Solution to Baby-Face effect on Macbook Pro M1 camera?

[OllieOxenFree]

Solution to Baby-Face effect on Macbook Pro M1 camera?

I can longer remain in denial mode, the camera on my Macbook Pro M1 16 Max is crap! Initially I thought I was being flattered by colleagues who said I looked so much younger in Zoom and FaceTime meetings... however lately my colleagues have been less than flattering when telling me that I have the face of a baby's ass... This over-processing is unacceptable. I've posted feedback to Apple in the past but have seen no change. Has anyone found a solution to remove this baby-face effect?

 

[clueless88]

I would tell your colleagues to pay attention to the content that you bring to your meetings. That being said, if the images are more interesting/relevant than the content, perhaps the actual content of the meetings (as the majority really are) could be better done by email attachment or shared documents.

The downside that I see to Zoom or FaceTime meetings is that there is no food provided.

Seriously, it may be good to look into a camera/mic combo that plugs into your usb port and hangs vulture like on the top of your laptop. Even the older ones may have better specs than the tiny pinhole camera in the MBP.

 

[OllieOxenFree]

I would tell your colleagues to pay attention to the content that you bring to your meetings. That being said, if the images are more interesting/relevant than the content, perhaps the actual content of the meetings (as the majority really are) could be better done by email attachment or shared documents.

The downside that I see to Zoom or FaceTime meetings is that there is no food provided.

Seriously, it may be good to look into a camera/mic combo that plugs into your usb port and hangs vulture like on the top of your laptop. Even the older ones may have better specs than the tiny pinhole camera in the MBP.

Great, three solutions right off the bat!

A) Tell your colleagues to close their eyes and listening to your voice.
B) Bucket of popcorn held in front of your face during video chats and meetings.
C) Get a $50.00 webcam to solve the issues in a $5000.00 Professional laptop.

Hey we're already on a roll... (Hope Apple is listening)

I was thinking more along the lines of some third party software that might be able to defeat the generous slather of pixel smoothing that is automatically applied to the camer's image, especially in lowish light. Or maybe a firmware tweak to give some user control. Personally I'd prefer some grain, noise and wrinkles, rather than this bizarre cartoon portrait-retouch effect.

 

[adrianlondon]

Macbook cameras aren't good.

Better lighting or (if you have an iPhone) using the phone as a webcam.

Use your iPhone as a webcam on Mac

You can use your iPhone as your Mac webcam or microphone.

support.apple.com

 

[mouthster]

Great, three solutions right off the bat!

A) Tell your colleagues to close their eyes and listening to your voice.
B) Bucket of popcorn held in front of your face during video chats and meetings.
C) Get a $50.00 webcam to solve the issues in a $5000.00 Professional laptop.

Hey we're already on a roll... (Hope Apple is listening)

I was thinking more along the lines of some third party software that might be able to defeat the generous slather of pixel smoothing that is automatically applied to the camer's image, especially in lowish light. Or maybe a firmware tweak to give some user control. Personally I'd prefer some grain, noise and wrinkles, rather than this bizarre cartoon portrait-retouch effect.

It may depend on the lighting of your room. I was on a call the other day with my M1 Max and noticed I looked older than I feel (lol). The sun was hitting my face and it was well lit. It might be that depending on the light the software over-compensates some things.

 

[OllieOxenFree]

It may depend on the lighting of your room. I was on a call the other day with my M1 Max and noticed I looked older than I feel (lol). The sun was hitting my face and it was well lit. It might be that depending on the light the software over-compensates some things.

It is not JUST the lighting, though low-light exacerbates the effect to point of becoming absurd. The smoothing algorithm is way too aggressive even in decent lighting. If this was Apple's idea of a band-aid on a bad camera, it's not a very good one. At least give us some control over the amount of smoothing that we want to apply! 100% = Baby-ass faced super-heroes or 0% = the true pock-marked mortals on a dark planet that we are... or something in between...

 

[BrianBaughn]

Post images!

 

[xraydoc]

It is not JUST the lighting, though low-light exacerbates the effect to point of becoming absurd. The smoothing algorithm is way too aggressive even in decent lighting. If this was Apple's idea of a band-aid on a bad camera, it's not a very good one. At least give us some control over the amount of smoothing that we want to apply! 100% = Baby-ass faced super-heroes or 0% = the true pock-marked mortals on a dark planet that we are... or something in between...

I've found that turning off "touch up my appearance" in the Zoom video settings really helps the over-processing.
I've not noticed it so much on FaceTime.
Good lighting helps as the cameras aren't great in low light.

 

[Burnincoco]

Post images!

Op probably

 

[OllieOxenFree]

View attachment 2148326
Op probably

Hey, just add a lot of grey to the beard and you’ve got a perfect likeness. You’re obviously on the team that engineered the camera!

 

[OllieOxenFree]

I've found that turning off "touch up my appearance" in the Zoom video settings really helps the over-processing.
I've not noticed it so much on FaceTime.
Good lighting helps as the cameras aren't great in low light.

Always off. It’s so bad with it on in low light, my wife’s face becomes so smooth it looks like a babie’s arse without the cleft on her MacBook Air M2… and she’s older than I am… even flattery can’t you get you anywhere when you’ve got no features… ok I’m exaggerating, but only slightly…

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

Post images!

Pedophile alert !

 

[OllieOxenFree]

Pedophile alert !

Are you referring to the Apple camera engineer or the poor fellow who posted such a lifelike portrait of my imaginary face?

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

Are you referring to the Apple camera engineer or the poor fellow who posted such a lifelike portrait of my imaginary face?

Just to the fact that the dude asked for pics (baby face pics ) )