Old Film Effect for Video

How the Old Film Effect works

What gives the old film effect its look

Old projected film shows its age in several ways at once. The grain changes on every frame, the emulsion picks up long vertical scratches and flecks of dust, uneven exposure and a tired projector lamp make the brightness pulse, and the film never sits perfectly still in the gate. Lenses of the time also darkened towards the corners. Each of those faults is drawn separately here so the result moves like real film rather than a still overlay.

Choosing a tone

Sepia gives the warm brown of early prints and faded photographs. Black and white suits a silent movie or newsreel look. Faded colour keeps some of the original colour but washes it out and warms it, like a 1970s home movie.

Film wear

Film wear scales everything together: how heavy the grain is, how often scratches and dust appear and how strongly the picture flickers. Low values look like a well-kept print and high values look like a reel that has been through the projector hundreds of times. Turn gate jitter off if the movement is distracting on text or titles.

Rendering

The clip plays once in real time while each frame is drawn, and the original sound is kept. Output is WebM in Chrome, Edge and Firefox or MP4 in Safari.

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