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  1. Member
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    Hi all,

    I need the dirty VHS look for a project I'm working on. I'm printing to VHS then back to digital, not just just using an after effects plugin or the like.

    I have the process more or less mapped out, the thing is - none of the VHS tapes I have are as screwed up and broken as I want them to be. This is the look I'm going for: https://forum.videohelp.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9656&d=1321482684

    And so, how do I screw up a VHS tape? Preferably something faster than just playing it a bunch of times until it degrades.

    Any and all suggestions much appreciated.
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  2. Member
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    That example looks really smoothed out, not noisy like VHS is

    Record it to an old and worn tape. If you can, manually adjust the tracking a bit off. Try playing back in a different VCR if you've got one.

    Click image for larger version

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  3. Pull a bunch tape out of the cassette, crumple it with your gloved hands, wind it back into the cassette.
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  4. Member
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    Thanks for the info. I'll look for the tracking setting.

    Originally Posted by ajk View Post
    Record it to an old and worn tape.
    This is my plan! I don't have any really worn out tapes though. I went down to the charity shop and bought 6 old VHS movies expecting at least one of them to be completely screwed up, but no luck.

    So how do I mess up one of the tapes I already have?
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  5. Member
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    Originally Posted by jagabo View Post
    Pull a bunch tape out of the cassette, crumple it with your gloved hands, wind it back into the cassette.
    Now that's what I'm talkin' about.
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  6. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    You DO realize, don't you, that in doing so, you are also likely to screw up your VCR!?

    All of that CAN be done digitally, without going through all the real-world effort. Are you averse to AE and/or plugins in particular, or just doing it digitally in general?

    Scott
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  7. Member
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    Hi Scott,

    The VCR has no use except for these types of projects so it's no problem if it screws up.

    The digital method isn't the same. It really isn't. I've seen dozens of VHS simulations done in post and none of them hold a candle to printing to a tape and back to digital, and then repeating the process a few times. The random phenomena/artifacts that pop up are what I'm after.
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  8. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    It CAN BE the same, you've just seen poor versions of them. Convolution/Modeling filtering could do it right. But if that's what you want to do, go ahead, it's your stuff...

    Scott
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  9. Member
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    Can you show me an example please? Hey if you're right I'd gladly go the after effects route.
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