ffmpeg-glitch-distortion-effects

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Complete glitch art, datamosh, and video distortion effects system. PROACTIVELY activate for: (1) Datamosh/pixel bleeding effects, (2) VHS/analog glitch simulation, (3) Digital corruption effects, (4) Displacement mapping, (5) Wave/ripple distortions, (6) Pixelation and mosaic effects, (7) Chromatic aberration, (8) Scan line effects, (9) Time-based distortions (echo, trails), (10) Lens distortion and barrel effects. Provides: minterpolate for datamosh, displacement filter, geq pixel manipulation, noise and artifacts, rgbashift/chromashift for color separation, lagfun for trails, tmix for frame blending, tblend for frame difference effects.

5installs

Sourcejosiahsiegel/claude-plugin-marketplace

Added on2026-05-30

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add josiahsiegel/claude-plugin-marketplace ffmpeg-glitch-distortion-effects

SKILL.md Content

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CRITICAL GUIDELINES

Windows File Path Requirements

MANDATORY: Always Use Backslashes on Windows for File Paths

When using Edit or Write tools on Windows, you MUST use backslashes (

) in file paths, NOT forward slashes (

Quick Reference

Effect	Command
Datamosh	`-vf "minterpolate='mi_mode=mci:mc_mode=aobmc:me_mode=bidir'"`
Chromatic aberration	`-vf "rgbashift=rh=-5:bh=5"`
VHS noise	`-vf "noise=c0s=20:c0f=t,eq=saturation=1.2"`
Pixelate	`-vf "scale=iw/10:ih/10,scale=iw10:ih10:flags=neighbor"`
Wave distortion	`-vf "displace=..."` with displacement map
Echo/trails	`-vf "lagfun=decay=0.95"`
Scan lines	`-vf "drawgrid=w=iw:h=2:t=1:c=black@0.5"`

When to Use This Skill

Use for creative distortion effects:

Music video glitch aesthetics
Datamosh/pixel bleeding art
VHS/analog video simulation
Digital corruption and artifacts
Psychedelic and experimental video
Horror/unsettling visual effects

FFmpeg Glitch & Distortion Effects (2025)

Complete guide to datamosh, glitch art, VHS effects, displacement, and creative video distortion with FFmpeg.

Datamosh Effects

Datamosh creates the "pixel bleeding" effect by manipulating motion compensation.

Basic Datamosh with minterpolate

bash

# Basic datamosh effect
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "minterpolate='mi_mode=mci:mc_mode=aobmc:me_mode=bidir:vsbmc=1'" \
  -c:v libx264 -crf 18 datamosh.mp4

# Parameters explained:
# mi_mode=mci: Motion compensated interpolation
# mc_mode=aobmc: Adaptive overlapped block motion compensation
# me_mode=bidir: Bidirectional motion estimation
# vsbmc=1: Variable size block motion compensation

Intense Datamosh

bash

# Heavy datamosh (more chaos)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "minterpolate='fps=60:mi_mode=mci:mc_mode=aobmc:me_mode=bidir:me=epzs:vsbmc=1:scd=none'" \
  -c:v libx264 -crf 18 heavy_datamosh.mp4

# scd=none: Disable scene change detection (more bleeding across cuts)
# me=epzs: Enhanced predictive zonal search (faster, rougher)

Datamosh with Frame Manipulation

bash

# Datamosh by removing I-frames (requires re-encoding)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "minterpolate='mi_mode=mci:mc_mode=aobmc',\
       tblend=all_mode=difference:all_opacity=0.5" \
  datamosh_blend.mp4

# Combine with echo for trails
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "minterpolate='mi_mode=mci:mc_mode=aobmc',lagfun=decay=0.9" \
  datamosh_trails.mp4

Controlled Datamosh (Specific Sections)

bash

# Datamosh only certain section
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "minterpolate='mi_mode=mci:mc_mode=aobmc':enable='between(t,5,10)'" \
  controlled_datamosh.mp4

Chromatic Aberration

Color channel separation for that "broken lens" look.

rgbashift Filter

bash

# Horizontal chromatic aberration
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "rgbashift=rh=-5:bh=5" \
  chromatic.mp4

# Parameters:
# rh/rv: Red horizontal/vertical shift
# gh/gv: Green horizontal/vertical shift
# bh/bv: Blue horizontal/vertical shift
# ah/av: Alpha horizontal/vertical shift

# Vertical chromatic aberration
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "rgbashift=rv=-3:bv=3" \
  chromatic_v.mp4

# Both directions
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "rgbashift=rh=-4:rv=-2:bh=4:bv=2" \
  chromatic_both.mp4

Animated Chromatic Aberration

bash

# Pulsing chromatic aberration
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "rgbashift=rh='5*sin(t*3)':bh='-5*sin(t*3)'" \
  pulsing_chromatic.mp4

