Camera background effects EN

Blur, virtual backgrounds, dim, grayscale, pixelate and portrait lighting, all on your device.

Rekorder can change what appears behind you in your camera video. You can blur the background, replace it with an image, or dim it, turn it grey or pixelate it. You can also use portrait lighting. The effect is added to your camera on your own computer, and it appears both in the camera bubble and in the finished recording.

The effects

None: no effect. Your camera is shown as it is, and your computer does no extra work.
Background blur: you stay sharp and everything behind you is blurred.
Virtual background: the background behind you is replaced with a picture. You choose from five built-in backgrounds. You cannot upload your own image.
Dim background: the background is darkened so you stand out.
Grayscale background: the background turns black and white, and you stay in colour.
Portrait lighting: you are slightly brightened, and the background is blurred and darkened towards the edges.
Pixelate background: the background is broken into large blocks. This hides details like a whiteboard or a shelf.

You do not need a green screen. Rekorder finds the outline of your body in each camera frame and applies the effect to everything else.

Choose an effect

Open the effect picker. Any of these works:
- Click the Rekorder icon in your toolbar, then click the Effect icon (a magic wand).
- Click the Effect button on the camera bubble or on the control bar on the page.
- When you record a window, a screen or just your camera, click Effect in the recorder tab.
A live preview of your camera appears. Click an effect to see how it looks.
If you picked Virtual background, a row of backgrounds appears under the effects. Click the one you want.
Click OK to keep your choice. Click Cancel to go back to the effect you had before.

The preview uses the same quality setting as the recording, so what you see is what will be recorded.

You cannot change the effect while a recording is running. If you try, Rekorder shows "Camera effects can't be changed while a recording is running." Stop the recording first, or choose your effect before you start.

Set a default effect

To use the same effect every time, open the Rekorder popup and go to Settings > Camera > Effect. Pick an effect from the list. If you only want to switch it for one recording, use the effect picker instead.

Your camera video stays on your computer

The extension comes with the files it needs to find your outline, so it can add effects without an internet connection. Your camera video is not sent anywhere for this. The picture you see is the one that gets recorded.

Effects and your computer's speed

Effects are processed for every frame of your camera, and that takes work. In Settings > Camera, Effects quality controls how much work the effects do:

Auto picks the best setting for your computer.
Lower settings keep the recording smooth on slower computers, but the edges around you are less precise.
This setting only matters when an effect is on.

For more about the quality levels and how Auto chooses one, see Effects quality, the device benchmark and CPU fallback.

Troubleshooting

The video stutters or your computer slows down: choose a lower Effects quality, or set the effect to None.
A warning triangle appears in the popup: this means the effect is running on your computer's main processor (CPU) instead of the graphics chip, so it is slower. Click the warning to run a benchmark, a short test of your computer's speed. The benchmark may turn graphics acceleration back on. If that does not help, restart Chrome.
"Camera effects disabled": Chrome's graphics feature (WebGL) is not available or has crashed, so Rekorder turned the effects off. Restart Chrome to try again.
The edges around you look rough, or parts of you disappear: raise Effects quality if your computer can handle it. Plain, even lighting also helps the edges.
Nothing happens when you click Effect in the popup: the popup opens the effect picker on the page you are looking at. Some pages, such as Chrome's own pages, do not allow this. Switch to a normal website, or choose your effect in Settings > Camera > Effect.
The picker says "No camera found": Rekorder cannot see a camera. Check that your camera is connected and that Rekorder is allowed to use it.