Topaz Hyperion 2.5: Converting 8-Bit AI Video to 10-Bit ProRes and 16-Bit EXR
Topaz Hyperion 2.5 (August 2026) is an inverse tone mapping model that turns 8-bit SDR AI video into 10-bit ProRes BT.2020 PQ or 16-bit ACES EXR. What it does, what it cannot do, and how Apostle pairs it with Resolve for a finish-ready result.
Most AI generators hand you an 8-bit SDR file. Hyperion 2.5 is the tool that turns that file into something a colourist can work with. It is the single most defensible technical step in our finishing pipeline, and it is worth understanding exactly what it is.
What Hyperion is
Hyperion is Topaz Labs’ SDR-to-HDR model. It is inverse tone mapping: it analyses luminance frame by frame, reconstructs highlight and shadow structure that SDR encoding threw away, expands bit depth, and converts Rec.709 / BT.1886 gamma to BT.2100 PQ with Rec.2020 primaries. It is not an upscaler and it is not generative.
Hyperion 2 shipped in the Topaz Expansion Update for Topaz Video and Adobe Premiere. Hyperion 2.5 was announced on 18 August 2026, first in Astra (cloud) with desktop Topaz Video to follow. Topaz’s own framing: convert 8-bit AI video into true HDR, ProRes 10-bit, EXR 16-bit, H.265 10-bit.
Outputs
- 10-bit ProRes in BT.2020 PQ
- 16-bit half-float EXR in ACES2065-1
- H.265 Main10, AV1 10-bit, 16-bit PNG sequences, uncompressed V210 and R210
Hyperion also accepts 10-bit sources, so a Seedance 4K 10-bit clip can go to 16-bit EXR. Resolution and HDR conversion are independent; 1080p or 4K.
The constraints: the SDR-to-HDR filter works with ProRes 422 flavours (Proxy, LT, Standard, HQ) and is not compatible with ProRes 4444 XQ. Default HDR output is HDR10; there is no Dolby Vision metadata. The filter is not available in the Resolve or After Effects plug-ins. Hyperion does not fix source compression artefacts, and Topaz recommends splitting scenes at hard cuts because the model adapts per frame.
Cost and speed
Astra cloud starts at $19 per month for 400 credits. On fal.ai it runs at roughly $2.40 per 10 seconds up to 1080p and $5.10 per 10 seconds at 4K. Topaz Video desktop is a subscription around $299 to $396 per year, accelerated on Apple Silicon and NVIDIA. Independent benchmarking on an RTX 4070 put a 10-minute 1080p clip at about 14 minutes of processing.
Why it needs a colourist
Reviewers describe Hyperion’s output as punchy and more aggressive than native HDR, with brighter highlights, warmer mids, and a tendency to overexpose bright areas and oversaturate warm tones. That is a starting point, not a grade.
Darren Aronofsky’s Primordial Soup used Hyperion 2.5 to convert generated footage to 10-bit ProRes before a masked stylisation grade in Resolve, and the team called the 8-bit to 10-bit step essential to the episode. That is the pattern: Hyperion builds the headroom, the grade uses it.
The Apostle chain
Starlight Precise 2.5 first, to clean and upscale so Hyperion has clean data to reconstruct from. Then Hyperion 2.5 to 10-bit ProRes or 16-bit EXR depending on the deliverable. Then a colour-managed Resolve project with a cinematographer on the grade, dialling back the saturation and exposure the model adds, and making the highlight roll-off look like a decision. Then Dolby Vision trim passes if streaming needs them, because Hyperion will not write that metadata for you.
We run this chain from Sydney for agencies and brands across Australia, and we can hand back the 16-bit EXRs if your post house prefers to grade.