# Increasing aberration over time
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "rgbashift=rh='-t*2':bh='t*2'" \
  increasing_chromatic.mp4

chromashift Filter (Chroma Only)

bash

# Shift chroma channels (U/V in YUV)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "chromashift=cbh=5:crh=-5" \
  chroma_shift.mp4

# cbh/cbv: Cb (blue-difference) horizontal/vertical
# crh/crv: Cr (red-difference) horizontal/vertical

VHS/Analog Effects

Complete VHS Simulation

bash

# Full VHS effect
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "\
    noise=c0s=15:c0f=t:c1s=10:c1f=t,\
    eq=saturation=1.4:contrast=1.1:brightness=-0.02,\
    chromashift=cbh=3:crh=-3,\
    rgbashift=rh=2:bh=-2,\
    unsharp=3:3:-0.5,\
    drawgrid=w=iw:h=2:t=1:c=black@0.3,\
    curves=preset=vintage" \
  -c:v libx264 -crf 20 vhs_effect.mp4

VHS Components Breakdown

bash

# 1. VHS Noise (temporal noise)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "noise=c0s=20:c0f=t:c1s=15:c1f=t" \
  vhs_noise.mp4

# 2. VHS Color bleeding
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "chromashift=cbh=4:cbv=2:crh=-3:crv=1" \
  vhs_color_bleed.mp4

# 3. VHS Scan lines
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "drawgrid=w=iw:h=2:t=1:c=black@0.4" \
  vhs_scanlines.mp4

# 4. VHS Tracking issues (simulated)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "crop=iw:ih-20:0:'20*random(1)',pad=iw:ih+20:0:10" \
  vhs_tracking.mp4

# 5. VHS Oversaturated colors
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "eq=saturation=1.5:contrast=1.1,curves=preset=vintage" \
  vhs_colors.mp4

VHS Static/Snow

bash

# Static overlay blend
ffmpeg -f lavfi -i "nullsrc=s=1920x1080:d=10" \
  -vf "noise=c0s=100:c0f=a+t,format=gray" \
  -c:v libx264 -t 10 static.mp4

# Blend static with video
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -i static.mp4 \
  -filter_complex "[0:v][1:v]blend=all_mode=screen:all_opacity=0.1" \
  vhs_static.mp4

Pixelation & Mosaic

Basic Pixelation

bash

# Pixelate entire video
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "scale=iw/10:ih/10,scale=iw*10:ih*10:flags=neighbor" \
  pixelated.mp4

# Parameters:
# First scale: Reduce resolution (divide by pixelation level)
# Second scale: Scale back up with nearest neighbor (no interpolation)

# Variable pixelation level
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "scale=iw/20:ih/20,scale=iw*20:ih*20:flags=neighbor" \
  heavy_pixel.mp4

Animated Pixelation

bash

# Pixelation that increases over time
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "scale='iw/max(1,t*2)':'ih/max(1,t*2)',scale=iw:ih:flags=neighbor" \
  animated_pixel.mp4

# Note: This is approximate; true animated requires geq or external scripts

Mosaic/Censoring Effect

bash

# Mosaic specific region (face blur style)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -filter_complex "\
    [0:v]crop=200:200:300:200[face];\
    [face]scale=iw/10:ih/10,scale=iw*10:ih*10:flags=neighbor[blurred];\
    [0:v][blurred]overlay=300:200" \
  mosaic_region.mp4

Wave & Ripple Distortion

Displacement Map

bash

# Create displacement map (gradient)
ffmpeg -f lavfi -i "gradients=s=1920x1080:c0=black:c1=white:x0=0:y0=540:x1=1920:y1=540" \
  -vframes 1 displacement_h.png

# Apply horizontal wave displacement
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -i displacement_h.png \
  -filter_complex "[0:v][1:v]displace=edge=wrap" \
  wave_h.mp4

Animated Wave with geq

bash

# Horizontal wave using geq
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "geq=lum='lum(X+10*sin(Y/20+T*5),Y)':cb='cb(X+10*sin(Y/20+T*5),Y)':cr='cr(X+10*sin(Y/20+T*5),Y)'" \
  wave_animated.mp4

# Vertical wave
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "geq=lum='lum(X,Y+10*sin(X/20+T*5))':cb='cb(X,Y+10*sin(X/20+T*5))':cr='cr(X,Y+10*sin(X/20+T*5))'" \
  wave_v.mp4

