VHS Simulator

Description:

This is a blend file that contains a compositing set up that simulates different physical aspects of VHS tapes, and a bash script that renders an interlaced video file to match the 480i NTSC standard. Many physical aspects of the tape simulation are recreated from the descriptions in Scotch Video Tapes 1980's VHS Primer video.

This file is part of a collection of files that includes test footage and a bash script.

Nodes

Crop and Scale

This node contains sub-nodes to crop the input image/clip to a 4:3 ratio, then scale that cropped image to the Resolution X and Resolution Y of the Scene's dimensions.

Luma to Chroma Ratio

This node reduces the color information in relation to the luminance information in the image to fit the ratio supported by VHS tape.

Video Frequency Response

Video frequency response measures how well picture detail is reproduced.

Signal to Noise Ratio

This node simulates the signal to noise ratio of data held by the magnetic tape. A higher dB value results in a higher quality image. This can be adjusted for both the luma signal and the chroma signal separately.

Color Bleed

This node simulates CRT-like RGB color bleed onto other pixels. The bleed per color can be dialed up and down.

Phase Modulation Noise

Phase modulation noise simulates color banding seen in degraded tape. Banding can be controlled by intensity, offset, and scale which correlates to the number of bands seen. A lower scale makes the bands larger, and a larger scale makes the bands thinner but increases their number.

Chroma Output

Chroma output is a measure of the chroma saturation of the image.

Video RF Output

Video RF output is the maximum amount of playback signal compared to that of a reference tape.

Dropouts

Dropouts are an artifact generated by video head / tape separation.