One of the first creative tools I ever got (outside of markers and crayons) was the PXL-2000. This was a video camera made in the late 80's that recorded video onto audio cassettes.
The quality was terrible, but it became an amazing creative outlet that was a very early gateway to all my film and photography projects that would eventually follow.
Well, I recently sold my old PXL-2000 on eBay and decided, as an homage, to build an Adobe Premiere "preset" that would simulate the lo-fi quality of the camera in a modern HD setting.
You can download the full Adobe Premiere preset project HERE
Download the Adobe Premiere project files HERE (450mb)
Unzip and open the Adobe Premiere file
Once opened, you’ll see three sequences (each nested in the next). You will replace the sample footage with your own video file(s) in the sequence labeled “Place Final Video Here”. You do not have to make any changes to your footage (as long as it’s typical 1080p 23.97fps from a DSLR or phone).
Most of the effects happen within the sequence labeled “Effects / Frame Rate”. Although this looks like the most complicated sequence, the only thing you will need to do in here is adjust the length of the effects to match the length of your video (looping them if needed for more time). You can also adjust the amount of "belt motor" noise in this sequence.
The sequence labeled “Final 23.97 FPS Output” will contain your final effected footage. This final sequence brings the FPS back up to the standard 23.97 for final output. Simply select this sequence and export your finished video.
Update I: Revised audio processing to more closely match the original mono microphone on the camera as well as better integrating the internal belt motor noise.
Update II: Added horizontal scan distortion to matte border and lowered color depth slightly.
Update III: Updated tape motor noise, adjusted pixel size, and added revised sample video.