# Ripple from center
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "geq=lum='lum(X+5*sin(sqrt(pow(X-W/2,2)+pow(Y-H/2,2))/10-T*5),Y+5*cos(sqrt(pow(X-W/2,2)+pow(Y-H/2,2))/10-T*5))':cb='cb(X,Y)':cr='cr(X,Y)'" \
  ripple.mp4

lenscorrection (Barrel/Pincushion)

bash

# Barrel distortion (fisheye-like)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "lenscorrection=cx=0.5:cy=0.5:k1=0.5:k2=0.5" \
  barrel.mp4

# Pincushion distortion (opposite of barrel)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "lenscorrection=cx=0.5:cy=0.5:k1=-0.3:k2=-0.3" \
  pincushion.mp4

# Parameters:
# cx, cy: Lens center (0-1, 0.5 = center)
# k1, k2: Distortion coefficients (positive = barrel, negative = pincushion)

Echo & Trails (lagfun)

Basic Trails

bash

# Motion trails
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "lagfun=decay=0.95" \
  trails.mp4

# Parameters:
# decay: How fast trails fade (0-1, higher = longer trails)

# Heavy trails
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "lagfun=decay=0.98" \
  heavy_trails.mp4

# Light trails
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "lagfun=decay=0.85" \
  light_trails.mp4

Trails with Color

bash

# Trails with color shift
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "lagfun=decay=0.95,hue=h=t*10" \
  color_trails.mp4

# Inverted trails (bright areas leave dark trails)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "negate,lagfun=decay=0.95,negate" \
  inverted_trails.mp4

Frame Blending (tmix, tblend)

tmix (Temporal Mix)

bash

# Average 5 frames (motion blur effect)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "tmix=frames=5:weights='1 1 1 1 1'" \
  motion_blur.mp4

# Echo effect (repeat previous frames)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "tmix=frames=10:weights='1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1'" \
  echo.mp4

# Ghosting
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "tmix=frames=3:weights='1 0.5 0.25'" \
  ghosting.mp4

tblend (Frame Difference)

bash

# Frame difference (motion highlight)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "tblend=all_mode=difference" \
  frame_diff.mp4

# Available modes:
# addition, addition128, multiply, multiply128
# average, difference, difference128
# divide, exclusion, extremity, freeze
# glow, hardlight, hardmix, heat
# lighten, darken, linearlight, negation
# normal, overlay, phoenix, pinlight
# reflect, screen, softdifference
# softlight, stain, subtract, vividlight, xor

Creative tblend Effects

bash

# Neon edges
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "tblend=all_mode=difference128,eq=brightness=0.1:contrast=2" \
  neon_edges.mp4

# Psychedelic blend
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "tblend=all_mode=phoenix" \
  psychedelic.mp4

# Burn effect
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "tblend=all_mode=heat" \
  burn_effect.mp4

Digital Corruption

Random Artifacts

bash

# Digital glitch noise
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "\
    noise=c0s=30:c0f=a+t:c1s=20:c1f=a+t,\
    rgbashift=rh='5*random(1)':bh='-5*random(1)'" \
  digital_glitch.mp4

# Note: random() generates noise, but isn't truly random between frames

Compression Artifact Simulation

bash

# Heavy compression artifacts
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -c:v libx264 -crf 51 -preset ultrafast \
  temp_compressed.mp4

ffmpeg -i temp_compressed.mp4 \
  -c:v libx264 -crf 18 \
  artifacts.mp4

# Blocky artifacts with multiple re-encodes
for i in {1..5}; do
  ffmpeg -y -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -crf 40 temp.mp4
  mv temp.mp4 input.mp4
done

Bit Manipulation (geq)

bash

# Bit-depth reduction (posterization)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "geq=lum='floor(lum(X,Y)/32)*32':cb='floor(cb(X,Y)/32)*32':cr='floor(cr(X,Y)/32)*32'" \
  bit_crush.mp4

# XOR pattern
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "geq=lum='bitxor(lum(X,Y),X+Y)':cb='cb(X,Y)':cr='cr(X,Y)'" \
  xor_pattern.mp4

Scan Lines & CRT Effects

Scan Lines

bash

# Horizontal scan lines
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "drawgrid=w=iw:h=2:t=1:c=black@0.5" \
  scanlines.mp4

# Heavier scan lines
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "drawgrid=w=iw:h=4:t=2:c=black@0.7" \
  heavy_scanlines.mp4

# RGB scan lines (trinitron style)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "drawgrid=w=3:h=ih:t=1:c=black@0.3" \
  rgb_scanlines.mp4

CRT Simulation

bash

# Full CRT effect
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "\
    gblur=sigma=0.5,\
    drawgrid=w=iw:h=2:t=1:c=black@0.4,\
    vignette=PI/4,\
    eq=saturation=1.2:contrast=1.1,\
    lenscorrection=k1=0.1:k2=0.1,\
    noise=c0s=5:c0f=t" \
  crt_effect.mp4

