Effects Archives - Shapiro Consultants

Microsoft adds Instagram-like filters and AI effects to profile pictures in sneaky upgrade as part of Windows 11 preview build

June 10, 2024
No Comments

Windows 11 has a new preview version out, and it introduces a batch of settings relating to user profile pictures, complete with fresh AI tricks to try out. These settings are included in the latest Windows 11 preview in the Canary channel for testers, albeit they are hidden away in Build 26231.

This development was spotted and shared on X by @PhantomOfEarth, who is a keen Windows Insider. As you can see in the screenshot provided by @PhantomOfEarth, the profile picture options are located in a new section of the Accounts page (in Settings) called ‘Your info,’ and they allow you to apply effects and filters to your profile picture.

Looks like a new profile picture editor experience is being added to Settings, letting you make changes like adding effects and filters to the image before applying it. (disabled by default, build 26231.)vivetool /enable /id:45189370,47364920 pic.twitter.com/s3vYaIXJq9June 6, 2024

As noted, they are hidden away in the preview build, and you’ll need to use ViVeTool (a Windows configuration tool) to get them to appear.

As Windows Latest observes, the new customization options and AI effects include the ability to blur your profile picture’s background, add portrait lighting, and upscale the resolution of the image.

There are also filters you can use to give your picture a distinctive appearance, similar to those you might benefit from on apps like Instagram. Windows Latest reports that there are currently six different filters you can try out. As well as those filters, you can also transform your profile picture by rotating it clockwise or anticlockwise, or zooming in closer.

If you do enable these hidden options in Build 26231, keep in mind that there could still be bugs, as this is all still in testing (and early testing for that matter). We expect that issues will be ironed out when it comes to the final version of the feature, naturally.

A laptop with the Windows 11 desktop on screen, glowing, while on a work desk — (Image credit: Shutterstock/Ham patipak)

A solid but unexciting addition to Windows 11

This seems a solid enough feature on the face of it, but I can’t say it particularly excites me as a Windows 11 user. Furthermore, I can foresee some people possibly getting annoyed that Microsoft is pushing AI into yet another corner of Windows 11 where it’s not necessarily improving things. It’s a neat enough demonstration of AI-assisted capabilities, but a niche thing really, and I don’t see how it improves Windows 11’s quality-of-life experience for users at its core.

Other changes that have arrived in this preview build include a new Copy button in Windows Share that lets you copy files to the clipboard more easily, along with the auto-saving of captured recordings in the Windows 11 Snipping Tool. As you’d expect, there are a bunch of bug fixes for existing issues here, too.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE…

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

April 13, 2022
No Comments

Adobe has announced native Apple M1 silicon support, hopefully meaning faster launch and rendering times for motion designers and video creators.

In benchmark tests released by the company, running After Effects on a high-end M1 Ultra Mac is now up to three times as fast, and those using the video effects software on standard M1-powered devices should see performance jump to double the speed.

According to Adobe, the power boost makes it easy for motion designers, “to explore ideas and iterate more quickly on their compositions.”

Adobe benchmarks for M1 support — (Image credit: Adobe)

What else is new in Adobe After Effects?

Native support for Apple’s proprietary chip is just part of a wider package that’s being deployed by Adobe as it looks to better supply users across the world.

– After Effects and Premiere Pro subscribers now get free access to the Frame.io remote video collaboration service , which comes built into both the VFX tool and Adobe’s much-loved video editing software.

– With 3D making (yet another) comeback, Extended Viewer and Binning Indicators for 3D layers now make it easier for designers to visualize compositions and move through three-dimensional spaces in real-time.

– Scene Edit Detection finally makes the jump from Premiere Pro to After Effects. Powered by Adobe Sensei’s machine learning and AI, the new tool intelligently detects cut points in rendered footage and adds markers at edit points for more efficient creations.

The need for speed

Adobe clearly feels the need for speed – only last year, the software house unveiled Multi-Frame Rendering, boosting speeds by up to four times. This latest update continues a drive to improve motion graphics software performance and delivery for VFX artists.

However, Adobe warns that certain new features and functionalities will be limited or unavailable when using incompatible third-party plugins, or plugins that aren’t ported for Apple silicon, with users seeing a warning pop up when the VFX tool spots an issue at launch.

> Find out how to download After Effects for free

> Mac sales fly as PC declines – did the M1 chip save Apple?

> Apple M1 Ultra is here – everything you need to know about Apple's powerhouse

Adobe also confirmed users can even use older versions of Adobe After Effects on M1 chips – but you’ll need Apple’s Rosetta 2 emulation software to get it running.

The After Effects 22.3 update, which launches today (April 12 2022), is available to all users via a staggered roll-out from the Creative Cloud desktop app.

Looking to upgrade? Here’s our rundown of the best workstations out there