CommandUP (cup) Pipeline v1.0.0 — Upscale + Frame Interpolator 🎬

Lightweight, autonomous video post-processing pipeline built exclusively for Windows. Bring the "Lossless Scaling" workflow to your offline local video files on low-end and legacy hardware.

Caution

OPERATING SYSTEM COMPATIBILITY: CommandUP is engineered strictly for Windows 10 and Windows 11 (64-bit). The core pipeline relies entirely on Windows-native PowerShell scripts (.ps1), Batch command-line wrappers (.bat), and Windows console host bindings. Linux (including Wine/Proton environments) and macOS are NOT supported.

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The Concept & Workflow 💡

Running a demanding game while simultaneously recording your gameplay in high resolution is a heavy workload that chokes entry-level computers. CommandUP solves this by segmenting your workflow:

1. Record First: Capture your gameplay at a modest, stable resolution (e.g., 720p at 30 FPS). This allows your PC to maintain Ultra graphics settings or Ray Tracing while playing.
2. Process Later: Submit the final recorded video to CommandUP to scale it up to 1080p at 60 FPS or even 4K offline.

Why CommandUP is Different

Unlike mainstream tools that rely on heavy Artificial Intelligence, modern neural networks, and massive VRAM allocation, CommandUP uses direct mathematical instructions running straight on your GPU silicon. This brings fresh life to older setups—such as an AMD FX-6300 CPU and a 4GB Radeon RX 550 GPU—without overloading your hardware.

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🛠️ Hardware & Software Requirements

To ensure total system stability and prevent memory crashes, your computer must meet the following requirements:

• Vulkan API Compatibility (MANDATORY): Your graphics card must have native support for Vulkan. Works on dedicated GPUs (AMD RX, Nvidia GTX/RTX) and recent integrated chips (AMD Vega/Intel HD Graphics). If Vulkan is missing, the process will not start.
• Processor (CPU): Any basic 4 or 6-core legacy processor (e.g., AMD FX or older Intel Core). Average CPU usage remains around 45%, keeping Windows smooth and free from overheating.
• Video Memory (VRAM): Legacy cards with 2GB of VRAM are sufficient if used smartly. Tip: Highly recommended to close web browsers, Discord, and background games before processing high resolutions (2K/4K) to prevent memory overflow.
• Operating System: Windows 10 or Windows 11 (64-bit) with an active PowerShell terminal allowed to execute scripts.

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📦 Installation & Setup

1. Download the project .zip package from the repository releases.
2. Extract the archive into any directory to reveal the CommandUP folder structure.
3. Open a standard PowerShell window (Administrator privileges are not required).
4. If this is your very first time executing automated scripts on your computer, type the following command to allow execution:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process

⚠️ Action Required: Type YES (Y) when prompted by the terminal to apply the temporary execution policy.

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🚀 How to Run the Pipeline

Method 1: Drag & Drop (User-Friendly Interface)

Tailored for users who have no experience with terminal commands.

1. Navigate to your extracted CommandUP folder and locate the file named DRAG_HERE.bat.
2. Open another file explorer window and drag your input over DRAG_HERE.bat:
   • Single File: Drag and drop your video file to process it alone.
   • Full Folder: Drag and drop a folder containing multiple videos to process all files in batch mode automatically.

Customizing Drag & Drop Settings

You can modify the default processing behavior by editing the DRAG_CONFIG.txt file:

[DRAG_SETTINGS]
QUALITY=med
FPS=60
INTERPOLATE=oversample
SCALE=1920x1080
SHARPNESS=5
HDR=false
SHUTDOWN=false

Method 2: PowerShell Terminal (Advanced Control)

Navigate to your project directory inside PowerShell:

cd "D:\CommandUP"

1. cup.ps1 (Main Engine Script)

This is the core modular script used for upscaling and frame interpolation. Customize it using the following command-line arguments:

• -file "path\video.mp4": Absolute path to the source video file (supports .mp4 and .mkv).
• -folder "path\directory": Absolute path to a folder for batch video processing.
• -scale factor|resolution: Target dimension. Can be a decimal multiplier (e.g., 1.5 scales 720p to 1080p) or a literal resolution string (e.g., "1280x720", "1920x1080", "2560x1440", "3840x2160"). If omitted, upscaling is skipped.
• -fps [number]: Target framerate (e.g., 60). If omitted, frame generation is skipped.
• -interpolate "none|oversample|mitchell_clamp|linear": Controls temporal smoothness. Defaults to "none".
  • none: Pure frame duplication (Nearest Neighbor). Maximum GPU savings, crisp visuals, absolutely no ghosting.
  • oversample: Smooth Motion sampling. Blends frames only when needed, preserving the natural appearance.
  • mitchell_clamp: High-quality smooth interpolation. Eliminates ringing and artifacts (requires modern GPU/RTX).
  • linear: Linear blend overlay. Extremely lightweight, ideal for older configurations.
• -quality "low|med|big": Compression profile. Defaults to balanced med.
  • low: Low VRAM overhead, aggressive space-saving, small file size.
  • med: Sweet spot. Preserves edge sharpness without bloating storage.
  • big: Maximum visual fidelity and high bitrate, meant for archival.
• -sharpness [0-10]: FSR sharpness filtering strength, ranging from 0 to 10.
• -hdr "false|true": Enables High Dynamic Range processing. Warning: This is NOT "High Definition" (HD). Enabling this on standard non-HDR videos will distort colors and brightness.
  • false: Standard color space.
  • true: Forces FSR to use PQ color space (only use if source video is HDR10/PQ).
• -shutdown "false|true": Computer shutdown behavior. Defaults to false.
  • true: Triggers a 30-second countdown upon completion. Press [ENTER] to shut down immediately, or [ESC] to cancel.
• -hud_port [number]: Overrides the default TCP port used for HUD communication.
• -verbose: Overrides the default logging behavior to enable detailed verbose output.
• -gpu_id: If you have more than one video card, specify which one you want to use via the video card ID number. Usually 0 for the first vCard, 1 for the second.

