Guide

Make any video look like a VHS tape

Filmina puts VHS effects on the videos you watch in Chrome, live on the picture: VHS Tape for tape grain, color bleed and a warm glow; True VHS for scanlines and a rolling tracking bar; and VCR Display for the PLAY and date stamp of an old recorder. They work on YouTube, Twitch and most other sites.

Filmina is free to start; these effects are Pro, with 3 free picks a week. No account, nothing uploaded.

Try it on a canal bridge

Pick an effect and set its Amount, then switch to the animation to see it on a cartoon.

Effect: True VHS

Now showing Effect: True VHS

Effect
Clip

Video: Tears of Steel (© 2012 Blender Foundation) and Big Buck Bunny (© 2008 Blender Foundation), licensed CC BY 3.0; Tears of Steel cropped to 16:9. Graded in your browser by the extension's own renderer; nothing is uploaded.

Three ways to VHS

The same frame with each effect, drawn by the extension's shader.

  • The tape itself

    VHS Tape

    Grain, colors that bleed past their edges, and a warm glow on the bright parts.

  • The tape on a TV

    True VHS

    Grain and color bleed, plus scanlines and the tracking bar that rolls up the screen.

  • The recorder

    VCR Display

    PLAY, the tape speed and a date stamp in the corner, with a tracking band now and then.

Make it your tape, not a filter

Turn the Amount down for a tape that was looked after and up for one that wasn't: the grain keeps its size and only gets fainter. Effects sit on top of looks, so True VHS over the Home Movie look gives the warm, faded color of an old home video.

On Netflix and other protected services

Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and HBO Max don't let an extension read the picture, so the parts of a VHS effect that have to, the color bleed and the glow, sit out there. The grain, scanlines, tracking bar and VCR Display are drawn over the video, so they stay.

Free and Pro

The VHS effects are part of Pro. On the free plan you can apply 3 Pro looks or effects a week at no cost, and hover any of them in the rail to preview it on your video as often as you like.

Turn it on in three steps

  1. Add Filmina to Chrome

    It is free and needs no account. Edge and Brave work too.

  2. Show the rail on a video

    Play something, click the Filmina icon in the toolbar and press Show rail, or press Alt+Shift+S. The rail sits beside the player.

  3. Pick a VHS effect

    Open FX and tap VHS Tape or True VHS under Combo, or VCR Display under Camera. Its Amount is at the top of the flyout.

Questions

Common questions

  • Yes. Filmina adds VHS Tape, True VHS and VCR Display to YouTube and most other sites in Chrome, drawn live on the video. They are part of Pro, and the free plan can apply 3 Pro effects a week.

Try it on your own videos.

Install Filmina free and preview every effect on your video. The free plan applies 3 Pro effects a week; Pro unlocks them all.