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Nostalgia sells. To all that generation that the market has called the 'EGB Generation' (born in the seventies), the same generation to whom all time in the past seems much better, our special today is addressed. We are going to teach you to use your Android mobile as if it were an old video camera, one of those that carried bulky tapes and that we then inserted into a VHS video, showing us images with such a characteristic aesthetic.
All the applications that we are going to show you in our special today are free to download, although you should be careful because some may ask you for real money to deactivate premium functions or contain advertising that uses mobile data from your rate.
VHS Camcorder Lite
The first of the Android applications to record with retro effects is called VHS Camcorder and, according to the developer's words, it is one of the tools most used by celebrities to achieve that VHS effect in their recordings. The Lite version of the application is free, although it has a paid version with more features such as extra filters or longer recording times. Its installation file has a weight of only 3 MB so you can download it whenever you want.
The best thing about the application is its simplicity of use. As soon as we open and apply the corresponding permissions we can start recording our video. On the sides of the viewfinder we have different options such as activating the front camera, zooming in and zooming out, turning on the flash or applying a title to the video (default in the free version). We also obviously have the record button and the play button. The worst thing about the application is, without a doubt, that it does not let us take photos while recording.
90s - Glitch & Vaporwave
We are going with a very complete application that will allow us to move to the golden age of grunge, lumberjack shirts and threadbare jeans. The '90s' application is free, although it contains advertisements and payment filters (you can try three days for free, a one-year subscription for 6 euros or a lifetime payment for 7 euros. However, the application can be used completely free of charge although knowing you will be able to use fewer filters Its installation file has a weight of 21 MB.
To start recording a video with this application we will have to, first, grant the permissions it asks for. Next, we choose the 'Take a video' option and start recording. Now, the magic begins. Once we have the video saved, we are going to apply the effects we want. This is one of the best options of this application, that we can apply more than one filter to the same video. We will only have to move the cursor in the part that we want to place the filter and keep it pressed for as long as we want. Then we can use another filter to get a proper mix. At the end, we can place one of the free music offered by the app. We will finish exporting the video and that's it.
RAD VHS
We continue our journey through applications to record retro videos with RAD VHS, a free application, with ads and whose download file has a weight of 89 MB, so we advise you to install it when you are connected to WiFi. On the main screen we can find the usual: the camera viewfinder, the button to apply the effects live, the activation of the flash, the selfie camera and, as a distinctive sign of the previous applications, a button to take pictures.
Once the video is taken, you must press the floppy icon to save it on your mobile. You can also mark it as a favorite so you can find it more quickly later.
Glitchy
The new stop is called 'Glitchy'. It is a free application, with payments inside and advertisements and a weight of 44 MB, so we recommend that you connect to a WiFi network before downloading it. It is a very simple application to use, with practical free live effects that you can apply while we are recording the video. Its interface is quite simple, we have options on the sides of the camera viewfinder to activate the selfie, the flash, the filters (there are three free ones that we have live and some more to edit later) and the button to switch between the photographic camera and video camera.
We have three options to save the file: as a photo, as a GIF or as a video. We can also send it directly to Instagram if we want to share it with our followers.
Video editor effect
We finished our walk through the applications to record retro videos with 'Video editor effect', a tool quite similar to '90s'. This application is free, it has advertisements and purchases inside it and has a size of 23 MB so it is in your hand to download it with mobile data or with a WiFi connection. It is a very simple application to handle, as you will see below.
On the first screen, you must choose whether you want to edit a video that you already have recorded or record a new one. Once the video is taken, we can place the filters we want, even more than one at a time, remove the sound or put any of the music that the application offers us, etc. Once the editing process is finished, we save it on our phone or share it with our friends.
These are some of the best and most complete free applications that we have found in the Android Play Store to be able to record retro videos. As always, the best advice to get better videos is to record something every day. Look around you… the world is full of fascinating images waiting to be recorded.
