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In this video tutorial, learn how to create the classic VHS look with Adobe After Effects — with free VHS preset and assets!
Nostalgia continues to be a popular trend right now (check out 2019’s biggest creative trends). The VHS look is no exception. In this tutorial, we’re going to examine how to create a VHS look — from scratch — in After Effects. Then, we will explore ways in which we can accentuate the look with tape glitches, static, and more. (We’ve also included a free After Effects VHS preset, as well as assets you can use to follow along.)
Ready to re-visit the ’80s? Let’s get started!
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Crafting the VHS Look
To create our initial VHS look, we’re going to use a combination of three effects: Lumetri Color, Channel Blur, and Unsharp Mask. First, create an adjustment layer, and then apply Lumetri Color. We can use Lumetri Color to increase the contrast, fade the black levels, and decrease the image sharpness. Next, we will use two instances of the Channel Blur effect to blur the Red channel vertically and the Blue channel horizontally. This creates a subtle RGB split appearance. Finally, we will add back in some over-the-top sharpening with the Unsharp Mask effect.
4:3 Aspect Ratio
If you want an authentic VHS look, you’ll need to set the aspect ratio to 4:3. My preferred method is to use a 4:3 image overlay on top of 16:9footage. However, you can also adjust the Composition settings to be 4:3. I recommend a frame size of 1440×1080, if you use this method.
Noise and Grain
For adding noise to your footage, you have a few options. The first is using After Effects’s built-in Noise effect. This can yield great “filmic” results when set to a low value. The second option is to use a VHS or film grain overlay (I included one in the project file). Just place this clip over your footage, set the blending mode to Overlay, then adjust the opacity as necessary.
VHS Shake
In After Effects, it’s easy to add some subtle “VHS shake” to our footage using Expressions. First, create an adjustment layer above all of your other layers (except for the 4:3 overlay, if you are using one.) Next, apply the Transform Effect. We want to animate the Transform Position. To do that, hold Alt + Click on the Position stopwatch (hold Option + Click on Mac.) This will open up the Expression Editor for Transform Position. Type “wiggle (7,2).”
This will cause the footage to move randomly seven times per second, by two pixels. It’s enough to give us the VHS shake we want. Finally, increase the Scale setting on the Transform Effect to 101 Roche diagnostics driver. to ensure we don’t see any black edges.
VHS Tape Wrinkle
In order to create the classic Tape Wrinkle Effect, we need to create a new adjustment layer. Then add the TransformEffect. Uncheck the Uniform Scale option, and set the Scale Height to 1000. From there, manually resize the height of your adjustment layer to the size you want the tape wrinkle to be. Next, you will need to parent the Transform Anchor Point to the Position of the adjustment layer. To do this, Alt + Click (Option + Click on Mac) and drag the Pick-Whip from the Transform Effect Anchor Point down to the adjustment layer position. This will link them both. Finally, add another Transform Effect (just as before) and set the Scale Height to 1000. You can now keyframe the movement of the tape wrinkle on your footage at any time.
Slowing the Frame Rate
If you need to slow the frame rate down on your footage, a great effect to use is Posterize Time. Just create an adjustment layer at the top of your composition stack, then apply Posterize Time to it. You can then change the visible frame rate of your footage. I like using this method because it allows you to keyframe the frame rate, slowing it down on parts of your VHS footage with more glitches.
Installing the After Effects VHS Preset
Installing the VHS Effect preset is easy — on both Mac and PC. Just navigate to your Documents folder, then Adobe, and then the After Effects CC folder for your version of After Effects (the VHS preset works with After Effects CC 2018 and up.) In your After Effects CC version folder, you will see a User Presets folder. Just drag-and-drop the VHS Effect preset into that folder. Access driver download. Now when you use After Effects, just search “VHS effect” in the Effects & Presets panel.
Looking for more post-production tips? Check these out.
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Cover image via
Here’s how to use After Effects to capture the distorted retro vibes of authentic VHS footage.
