Silent Hill Homecoming
Every pre-rendered cutscene upscaled from 720p to 4K with Topaz Video AI, colour corrected and interpolated to 60 FPS — restoring the presentation without changing the game itself.
- Game
- Silent Hill Homecoming
- Type
- AI Upscale / Frame Interpolation
- Tool
- Topaz Video AI
- Video Codec Used
- RAD Video Tools - Bink 1
- Published
- Nexus Mods / Google Drive
Restoring the presentation without changing the game itself
Silent Hill Homecoming's in-game cutscenes were encoded at low resolution — 720p. On modern displays these look noticeably degraded compared to the game itself running at higher resolutions. This project uses Topaz Video AI to upscale every cutscene to 4K, with colour correction and frame interpolation applied on top of the upscaling pass.
This is a video asset mod — it replaces the game's cutscene files with upscaled versions. It does not change gameplay, mechanics, or any other part of the game. The mod is published on Nexus Mods.
Silent Hill Homecoming remaster
Compare the restoration across scenes
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Source Resolution | 720p (1280x720) |
| Output Resolution | 4K UHD (3840x2160) |
| Source Frame Rate | 29.97 FPS |
| Output Frame Rate | 60 FPS (Interpolated) |
Before
After
Scene 01 — source detail to remastered presentation
Before
After
Scene 02 — colour grading and motion pass
Before
After
Scene 03 — final presentation review
Pipeline & Process
The process runs in four phases: extracting the original cutscene files, processing them through Topaz Video AI, and replacing the originals with the upscaled output.
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Step 01
Topaz Video AI Upscaling
Each cutscene was processed through Topaz Video AI to upscale from the original low resolution to 4K. The AI upscaling handles deblocking and detail recovery from the compressed source material.
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Step 02
Colour Correction
A colour correction pass was applied after upscaling to bring the output in line with the original game's look. AI upscaling can introduce colour shifts, so correction was needed to keep the cutscenes consistent with the rest of the game.
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Step 03
Frame Interpolation
Frame interpolation was applied to increase the smoothness of motion in the upscaled cutscenes. This was run as a separate pass after the upscaling and colour correction were complete.
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Step 04
Exported to RAD Video Tools - Bink 1
From Apple ProRes 422 HQ, the videos were transcoded to the Bink 1 codec for use in the game.
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Step 05
Mod Distribution
The output files replace the game's original cutscene files. The mod is distributed through Nexus Mods with installation instructions.
Previews & Download
Watch on YouTube
// First version preview
Watch on YouTube
// v3.0 preview
What Went Wrong (And What I Learned)
As Silent Hill Homecoming was my first project to use Topaz Video AI and to be upscaled, I did not have prior experience with the tool or the process, nor did I know what to look for. Ultimately, I made four releases leading up to the final version to rectify issues created by the upscaling process.
Furthermore, I did not have a clear understanding of the optimal workflow nor understanding of how to best utilise the AI models to upscale and frame interpolate (frame interpolation was applied in the final version).
Initially, the final export were exported in H.264 video codec. This would have been fine if I utilised the appropriate encoding preset, however, I did not, and was compressed. Later on, I switched to using Apple ProRes 422 HQ to keep the quality intact losslessly.
During upscaling, Topaz Video AI can introduce artefacts and colour shifts that need to be corrected manually. However, this issue existed in the later AI models. Prior to that, the AI models used to self-colour correct, resulting in more consistent output.
Trophies Earned
Look over the restoration work
