Zoom, Skype, WebEx — whatever you use for meetings, master these webcam tips for an optimal online presence.
Best gear for online meetings: Webcams, lights, mics, tripods and more
Ultimate webcam tips
How to use Zoom like a pro: 13 hidden features to try at your next meeting
Subscribe to CNET:
Check out our playlists:
Visit CNET’s How To site:
Download the new CNET app:
Like us on Facebook:
Follow us on Twitter:
Follow us on Instagram:
#webcam #howto #Zoom
This is another curvy best_friends_team! most of us for one reason or another who
spend at least some time regularly doing
something on a webcam these days the
problem is it usually looks like we’re
on a webcam he makes you look and sound
just bad let’s figure out how to cure
that in a few short steps and when it
comes to your eyes there are two things
that you’ve got to think about and get
right first of all is your eye level
most of us are going to be using a
laptop camera to do a webcam hit of any
kind and it’s down here my eyes are up
here I end up doing this
it’s an unflattering look down and
unfortunately for you you get to look up
my not bad huh so you definitely want to
get this guy up so the camera isn’t your
eyeline nobody out there will see what
you use to jack up your laptop so you
don’t need to use a fancy expensive
laptop stand anything you have around
the house will do just fine just get the
height right but if you do have one of
those nice laptop stands that’s great
too there we go now once you’ve got your
eye level right the next part is
actually easier and harder its eyeline
that means you’re looking at the camera
not looking at the screen we all tend to
look at the screen because whoever we’re
communicating with is right there in the
center of the display but the cameras up
here at this short distance that small
degree variance of your eyeline is huge
it really makes you look as if you’re
looking the wrong way get on that camera
you have to put something bright right
next to it to draw your eye to it now
know once you get your computer jacked
up like this you may want to get a
separate keyboard and mouse or keyboard
and trackpad especially if you’re gonna
be operating the keyboard during your
webcam hit because this may not be very
ergonomic it may do funny things with
your shoulders as well as your seen on
camera it’s all about a good look one of
the best ways to look good is to sound
good it’s an old trick of the pros one
of the best place sounds use the
microphone here
the microphone you find in a laptop or
pretty much any device is crap it picks
up a ton of room tone it picks up the
typing when you’re in the chat room it
picks up the noise as you make moving
things on the table instead get some
kind of better mic that will plug into
your computer I’m wearing a lavalier mic
right now these are very common and very
popular because they’re very unobtrusive
and easy to wear
the downside is they do perhaps the
least to improve your sound but they’re
a significant step up most of us will
reach for the wired or wireless earbuds
we use all the time for calling and
listening to music now these can be
either a big improvement or barely won
the quality of them varies dramatically
but they all have the benefit of being
pretty unobtrusive to go better than
that gets some kind of a headset mic
this will give you a good audio in your
ear obviously but more importantly a
microphone that is upgraded and right in
the right place all the time no matter
where you turn you’re never off mic no
matter who you look at or where you turn
your head if you really want to get
serious about a good sound you got to do
this you see it on a million podcasts
the big studio quality table mic this
does the most to improve your sound by
far the problem is you got to look at
this thing it’s obtrusive and it has
this podcast cliche look about it I’m
not a fan except for the sound you’ve
got to pick your poison decide which one
of these upgrades is better but choose
one of them also know that when you’re
sitting in front of a computer this big
old monitor is kind of a light and it’s
a blue light doesn’t look real good it
puts you in this kind of cold unnatural
cadaverous tone you want to deal with
that by either having a nice warm fill
light when that’s the right temperature
and there’s plenty of it I look natural
again or defeat the blueness of your
computer screen know where your video
setting shortcuts are to turn this to
what they call a warmer color
temperature it’s an easy click it won’t
look real good to your eye but it’s good
to do for a webcam session
now lighting for video is a career in
itself but there are three simple steps
you can master first of all don’t do
what I’m doing right now look at me I’m
a silhouette coming out of the grave
behind me is this big whitewash of a
bright building this is miserable
lighting it’s backlit without being
front lift now to deal with this mess
this dark silhouette that I’m sitting in
you want to deal with that big light
back there but I can’t it’s called
daylight I can’t turn off the Sun I
don’t want to pull the blinds because
that gives me a claustrophobic scene
instead you got to get some light on
your face
once you do this you have what’s called
fill there’s still life behind you but
you’ve also got a nice amount of light
on your face and things balance out
nicely it’s a lot more pleasant
composition now backgrounds matter on a
webcam hit they focus on things near and
they focus on things far and you don’t
necessarily want what’s behind you going
out that applies to sensitive data that
applies to personal effects that applies
to your co-workers who don’t appreciate
you webcasting them just because they
happen to be in the area now check if
the videoconferencing after you’re using
will automatically deal with the
background using its own software now
look at the settings for whatever web
conference or video conference software
you’re using and see if it’s got a place
where you can deal with the background
electronically without you having to
move or point the camera somewhere what
I’ve got behind me is a green screen
you’ve seen these in TV and movie
production you can get them for home for
not a lot of money and they’re small
they’re not giant you need to take over
a whole room by doing this I can then
tell my software to drop in a different
image behind me there’s one that looks
kind of like I’m at the office that’s
actually our office I’m not trying to
fool anybody but just create more of a
business backdrop that is contextually
relevant that means I’m not going to do
this as nice as photos of the Golden
Gate Bridge or the pyramids are resist
the urge to put those in there that’s
kind of like the old wallpaper on
computers from the 90s
there’s also companion software you can
get for all the major video conferencing
platforms that let you do something like
this actually dealing with your
background by just blurring it out not
changing it not getting a green screen
but just deciding you want to make it
look indistinguishable or unreadable
this is pretty slick stuff and very easy
to use when it works well I found the
variations on it can be rather
pronounced depending on what my
background is how well it’s lit and what
I’m wearing including my headphones yes
or no what colors my shirt this is an
edge detection algorithm and sometimes
it’ll work well sometimes it’ll make
your head look funny you just got to try
it by the way make sure there’s no one
in that photo who is walking or standing
because it looks real unnatural if they
never move during your one-hour video
conference now we’ve covered a lot and
some of it may have been unfamiliar but
let’s sum it up in six simple steps a
checklist you should use every time you
go to get on webcam get the camera up at
your eye level look at the camera not
the middle of the screen get a
microphone closer to your mouth reduce
the blue light hitting your face from
any monitor you’re looking at light your
face to make sure you’re not just a
silhouette and manage your background
now a lot of you desktop video pros are
gonna say wait a minute you didn’t even
cover the idea of using a high quality
camcorder as a webcam which you can do
with a video adapter or how about some
better tips on lights like this guy
right here that I’m using right now
these are all great ideas and can
further the game but I think for the
average person they might be too much
expense and hassle and desktop real
estate the simple tips I’ve given you so
far are gonna take you a long way
get out there and look good
you
These stripchat are quite curvy!