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Camera Effects

by alanfortlink

System-wide camera and microphone effects (Center Stage, Portrait, Studio Light, Backgrounds, Filters, Fun face filters, Reactions, Block camera; Voice Isolation, noise gate, auto level, tone, voice changer, reverb, mute) exposed as the "Camera Effects" virtual webcam and the "Microphone Effects" virtual microphone, with a Control-Center-style panel in the bar.

GitHub

Security review

Potentially dangerous behavior detected · 8 findings

Deterministic scan — not a security guarantee

High
Risk level
High
Analyzed commit
ab4f158
Scanned
3 weeks ago
  • high persistence scripts/camera-effects-setup:100

    Registers scheduled or boot-time system tasks.

    systemctl enable camera-effects-device.service >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
  • high persistence scripts/camera-effects-setup:283

    Registers scheduled or boot-time system tasks.

    systemctl disable --now camera-effects-device.service >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
  • high persistence scripts/camera-effects-setup:85

    Bundles a systemd unit file.

    [Unit]
  • medium sudo install.sh:18

    Command runs with sudo, elevating the process beyond the plugin environment.

    sudo allows it, else via the polkit prompt
  • medium sudo install.sh:70

    Command runs with sudo, elevating the process beyond the plugin environment.

    sudo pacman -S --needed --noconfirm "${missing[@]}" || ok=false
  • medium sudo install.sh:73

    Command runs with sudo, elevating the process beyond the plugin environment.

    sudo pacman -Syu) and retry." >&2
  • medium sudo scripts/camera-effects-setup:3

    Command runs with sudo, elevating the process beyond the plugin environment.

    sudo by install.sh).
  • medium sudo scripts/camera-effects-setup:122

    Command runs with sudo, elevating the process beyond the plugin environment.

    sudo modprobe v4l2loopback — then click Set up again. Details: dkms status" >&2

Automated analysis only — not a security guarantee.

AI advisory review

Review recommended

Language-model assessment · ~deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash-latest — advisory only

Medium
AI risk level
Medium
Recommendation
review
Model
~deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash-latest
Analyzed commit
ab4f158
Reviewed
3 weeks ago

The deterministic high-risk findings come from legitimate, disclosed root-requiring system integration: creating a v4l2loopback virtual camera via a boot-enabled systemd unit, installing kernel/package dependencies through sudo/pkexec, and managing udev/WirePlumber rules for hiding raw devices. No obfuscation, credential theft, network exfiltration, or destructive behavior was found in the sampled code. Because the plugin installs persistent privileged components and a setgid daemon, it is not risk-free and warrants human review before publication.

  • install.sh and scripts/camera-effects-setup perform privileged operations: package installation, writing /etc/modprobe.d and /etc/udev/rules.d files, and creating/enabling a boot-time systemd unit. This is expected functionality but gives the plugin broad system-level control.
  • When hiding raw cameras is enabled, a root-owned, setgid copy of the daemon is installed under /usr/local/lib/camera-effects; this is a sensitive privilege boundary and should be reviewed carefully on every update.
  • WirePlumber hide-microphone configuration marks the custom component as required; the script attempts rollback if WirePlumber fails to start, but a bug here could leave the session without audio devices until manually cleaned up.
  • The daemon runs unsandboxed in the user session with full camera and microphone access. No network-sending code was found, but trust ultimately depends on the author and continued review of upstream changes.
  • The plugin can hide physical webcams and microphones from applications; this is a privacy feature but could be misused if the plugin is ever compromised or updated maliciously.
How this check works

This review combines the deterministic scan (the rule-based results above) with an independent look at the plugin's code by a language model. The model reads a trimmed sample of the repository's files, the manifest, and the README, then gives a plain-language risk level and a recommendation: install (no notable danger), review (look closer first), or avoid (clearly dangerous).

It runs on the same analyzed commit as the deterministic scan and is strictly advisory — it is not a security guarantee and never blocks a plugin by itself. A human moderator still reviews plugins before they are listed.

AI advisory only — automated analysis, not a security guarantee.

Install
$ omarchy plugin add https://github.com/alanfortlink/camera-effects --enable
Hardware #media #system #security

Camera Effects

macOS-style camera and microphone effects for Omarchy: Center Stage, Portrait, Studio Light, backgrounds, filters, reactions and a privacy shutter on any webcam, Voice Isolation, auto level and voice changers on any microphone, in every app.

It runs as a virtual camera called Camera Effects and a virtual microphone called Microphone Effects that you pick in Zoom, Meet, OBS or anything else, and a panel in the bar where you switch things on and off while watching a live preview

Tested only on Omarchy 4 (Arch Linux, Hyprland, omarchy-shell).

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1a460e2d-d732-4391-97cc-6155982c594f

Thanks to @prettyletto for sending me this video.

