Discover the Best Webcam Filters for Streaming

Looking to add something special to your webcam for streaming on Twitch, Youtube or Mixer?

Look no further as we breakdown some of the best ways to make your streaming webcam stand out, as well as some extra programs for added fun!

Basic Wbcam Filters Using OBS or SLOBS

Whether you are using OBS or Streamlabs OBS, webcam filters remain the same for both programs. With that being said, both come with many options for adding that extra touch to push your camera quality to the max.

We’re going to start with the basics to get you started.

Most of these filters can be found simply by right-clicking your camera source within your streaming program, and clicking on “Filters”. From here, you can add as many filters as you need.

Color Correction

Out of all of the webcam filters, this will be the main filter that anyone can use to really fine tune their camera settings.

The standard color correction filter allows you to change everything from the color all the way down to the transparency of your camera. This can add several cool effects like Hue Shifts between your scenes.

Aside from color changes, this filter allows you to fine tune more settings than most webcams allow. For those looking to aim for a crisp image, start here and become best friends, you’ll thank us later.

Chroma Key

As common as green screens are, Chroma Key should be second nature to most. In OBS and SLOBS, this filter also comes with some extra features to edit your webcam, many of which can also be found in the Color Correction filter.

This webcam filter allows you to select which color you’d like to take out of your camera, even allowing for custom colors to perfectly match with anything within the field of view.

The three main settings you’ll adjust here are the Similarity, Smoothness, and Key Color Spill Reduction. Each one is highly sensitive to the selected color, and it’s easy to get lost trying to take out that pesky green screen.

Starting with Similarity, this will be main setting. Once you have the color of your screen selected, drag up the similarity to take out almost all of it. You won’t be able to fine tune the edges around you with this setting, as it is taken care of with the Smoothness.

The Smoothness setting allows you to really pull in the color around the subject in the webcam. The lower this setting, the better it will look. Higher smoothness settings cause random spots within the camera to be keyed.

Key Color Spill Reduction tightens up the main color, but adjusting this setting too much can cause your entire camera to change colors. Be very selective here, as most will not even have to touch this setting.

Crop/Pad

This one filter is highly overlooked, as most people tend to “Crop” their webcams via alt-cropping. Although very simple, this filter allows you to selectively crop or “pad” the sides of the webcam.

If you’re finding yourself constantly having to crop out parts of the webcam, throw this simple webcam filter on and ease your troubles.

Sharpen

The Sharpen filter is easily the best filter that you can add on your webcam to make all of the details pop. With one single webcam filter, even with the slightest gain, details are sharpened to add more quality to the scene.

This is another simple filter for streaming, but beware: too much is bad. Values between 0.08 to 0.25 should give the desired effect. You can also adjust this through your webcam settings, but adding an extra filter will go a long way.

Advanced Filters

For those looking to really adjust the colors or add more advanced detail into their webcams, these advanced filters should do the trick.

These are considered more advanced based on the difficulty and time they take to reach desirable outcomes.

LUTs (Look Up Tables)

LUTs are the standard for editing films and images alike. From Photoshop to advanced video editing software, LUTs can be the difference that turns an entire scene into a piece of vibrant and lush art. Think of these like Instagram filters.

OBS and SLOBS comes stock with several basic LUTs and webcam overlays. These might work if you need just a little tweaking, but there are many more, including free packs, to amplify your stream.

The Open Broadcaster Software website offers a free pack of 76 LUTs here based on Blender’s film color processing.

Once you’ve found your pack, it’s time to start getting picky. Each filter will completely transform your webcam, so make sure to spend time with each one to find the perfect fit. My personal favorite is the Rowland filter from Gaming Careers.

Just like Instagram, the LUT filter allows for an “Amount” slider. Even if you want to just add a touch of a filter, you have the option.

Blur and Stream Effects

If you’re using OBS, you have access to hundreds of user-made plugins to add to your webcam and scenes. One such plugin is the Stream Effects plugin.

With one plugin, you have access to multiple filters such as blur, 3D transform, and more.

Adding blur might be all you are looking for, maybe even a little displacement. This plugin offers a variety of options, so spend some time adjusting your webcams or other sources to your heart’s desire.

Programs for Webcam Filters

It’s 2019, and almost everyone has had bunny ears in their pictures on their phones. It doesn’t stop there. Streamlabs and Snapchat has brought the funny filters to the PC, and you can add them to your stream today.

Streamlabs Face Masks

Do you want your viewers to be able to pay to put a crown on your head? Or maybe a paper bag? Perhaps becoming C’thulu will fit your viewers’ needs.

With the Streamlabs Face Mask feature, donors have the option to add a face mask on your webcam for a period of time while you are live..

Once installed and activated, the donation page will give the donor options on what they can add to your webcam.

For those already using Streamlabs as their alert provider, this feature has been shown to increase revenue from donations by 32% after enabling face masks. Try spicing up your stream! The only downside is this requires Streamlabs OBS to be your streaming program.

Snap Camera

Unlike the Streamlabs Face Mask, Snap Camera allows the user to control the playful features. After a simple download, streamers can select this as their webcam to unlock hundreds of filters, such as the dog face, or even custom-made beauty filters to spice up your look.

From the minds of Snapchat, this allows streams to capture the funny side in all of us. The program allows you to bind hotkeys and set favorites for your go-to filters. Any user of Snapchat should be familiar with most of the filters.

Whether you needed a simple fix to a color change in your camera, or have become obsessed with the Snapchat filters, feel free to leave feedback below!

Guide written by AlfredGG. Check out his Twitch stream here, and YouTube channel here.