DepthVideo

Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.
• An NVIDIA graphics card with driver 570.65 or newer. 6 GB of video memory or more is recommended. Tested on an RTX 3080 Laptop GPU.
• About 7 GB of free disk space on the drive you install to.
• An internet connection for the first start (a one-time download of about 2.7 GB) and for activating your license. After that DepthVideo works offline.

DepthVideo does not run on AMD or Intel graphics, and there is no Mac version yet.

The DepthVideo window uses Microsoft Edge, which is part of Windows, as a plain app window without tabs or address bar. If Edge has been removed from your PC, DepthVideo opens in your default browser instead and works the same way.

Install

1. Download the installerOpen your Gumroad receipt or your Gumroad library and download DepthVideo-Setup. Your license key is on the same page.
2. Run the installerThe installer is not code-signed yet, so Windows may show Windows protected your PC. Click More info, then Run anyway. DepthVideo installs for your user only and does not need administrator rights. Keep the suggested folder unless that drive is short on space.
3. ActivateOn the first start, paste your license key and click Activate. This needs the internet once.
4. System checkDepthVideo checks your graphics card, NVIDIA driver and free disk space, and shows what it will download.
5. Download and installClick Download and install. DepthVideo downloads Python, PyTorch and the depth model (about 2.7 GB) and sets them up inside its own folder. You can pause and continue later; finished downloads are kept and every file is checked.
6. StartWhen the setup says DepthVideo is ready, open the app. Later starts go straight to the main window.

Your first depth video

DepthVideo works in two passes. Pass 1 runs the depth model once per clip and caches the raw depth. Pass 2 turns that cache into finished files with your settings, so you can export again with other settings without waiting for the model.

1. Choose a videoClick Browse… at the top left and pick your clip, or paste its full path. In Explorer you can Shift + right-click a file and choose Copy as path.
2. Run pass 1Click Generate pass 1: Z-depth. The progress bar at the top shows the frames. Any length works: memory use stays flat, and if pass 1 is interrupted it continues where it stopped.
3. Check the previewWhen pass 1 is done, the clip appears in the list at the top and the depth preview opens next to the source. Move the frame slider to check a few moments.
4. Pick a presetDepthVideo starts with ai_motion_reference, which writes one high-quality MP4. Choose another preset for After Effects or TouchDesigner, or adjust the settings and watch the preview.
5. Run pass 2Click Generate final output: pass 2. Then click Open output folder to find your files.

The main window

• Depth and source previews show the selected frame exactly as pass 2 will write it. Tick 1:1 to see real pixels; both previews scroll together.
• Frame slider moves through the clip. You can also type a frame number.
• Depth histogram shows the depth values of the whole clip, far on the left and near on the right. The orange band is the range that becomes black to white. Drag either orange line to change it, drag the middle of the band to move both, and double-click to go back to the preset. A grey dashed line marks a detected background.
• Time slice shows the middle column of the depth over time. Smooth horizontal bands mean stable depth; vertical streaks would mean flicker.
• Info line under the previews shows the range used and how much of the frame is clipped to pure white or pure black.
• Settings and About are at the top right. About shows your license, GPU and version, and opens the log folder.

Presets and tuning

Normalization

• Mode. auto looks for a separate far background, such as a studio backdrop. If it finds one, the background becomes black and your subject fills the full range. If not, it uses the whole frame. subject always treats the background this way, full frame never does.
• Low and high percentile cut off the most extreme values so a few stray pixels do not squeeze the range. Dragging the orange lines in the histogram sets these for you.
• Gamma below 1 gives more levels to near things (faces), above 1 to the far range.
• Invert makes near black and far white, for tools that expect it that way.

The whole clip always uses one range, so the depth does not pump when something moves closer or further away.

Upscaling

The depth model works at a lower resolution; pass 2 always writes your source size. bilinear is smooth. guided snaps the depth edges to the edges of your source video, which gives cleaner outlines for displacement, stereo 3D and AI reference. A smaller Smoothing (eps) gives sharper edges but lets more source texture into the depth. Guided upscaling needs the original video in its original place.

Your own presets

Type a name in the name field (letters, digits, _ and -) and click Save preset. The same name is used for the output folder of pass 2.

Output formats

Tick any combination in step 3 of the left panel. Every format is written at your source size and frame rate.

