[pfeiffj]

It's been bugging me for a long time, any number of my projects are going to require this sooner or later, and I have no godly idea what to do.

How do I go about creating a realistic video interference/static effect? (In general, I don't mean for a specific purpose, or with a specific tool.) The static effects in things like adobe after effects are crap, doesn't even look real. Any ideas?

I think it goes without saying that there's no way in hell I'll do something crazy like output video through a messed up cable then re-cap it with static I create by playing with the cable... Though the thought has, sadly enough, crossed my mind.

Even if it's a specific piece of software or plugin that can do it, I'll hear anything. Thanks everybody!

[Mark]

You can do it directly within Lightwave.

Take a look at the attached DivX video and the object file for how I did it...


http://www.medwards-online.co.uk/lightwave/Static.zip

[pfeiffj]

Thanks for the help, but still not quite what I'm looking for.

I'm asking a general question, Lightwave just happens to be the package I swear by, and I assumed that someone around here has to have needed the same thing at one point or another.

In general, what the heck does someone do when they want to introduce video static or interference to an image or video? Like the electronic equivalent of adding film grain. How does HOLLYWOOD do it? Is there a software solution? Are there any oo-ahh uber-expensive compositing and effects packages that can do it? Does it require some sort of ridiculous 50-hojillion dollar black box?

[Mark]

Well, you could just tune a video recorder to a blank channel and record the signal ...

[nemac4]

Lightwave comes with wavefilter ( an image filter ) which has a nice film grain effect. Also there are a few other free plugs that can provide video lines and or static in lightwave as well.

http://www.geocities.com/lw_flashfire/files/


http://www.geocities.com/kevman.geo/

[pfeiffj]

Okay, thanks for all the help everyone, but after resorting to downloading demos of random video effects plugin packages, I finally found what I was looking for in DigiEffect's 'Delirium' package for Adobe After Effects. An effect called 'Video Malfunction'. It seems to be pretty well configurable, and it's animated.

I made a little video using a random render from my 'Desktop Crap' folder, and the effect. lol ^^ (The colored stripes are there 'cause it's a demo.)

Here. (7mb XviD video)

I can make the effect as subtle and selective as I want by just playing with the settings. (And all those settings are animatable, of course.)

Update:

I just found another one. 'BadTV' a filter from the 'Tinderbox 3' package by...some company whose name escapes me...

I like this one because it can simulate a multitude of conditions, and instead of describing the effects like the other does, these parameters describe the causes... Like 'EM Interference' and 'Gun Misalignment', stuff like that. And it has a really nice system for controlling it. You set thresholds for all the varying levels of interference, and then you animate the main slider, which causes all the various effects to ease-in when their threshold has been passed. (Or, if you want, you can animate ALL the parameters by hand.)

BadTV. (4mb XviD video)