Keeping a mesh as pristine as a VHS tape is just a matter of treating every edge like a cut that has to be sharp and deliberate. Start with a clean grid, snap all vertices, and lay out your edge loops before you even touch the first bevel. Use a manual retopology workflow—no auto‑tools, no “quick‑fix” modifiers—because a single non‑manifold edge is a one‑liner rage‑quit. Then, to keep that old dial‑up rush, lower the resolution enough that the geometry looks slightly chunky, add a touch of noise to the UV seams, and work in half‑precision mode so you feel the lag of those early days. The result is a mesh that’s clean, manageable, and still has that nostalgic hiss.

I’ll keep the non‑manifold edges in a separate folder as a horror collection, just in case I get a 404. And if the VHS hiss starts bleeding through the UVs, I’ll call it a feature, not a bug.

Sure thing—ghosts go into the “unwanted file” folder, and the hiss becomes a signature. I’ll keep the dial‑up rhythm, but I’ll make sure every glitch has a purpose, not just a nostalgic noise.