Files go to Documents\DepthVideo\<clip>\<preset name>\. Each export also writes settings_used.json with the exact settings and yt_slice.png, the stability slice. Open output folder opens the most specific folder that exists, even before pass 1.

AI motion reference

Many AI video models can follow a depth map video as a motion reference: the motion, composition and camera move of your clip stay, and the model renders a new look on top. Making the depth pass yourself saves the credits an online depth tool would cost, and a flicker-free depth gives a steadier result.

1. Export with the ai_motion_reference preset.
2. In your AI video platform, choose the mode that takes a reference or control video, and upload the …_depth.mp4 as the depth or motion reference.
3. Describe the new look in your prompt and generate.

Each platform names this mode differently and has its own length and size limits, so trim or resize your clip to match before pass 1 if needed.

After Effects

• Import. For PNG or EXR, use File, Import, select the first frame and tick the sequence option. Set the frame rate in Interpret Footage if it differs from your project.
• Bit depth. Use a 16 or 32 bpc project so the extra levels are not lost.
• Color management. Depth is data, not a picture. If your project is color managed, set the footage to preserve RGB so the values are not converted.
• Uses. Displacement Map, Camera Lens Blur with the depth as blur map, depth fog, mattes, and stereo 3D.

TouchDesigner

Export ProRes 4444 (the touchdesigner preset) and load the .mov in a Movie File In TOP. Choose a 16-bit pixel format in the TOP to keep the 10-bit precision of the file.

Settings and folders

Open Settings at the top right to change:

• Output folder. Pass 2 writes here, one subfolder per clip. Default: Documents\DepthVideo.
• Cache folder. The raw depth from pass 1, a few hundred MB per clip. You can delete it any time; pass 1 then runs again for that clip.
• Async save. Saves while the next part is computed. Same result, about 15% faster.

License and activation

• One license key works on up to 3 of your computers, for personal and commercial work. The depth maps and videos you make are yours.
• Activation needs the internet once. After that DepthVideo works offline.
• About once a month DepthVideo checks the key again when it is online. A refunded or disabled key stops working; a missing connection never deactivates it.
• Reinstalling or updating on the same computer does not use another activation.
• Replaced a computer and used all 3 activations? Contact the seller through Gumroad to reset your key.

Troubleshooting

For any problem, About and the setup screen both have Open log folder. Please attach setup.log or the newest log when you ask for help.

Windows protected your PC

The installer is not code-signed yet. Click More info, then Run anyway.

No NVIDIA GPU found

DepthVideo needs an NVIDIA graphics card and its driver. On laptops with two GPUs, make sure the NVIDIA driver is installed.

NVIDIA driver is too old

Update the driver from nvidia.com or the NVIDIA app to version 570.65 or newer, restart Windows and start DepthVideo again.

Not enough free disk space

Free up about 7 GB on the install drive, or reinstall to another drive.

A download keeps failing

Check your connection, VPN or firewall, then click Retry. Finished downloads are kept, so it continues where it stopped.

The downloaded file is damaged

A file did not match its checksum. Click Retry; it is downloaded again.

PyTorch is installed but cannot use the NVIDIA GPU

Update the NVIDIA driver, restart Windows and start DepthVideo again.

This license key is not valid for DepthVideo

Copy the key again from your Gumroad receipt, without spaces. Keys for other products do not work.

This key is already activated on 3 computers

Contact the seller through Gumroad to reset the key.

Guided upscaling falls back to bilinear in the preview

The source video is no longer where it was during pass 1. Move it back, or use bilinear.

Pass 1 is slow

Close other GPU-heavy programs. On laptops, plug in the charger and use the high-performance power mode.

Uninstall

Open Windows Settings, Apps, Installed apps, find DepthVideo and choose Uninstall. This removes the app with Python, PyTorch and the depth model, plus the cache, logs and shortcuts.

Your license, settings and presets in %APPDATA%\DepthVideo are kept so a reinstall does not use another activation, and your exports in Documents\DepthVideo are never touched. Delete these two folders by hand if you want nothing left.

Credits and support

DepthVideo is made by Ivó Kovács (ivo3d), a media artist working in projection mapping and immersive installations. The depth model is Video Depth Anything (Small, Apache-2.0). The full list of open-source components is in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.txt in the install folder and under About, Third-party notices.

Questions, refunds and license resets: contact the seller through your Gumroad receipt or the DepthVideo page on Gumroad.