Create VCR-Style Glitch Effects

THE AVERAGE AGE OF THE READERS of this magazine is such that we don’t need to explain what a VHS player or VCR was, thankfully, but this ancient technology has been consigned to the trash can of history, along with the eight-track cartridge and the wax cylinder.

What the VHS system did have, as with many analog technologies, was charm—especially when it started to go wrong. The glitches, picture wobbles, and color artifacts this generates are a kind of art in their own way, perhaps explaining their continued popularity in movies and TV shows. Any time a computer fails or is hacked, or someone’s reviewing CCTV footage, you can guarantee there will be some sort of VHS effect, even if it’s being recorded on Blu-ray.

The association of this kind of effect with crime or horror means it’s easy to add a cinematic look this way, especially in conjunction with a noise filter. It also gives a cool ’80s aesthetic, if that’s what you’re after. We’re working in Photoshop CC here, but you could do something very similar in Elements, GIMP, or Affinity Photo. –IAN EVENDEN

1

CHOOSE A PHOTO

One of the good things about this effect is that it’s appropriate for almost any image. After all, what’s been captured with a DSLR could also have been shot using a scratchy CCTV camera. Look, for example, at these definitely very real business people, discussing whatever it is on that piece of paper. Secrets! That’s what’s on it. And our image has been filmed by a tiny spy camera, dropped by an agent into the office of MaximumPC’s greatest corporate rivals. Better glitch it up.

2

ADD SOME TEXT

The first signifier that you’re looking at tape-recorded footage is the information the recorder burns into the image. This can range from the time and date, to an index number, to the word “record”—in case that wasn’t already clear. There are VCR-specific fonts available online if you want to install one, but you can create your own using just about any monospaced font (one in which every character occupies the same amount of horizontal space). We’re using Source Code Pro from Adobe Typekit, but others are available. Choose a light color—white or light gray—and write what you want, initially quite small. Turn off antialiasing, and rasterize the type layer by right-clicking its entry in the Layers palette and finding the option in the menu. Now, with the layer still selected, choose “Edit > Free Transform,” and make the text bigger by dragging one of the corners. As it grows, you’ll see it pixelate. Make it a bit too big, apply the transformation, and double-click the layer to open the Layer Styles window. Put a check in the “Stroke” box, and your text gains an outline [ Image A]. Now Free Transform again, but the other way, shrinking it so the size looks right. When you’re happy, group your type layers so you can easily find them later, and move them to the top of the stack if they’re not already.

3

SMART OBJECT

Convert your background layer into a Smart Object by right-clicking it and choosing the option. The benefit of this is that you’re able to apply filters and effects to a Smart Object non-destructively, coming back later to edit them. Duplicate the new Object, and leave the original at the bottom of the stack— we’ll be duplicating it again later.

4

SHEAR GENIUS

One of the features of poor-quality VHS is the way the colors don’t quite blend together properly. It’s similar to the chromatic aberration seen from wide-aperture camera lenses, when different wavelengths of light aren’t brought to precisely the same point of focus. Select the top-most layer that isn’t the text, and open the Shear filter from “Filter > Distort.” This provides a line you can drag to bend your image from left to right, with the option of it wrapping around (the “Repeat Edge Pixels” box, which we’ve left unchecked). We don’t want too much of a bend, so have made a meandering line with points that only go around halfway across the grid squares. Hit “OK,” and check the effect by toggling the top layer on and off using the eye icon.

5

ADVANCED BLENDING

To get the color glitch, you need to open the Layer Styles window for the layer you just used Shear on. Double-click the layer, and under “Blending Options” you’ll find “Advanced Blending,” with “R,” “G,” and “B” boxes to represent the three colors being mixed to provide the full color image. Unchecking one of these prevents that color from blending—so uncheck the “R” and “G,” and see what happens. If, like us, you went a bit too far with the Shear filter, you can edit it by double-clicking its entry under Smart Filters. The Shear workspace is annoyingly small, so it may take some precision mouse work [ Image B].

6

MORE LAYERS

Rename that layer B, as that’s the only active channel, then duplicate your original layer two more times. One of these will be R, the other G. Repeat the Shear effect on them—it has to be a slightly different adjustment on each layer, otherwise they blend back together perfectly—and use “Advanced Blending” to leave one with the R channel, and the other with the G channel.

7

BLUR AND DISTORT

Create another duplicate of your original layer and move it almost to the top of the stack, just below the text layer. Open Shear again, and create a heavy distortion [ Image C]. Staying on this layer, click the “Add Layer Mask” icon at the bottom of the palette and, using the Rectangular Marquee tool, create a narrow band across the full width of the image near the top, and fill it with black using the Bucket tool.

8

MORE MASKS

It doesn’t fill with black, but creates a hole through which the layer below, which hasn’t been distorted as much, shows through. Create more such masks, using the same method, of differing heights but always full width. This is one of those tasks where learning the keyboard shortcuts—M and G—saves time. We’ve edited the Shear filter, because it was too strong, and added a Gaussian Blur filter to this layer, too [ Image D].

9

SCAN LINES

Finally, add some old-school NTSC realism by putting scan lines over the image. Use the “New Layer” button at the bottom of the palette to add a Pattern layer, and position it at the top, above the text. When the pattern options appear, choose the second one from the left—horizontal lines. This covers the image [ Image E], so blend it back in by changing the Blend Mode to “Multiply,” and the Opacity to around 25%.

10

BRING BACK THE TEXT

Unhide the text layer using the eye icon to its left, and the final glitched image is revealed [ Image F]. We may not be able to read the secrets they’re discussing—our tiny spy camera isn’t good enough—but we’ll send an agent to photograph it on to microfilm.