On Fri, 2021-02-05 at 14:21 +1030, Tim via users wrote:
On Thu, 2021-02-04 at 19:09 +0000, Paul Smith wrote:
I would like to replace the background behind in my webcam video feed with an image. However, that is not possible, as it requires a “green screen”, which I do not have. So, my idea is to use a virtual camera with a background image chosen by me and feed that into Zoom. Is that possible on Fedora?
If I google around, apparently there are things that can do the green screen effect with zoom without a *green* screen, though they may be Windows/Mac.
The point of using green screens is to have a uniform colour behind you that's very opposite of skin tone (blue or green being the most common, though the BBC had used yellow too) and from anything that you're wearing, that the keying device can detect as being background instead of foreground. You can research chromakey or CSO (colour separation overlay) for more info about it.
It doesn't have to be a screen. A suitably vivid colour bed sheet stretched tight will do the job. We've used fabric from a dressmakers, and blue cardboard pinned to the wall. But that's not always practical to do at home, and with people in lockdown they can't go out and buy things.
If you want to avoid the insides your home being shown on a webcam meeting, your simplest option is to hold the meeting somewhere else in your house that's less personal. Such as sitting in a position so that your loungeroom curtains are the only things visible behind you. I've seen journos working from home park themselves in front of their big screen TV and use that as the background.
Just a few days ago the BBC had a story about second-hand booksellers doing a nice trade in selling batches of serious-looking books that people could place strategically behind them :-)
(Apologies for going OT)
poc