Don’t settle for a boring scene of your home office during an online Zoom meeting. Opt for a virtual background instead.
These days it seems that nearly everyone is working remotely, and the cool new telecommuting office trend is to have a virtual background for your Zoom meetings. Some co-workers are even competing to see who can come up with the most creative background.
Face it, working from home for weeks on end is a bit more fun when you can do it on The Simpson’s couch or while hanging out on retired Admiral Jean-Luc Picard’s bridge aboard the USS Enterprise or even dialing in from the Batcave.
SEE : How to use Zoom: 14 tips and tricks (TechRepublic download)
Virtual backgrounds are easy to use on Zoom, which has been facing several security and privacy issues amid the surge in use since so many people began working from home during the coronavirus pandemic. There are no size restrictions for virtual backgrounds, but you should crop the image to match the aspect ratio of your camera.
If you don’t know how to turn on virtual backgrounds on Zoom, TechRepublic has a guide for that. TechRepublic can also help you create a custom virtual background on Zoom. You can use any image. The key to picking the right image for use as a virtual background is important. If it’s too dark it may be hard to see; if it’s too bright or busy, it will distract from the call, according to TechRepublic’s Brandon Vigliarolo.
PHOTOS: The 41 coolest virtual backgrounds to use in Zoom meetings (TechRepublic)
Free virtual backgrounds from CBS, DC Comics, Disney and more
To make it fun, many of those in the entertainment industry are getting into the spirit of things and sharing images for free for everyone to use as their Zoom virtual backgrounds.
CBS has shared backgrounds for shows including NCIS, The Price is Right, Survivor, Big Brother, Magnum PI, The Amazing Race, Young Sheldon and Mom, as well as CBS All Access shows Star Trek: Picard, The Good Fight, Star Trek Discovery and Why Women Kill. And because no one can get quite enough Star Trek: Picard, CBS All Access shared more.
NBC shared images from Parks and Rec, so if you’ve ever wanted to sit at Ron Swanson’s desk or channel your inner Leslie Knope, this is your chance.
DC Comics is sharing free backgrounds from the Batcave, Gotham City, The Daily Planet and more. Fox has backgrounds available from The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, The Family Guy and several other popular shows. If animals are more your things, Monterey Bay Aquarium has free animal backgrounds available.
Final Fantasy VII shared backgrounds from the game for everyone to use.
Paramount Studios got into the act with backgrounds for Top Gun Maverick. The movie’s release has been delayed until December due to the pandemic, but there are plenty of cool backgrounds available for virtual meetings. Lionsgate shared images from John Wick: Chapter 3.
HBO is sharing backgrounds for Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley, Westworld, Euphoria, Insecure, Sharp Objects, Late Night with John Oliver, Succession and more at this HBO link.
Disney shared Pixar backgrounds for favorites such as Toy Story, Up, Finding Nemo, Inside Out and Cars.
There’s also backgrounds for Schitt’s Creek, RuPaul’s Drag Race and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run for anyone who wants to do a virtual call under the sea. Broadway’s Moulin Rouge has also gotten in on the fun with backgrounds, as has Broadway’s Frozen and other big marquee names.
One of the best ideas might be the most underrated. How about taking a photo of your own home in perfect order, and make that your virtual background. No one will be any the wiser in your video calls, and yet you won’t have to worry about cleaning up before your next meeting.
To see all of the virtual backgrounds mentioned in this article, see TechRepublic’s gallery on The 41 coolest virtual backgrounds to use in Zoom meetings.