Depending on how smart you feel, visual domains can make video calls it's a lot of fun. But they have great potential to be used for it evil. Case in point: In Zoom, you can create an unusual background from any image or video file. That means you can use the feature to show a looping video of yourselfyou are perfect for those times you have to be in the meeting though I don't want to be in a meeting.
It's a handy little idea of the time of physical blur, and best of all, you don't need to be a tech wizard to scratch your visual background in Zoom. Everything you need webcam, a free video editing software such as Windows Movie Maker or iMovie, and a computer with enough good features that can download Zoom's visual source. Oh, and Zoom, of course.
Once you've assembled your tools, here's how to get started creating and adding your own transparent layer.
Part 1: Recording your video
First, we need to use Zoom to record the video that we will use as a loop. (If you don't mind that part and just want to know how to use the image or video to make the visual layer, skip to section 3).
- Turn zoom on.
- Create a “A New Assembly.”
- Wait for the meeting window to load, clicking to enable your webcam when it's defined.
- Make sure you're famous for the video.
- Press Alt + R to start recording.
- Sit there, in neutral talk, and make small movements, as you would hardly listen to someone speak during a Zoom meeting.
- After a few minutes – it is long enough that the duplicate will not be and obvious – press Alt + R to stop recording.
- Close the meeting window.
- Find and open your Zoom recording folder, which you can do by redirecting to the main Zoom window in the desktop app, and then clicking on icon set by tooling> Recording.
- Copy / paste the recording into a new folder.
Part 2: Reduce your footage
Now comes the tricky part: editing a video is therefore pretty simple. Zoom adds strong black frames to the beginning of the videos, so you'll have to cut that to make your video look natural. You can do this for Windows Movie Maker or other programs such as Movie, Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro.
- Open your Zoom recording in the video editing app of your choice.
- Remove black video frames.
- Save / export your video.
Part 3: Create a virtual domain
- Turn zoom on again.
- Click the Fences Settings icon
- Go to Virtual domain> "+"> Insert video.
- Find and open the video you recorded and cut in the steps above.
- This will now be your webcam domain while you're in meetings – however, if you're trying to use your domain to trick people into thinking you're in camera when you're not, you'll have to cover your webcam with tape or paper so that nothing is visible above your looping footage. It may seem a little suspicious that someone with great intelligence appears at the top of your open video.
If done correctly, this should be completely convincing, as long as no one tries to talk to you on the telephone. Just be careful glitches matrix, lest people start paying more attention to your cat wandering in the background.
This tactic can be used for much more than just doing the self-control of tedious meetings. You can use the steps in Part 3 to convert your home office into anything from a living room to a Star Wars control room. Let your twisted imagination run wild!
(PCWorld)