You know you’re stuck in endless loop pandemic life when you can no longer gather the enthusiasm to change your silly virtual zoom bottom. I have overused Zoom’s default “space” image for some time—But imagine my surprise when I went to change it the other day and found that the app now includes a lot more virtual funds and effects for everyone to experience.
To access them, make sure you have updated Zoom to the latest version of the application. This should be self-explanatory on your mobile devices. On the desktop, click on your profile image in the upper right corner of the main Zoom window and select Check for updates under the menu.
(While there is no guarantee that you will get extra features by upgrading to the latest version of Zoom, staying on top of updates offers the best possible chance. And it’s great for Zoom’s security too. OK, back to the fun.)
Start a zoom call and open the virtual funds feature by clicking on the arrow next to your video button at the bottom left corner. Select “Choose the virtual background,” and now you should see some new options – a beautiful animated beach, as well as a simpler “background blur” feature. I can’t decide which one I like the most.
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But we are almost done. Click on the small “Studio effects” link in the bottom right corner, and you will get a highlighted sidebar that allows you to define new eyebrows, mustache and / or beard and a lip color. Charming. Who doesn’t want a pair of Eugene Levy eyebrows?
Make sure to uncheck “Apply to all future meetings” to avoid worrying about forgetting to adjust these effects when switching from your friends’ hangouts over the weekend to your next work chat.
As soon as you finish moving around, make sure to click on Zoom’s “Video Filters” option, located to the right of “Virtual funds.” There, you will find a series of different filters that you can put on top of your image, from filters that adjust your color to, well:
Don’t forget to hang up “Mirror my video” if you find that some of the effects are reversed. How else will your friends and colleagues know that you are confused by their presentation?
Although you won’t find the studio effects mentioned above, nor the lovely animated beach, in the mobile versions of your Zoom app (at least at the time of writing), you should still be able to access the filters from the virtual backgrounds menu.