these AI plugins (not mask) and have to wonder how much the AI actually does. Is AI just a buzzword or does it really do something new? I found there were always artefacts left over with  the Topaz Denoise AI plugin. On the other hand, Mark Chapman is a big fan. 

 

In any case  I don’t think there is any simple answer or single technique to selecting hair. Each image is different so the more techniques you try the better you get. I think the key is to make it look as good as possible without necessarily achieving perfection. But pure automation is not here yet I fear. 

[M.Chapman]

2 hours ago, MDM said:

always artefacts left over with  the Topaz Denoise AI plugin. On the other hand, Mark Chapman is a big fan

Indeed I found Topaz Denoise AI great for removal of grain from scanned slides and the latest version seems to have reduced the artefact problems. But I tried Topaz AI Sharpen and don’t like it at all. I’ve not tried the masking software. 

 

Mark

[Jill Morgan]

2 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

Jill, if you can bring it into PS and have the critter selected, halo and all.  Go to "Select", then "Modify", then "Contract".  You can select how many pixels to contract.  I would start small, like 1px, and work bigger until you see the halo disappear.

 

 

I have given that a try, and although it does help in the smooth areas, doesn't cure my halo over hair.  I will play with it.  I've watched quite a few videos, but as usual most show fairly easy objects to mask and remove.  It does do a great job with complicated backgrounds that show through tree branches etc.  Much better than PS does.  I'll find a way.

 

I also find that the area of the dog along the edge that gets covered by the outline is partially transparent when you bring it up to 100%.  For $100 it needs to be better.  High contrast and flat areas are fairly easy anyway.  It is the wispy hair that is the challenge.

 

Jill

[Betty LaRue]

2 hours ago, Jill Morgan said:

 

 

I have given that a try, and although it does help in the smooth areas, doesn't cure my halo over hair.  I will play with it.  I've watched quite a few videos, but as usual most show fairly easy objects to mask and remove.  It does do a great job with complicated backgrounds that show through tree branches etc.  Much better than PS does.  I'll find a way.

 

I also find that the area of the dog along the edge that gets covered by the outline is partially transparent when you bring it up to 100%.  For $100 it needs to be better.  High contrast and flat areas are fairly easy anyway.  It is the wispy hair that is the challenge.

 

Jill

Yes, I gave up trying to cut out years ago. I tried with people and could never get the hair to look natural. I’m sure the software is better than then, but I have too many memories of wasted hours. If I get bad blisters, I don’t touch the hot stove anymore.

[Jill Morgan]

14 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

Yes, I gave up trying to cut out years ago. I tried with people and could never get the hair to look natural. I’m sure the software is better than then, but I have too many memories of wasted hours. If I get bad blisters, I don’t touch the hot stove anymore.

 

I know it is probably one of the toughest things for developers to conquer and it is pretty good, but not good enough.  To do it well you have to do your mask at 100% so you can have the thinnest line possible along the mask.  Most of the dog stuff I do for customers is never needed to be that large but if I want to put in a different background, the halo is a no go.  Would have to erase it almost pixel by pixel.  Not worth the work.  Fine if I just want to remove the dog and place it on a white background.  Could do some artistic stuff with it, but not gonna spend that kind of money unless it can do the full job.

 

Jill