The tutorial below, while specific, should provide you with an understanding behind what can be done to achieve a VHS video effect, even if you aren’t using any plugins.Īdjusting the specifics of your footage may not be your thing, but there are more straightforward ways to achieve that desirable VCR effect and VHS filter. Part of learning about how to add VHS effects to video includes knowing what that entails. Even if you aren’t having a character using a tape of any kind, the VHS effect - being tied to a specific time - can be era appropriate if you want to film a scene or sequence with the effect. If your movie is a period piece - or even if it isn’t - this is probably why you would want to use a VHS effect.

Possibly the best reason to use a VHS effect is for practical reasons, like if you have a character watching a tape. In other cases, you might just want to give off a vibe that can only be accomplished with VHS textures. Maybe you want certain home movies to look a certain way, especially if we’re flashing back to a time before the present. Similar to how a movie might utilize 8mm or 16mm film to represent “the past,” so can the look of a VHS tape video effect. If you’re working on something that is intended to represent the past in some way, a VHS filter can accomplish that. Or, if your story has a paranoid feel to it, that VHS footage effect can keep things creepy. If, for example, you wanted to showcase characters having fun somewhere, a VCR effect can be part of that experience. This is the sort of thing you may see with someone using a phone app, but it can be used to great effect in a narrative. Whether they actually have relevance to the plot in any way is secondary. Some people like to use VHS textures and effects because they like the look. So when you’re learning how to add VHS effects to video, there are a few things to keep in mind.

VHS Effects Benefits Why use VHS effects?Įveryone has their reasons for using certain effects or overlays, such as film grain, and the VHS video effect is no different.

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