scope-maxine-sr

NVIDIA Maxine Super Resolution plugin for Daydream Scope.

AI-powered video upscaling using NVIDIA's Maxine Video Effects SDK.

Important: SDK License

This plugin provides Python bindings to interface with NVIDIA's Video Effects SDK. The SDK itself is not included - you must download and install it separately from NVIDIA.

By installing and using the NVIDIA Video Effects SDK, you agree to NVIDIA's SDK License Terms.

Requirements

• Windows only (Linux/Mac not supported by NVIDIA Maxine)
• NVIDIA RTX GPU with Tensor Cores (20xx/30xx/40xx/50xx series)
• NVIDIA Video Effects SDK (see installation below)

Installation

Step 1: Install NVIDIA Video Effects SDK

You have two options:

Option A: Install Official NVIDIA SDK (Recommended)

This is the recommended option, especially for RTX 50 series (Blackwell) GPUs.

1. Go to NVIDIA Broadcast Download or NGC Catalog
2. Download the Video Effects SDK installer for your GPU:
   • RTX 20xx series → Turing
   • RTX 30xx series → Ampere
   • RTX 40xx series → Ada
   • RTX 50xx series → Blackwell
3. Run the installer (installs to C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\NVIDIA Video Effects\)

Option B: Use TouchDesigner's Bundled SDK (Fallback)

If you have TouchDesigner installed, the plugin can use its bundled Maxine SDK as a fallback.

Note: TouchDesigner's bundled SDK may not support the latest GPUs (e.g., RTX 50 series). If you get "Unsupported GPU" errors, install the official SDK instead.

The plugin looks for:

• DLLs: C:\Program Files\Derivative\TouchDesigner\bin\
• Models: C:\Program Files\Derivative\TouchDesigner\Config\Models\

Option C: Manual Path Configuration

Set environment variables to point to custom locations:

# Path to directory containing NVVideoEffects.dll and NVCVImage.dll
set NVVFX_SDK_DIR=C:\path\to\sdk

# Path to directory containing model files (*.trtpkg)
set NVVFX_MODEL_DIR=C:\path\to\models

Step 2: Install the Plugin

# Install from local path (editable/development mode)
daydream-scope install -e /path/to/scope-maxine-sr

# Or install from PyPI (when published)
daydream-scope install scope-maxine-sr

Usage

Once installed, "Maxine Super Resolution" appears as a postprocessor pipeline in Daydream Scope.

Configuration Options

Option	Values	Default	Description
scale_factor	"1.33", "1.5", "2", "3", "4"	"2"	Upscaling multiplier
mode	0, 1	0	0 = lossy/encoded content, 1 = lossless content

Input Requirements

• Minimum resolution: 512x288
• For 4x scaling: input must be 540p or lower
• Recommended aspect ratio: 16:9 (other ratios supported)

Troubleshooting

"NVIDIA Video Effects SDK not found"

The plugin searches these locations in order:

1. NVVFX_SDK_DIR environment variable
2. C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\NVIDIA Video Effects\
3. C:\Program Files\Derivative\TouchDesigner\bin\

Ensure one of these contains NVVideoEffects.dll.

"NVIDIA Video Effects models not found"

The plugin searches for models in:

1. NVVFX_MODEL_DIR environment variable
2. <SDK_DIR>\models\
3. C:\Program Files\Derivative\TouchDesigner\Config\Models\

Models are files like SR_2x_*.trtpkg.

"Unsupported GPU"

The SDK requires an NVIDIA RTX GPU with Tensor Cores:

• RTX 20xx (Turing)
• RTX 30xx (Ampere)
• RTX 40xx (Ada)
• RTX 50xx (Blackwell)

GTX cards and older GPUs are not supported.

"Resolution error"

• Input must be at least 512x288 pixels
• For 4x upscaling, input must be 540p (960x540) or smaller

License

This plugin is open source under the MIT License.

Note: This plugin provides bindings only. The NVIDIA Video Effects SDK is a separate product subject to NVIDIA's SDK License Agreement. You must download and install the SDK directly from NVIDIA and agree to their terms.