Clarity Upscaler Demystified

Preface This was written when I only had access to the Clarity Upscaler as implemented at NightCafe Studio . Their implementation is incomplete. BudgetPixel does implement Clarity Upscaler completely, and I plan to make a second part to this when I understand how the rest of the features work. Clarity Upscaler: A comparative case study of its degrees of creativity. Thanks to @BlazingLazers for letting me play with his incredible creation. It's a truly stunning work of art. This project explores the varying effects of the clarity upscaler at different levels (degrees) of creativity. I love the clarity upscaler, but it's worth knowing what to expect from it. The Clarity Upscaler's primary function, in my opinion, is to enhance the details in an image. Along the way, it can also actually perform an upscale as well. To achieve this, it utilizes AI to generate details that don't exist in the original. For example, it might repair slightly malformed fingers or unmask a face that is too obscured by hair or resolution defects, making it difficult to see clearly. The degree of creativity setting informs the AI just how hard to work at reinventing missing details. Below are the notes for each image. The Negative Effect Here you can see a severe example of how Clarity Upscaler can give you unexpected results: • The image on the left is the original image from @BlazingLazers . • The image on the right is the image after a Creative Upscale using a creativity setting of 100% Note: I did not have @BlazingLazers 's original seed, so all the other images in this study are slightly different; however, they still demonstrate the effects. The Sample Images at a Glance All the images in order of their degree of creativity from least to most: This set of two images is the fix-face version of this project. It became apparent that the effects of the fix face diminished rapidly in light of the clarity upscale. The Starting Image I evolved it from @BlazingLazer 's original starting image, using 0% prompt weight to get the same image despite having a different seed. • As you can see, it's already beautiful, but would benefit from an upscale touch. • All the other images are upscaled from this one. Creativity: 15% • This is my own personal preference in most cases. • The eyes are improved. • The hair is more detailed, so we can see the individual strands better. • The face has sharper definition. • The skin has slightly more colour. • The moisture on Lady Left 's shoulder looks like it is forming into snow. • The water on Lady Right 's shoulder has become more defined rivulets. • The texture in the clothing is more defined. Creativity: 25% This is not too different from 15%, but this is what I see: • The hair is slightly more detailed than at 15%. • The moisture on Lady Left 's shoulder is now clearly icy snow. • The water on Lady Right 's shoulder is starting to look more like separate strands of ... not sure what at this stage. • The texture on the clothing is more defined than at 15%, and it appears to be almost separate from the clothing. Creativity: 50% • Both sets of eyes have improved over 25% • The hair is slightly better than 25%. • The moisture on Lady Left 's shoulder is starting to look like the clothing she is wearing. • The moisture on Lady Right 's shoulder has completely transformed into hair. • The patterns on the clothing are even more distinct. Creativity: 75% • What looks like wet fabric at 25% and 50% now looks like a stream of water between Lady Left 's breasts. • There is no face yet, but you can clearly see a stream of water defining the outline of that nose in 100%. • The hair has not completely taken over the clothing yet. • The hair is not quite as defined as at 100% either. • There are a few strands of hair by the lady's left ear that will become an earring at 100%. Creativity: 100% • Both ladies' eyes are fully realized and perfect. • The hair is now clear enough to see all the individual strands and looks great. • In the process of adding details, it appears to be adding pores (I'm not a pro, lol). • The skin has gotten coarser, and a grey pallor has formed on it. • An earring has appeared on Lady Left 's right ear. • All the clothing has been reimagined as hair. • Between the extra hair and the water stream from 75%, the AI suggests that there should be a human face positioned right between Lady Left 's breasts. • I can see a nose, an upper lip, a left eyelash, and an eyebrow. The nose follows the same line as the stream of water at 75%. • In @BlazingLazers ' image, the face appears on Lady Left 's left breast instead. With a Fix-Face The Starting Image - After a fix-face . • There is improvement in the eyes of both ladies. The eyes seem to suffer the most damage due to being created at low resolution. • Most people generally pay close attention to the face, so it's almost always worth doing a fix-face. It is better at it than a creative upscale, so if the face is quite mangled, I will do both. • The nose of Lady Right has become straighter. • There is a little more colour in both faces, especially noticeable on Lady Right . • I can see the blend between the original image and the fix-face update, just behind the hairline on Lady Left . • This is why, if you're going to do a fix-face , do it before the creative upscale, which will clean up those sorts of imperfections. Creativity: 15% - With a fix-face . • This is the only image that has not been upscaled from the original. • The blend line is cleared up. • For the most part, this exhibits the same features and defects as 15% of the original. • The only real difference I can see is in the faces, particularly in the eyes, which are slightly better in both ladies.