Top image via Bob Jaroc
There’s always been an affinity for the old, for the retro, for the look of yesterday. While technology pushes forward and picture quality is increasingly improved, we often see companies offering services and tools to make that incredibly sharp image look, well, less sharp. You can acquire film grain, light leaks, film burns, color washes, interference layers, static noise, and so forth. The list goes on.
As we move forward toward the end of the 2010s, the VHS/camcorder look of the 80s and 90s is starting to become a lost relic of time. I bet that made some of you feel old, right? You can download all kinds of templates and plugins to make your footage look like the VHS tape Hunter engineering driver download for windows. has distorted it, but nothing beats using the real source material.
A lot of people tend just to throw an overlay onto their footage and call it a day, but there are a few fundamental elements that also need to be included.
Video via BELGIANHIPHOPCHANNEL
After looking at the amateur VHS footage above, it’s important to note that while there is some visible VHS interference in the shape of white lines running across the screen, the prime characteristic is the skewed distortion of the footage itself.
To some extent, it wobbles like jelly. The displacement of the picture itself is often missed and is key in making footage look like it’s come from an old VHS tape.
How to Give Your Footage an Authentic VHS Look in After Effects
Many kind people on the internet have uploaded real captured VHS noise. I like to use these two, which are both free to download: Heavy VHS interference, and Light VHS Bad Tracking. (Our friends at RocketStock offer a free template as well.)
Step 1: Get Your Distortion
When you’ve downloaded them, rename the first file Heavy VHS and the second file Light VHS, as their interference difference is very apparent. When you’ve acquired your noise, open up After Effects and create a new composition based on your footage size. If the VHS footage is smaller, just increase the scale.
Import your footage and the two VHS layers into After Effects and place them within the composition in the following order.
- Light VHS
- Footage
- Heavy VHS
Then change the blend mode of Layer 1 to Add. Your sequence should now look something like this:
Video Editor Effects Free
You have the classic VHS stripes running across the footage, but it still doesn’t look very convincing. Don’t worry… It will soon.
Vhs Effect After Effects Free
Step 2: Displacement Map
In the Effects panel, type in Displacement Map and drag that onto your actual footage layer. You may need to realign your footage and increase the scale to 105%, so it fills the entire composition.
In the Effects control panel, set the following settings.
- Displacement Map Layer: 3. Heavy Noise
- Use for Horizontal Displacement: Luminance
- Max Horizontal Displacement: 20
- Use for Vertical Displacement: Luminance
- Max Vertical Displacement: 20
You can increase the displacement values by increasing the numerical values. Or decrease the VHS glitching by lowering those values. This is the result of using the Displacement Map.
You can see in the image above that the shot now looks a lot more like it’s part of the VHS footage. However, it’s still too sharp. Therefore, insert an Adjustment Layer and add a Gaussian Blur of 7.5.
Step 3: Color Fringe
There’s one final step to take. The VHS format ages poorly, and if the footage has been passed from camcorder to VHS, you can expect some color fringing — not much, but some.
To do this:
- Duplicate your video footage three times
- Add the Set Channels effect to each layer
- On the first footage layer, Set Red to Source 1’s: Red
- On the second footage layer, Set Green to Source 2’s: Green
- On the third footage layer, Set Blue to Source 3’s: Blue
Your Set Channels should look something like this:
Your footage will likely look like it’s just come from a Tarantino scene in Kill Bill. To fix this, set the blend mode for the first two footage layers to Screen. To get the color fringing, you need to slightly offset the two layers.
Do this by rotating the first layer by 0.7 (R on the Keyboard), and move the second layer over to the right with one nudge of the right arrow on the keyboard. This will give you a very subtle color fringe.
Finally, download this 4:3 letterbox for a 1080p timeline and insert this beneath the adjustment layer.
This is the before and after of using the above guide.
Vhs Effect For After Effects
Do you have any tricks and tips for making contemporary media look like it was shot on equipment from the past? Let us know in the comments.