What you get

  • Center Stage keeps you framed as you move, with an intensity slider for how tightly it follows.
  • Portrait blurs the background, Studio Light brightens your face; both have intensity sliders.
  • Background replacement with a colour or your own image.
  • Filters (mono, sepia, warm, cool, vivid, soft, sharpen, vintage) and Effects (sunglasses, top hat, crown, cat, halo and more).
  • Reactions such as hearts, confetti, balloons and fireworks, played with a click or by holding a hand gesture at the camera.
  • Manual framing: zoom, drag-to-pan, fit mode, rotate and mirror.
  • Snapshots with a 3·2·1 countdown, saved to ~/Pictures/Camera Effects/ and copied to the clipboard.
  • Privacy: block the camera with a card, image or video, or hide the raw webcam so apps only see Camera Effects.
  • Several webcams? Pick the source in the panel and keep shared or per-camera settings.
  • Microphone effects: pick the mic, set its volume (±18 dB, effects or not, or Auto to set it from what the mic actually hears), then a preset (Clean, Voice, Meeting, Podcast) or the individual effects: Voice Isolation (spectral noise suppression, ~40 ms of delay while it is on), a noise gate, auto level, a de-esser, a rumble filter, a 50/60 Hz hum filter, tone presets (warm, bright, clarity, podcast, telephone), voice changers (deep, chipmunk, robot, alien, megaphone, monster) and space (room, hall, cathedral, echo, underwater), with Before/After level meters.
  • Listen to yourself: the Mic tab can play the processed microphone through your speakers, so you hear what apps get (use headphones). The switch is remembered, and the playback only runs while the tab is open.
  • Mute the microphone (apps get silence and the mic is released), and hide the real microphones so apps only see Microphone Effects.
  • Everything runs on the CPU, locally. Nothing leaves your machine.

Install

omarchy plugin add https://github.com/alanfortlink/camera-effects.git --enable

A camera icon appears in the bar. Open it and click Install (build daemon). That installs any missing packages, builds the daemon (a minute or two) and asks for your password once to create the virtual camera.

Then pick Camera Effects as the camera in any app.

Update and uninstall

Update:

omarchy plugin update alanfortlink.camera-effects

That is all: the plugin notices the new code, rebuilds the daemon in the background and restarts it. You are asked for your password only when the root-owned parts changed. (Manual equivalent: run ~/.config/omarchy/plugins/alanfortlink.camera-effects/install.sh.)

Uninstall, in this order:

cd ~/.config/omarchy/plugins/alanfortlink.camera-effects && ./install.sh --uninstall
omarchy plugin remove alanfortlink.camera-effects

If the plugin folder is already gone, the root part can still be removed with sudo /usr/local/lib/camera-effects/camera-effects-setup uninstall.

Using it

Click the bar icon to open the panel (right-click toggles Portrait). The bar icon lights up while an app is using the camera.

Panel section What it does
Preview Live view of what apps see. Drag to pan, scroll to zoom. The shutter button takes a snapshot after a 3·2·1 countdown.
Video Camera, Center Stage, Zoom, Fit, Rotate, Mirror preview, Mirror output, and Reset (this camera back to the defaults).
Look Portrait, Studio Light, Background (a colour, an image or a looped video) and Filter.
Fun Effects (sunglasses, mask, hats, cat ears, blur, pixelate…), Ambience (endless rain, snow, sparkles, confetti or bubbles) and Reactions.
Mic Microphone, Before/After meters, Mute, Listen, Volume (+ Auto), a Microphone effects card with presets, then two folding sections — Cleanup (Voice isolation, Noise gate, Auto level, De-esser, Rumble filter, Hum filter) and Character (Tone, Voice, Space chips) — and finally Hide raw microphones. The camera preview is off on this tab, and the mic is opened only while the tab is on screen (for the meter).
Privacy Block camera and Hide raw camera (see below).
Footer Which apps are using the camera right now, and the output resolution.

Reactions play when you click one, or when you hold the matching gesture: heart hands, thumbs up, thumbs down, a peace sign, two peace signs, two thumbs up, two thumbs down, or two rock signs.

Handy commands: omarchy-shell alanfortlink.camera-effects toggle opens the panel (bind it to a key) and omarchy-shell alanfortlink.camera-effects snap takes a snapshot.

The daemon also has a small CLI, camera-effects-server, with the setting keys matching the JSON that status prints:

Verb Effect
status Print the current state and settings as JSON.
set key=value… Change settings, e.g. set portrait=true zoom=1.5.
react NAME Play a reaction (hearts, confetti, …).
camera BUS Switch to another webcam.
mic NODE Switch to another microphone (a PipeWire node.name; empty = the system default).
micset key=value… Change microphone settings, e.g. micset voiceIsolation=true voice=deep muted=false listen=true.
micreset Microphone effects back to the defaults.
snap Take a snapshot and print the PNG path.
preview on Hold the pipeline open while the command runs.

