ghostee

Description

Applies a soft, subtle ghosting effect to the video by blending frames over time.
This creates a trailing, dreamy afterimage that lightly smears motion and adds a supernatural or ethereal visual mood.

Purpose

ghostee is designed for artists who want:

• a gentle afterimage effect instead of heavy motion smearing,
• soft motion trails without strong distortion,
• a dreamy, floating, or spectral visual tone,
• an atmospheric layer for music videos and ambient visuals,
• a minimal, elegant ghost effect that doesn’t overwhelm the footage.

How It Works

1. Frame Blending
   Consecutive frames are blended with diminishing influence, producing a light optical-ghost effect.
2. Subtle Persistence
   Motion appears to leave a soft residue rather than a strong smear or echo.
3. Minimal Contrast Disruption
   Highlights, shadows, and midtones maintain structure—only motion is affected.
4. Encoding
   Output uses global Videobeaux codec settings (CRF, pixel format, preset).

Program Template

videobeaux -P ghostee \
  -i input.mp4 \
  -o output.mp4

Arguments

• (No additional program-specific arguments; uses global videobeaux options only.)

Real World Example

videobeaux -P ghostee \
  -i myvideo.mp4 \
  -o ghostee_styled.mp4

Program Output

Technical Notes

• Produces mild persistence, unlike frame_delay_pro1 or frame_delay_pro2, which provide more extreme temporal manipulation.
• Works especially well on slow-motion or atmospheric footage.
• Compression settings influence ghost smoothness—higher CRF may increase noise within the trail.
• High-motion shots will produce noticeable yet still delicate ghost trails.

Recommended Usage

• Dreamlike music videos or ambient visualizers.
• Supernatural, memory-like, or nostalgic sequences.
• Layered VJ and projection-mapped installations.
• Subtle aesthetic enhancement for drone shots or slow pans.
• Mixing into a visual chain with stronger distortions for hybrid textures.

Quality Tips

• For smoother trails, lower CRF to reduce compression breakup.
• Combine with double_cup for syrupy dream visuals.
• Pair with blur_pix to soften structure while keeping ghost trails intact.
• For more pronounced trails, run ghostee multiple times or chain with frame_delay_pro1.
• Use on well-lit footage for cleanest ghost silhouettes.