May 11 2020 01:44 PM
When you select a gif as a background effect, it just appears as a still picture and is not animated.
Please add support for gifs so that if you set a gif as your background effect, it is animated.
Thank you!
May 12 2020 05:27 AM
May 12 2020 06:14 AM
where I add my custom background effects:
~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Teams/Backgrounds/Uploads
I will add the request there as well.
May 12 2020 11:03 PM
If you need it right now you can use OBS here is a guide for that.
Dec 18 2020 09:27 AM
@ngath Too much work required; easier if Microsoft developers gives us this function in the next update.
Feb 17 2021 11:58 AM
@TMorg2000 At the risk of sounding like an old curmudgeon, I would like to formally veto this request. We really don't need a bunch of irrelevant activity going on in the background while someone is talking or presenting. One or two animated backgrounds might be quaint; a dozen backgrounds with zombies eating brains, Hooters dancing girls, Wizard of Oz flying monkeys, Godzilla attacks, Warcraft Victory parties, Las Vegas Slots, and extreme weather gifs would be seizure-inducing - even if it takes the edge of those monthly TSP reports that Lundberg keeps asking about.
Feb 18 2021 10:59 AM - edited Feb 18 2021 11:00 AM
@TechWonk Group policy could disable the function for your org. Personally, I'd like seeing how others would use or misuse animated transparent GIF support. It reveals their character and lightens the mood. As our org has brought in many new hires and consultants during pandemic, it's would be plus. OBS virtual webcam can be used as a work around, so if your end users are tech savvy, you might see Scooby Doo walking around the background. Hopefully, you'll smile instead of grumble. As for distractions, a ViP recently left his camera on while another ViP was talking during a virtual townhall, so the whole company got to watch how distracted he was and count how often he touched his face, LoL.
Mar 22 2021 08:46 AM - edited Mar 22 2021 08:50 AM
@ryanhall Ryanhall what if you are a anteed and by the way i am a 3rd grader
Apr 08 2021 01:28 AM - edited Apr 08 2021 01:31 AM
@TechWonk I agree that this can be very distracting and possibly even unprofessional depending on your audience but this is best left up to the individual, small touches like this can greatly enhance presentations if used correctly.
While I agree that hordes of zombies may be too much for most meetings, if used correctly these have the potential to add a more polished finish - I agree that a custom static image background can suffice for most purposes.
Say I am proposing a new coffee machine and would like small unintrusive video background showing the machine in operation which could help explain the idea or maybe my company logo with a simple shimmer effect.
There is a time and place for everything
Jun 15 2021 11:53 AM
Being a 365 Admin and **bleep** long as it can be disabled at any giving time I see no issues with it, not all meetings are 5-10-25-50 users :)
Still love you though!
Dec 09 2021 12:20 AM
Jan 14 2022 01:10 PM
Jan 21 2022 03:21 PM
Apr 04 2022 03:03 AM
@TechWonk Have you seen the memo... we're putting new cover sheets on the TPS reports rather than the TSP reports.
Having now spent 2 years with an endless succession of fake offices and apartments behind people, I'd rathe have a blurred background or flying monkeys or extreme weather or just about anything else.
May 17 2022 03:28 AM - edited May 17 2022 07:20 PM
You can indeed use GIFs as animated backgrounds.
1. Put any image you want to use in C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Teams\Backgrounds\Uploads.
2. If the image is a filename.gif file, rename it filename.jpg or filename.png
3. Copy the image and rename the copy filename_thumb.jpg or png
4. Restart Teams.
So all we're doing is to replace the .gif file extension (which Teams does not recognize) with a .png or .jpg extension (which it does recognize) and create a copy of the image for teams to use as the thumbnail.
MS could support gif files by just including gif in the recognized filetypes. The handling of gif files is obviously already there.
TIP!
Slow, smooth and seamlessly looping animations are best as fast ones or ones that restart over and over again can be very distracting. I've used GIFs upwards of 25+Mb in size in meetings with 12-15 participants without any issues.
May 17 2022 02:53 PM - edited May 17 2022 04:03 PM
@MikeDoverskog Worked like a charm - thank you.
Oct 09 2022 10:41 PM
@TechWonk What might or might not be right for your case, doesn't translate to what other people can and can't do.
Mar 08 2023 02:10 PM
Mar 08 2023 03:40 PM
@JBock Nope! I disagree. A chat thread that is peppered with an occasional emoji or gif is completely different from having to manage a meeting - professional OR informal - with someone whose background look like I just ate a bag of magic mushrooms. Combine that with the "Hollywood Squares" type of layout of Teams and it's an invitation to a world of spasms and seizures.
That being said, it's not like I oppose it. Rather, there has to be some limits that are outlined by the meeting organizer in advance. If someone wants to go all trippy and encourage everyone to have at'er with animated backgrounds - so be it. BUT, I still believe it would be extraordinarily distracting. To me, watching nine talking heads in front of animated fractals, strobing Escher drawings, and looping gifs of hockey fights for a half hour while attempting to make sense of an invoicing discrepancy just is not conducive to a focused meeting environment.
Because, by your comment, a Teams meeting could look something like this: