VHS
Add tape tracking errors, head-switch tearing, dropouts, chroma delay, wobble, and generation loss.
Add VHS
Open an image or build the source composition first. Put this effect after the content it should process in stack processing order. Choose Optics → Display → VHS in the effects picker, or search for VHS with Cmd/Ctrl + F. Select the new layer in Layers to open its Effect Panel.
Set tape wear
Adjust Tracking Error and Wobble for unstable lines, then Head Switching for the lower-band disturbance.
Add colour and dropout damage
Tune Chroma Bleed, Chroma Delay and Generation Loss. Increase Dropouts or Tape Noise for worn tape. Animate Tape Phase or Dropout Phase to move the pattern over time.
Compare and finish
Toggle the layer eye to compare with the incoming composition. Use the Effect Panel footer for opacity and blend mode, or add a mask to limit the affected area. In Video or Live, use the function menu on a supported control to add keyframes or a driver.
Control reference
Show individual controls
| Control | What it does | Values and animation |
|---|---|---|
| Chroma Crosstalk | Controls the colored rainbow interference produced by composite-signal crosstalk. | 0 to 1 Default: 0.15 Continuous keyframes |
| Chroma Delay | Offsets VHS color relative to picture brightness. | 0 to 20 %; 1 to 500 px (typed input: 1 to 2000) Default: 0.6 % Continuous keyframes |
| Chroma Bleed | Spreads composite-signal color horizontally through the decoder. | 0% to 100% Default: 85% Continuous keyframes |
| Dot Crawl | Introduces luminance leakage from composite decoding as crawling dot artifacts. | 0 to 1 Default: 0.1 Continuous keyframes |
| Dropout Phase | Moves the VHS dropout pattern; animate it to change the damaged regions. | 0% to 100% Default: 0% Continuous keyframes |
| Dropouts | Controls the visible loss of picture in VHS dropout streaks. | 0% to 100% Default: 20% Continuous keyframes |
| Generation Loss | Softens the VHS picture to imitate repeated tape copying. | 0% to 100% Default: 40% Continuous keyframes |
| Ghost Delay | Sets the separation of the delayed composite-signal echo. | 0 to 5 Default: 0.3 Continuous keyframes |
| Ghosting | Mixes a horizontally delayed copy of the composite picture. | 0 to 1 Default: 0 Continuous keyframes |
| Head-Switch Band | Sets the height of the VHS head-switch band near the bottom of the frame. | 0 to 20 %; 1 to 500 px (typed input: 1 to 2000) Default: 4 % Continuous keyframes |
| Head Switching | Controls the tearing introduced in the VHS head-switch band. | 0% to 100% Default: 50% Continuous keyframes |
| Intensity | Mixes the complete simulated display with the original picture. | 0% to 100% Default: 100% Continuous keyframes |
| Ringing | Adds bright and dark echoes around signal transitions. | 0 to 1 Default: 0 Continuous keyframes |
| Seed | Selects a repeatable realization of the display noise and damage. | 0 to 9999 Default: 0 Discrete keyframes |
| Signal Noise | Adds signal noise over the simulated display output. | 0 to 1 Default: 0 Continuous keyframes |
| Tape Noise | Adds tape-like luminance and color noise. | 0% to 100% Default: 25% Continuous keyframes |
| Tape Phase | Moves the tape-transport distortion pattern; animate it for changing VHS instability. | 0% to 100% Default: 0% Continuous keyframes |
| Tracking Error | Offsets tape scan rows to imitate unstable VHS tracking. | 0% to 100% Default: 40% Continuous keyframes |
| Wobble | Warps VHS scan rows with a varying horizontal displacement. | 0% to 100% Default: 30% Continuous keyframes |