An avatar is a visual character chosen by the user that represents him/her. In Zoom, you can create an avatar of yourself if, for one reason or another ,you don’t want or can’t use your video image. Zoom’s Avatar is not just a profile picture, but when the camera is on, the character repeats your movements and speech.
What do I need?
You need a computer with a microphone and a camera. You can install the Zoom application on the computers via the Software Center, if the application is not already on your computer.
What do I need to do?
Open the Zoom application on your computer (and log in with your TUNI ID). You can find Settings from the right side of Zoom’s front page.
The feature can be found in the settings under “Background & Effects” and from there under the “Avatars” tab. You can use the plus button to create a character that looks like you or just select one of the avatars available. You can create copies of the finished character if you want to modify appearence, depending on the situation, for example wear the suit or the hoodie.
Using an avatar in a Zoom meeting
When you have joined the Zoom meeting and want to use the Avatar character you created earlier instead of your own video image, click the video options from the arrow next to the video icon. From the menu that opens, you can choose the camera, background images and filters, and use the Avatar character. Your own camera must be open so that the Avatar can imitate your movements and mouth according to your speech.
From the same menu, you can also stop using Avatar in the meeting. When Avatar is enabled, the text menu says “Turn off Avatar”. Here you can choose from the options “None”, i.e. don’t use Avatar. In this case, your camera will show your own video image again.
What should I take into account?
- Avatar is a new feature of Zoom. If you don’t see this option, update the Zoom desktop app to the latest version.
Read more
Zoom: Using Avatars in meetings and webinars
Tip by Ville Palkinen (TAMK, TAOK)