Add a VHS effect in Premiere Pro.

Ready to bring your video project back to the ‘90s? Here’s how to use Adobe Premiere Pro to make your freshly shot video footage look like you filmed it on an old VHS camcorder.

Adjust the colors.

The first step to creating a believable VHS effect in Premiere Pro is to alter the color of your video. Simply follow the directions below:

  1. Right click (Windows) or Command click (Mac) in the Project Panel and choose New Adjustment Layer.
  2. Drag and drop your new Adjustment Layer directly above the clip where you want the effect added. Click to highlight it.
  3. Open the Lumetri Color panel.
  4. Under the Creative drop-down, set the Faded Film effect to 50 and Sharpen to -50.

That’ll give your video that toned-down, fuzzy 1990s feeling your viewers will love.

You can also add a Channel Blur effect to the Adjustment Layer and increase the red blurriness to around 30. Set the Blur Dimension drop-down to Vertical. Duplicate the Channel Blur effect, set red blurriness back to 0, and increase blue blurriness to 30. Then change the Blur Dimension to Horizontal.

This will separate some of the colors to create a color bleed. It’ll also add a fuzzy border to your video. If you want to get rid of the border, check the Repeat Edge Pixels box on both Channel Blur effects.

Complete the VHS effect.

To finish the look, use the Effects Panel and search for an effect called Wave Warp to add the scan lines seen in old VHS tapes.

Add Wave Warp to your adjustment layer with these settings:

Finally, search for the Noise Effect and add it to the Adjustment Layer. Increase the level of noise until you’re happy with the result, and your VHS effect is complete.

Interested in more video tips? Discover what more you can do with Premiere Pro to add some nostalgia to your video projects.