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Watch the tutorial
Step 1: Soften the footage with Lumetri Color
Select your clip and open the Lumetri Color panel. If you do not see it, go to Window > Lumetri Color and enable it. Expand Creative and decrease Sharpen to around -25. A negative sharpen value adds a slight blur, which is exactly what old tape looks like: soft edges and less fine detail.
Step 2: Add Channel Blur twice for color bleed
Open the Effects panel, search for Channel Blur and apply it to the video two times. With the video selected, go to Effect Controls. In the first Channel Blur, set Red Blurriness to 30. In the second Channel Blur, set Blue Blurriness to 30 as well. Blurring only the red and blue channels makes colors smear slightly, like on a real VHS tape.
Faster with BetterFX: skip the Effects panel. Press your BetterFX shortcut, type the first letters of Channel Blur and press Enter to apply it to the selected clip. Get BetterFX
Step 3: Add a VHS overlay and set it to Screen
For a more convincing VHS feeling, drag a VHS overlay above your video on the timeline. Select it, open Effect Controls and set the Blend Mode to Screen. Screen hides the black background of the overlay, so only the noise, the PLAY label and the timestamp stay visible over your footage.
Step 4: Nest the layers and add black borders
For a more retro look, add black borders on the sides, like an old 4:3 TV picture. Select both layers, the video and the overlay. Right-click and choose Nest, then click OK. Nesting turns them into one clip, so one effect can handle both.
Go to Effects, search for Crop and apply it to the nested clip. In Effect Controls, set Left to 15% and Right to 15% as well.
Step 5: Feather the corners
To smooth out the sharp edges of the borders, increase the Edge Feather value in the Crop effect. A soft edge looks more like the bleed on an old tube TV. Play it back and you have your finished old VHS tape effect.
Tips
- Keep the blur values modest. Too much blur ruins the footage, while 30 on red and blue is enough to see the color fringes.
- Match the border size to your style. Increase the crop for a narrower, more 4:3 look.
- Add tape sound. A quiet tape hiss or a rewind sound sells the effect even more.
FAQ
How do I make a video look like an old VHS tape?
Lower the sharpening in Lumetri Color, blur the red and blue channels with Channel Blur, add a VHS overlay on Screen and finish with black borders.
Why do I nest the clips before cropping?
Nesting combines the footage and the overlay into one clip, so the Crop effect adds the borders over both at once.
Which blend mode works for VHS overlays?
Screen works for overlays with a black background. It removes the black and keeps the bright noise and text.
Need an overlay to go with this look? Get the free VHS overlay.