[!IMPORTANT] 🔒 Safety Rule: You must specify either -file or -folder (never both). The script strictly requires at least one action parameter: -scale or -fps.

Terminal Command Examples:

• Upscale Only (720p to 1080p, medium sharpness):

  .\cup.ps1 -file "C:\path\video.mp4" -scale 1.5 -sharpness 5

• Frame Generation Only (30fps to 60fps with linear blending):

  .\cup.ps1 -file "C:\path\video.mp4" -fps 60 -interpolate linear

• Full Pipeline (1080p Upscale + 60 FPS + Mitchell Clamp):

  .\cup.ps1 -file "C:\path\video.mp4" -scale "1920x1080" -fps 60 -interpolate mitchell_clamp

• Batch Processing Folder (Big Quality + 1.5x Upscale + Max Sharpness):

  .\cup.ps1 -folder "C:\my_videos\" -quality big -scale 1.5 -sharpness 10

Output File Naming Convention

Output videos are saved directly in the source directory using dynamic suffixes:

• Upscale only: video_FSR_1080x720.mp4
• Frames only: video_IFS_60fpsLINEAR.mp4
• Full pipeline: video_FSR_1080x720_IFS_60fpsLINEAR.mp4

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📊 HUD, Logs, and Global Configuration

Real-Time HUD Monitoring

The pipeline handles videos using FFmpeg in the background. However, processing data is streamed step-by-step to the CommandUP HUD interface through a local TCP socket connection.

Global Settings (config.ini)

You can tweak global parameters by editing the config.ini file located at the project root:

[CUP_SETTINGS]
HUD_PORT=4867
VERBOSE=false
GPU_ID=0

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🔍 Quality Inspection Tool (extract.ps1)

An utility script designed to extract specific video segments frame-by-frame into image files, allowing precise visual quality assessments.

.\extract.ps1 -file "C:\path\video.mp4" [arguments]

• -file "path": Absolute path to the processed video.
• -time "hh:mm:ss": Timestamp to start the extraction (Default: 00:00:03).
• -secs [number]: Duration of the clip to convert into images (Default: 1 second, which yields 60 image files if the video runs at 60 FPS).
• -output "path": Target directory for the images (Default: creates an output folder in the project root).

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⚠ Known Limitations & Technical Artifacts

Blurry or Softened Static Frames (Freeze Frame Artifacts)

• Symptom: Pausing the final video during fast-motion sequences can show a soft, blurry, or "ghosting" effect.
• Cause: The media player froze exactly on an intermediate, interpolated frame mathematically generated by the temporal shader logic.
• Solution: This behavior is expected by design. It is the necessary mechanic to guarantee smooth motion perception on low-end systems without requiring heavy machine learning hardware or Tensor Cores.

[!WARNING] 📝 Important Compatibility Note: FSR technology is fine-tuned for digital graphics. This pipeline is strictly optimized for video game gameplays (polygon edges, texture rendering). Applying it to real-life camera recordings, movies, or series will break the processing logic and yield poor results.

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📝 Credits & Licensing

• Core Component (FFmpeg): Build N-125258-gdf94900c98-20260624. Licensed under GNU LGPL v2.1+ or GNU GPL v2.0+.
• Rendering Engine and Interpolate (libplacebo): Compiled natively inside the core binary. Licensed under GNU LGPL v2.1+.
• Spatial Scaling (AMD FidelityFX FSR v1.0.2): Developed by AMD Inc. Distributed under the MIT License (port GLSL by agyild).
• Pipeline Integration & Automation Scripts: Developed by Aless (MaulSmoke). Distributed under the MIT License.

Support & Community

• Pipeline Integration, Concept: Aless (MaulSmoke).
• Official YouTube Channel: Watch tutorials, benchmarks, performance showcases, and interact with the community: YouTube (@toplayaless).
• Official Reddit Community: Share your experience, ask questions, and engage with other users: Reddit (r/CommandUP).
• Official Buy me a Coffee: CommandUP is free, but development is limited. Consider buying me a coffee: buymeacoffee (CommandUP).