technique · 1 recipe
Datamosh
Inter-frame prediction is deliberately misapplied across image changes so previous-picture blocks are carried by new motion.
Selected recipe
Datamosh
This is the default recipe for the Datamosh family.
Free short AI video prompt
A starter line you can copy. The full timed recipe, still-image and production prompts are on the shot card.
Prompt rule: Carry selected old reference blocks with incoming motion vectors, then restore a clean keyframe; retain an undamaged master.
Datamosh: Inter-frame prediction is deliberately misapplied across image changes so previous-picture blocks are carried by new motion. Keep the subject readable; motivate camera and light.
Technique guide
- When to use
- Reach for Datamosh when you need this effect: Inter-frame prediction is deliberately misapplied across image changes so previous-picture blocks are carried by new motion.
- How it works
- Carry selected old reference blocks with incoming motion vectors, then restore a clean keyframe; retain an undamaged master.
- Common mistakes
- If the result does not follow this rule, it is not this technique: Carry selected old reference blocks with incoming motion vectors, then restore a clean keyframe; retain an undamaged master. Do not change multiple variables at once so the effect becomes unreadable.
How to read this page
Datamosh is one technique in Optical Effects. The definition states the single mechanism the frame has to show. The technique guide covers when to use it, the steps, the usual mistakes, how it differs from the neighbors, and what a successful take looks like.
The clip above is one reading, made with a third-party video model. Another model, or the same model on another day, can land on a different frame. It is an example, not a promise that a prompt will match it.
The free short prompt is a starter sentence. The shot card is the timed recipe: scene, start and end frames, action, light, and color. Three sample cards are free on the site. The rest are part of GrokCine Pro. A second name for the same shot keeps its own URL and points back at this definition.
When you write a prompt, keep the one mechanism in the definition, then name the subject, the motion, and why the light is there. Do not stack a neighboring technique into the same sentence. If the name or the example is wrong, send this page's URL from the contact page.
Recipe
8 seconds · multi shot
A corrupted home-video memory in an indie drama: the spinning orange beach parasol from the family's last summer smears into the blue pool where his sister swam that afternoon, until the pool comes back clean.
Shot cards
The full recipe for Datamosh is a shot card
The full recipe for Datamosh is a shot card. The start and end frames, timed action, lighting and color specs, a camera parameter table, copy-ready still-image and video prompts and negatives are open to GrokCine Pro members on the web.
Related families
- Lens Flare
Lens FlareStray light inside the imaging optics creates source-dependent ghosts or veiling glare that changes when the source is blocked. - Double Exposure
Double ExposureTwo image records coexist within the same frame through a controlled blend, instead of trading places as a transition. - Split Screen
Split ScreenTwo separately photographed or generated image fields are visible at the same time within one composed frame.
More in Optical Effects
References
Sources we studied for this technique. External links; we don't embed them.
Articles & definitions
- Wikipedia: Datamoshing
Wikipedia · Web
Datamoshing manipulates compressed video data (removing I-frames) so motion from one shot is applied to the image of another.
Videos
- Jam2go: "Your graphics card is dying" datamosh
@Jam2go · 2024-11-09 · X
Datamosh piece: frames smear and bleed into the next shot instead of cutting.
- 80 Level: How datamoshing works, recreated in Unreal
@80Level · 2024-08-28 · X
Breakdown of a datamosh effect: motion vectors from one clip applied to the pixels of another.