The last VCR manufacturer left the market in 2016. Classic video stores today are the center of tributes and other reminders, while Netflix devours everything. Still, many users are interested in reproducing the "warmth" of VHS. Low definition, washed-out colors, tracking errors... the list goes on. In a world ruled by perfect digitizations and 4K videos on cards smaller than a coin, VHS Camcorder appears. If you want to record a video with VHS effects and travel back in time, this app will let you do it.
The vast majority of consumers could only access audio cassettes with relatively low quality due to constant cutbacks by manufacturers. Under the VHS format something similar happened, but there were also some technological limitations, beyond certain special uses. Those limitations disappeared with the creation of D-VHS, although it arrived a little late to the party. From DVD we moved to the war between Blu-ray and HD-DVD, and from there to streaming. Today, our phones can record videos with chilling visual quality and upload them to the Web in minutes. That process is perfect... perhaps, too perfect. Videos no longer feel homemade or improvised. One way to reproduce that feeling is by invoking the retro texture of VHS, and the best app for it is VHS Camcorder.
Record a video with VHS effects using VHS Camcorder
VHS Camcorder has been on the market for some years, and it is extremely popular despite not having a freeware edition. Among its advanced parameters we find the final video resolution, the framerate (24, 25, 30, 50 and 60), recording clean audio or VHS style (read "bad"), visual filters, and a mode that allows us to insert a fake date. Another option is creating something similar to tracking errors by moving the smartphone, enhancing the retro effect. VHS Camcorder supports importing videos made in other applications, and according to developers, it has won the favor of models and singers around the world using the app in their music videos.
VHS Camcorder is available for iOS and Android. On the Apple platform it costs four dollars, while Google Play Store offers it at three dollars. An important technical detail is that the Android build does not work on rooted devices with custom ROMs. This is not the first time we hear something like that, but we want to avoid any surprises. Now, is it worth investing a couple of dollars in VHS Camcorder? Judging by its reputation, the answer is yes. If you need a giant dose of retro homemade videos in your life, VHS Camcorder is the ideal tool.