Mute is also on IPC, so it can go on a key without opening the panel:

bind = , code:121, exec, omarchy-shell alanfortlink.camera-effects micMute   # XF86AudioMicMute

micMuteOn / micMuteOff are there too, for push-to-talk bindings.

Privacy

Block camera turns the webcam off and sends apps a "camera off" card, a still image or a video instead. Apps keep working; they just don't see you.

Hide raw camera makes the physical webcam invisible to apps, so Camera Effects is the only camera they can pick. It can hide all webcams or one at a time. This changes udev rules, so it asks for your password. It is a courtesy boundary for well-behaved apps, not protection against malware or anyone with root.

Listen to this microphone plays the processed microphone to your default sink, so you can check what you sound like before a call. It is on by default and the switch is remembered, but the playback only runs while the Mic tab is open — leaving the tab or closing the panel stops it, so the speakers are never left echoing. It stays off while the microphone is muted. With a Bluetooth headset the device switches to the headset profile while you listen (that is the only profile in which its microphone works), so the playback quality drops until you switch it off.

Mute microphone releases the microphone entirely (the recording light goes out) and feeds apps silence.

Hide raw microphone does the same job as the camera one, without a password: it drops a WirePlumber script and config fragment in your own ~/.config/wireplumber / ~/.local/share/wireplumber, which takes the right to see the real microphones away from every client except WirePlumber and Camera Effects itself. The rule only applies while "Microphone Effects" is actually there — if the daemon stops, the real microphones come back within a second, so you are never left with no microphone at all. Applying it restarts your WirePlumber (a second of silence) and makes Microphone Effects the default microphone. Turning it off restarts WirePlumber again, leaving any per-microphone rules in place (uninstalling clears everything). Same caveat: a courtesy boundary, not a sandbox.

How it works

A small daemon (camera-effects-server, C++ with OpenCV and a few small ONNX models) opens the real webcam only while an app is using the virtual one, processes each frame and publishes it as a v4l2loopback device and a PipeWire camera node.

The same daemon publishes the microphone: a PipeWire Audio/Source node apps pick, fed by a capture stream on the real mic in the same link group (so there is no drift between them), plus a playback stream while "Listen to this microphone" is on, and — for a Bluetooth mic — a small fourth stream that asks WirePlumber for the headset profile. The real microphone is opened only while an app, the level meter or the listen switch needs it.

The panel talks to the daemon over a unix socket in $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/camera-effects/, and settings live in ~/.config/camera-effects/config.json.

Root is used only for the loopback device (created at boot by a systemd unit), the hide-raw udev rules and, when hiding is on, a root-owned copy of the daemon in /usr/local/lib/camera-effects/.

Troubleshooting

  • No bar icon: omarchy plugin enable alanfortlink.camera-effects, or omarchy-restart-shell.
  • Panel says "Needs setup" or v4l2loopback won't load: reboot after a kernel update, or check dkms status.
  • Apps don't list the camera: check systemctl status camera-effects-device and v4l2loopback-ctl list, then re-run ./install.sh.
  • Intel IPU6/IPU7 webcams: supported when bridged through v4l2-relayd to a v4l2loopback device (the default Omarchy setup on Dell XPS and similar laptops). The camera appears as "Hardware ISP Camera" in the panel's camera dropdown. Not supported: cameras that only work through libcamera without a relayd bridge, and Presenter Overlay.
  • Bluetooth headset mic: the daemon asks WirePlumber for the headset (HSP/HFP) profile while it reads one, so your headphones drop to call quality for as long as the microphone is open — including while you are only listening or watching the level meter. It goes back to A2DP a couple of seconds after the mic is released.
  • Microphone Effects missing from an app: check pactl list short sources | grep camera-effects-mic, and remember that apps started before the daemon may need reopening.
  • No microphone in apps that start before the panel does: hiding the real microphones is a WirePlumber setting, so it applies from login, while "Microphone Effects" only exists once the shell (and with it the daemon) is up. Reopen the app, or leave hiding off if you have apps that autostart.
  • Audio devices gone after turning "Hide raw microphone" on: the panel puts the rules back if WirePlumber refuses to start, but you can always remove ~/.config/wireplumber/wireplumber.conf.d/71-camera-effects-hide-mics.conf and run systemctl --user restart wireplumber.
  • Not supported yet: cameras that only work through libcamera (Intel IPU6), and Presenter Overlay.

Disclaimer

This is a hobby project, provided as is, with no warranty of any kind. You use it entirely at your own risk. It runs unsandboxed inside your shell, opens your camera, installs a systemd unit and udev rules and (if you enable hide-raw) a privileged helper; read the code before you trust it, and don't run it where that would be a problem. The author is not responsible for any damage, data loss, privacy incident, embarrassing video call, or anything else that results from using this software.

License

MIT. Third-party model and asset licenses are listed in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.