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Show HN: ZoomerBackgrounds – community-sourced virtual video backgrounds
- logane 6y agoHi HN, author here! As students facing online instruction, we built ZoomerBackgrounds to solve firsthand the everyday problems of having subpar backgrounds and spoke with several friends working in industry about their background needs. The result is a product we really think you're really going to love. We had a lot of fun making this over the weekend and hope you all enjoy :) For the tech stack we used react on the front end with a Node.js server + Firebase for persistent storage. This was my first time writing Javascript in about 5-6 years and it's really neat to see how the ecosystem has matured - there are even real classes now! We also used the Google Cloud Vision API for detecting inappropriate images. On the database side, we found that Firebase Store works really well until it doesn't -- when you want to do anything that isn't basic reads/writes (e.g. SQL-like IN queries, query pagination, programmatic queries like sorting by the HN ranking algorithm ~ points/(time since post)^(1.5)) the workarounds can get complex and a little weird. One question we had is around AdSense approval! The Google Adsense approval team rejected our website for not having enough meaningful content / not having "valuable inventory" - it would be great to hear some insight about how to show Google we are a real website. Happy to answer any questions here or at logan@mit.edu!
- aripickar 6y agoI think you should accept videos since zoom allows them as backgrounds.
- tonypeng 6y agoCertainly something we're looking into!
- nrmitchi 6y agoI see that you have an option to not include a watermark on downloaded images, but having watermarks turned on by default (especially since these look like user uploaded images which I'm assuming you don't actually own) is quite off-putting.
- Applejinx 6y agoYeah, this is basically why you shouldn't try to convince Google you're a real site. You're not. Handy tho :)
- logane 6y agoThank you for pointing this out, we will fix it ASAP!
- smoyer 6y agoI was going to say that the watermark is too obtrusive ... I don't have a problem with you getting a bit of attention in exchange for the time it takes to curate the collection but it's too big and in a bad spot.
- jamespullar 6y agoIs there a way to report or flag images if any inappropriate ones are uploaded?
- tonypeng 6y agoYep--just email us at hello@zoomerbackgrounds.com!
- pbhjpbhj 6y agoThis is probably a trademark infringement on Zoom, in my personal opinion; this is not legal advice. You might want to ensure you're doing what you need to for safe harbor provisions on copyright too. Edit: I see you addressed the later.
- ric2b 6y agoZoomer is the name of a generation, not a Zoom trademark: https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/words-were-watching-zoomer-gen-z https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/words-were-wat...
- qznc 6y ago"This is fine" is an awesome idea. Now I'm sad we have to use Skype at work.
- chrisnblum 6y agoUsing OBS and v4l2loopback I have been able to get the zoom background replacement in all messenger applications (green screen needed)
- jannes 6y agoSnap Camera [0] works with Skype. I just don't know if it supports custom backgrounds. [0]: https://snapcamera.snapchat.com/ https://snapcamera.snapchat.com/
- devNoise 6y agoHere are some Archer backgrounds you could use for Zoom: https://twitter.com/archerfxx/status/1250472698049785856?s=20 https://twitter.com/archerfxx/status/1250472698049785856?s=2...
- aripickar 6y agoThis has been my background for as many calls as I can do without it being unprofessional. https://v.redd.it/84tmrvcuqbs41/DASH_480?source=fallback https://v.redd.it/84tmrvcuqbs41/DASH_480?source=fallback
- exhilaration 6y agoCould you please give us a link to the original video? This looks so familiar but I can't place it.
- c9fc42ad 6y agohttps://youtu.be/rvrZJ5C_Nwg?t=144 https://youtu.be/rvrZJ5C_Nwg?t=144
- SummerlyMars 6y agoHere you go, it's pretty wild: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvrZJ5C_Nwg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvrZJ5C_Nwg
- canadianwriter 6y agoIs this guy serious? Listening to the lyrics has hardcore African Child vibes.... or is this just parody? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-YCZr0epts&t=84s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-YCZr0epts&t=84s
- moojd 6y agoKirin J Callinan and Alex Cameron both like to invent characters and then write songs from the character's perspective as sincerely as possible. Sometimes the characters they are playing are just exaggerated version of themselves. They write 'serious' songs with elements irony and sometimes this means the songs fall closer to the 'parody' end of the spectrum. I think their best attempt at this was Alex Cameron's album 'Forced Witness'[0]. Alex imagines what a Marlon Brando obsessed, porn addicted loner from the 80s would look like in 2017 with access to the internet. It manages to achieve biting satire and great song writing without devolving into simple parody. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU01Rix_l2w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU01Rix_l2w - The lyrics of this album are very NSFW .. read the pitchfork review if you want to know what you're getting in to: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/alex-cameron-forced-witness https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/alex-cameron-forced-wit...
- iddqd 6y agoYou plan on supporting videos as well?
- tonypeng 6y agoWe're definitely considering it!
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- duxup 6y agoI wonder what percentage of folks use video. Where I work almost nobody turns on their camera ;)
- tiborsaas 6y agoIt's 90% for us with a headcount about 2100+
- duxup 6y agoI wonder if the size / formality of the company / likelihood of someone being in the meeting that you don't see often has an influence.
- t-writescode 6y agoMy company of approx 200 mostly use face cameras, too. It's one of the steps in place to help increase connectivity during this time when we can't physically interact.
- gadders 6y agoIt was very common when I worked, but when they went to 60k+ people working over the work VPN it was discouraged.
- qppo 6y agoI'm looking for a subtle way to give my coworkers a chuckle without being too distracting, I think it'd be funny to take a picture of my current background and then change it every day but I can't think of a decent way to do it without looking like a nut job.
