Generation isn’t enough: Hyperion 2.5 prepares AI footage for finishing

Hyperion 2.5 converts 8-bit SDR AI video to 10-bit ProRes HDR or 16-bit EXR, expanding the range available for color grading and VFX.

Topaz Labs’ Hyperion 2.5 model converts 8-bit SDR AI video to HDR, with 10-bit ProRes and 16-bit EXR outputs designed for color grading.

An 8-bit SDR generated sequence may look clean on screen, then reveal its limitations when heavy color grading, masking, or compositing pushes the gradients, shadows, and highlights. Hyperion 2.5 targets this finishing stage by converting these sources into higher-bit-depth HDR formats.

The model expands the color range and luminance values to provide more latitude in Resolve, Nuke, After Effects, and other post-production tools. Topaz Labs highlights smoother gradients, reduced banding, and footage that holds up better as adjustments, filters, and effects become more intensive.

Output formats include 10-bit ProRes in BT.2020 PQ, 10-bit H.265, and 16-bit EXR in ACES 2065-1. The developer documentation also mentions professional HDR output up to 4K, designed for continued work across editing, VFX, compositing, and color grading.

Moving from 8-bit to 10-bit or 16-bit does not restore original information missing from the source file. Hyperion builds a new working range through inverse tone mapping, remapping the available color and luminance values. Topaz Labs describes the process as faux HDR: footage that is too dark, overexposed, or heavily compressed will not automatically recover details that have already been lost.

A case study published by the company shows Hyperion 2.5 in the pipeline of Primordial Soup, the studio founded by Darren Aronofsky. For TIME Studios’ AI-generated series On This Day… 1776, 8-bit shots were converted to 10-bit ProRes before being graded in DaVinci Resolve. The process was used to push a masked ghost effect and reduce visible banding in a close-up from an animated sequence. The studio was already using Starlight Precise 2.5 and Astra 2 to enhance and upscale shots before finishing.

Hyperion 2.5 is currently available in Astra, with its arrival in Topaz Video announced for later. An HDR-capable display is still required to assess the results accurately, as previews on an SDR screen may appear flat or desaturated.