Never before have employees worked remotely on such a massive scale. When millions of companies went fully remote in a short period of time to wearisome the spread of the coronavirus, video conferencing became the logical solution for connecting the remote workforce and keeping teams productive from home. In a affair of weeks, video conferencing usage exploded, permeating nearly all aspects of professional and personal life. In addition to business concern-related meetings, remote teams around the globe are using video conferencing to host virtual happy hours, ice breaker activities, online games, wine tastings, altogether parties and other social activities.

These breezy gatherings have likewise led to an increase in interactive background images as colleagues have sought out ways to make virtual meetings and events more fun and engaging. Want to talk to your coworkers from a embankment, the Himalayas or on the surface of the moon from your living room? There's an app for that. Looking for a way to transform your face into a talking potato or favorite meme for your adjacent virtual happy hr? Choose from dozens of photographic camera filters or create your own virtual background images. With Lifesize, virtual backgrounds and effects are easy to implement and a fun fashion to add a niggling levity to your next conference call.

For more traditional meetings, virtual backgrounds and camera apps are as well useful tools to present a more than professional look or added privacy. This is especially useful if you're joining a conference call from a public infinite or working from habitation and want call participants to focus on you, not your groundwork. Additionally, virtual backgrounds, images and blithe effects are a great way to make virtual icebreakers, your video presentation, or a webinar more engaging and visually appealing. In this blog, nosotros expect at five great resources for adding interactive virtual backgrounds and effects to your side by side Lifesize video conference call.

Lady on conference call with a waterfall virtual background

5 Best Resources for Virtual Backgrounds

All of these third-party virtual background and special effects tools piece of work with the Lifesize desktop application. Read through the descriptions, make up one's mind which one y'all would like to effort out to enhance your video conferencing feel and and then follow the step-past-step instructions to get started (and use CX analytics to take you lot to the side by side level).

1. ManyCam

ManyCam is an app for Windows and Mac that allows users to add together multiple video sources — including webcams, prerecorded videos, images, smartphones and tablets — to alive streams and video calls. ManyCam also offers a slew of features designed to help you produce professional-quality live stream videos, similar to a newscast. This is especially benign for organizations creating interactive, professional-looking webinars without the luxury of a recording studio. Similar other virtual camera apps, ManyCam besides provides plenty of features to give your video stream a more than light-hearted flair, such as 3-D masks that wrap around your face, virtual objects, digital props, backdrops, effects and fun filters.

image of manycam userface

two. Snap Camera

Snap Photographic camera is a free desktop application for Windows and Mac made past the creators of Snapchat. For Snapchat users, the app offers a familiar and impressive library of prebuilt lenses, filters and backgrounds that are sure to add extra enjoyment to your conference calls. Y'all can choose from thousands of different virtual backgrounds and lenses, including classics fabricated by Snapchat, and fresh designs created past Snap Camera users using the app's free Lens Studio. When turned on during a conference telephone call, Snap Camera replaces the input of your webcam with your selected lens or virtual background and streams the augmented video to telephone call participants in real time.

Snap Cam image

3. ChromaCam

ChromaCam is a simple but powerful virtual background desktop application for Windows and Macs. With ChromaCam'southward easy-to-use interface, you can quickly remove your background, blur information technology, add streaming furnishings or drop in PowerPoint presentation slides as your groundwork. At that place is a free-to-employ "lite" edition that lets yous supervene upon your background with a standard image or virtual green screen. With a ChromaCam Pro business relationship you tin can customize your background and logos, unlock additional images and use PowerPoint content as a dynamic groundwork.

Chroma Cam image

iv. CamTwist

CamTwist is an awarding that lets you add special effects and filters to live video feeds. Currently available to Mac users only, CamTwist acts as a broadcast-quality video switcher, enabling you to create distinct setups or scenes that tin be easily changed during a live telephone call. While the software package includes a large selection of premade effects, it is likewise like shooting fish in a barrel to create your own custom elements. If yous're a chip more tech savvy and prepare to take your video conferencing experience to the next level then CamTwist is the perfect tool for y'all.

CamTwist Image

5. XSplit VCam

XSplit VCam is a webcam background removal software for Windows simply. XSplit VCam supports JPEGs, GIFs, PNGs and even full web pages, giving you unlimited personalization options for background replacement. Y'all tin can likewise apply a customizable blur upshot to your actual background for ultimate privacy. XSplit VCam is a great selection for Windows users looking for a elementary video conferencing background replacement tool without all the filters, digital lenses and animated effects.

Xsplit Vcam graphic

How to Add a Virtual Background in Lifesize

Adding third-party virtual backgrounds and blithe effects to your Lifesize desktop app is simple and only takes a few minutes to set up. Hither are footstep-by-step instructions for adding virtual backgrounds to your next Lifesize phone call. You will need to complete these four steps earlier the commencement of your call.

Step one: Download virtual background app

Start, download and install the third-party virtual background awarding. After installation is complete, continue the software open.

download screenshot of manycam

Step two: Open Lifesize settings

In the Lifesize desktop app, click on settings in the peak correct corner.

Screenshot of Lifesize app settings

Step three: Change camera input

In the Audio/Video settings click on the photographic camera drop-down carte. Select the 3rd-party virtual background app you lot but installed.

Screenshot of Lifesize app

Stride 4: Control background with third-party app

Command and customize your augmented video with the 3rd-political party virtual background app. After yous have selected the perfect background or filter, make or bring together a Lifesize phone call and have fun! During the call, you can continue to change your virtual groundwork and filters or turn off the augmented video by going to Lifesize settings and irresolute the camera source.

manycam user interface with virtual filters

Conclusion

Information technology can get repetitive to showcase the same backdrop in every conference call. Adding a fun virtual background or digital filter can actually spice things up. These apps give yous the freedom to customize your expect since there are thousands of dissimilar backgrounds, filters, animations and lenses yous can add to your video call. Get creative and share a express mirth on your next team virtual happy 60 minutes by joining the meeting as someone [or something] else from your favorite spot in the world.