ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

8 years, 6 months ago - Mark Wiggins

You mean you want it to look like it was shot on VHS? Because that's different from wanting an 80s look.

8 years, 6 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

The biggest challenge will be for your art department - the 80's had a look (well, many looks over a decade) that pretty much all period dramas fail to capture. Costume will have a lot of work, as will hair! Whatever you shoot on you can degrade to feel as rubbish as VHS (320 TVL, roughly, or as low as 240 TVL!), or you can get a VHS camcorder and shoot on it.

8 years, 6 months ago - Josie Parkinson

Sorry, I should have specified - I mean the actual footage I want to look like was filmed on a VHS camcorder (which I thought would have made it look like it was shot in the 1980s but perhaps not). How would you degrade DSLR footage, Paddy?

8 years, 6 months ago - Alwyne Kennedy

Haven't read them, but a simple google search threw up pages such as these:

https://petapixel.com/2015/05/12/how-to-make-dslr-footage-look-like-an-old-vhs/

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/new_app_makes_hd_smartphone_video_look_just_like_crappy_1980s_camcorder_foo

8 years, 6 months ago - Alwyne Kennedy

Here's the list of google hits:

http://tinyurl.com/jmwck59

8 years, 6 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Frankly the best way to look like you've shot on analogue VHS with a crappy lensed camcorder is to do so. If you're shooting on a DSLR it'll always look different, but I'd suggest reducing the resolution to 320 lines (so you may as well shoot SD 480/50fps), be aware of the screen ratio, and be aware of the actionsafe region. Colour will be more washed, but it won't be linear. You may wish to add dropout and some tracking artefacts for realism. I'm sure you'll get close enough to give the indication, but just be aware it'll never look the *same* :)