This effect is a cliché… yet nothing says ‘high-tech’ like some scan lines. As an added bonus… make it green and glowy (like the Matrix)… clients love that. No really they do (PLEASE make it stop). But since bad taste won’t change your deadline… lets at least learn the fastest way of pulling of this effect.
1. In Photoshop, make a new document that is 10 pixels tall and 1 pixel wide.
2. With the Rectangular Marquee, select the top five pixels.
3. Fill with a color of your choice or black (how boring).
4. Choose Select>Inverse then fill with a second color or white.
5. Choose Select>All.
6. Create a pattern by choosing Edit>Define Pattern. Give the pattern a descriptive name.
7. Create a new document that matches your video frame size.
8. Choose Edit>Fill and select Pattern. Navigate to the pattern you created.
9. Soften the image slightly by blurring it at a low value.
10. Save your Scan Lines as a file for Import into After Effects.
11. Import the scan lines into After Effects and place it over your footage.
12. Adjust its blending mode to taste (remember Shift+= is a fast way to experiment). You may want to lower the opacity as well.
13. Place an Adjustment Layer on Top and apply a blur such as Effect>Blur>Fast Blur.
14. Blend the blurred layer to taste slightly to create a glow. Setting it to Soft Light at 40% Opacity often works well.
15. If you’re Keanu-loving client insists, add second adjustment layer.
16. Apply the Colorama effect by choosing Effect>Image Control>Colorama.
17. Under the Output Cycle, choose Ramp Green (RGB creates a nice Infrared Effect and Fire can create a nice old-school amber monitor look).
18. Change the Colorama layer’s blending mode to Hue (or experiment with other modes and opacity settings).
19. Take the red pill (or blue… your choice).