- anamexis 6y agoSomeone I know recorded a video of the normal view from their camera, and at some point they walk in, pretend to notice that they are walking in on a video conference, and slink out.
- eeZah7Ux 6y agoHow about improving FLOSS platforms instead?
- dang 6y agoPlease don't do this here. In addition to being tedious it's against the Show HN rules: https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html.
- tiborsaas 6y agoI don't recommend these ones :) https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&sxsrf=ALeKk01RY08kocvtpLMbKjtrOzoB_QJuGQ%3A1587140343993&source=hp&biw=1440&bih=788&ei=99aZXs_sOcHzkwXb3K7oCw&q=optical+illusions https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&sxsrf=ALeKk01RY08kocv...
- jameshart 6y agoI’m confused why some of these backgrounds are mirrored. You know that when you see your background in Zoom it’s only flipped for your benefit, right? It’s sent to others the normal way round...
- anamexis 6y agoGood to know, that was never obvious to me.
- madeofpalk 6y agoI did not know that!
- jameslk 6y agoI'm afraid this will be quickly overrun by trolls. Hopefully you are prepared to moderate.
- Techies4Trump 6y agoWhy? Because of Biden background?
- t-writescode 6y agoNo, because it's an online website; and, if people are allowed to upload things, they will upload things. And people, in general, suck.
- jamespullar 6y agoThere's already enough questionable images up there that I don't feel comfortable sharing this with my company.
- tonypeng 6y ago(Author here) That's certainly something we took into account--we're using some AI methods to largely automate content moderation (Google Cloud Vision, in particular), and we also have to capability to turn on a moderation queue if it becomes necessary. Aside from that, if you spot something inappropriate before we do let us know at hello@zoomerbackgrounds.com!
- alpb 6y agoAlso: https://unsplash.com/collections/1887152/zoom-backgrounds https://unsplash.com/collections/1887152/zoom-backgrounds is pretty decent
- dr_kiszonka 6y agoVery nice! I am on a phone. Are all of these backgrounds static (not animated)?
- dangwu 6y agoYeah, I’m really confused. The title says video backgrounds but they all seem to be static images.
- dr_kiszonka 6y agoMaybe OP meant to write "virtual video conferencing backgrounds."
- atoav 6y agoI wonder: does anyone know of a solution which does something similar in a more software agnostic way? I imagine a software that takes a webcam manipulates the image and emulates another webcam which one could select then in every software that supports webcams. Does such a thing exist?
- dbieber 6y agoYes, you can do this with OBS. The virtual webcam feature can be added as a plugin. And chroma-keying is a built-in feature. I use a Mac, and I've been toying with this a bit over the last weeks (e.g. https://davidbieber.com/snippets/2020-04-09-exploring-obs/ https://davidbieber.com/snippets/2020-04-09-exploring-obs/)
- soylentcola 6y agoIt's super easy...if you have a suitable chromakey backdrop and decent lighting on it. What I'd love is a plugin that replicates (or at least approximates) some of the "virtual chromakey" features of Zoom et al. I don't currently have access to a good chromakey backdrop and it really is much easier to do it well with a bright green matte screen behind you. It ain't important, but it would sure be nice!
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- stonogo 6y agohttps://www.xsplit.com/vcam https://www.xsplit.com/vcam and https://www.chromacam.me https://www.chromacam.me both work with OBS, but only for Windows or Mac.
- bradknowles 6y agoWindows only. No Mac support.
- HereBeBeasties 6y ago
- pentae 6y agoPack it up everyone, the casting couch wins
- chadlavi 6y agoFYI none of those images show if you have adblockers on
- jamespullar 6y agoThey show fine for me using uBlock Origin
- t-writescode 6y agouBlock, Privacy Badger, DuckDuckGo Essentials and a PiHole and can still see the images.
- outworlder 6y agoIf folks want to use video backgrounds, there is a simple way, if your source is on youtube. youtube-dl <video> In many cases these days, it will yield a mp4 file that you can plug directly into Zoom. Sometimes it will download in other formats, you might need to convert.
- deeblering4 6y ago`youtube-dl -f mp4 $url` will ensure the output is always mp4
- fphhotchips 6y agoIn my experience the hardest part is finding a good youtube video for a background. Roller coaster videos are certainly fun though
- anamexis 6y agoAn option to mirror the backgrounds would be very useful. Some of them are mirrored, and some of them aren't.
- andrewdb 6y agohttps://pixabay.com/videos/ https://pixabay.com/videos/ has some great background videos
- lpman 6y agoThere also some at https://funnyzoombackgrounds.com/ https://funnyzoombackgrounds.com/
- srich36 6y agoUI looks great and the entire product looks really well done. As a fellow student in a ton of zoom classes I’ll be sure to recommend to others!
- herbstein 6y agoMicrosoft Teams also supports custom backgrounds - adding instructions for how to use them seems like an obvious value-add
- anotherevan 6y agoI've just taken to having something interesting on the wall behind me. I started with the classic, "This is a velociraptor-free workplace." Currently I have a sign that says, "Will code for toilet paper."
- Animats 6y agoThere's a commercial service for this.[1] Those are backgrounds specifically intended for green screen use, and look reasonably convincing. [1] https://videogrowthlab.com https://videogrowthlab.com
- j45 6y agoThis is nice but the logo is too big.
- williesleg 6y agoZoom is spy shit.
- rhcom2 6y agoFlying toasters with toast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gD-JnD1DCo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gD-JnD1DCo
- backgrounds 6y agoThere are a bunch of these like MeetingBackground.com and zoomvirtualbackgrounds.com
- samwyse 6y agoNeeds tags! For example, names of people and TV shows, indoor/outdoor, skyline/landscape, etc.