I recommenced a blurriness value between 4 and 8.

Now apply a Gaussian Blur to your video footage. Apply the 8-bit look to an Adjustment layer above your footage. When applying the 8-bit look to video footage, you may encounter a lot of pixel flickering. (Using Posterize Time is optional, depending on the look you are going for, and may not be necessary for more modern 8-bit animations.) This will add a little bit of stutter to the movement onscreen. Apply Posterize Time to the Adjustment layer, then I recommend setting the frame rate between 6 and 15. An easy way to do this is with the Posterize Time effect. (When CC Block Load is set to a Scan value of 3, each pixel block it creates is 8px by 8px.)įinally, I recommend limiting the frame rate to better emulate the appearance of a retro video game. This should now leave you with a perfect grid around each “pixel block” on screen. Finally, set the Anchor values to 0,0 and set the Corner values to 8,8.

Set the Blending Mode in the options to Normal, and set the color to a dark grey. Apply the Grid effect to the Adjustment layer. This helps create the illusion of a low-resolution screen. Now, we need to add some grid spacing between each pixel. Set the Map White To option to a dull green tone to replicate the original Game Boy Screen. Next, you can apply the Tint effect to the Adjustment layer if you want to limit the color-palette to something more black and white.

The great thing about the CC Block Load effect is that it always creates perfectly square pixels, regardless of the aspect ratio of the composition. You should now see a pixelized version of your image. Then, set the Scans value to 3 and uncheck the Start Cleared option. Make sure the Completion setting is set to 0. Now, to create the blocky-pixel look on our image, we need to apply the CC Block Load effect to the Adjustment layer. (15 if you are creating a full-color look, and closer to 5 if you are creating a monotone look, like an original Game Boy screen.) For a retro game look, I prefer to set the Level between 5 and 15. The Posterize effect will limit the number of color tones on your image. (This can be above motion graphics, animation, footage, etc.) Then, apply the Posterize effect to the Adjustment layer. Posterizeįirst, create an Adjustment layer above all of the other layers in your composition. Now, let’s walk through - step-by-step - creating the 8-bit look in After Effects. By downloading, you agree not to redistribute this project file. This project file is free to use in any personal or commercial projects.

Pixel perfect after effects