Interlacing Effects

bash

# Add interlacing artifacts
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "interlace=scan=tff,fieldorder=bff" \
  interlaced.mp4

# Fake interlacing (comb effect)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "tinterlace=merge" \
  comb_effect.mp4

Mirror & Kaleidoscope

Mirror Effects

bash

# Horizontal mirror (left to right)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "crop=iw/2:ih:0:0,split[a][b];[b]hflip[b];[a][b]hstack" \
  mirror_h.mp4

# Vertical mirror (top to bottom)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "crop=iw:ih/2:0:0,split[a][b];[b]vflip[b];[a][b]vstack" \
  mirror_v.mp4

# Quad mirror (kaleidoscope-lite)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "\
    crop=iw/2:ih/2:0:0,split=4[a][b][c][d];\
    [b]hflip[b];[c]vflip[c];[d]hflip,vflip[d];\
    [a][b]hstack[top];[c][d]hstack[bottom];\
    [top][bottom]vstack" \
  quad_mirror.mp4

Combined Glitch Presets

Music Video Glitch

bash

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "\
    minterpolate='mi_mode=mci:mc_mode=aobmc':enable='lt(mod(t,2),0.2)',\
    rgbashift=rh='3*sin(t*10)':bh='-3*sin(t*10)',\
    lagfun=decay=0.9:enable='gt(mod(t,3),2.5)',\
    noise=c0s=10:c0f=t:enable='lt(mod(t,5),0.3)'" \
  -c:v libx264 -crf 18 music_glitch.mp4

Horror Glitch

bash

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "\
    eq=brightness=-0.1:contrast=1.2:saturation=0.7,\
    chromashift=cbh='5*random(1)':crh='-3*random(1)',\
    noise=c0s=15:c0f=a+t,\
    tblend=all_mode=difference:all_opacity=0.1:enable='lt(mod(t,3),0.1)',\
    drawgrid=w=iw:h=2:t=1:c=black@0.5" \
  horror_glitch.mp4

Cyberpunk Glitch

bash

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "\
    eq=saturation=1.5:contrast=1.3,\
    colorbalance=rs=0.2:bs=0.2,\
    rgbashift=rh='-3':bh='3',\
    drawgrid=w=iw:h=3:t=1:c=black@0.3,\
    unsharp=5:5:1.5" \
  cyberpunk.mp4

Analog TV Signal Loss

bash

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "\
    noise=c0s=50:c0f=t:enable='lt(mod(t,10),0.5)',\
    chromashift=cbh='10*random(1)':enable='lt(mod(t,10),0.5)',\
    eq=brightness='-0.3*lt(mod(t,10),0.5)'" \
  signal_loss.mp4

Performance Tips

geq is CPU-intensive - Use sparingly or on short clips
minterpolate is slow - Consider reducing resolution first
lagfun accumulates - May need periodic "reset" cuts
Test on short clips before processing full videos
Hardware encoding - Use NVENC/QSV for final encode after effects

bash

# Process effects, then encode with hardware
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "your_glitch_filters" \
  -c:v rawvideo -f nut - | \
ffmpeg -i - \
  -c:v h264_nvenc -preset p4 -cq 20 \
  output.mp4

This guide covers FFmpeg glitch and distortion effects. For color grading see

ffmpeg-color-grading-chromakey

, for transitions see

ffmpeg-transitions-effects

ffmpeg-glitch-distortion-effects

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

CRITICAL GUIDELINES

Windows File Path Requirements

Quick Reference

When to Use This Skill

FFmpeg Glitch & Distortion Effects (2025)

Datamosh Effects

Basic Datamosh with minterpolate

Intense Datamosh

Datamosh with Frame Manipulation

Controlled Datamosh (Specific Sections)

Chromatic Aberration

rgbashift Filter

Animated Chromatic Aberration

chromashift Filter (Chroma Only)

VHS/Analog Effects

Complete VHS Simulation

VHS Components Breakdown

VHS Static/Snow

Pixelation & Mosaic

Basic Pixelation

Animated Pixelation

Mosaic/Censoring Effect

Wave & Ripple Distortion

Displacement Map

Animated Wave with geq

lenscorrection (Barrel/Pincushion)

Echo & Trails (lagfun)

Basic Trails

Trails with Color

Frame Blending (tmix, tblend)

tmix (Temporal Mix)

tblend (Frame Difference)

Creative tblend Effects

Digital Corruption

Random Artifacts

Compression Artifact Simulation

Bit Manipulation (geq)

Scan Lines & CRT Effects

Scan Lines

CRT Simulation

Interlacing Effects

Mirror & Kaleidoscope

Mirror Effects

Combined Glitch Presets

Music Video Glitch

Horror Glitch

Cyberpunk Glitch

Analog TV Signal Loss

Performance Tips