How to setup Anime4K

3 min readJul 24, 2022

Anime4K is an AI upscaling plugin for video player, its usage is not limited by anime, you can use it on other content although not optimized.

Herer I documented how I installed this thing mainly to serve myself. Then i think this may also benefit you. So here this is.

## 1. Download mpv.net player

Releases · stax76/mpv.net

🎞 mpv.net is a modern media player for Windows that works just like mpv. - Releases · stax76/mpv.net

github.com

## 2. Download Anime4K shader files

Releases · bloc97/Anime4K

You can't perform that action at this time. You signed in with another tab or window. You signed out in another tab or…

github.com

## 3. Set Key Bindings for Anime4K

Open mpv.net player
right click -> Settings -> Open Config Folders
Edit the input.conf by text editor
Insert below code to the end of the input.conf ( Here I changed the original key binding CTRL+NUM to CTRL+Alt+NUM to avoid collision )
Later you can use CTRL+Alt+1 , CTRL+Alt+2, CTRL+Alt+3 to toggle Anime4K
And you can use CTRL+Alt+0 to disable Anime4K
Create a new folder named ‘shaders’ in this config folder
Put everything in Anime4K.zip into the root of the folder ‘shaders’
Done

Optimized shaders for higher-end GPU:
(Eg. GTX 1080, RTX 2070, RTX 3060, RX 590, Vega 56, 5700XT, 6600XT)

> you copy and paste stuff below

CTRL+Alt+1 no-osd change-list glsl-shaders set “~~/shaders/Anime4K_Clamp_Highlights.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_Restore_CNN_VL.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_Upscale_CNN_x2_VL.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_AutoDownscalePre_x2.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_AutoDownscalePre_x4.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_Upscale_CNN_x2_M.glsl”; show-text “Anime4K: Mode A (HQ)”
 CTRL+Alt+2 no-osd change-list glsl-shaders set “~~/shaders/Anime4K_Clamp_Highlights.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_Restore_CNN_Soft_VL.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_Upscale_CNN_x2_VL.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_AutoDownscalePre_x2.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_AutoDownscalePre_x4.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_Upscale_CNN_x2_M.glsl”; show-text “Anime4K: Mode B (HQ)”
 CTRL+Alt+3 no-osd change-list glsl-shaders set “~~/shaders/Anime4K_Clamp_Highlights.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_Upscale_Denoise_CNN_x2_VL.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_AutoDownscalePre_x2.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_AutoDownscalePre_x4.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_Upscale_CNN_x2_M.glsl”; show-text “Anime4K: Mode C (HQ)”CTRL+Alt+0 no-osd change-list glsl-shaders clr “”; show-text “GLSL shaders cleared”

Optimized shaders for lower-end GPU:
(Eg. GTX 980, GTX 1060, RX 570)

> you copy and paste stuff below

CTRL+Alt+1 no-osd change-list glsl-shaders set “~~/shaders/Anime4K_Clamp_Highlights.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_Restore_CNN_M.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_Upscale_CNN_x2_M.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_AutoDownscalePre_x2.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_AutoDownscalePre_x4.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_Upscale_CNN_x2_S.glsl”; show-text “Anime4K: Mode A (Fast)”
 CTRL+Alt+2 no-osd change-list glsl-shaders set “~~/shaders/Anime4K_Clamp_Highlights.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_Restore_CNN_Soft_M.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_Upscale_CNN_x2_M.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_AutoDownscalePre_x2.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_AutoDownscalePre_x4.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_Upscale_CNN_x2_S.glsl”; show-text “Anime4K: Mode B (Fast)”
 CTRL+Alt+3 no-osd change-list glsl-shaders set “~~/shaders/Anime4K_Clamp_Highlights.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_Upscale_Denoise_CNN_x2_M.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_AutoDownscalePre_x2.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_AutoDownscalePre_x4.glsl;~~/shaders/Anime4K_Upscale_CNN_x2_S.glsl”; show-text “Anime4K: Mode C (Fast)”CTRL+Alt+0 no-osd change-list glsl-shaders clr “”; show-text “GLSL shaders cleared”