What It Does

TimeMachine is an all-in-one plugin for After Effects and Premiere Pro that recreates retro display aesthetics and generative art looks. It covers CRT televisions, VHS tape damage, LED panels, terminal screens, print halftones, glitch, and more experimental styles, all from a single effect. The plugin is currently listed as discontinued on aescripts.com.

Key Features

Dithering Suite. Four dithering engines are included: Error Diffusion, Ordered Dither, Pattern Dither, and Blue Noise, with over 60 presets across them. Useful for lo-fi print looks, pixel art aesthetics, and palette-limited styles.

Power Grid (ASCII Generator). A tile-based character renderer that supports Latin and East Asian characters as well as the full modern emoji catalogue. It can produce classic computer terminal graphics or push further into abstract, graphic compositions.

Oscilloscope. Converts footage into bright traced lines resembling a vector display. Works well for music visualizers, HUD graphics, and terminal-style motion graphics.

Quad-Tree. Breaks the frame into variable-size blocks based on image content, producing a processed, structural look that goes beyond standard pixelation.

Waveform Scanlines. Reconstructs the image using radio-style waveforms to create a scanned or striped appearance.

Vector Trace. Pulls the image into lines and contours for a sketchy, plotter-drawn feel.

Modulation. A uniform modulation algorithm with one-click animation controls for creating rhythmic, wave-based distortions.

RGB Channel Split Control. Treats red, green, and blue channels independently, making it straightforward to dial in color misregistration, channel offsets, and broken-screen looks.

Post Effects Panel. A set of finishing tools applied on top of the main engines:

  • CRT Simulation adds scanlines, phosphor mask, and beam controls for an on-screen display feel
  • Dot Matrix targets LED boards, scoreboards, and low-resolution panel graphics
  • Chromatic Aberration adds edge separation and color fringing
  • Signal Distortion emulates analogue tape damage, tracking errors, and channel drift
  • Vibe Glow is a GPU-accelerated glow designed specifically for the plugin’s output

Who It’s For

Motion designers working on retro title sequences, music video aesthetics, broadcast graphics with a lo-fi edge, or experimental generative art. The depth of the dithering suite and ASCII generator also makes it relevant for anyone recreating specific vintage display technologies, such as early computer graphics or VHS-era video.

Pricing

TimeMachine is available on aescripts.com as pay-what-you-want. The product has been marked as discontinued, so availability may be limited. No subscription or separate tier structure is listed.