OneTaskBy Tim King · Updated
VHS Effect for Video
90s Camcorder Look for Video With Scanlines, Tape Noise and Tracking Lines
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How the VHS Effect works
This VHS effect turns a sharp phone or camera video into something that looks like it came off a worn tape. It softens the picture, smears the reds sideways, adds scanlines and tape noise, rolls a tracking band down the screen and overlays a camcorder PLAY label and date stamp.
What makes the VHS effect look right
VHS recorded colour at a fraction of the detail of the brightness signal, so tapes look soft and colours, especially red, bleed to the right of edges. The picture is also made of visible lines, carries constant noise from the tape and sometimes shows a ragged tracking band where the heads lost their place. This page imitates each of those faults rather than just adding a filter.
Tape wear and tracking
Tape wear controls how soft, noisy and smeared the picture becomes and how far the red channel bleeds. Tracking noise sets the strength of the band that slowly rolls down the frame, shifting the picture sideways as it passes, and the ragged strip of static along the bottom edge. Set tracking to 0 for a clean, well-adjusted deck.
The camcorder date stamp
Home video cameras burned the date into the corner of the picture in a blocky white font. Type any text into the date stamp box, such as a birthday or a year, and a running counter is added on the right. Clear the box to hide both, and hide the PLAY label for a recorded rather than played-back look.
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.
FAQ
Does the VHS effect change the sound?
No. The original soundtrack is recorded alongside the new picture without changes. For a worn tape sound as well, run the finished file's audio through a lo-fi effect, which adds wow, flutter, hiss and crackle.
Can I make it look like a 1980s home video?
Yes. Set tape wear high, add some tracking noise, keep the PLAY label and type a date from the eighties into the stamp. Cropping the video to a 4:3 frame first makes it look even more like an old television picture.
Is my video uploaded?
No. Every frame is processed by your browser on your own device and the finished file is created there too. Nothing is sent to a server, so private family footage stays private.
See also: all Video & Screen tools, Images, Audio, PDF, SVG, Simulations & Screensavers, Generative Art, Chart Makers, 3D Model Viewers, Drawing Pads, Mockups & 3D Making, Diagram Makers, 3D Science, Tracker Music.
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