MotionShine01 / Open
Drop your video
The look shows at once on the first picture, and plays live if you press Play.
Free tool
VHS effect, your video on worn tape.
Give any video the look of an old VHS tape: soft picture, colour that bleeds sideways, scan lines, grain, a rolling band of bad tracking, tape dropouts and a date stamp in the corner. Pick a look, move the sliders on a live preview, and save an MP4 with the sound kept. It all happens in your browser, so your video is never uploaded.
This is the look on the first picture, and it plays live. Space play or pause
The look is drawn in your browser. Your video is never uploaded.
How it works
Pick a look, save the tape.
02 / Style
Look, sliders and stamp
Start from one of five looks, then change softness, colour bleed, scan lines, noise, wobble, wear and faded colour.
03 / Save
Download the MP4
Every frame is drawn again, and the sound is kept. Check it in the page, then download it.
Guide
How to add a VHS effect to a video, and what each slider does.
A VHS effect redraws every frame of your video so it looks like it was played from an old tape. This one works in your browser: it softens the picture, smears the colour sideways, darkens alternate lines, adds grain, makes the lines wobble, drops in tape dropouts and can print a date and time stamp on top. You see the result on a live preview before you save, and the saved MP4 keeps your sound. Nothing is uploaded, there is no sign-up and there is no watermark.
How to use the VHS effect
- Drop a video on the box, or click to choose. MP4, MOV and WebM work in a current Chrome, Edge or Safari.
- The look appears on the first picture. Press Play, or Space, to watch it move, and drag the bar under the picture to look at other moments.
- Pick a look under Look: Home video, Worn rental, Camcorder, Broken tape or Light touch. Then move any slider to make it yours.
- Under Stamp, keep or change the date and time text, or turn it off. Use now puts in the date and time of this moment.
- Under Save, choose the size and the shape, then press Make the VHS video. The bar shows the time left, and Stop ends it.
- Play the result on the page and press Download the MP4. Change the look takes you back to the sliders.
What each slider does
| Slider | What it changes | At 0 |
|---|---|---|
| Softness | Takes detail out of the picture, as tape holds less than a screen | Sharp as the original |
| Colour bleed | Smears the colour, not the brightness, to the side, so red runs into what is next to it | Colour stays inside its edges |
| Scan lines | Darkens every other line | No dark lines. At 100 the dark lines keep 55% of their brightness |
| Noise | Adds grain that is longer sideways than tall, as tape grain is | No grain |
| Tracking wobble | Slides lines sideways in a wave, rolls a band of bad tracking up the picture, tears the bottom rows and jumps the frame a little | Lines stay straight |
| Tape wear | Adds short bright dropouts and a flicker in brightness from frame to frame | No dropouts |
| Faded colour | Takes out colour, lifts the blacks and warms the tint | Colours as they were |
The five looks
Each look is only a set of slider positions, so you can start from one and change it. Softness, Colour bleed, Scan lines, Noise, Tracking wobble, Tape wear and Faded colour are set to: Home video 45, 45, 30, 30, 25, 25, 30. Worn rental 60, 55, 20, 45, 45, 60, 55. Camcorder 35, 35, 45, 20, 15, 15, 15. Broken tape 55, 80, 35, 70, 90, 90, 50. Light touch 20, 20, 20, 12, 8, 8, 10.
The date and time stamp
Camcorders printed the date and time on the picture as they recorded, so the stamp is drawn before the other effects. That means it softens, bleeds and wobbles with the picture instead of sitting on top of it like a caption. The text is yours to change, so you can set the date of the old family holiday you are pretending to have filmed. PLAY label, top left adds the word PLAY and a small triangle, as a video recorder showed on a television.
Size, shape and sound
Size sets the height of the saved video: 480p, 720p or 1080p. The picture is never stretched. VHS had far less detail than a modern screen, so 480p looks the most like the real thing and is the quickest to save. 4:3, old TV puts the picture in a 4:3 frame with black bars, the shape of old televisions. For a vertical phone video, keep Same shape. The frame rate is the video's own, but never above 30. The sound is kept as it is: AAC is copied unchanged, other sound is saved again as AAC in step with the picture. The effect does not add tape hiss to the sound.
When something goes wrong
- "This browser cannot play" the video. The picture is of a kind the browser cannot decode. Change it to MP4 first with the video converter.
- The browser cannot make H.264. Use a current Chrome, Edge or Safari.
- Saving takes long. Every frame is drawn in your browser, so a long video takes a while. Pick 480p, keep the tab open and plug in a laptop.
- The look is too strong. Try Light touch, or turn Noise and Tracking wobble down first. They are the two that change the picture most.
For a different kind of damage, try the glitch effect, which works on pictures. To make the file smaller afterwards, use the video compressor.
Questions
Good to know.
Is my video uploaded?
No. Every frame is drawn in this tab, so the video never leaves your computer. No account, no watermark.
Does the effect change the sound?
No. The sound is kept as it is. AAC sound is copied unchanged, and other sound is saved again as AAC in step with the picture. No tape hiss is added.
Why does the first picture show the look at once?
The page draws the effect on the frame under the bar, using the same code that draws the saved video, so what you see is what you get. Press Play to watch it move.
Will the saved video look the same as the preview?
Yes. The grain, the wobble and the dropouts are worked out from the frame number and the time, not from chance, so the saved video matches the preview. The preview is drawn a little smaller if your video is large.
Can I add a date stamp like an old camcorder?
Yes. Keep Date and time stamp ticked, change the text if you like, or press Use now. The stamp is drawn before the other effects, so it blurs and wobbles with the picture.
What is the best size for a real VHS look?
480p. Tape held far less detail than a screen, so a small frame looks right, and it saves quickest. 4:3, old TV adds the black bars that old televisions had.
Which videos work?
MP4, MOV and WebM that your browser can play. Chrome, Edge and Safari play most MP4 and MOV files. For other kinds, change the video to MP4 first.
Is there a length limit?
The page sets none. The finished MP4 is built in memory, so a very long video can run out of room on a small computer. Saving time grows with the length.
Why is the frame rate capped at 30?
30 frames a second is plenty for this look, and a lower rate saves faster. A video at 60 frames a second is saved at 30.
Does it work on a phone video that is upright?
Yes. Keep Same shape. The 4:3 choice would put it in the middle of a wide frame with big black bars.