Eye contact correction: how to look at the camera while reading

Why does eye contact matter on video?

Because the lens is the viewer's eyes. When you look into it, the person watching feels spoken to. When your eyes sit a few degrees below it, on a laptop or a page, they feel read to, and on a talking-head video that difference shows in how long people stay.

The trouble is that the script and the lens are never in the same place. Even a small gap shows: a camera on top of a laptop with the script in the middle of the screen is enough to make you look down at everyone.

How do I make eye contact on video while reading?

Bring the words as close to the lens as you can, then read in a way that lets you look up. In order of how well they work:

Approach	How it works	Good for	Watch out for
Teleprompter	A sheet of angled glass in front of the lens shows the script while the camera films through it	Long scripts, exact wording	Reading too fast; a flat, scanning stare
Script just under the lens	A phone or small screen tucked right below the camera	Short pieces, small setups	A slight downward look that grows the further away it sits
Notes, not a script	A few bullet points, spoken in your own words	Natural delivery	Restarts and filler words, which the edit can remove
Short chunks	Read a line, look up, say it to the lens	Any setup, no gear	More takes to choose from
Correction afterwards	Software turns the eyes back to the lens	Takes that are already good apart from the eyes	One face, straight on, small glances only

A few habits help whichever you choose:

Put distance between you and the camera. The further the lens, the smaller the angle between it and the script, so the same glance down looks smaller.
Set the scroll to your pace. A teleprompter that runs ahead makes you chase it with your eyes.
Use big type and short lines. Your eyes travel less from side to side, which is the movement viewers notice most.
Look away on purpose. People glance aside when they think. A natural look away, followed by a return to the lens, reads as more honest than a fixed stare.

A young woman at a low table looks down at her notebook and laptop while a phone in a ring light points at her from above. — Notes set below the lens pull the eyes down with them: the further the script sits from the camera, the more every line looks read.Photo by Liza Summer on Pexels

What is AI eye contact correction?

It is a video effect that finds the eyes in every frame and redraws them looking at the lens, while keeping blinks and the rest of the face as they were. Several tools offer it, mostly for live calls or as an editing effect:

Descript's Eye Contact is an effect you apply to a video layer. Descript's help centre says it uses AI Credits on current plans and needs an internet connection while it processes.
NVIDIA Broadcast has an Eye Contact effect for live streams and calls, on an NVIDIA RTX graphics card, according to NVIDIA's page.
Windows Studio Effects adjusts your gaze on video calls on PCs with a neural processing unit, and Microsoft's page says its Teleprompter mode is only on Snapdragon Copilot+ PCs.

When does eye contact correction look unnatural?

When it is asked to do more than move the eyes a little. The same limits come up across tools, and Descript's own help page names most of them:

Big head turns and side angles. The effect needs a face that is mostly towards the camera.
Long looks away. A glance down at notes can be corrected; a long look to the side is better left alone or cut.
Small or badly lit faces. The eyes need enough detail to redraw.
Glasses with glare. A reflection over the eyes hides what needs moving.
More than one face. Most effects expect one speaker in frame.
A stare that never breaks. Even good correction can lock the eyes on the lens for minutes at a time, which looks less human than the occasional glance away.

So correction is a finishing step, not a reason to ignore where the script sits. Fix what you can at the shoot and let the effect cover the small glances that are left.

How does Sharpy correct eye contact?

Sharpy does two things, one at the edit and one on the picture.

It starts from the best-looking takes. When you recorded a line more than once, Sharpy picks the take in which the speaker looks into the lens and reads as engaged, not only the one where the eyes are open. It also prefers takes where gestures land on the stressed words, and it never cuts on a blink: on a test recording cut from two recordings, all 33 joins landed on an open eye. Choosing the best take explains how the takes are weighed.

Then it turns the gaze to the lens. Where the speaker was reading off camera, Sharpy turns their gaze to the lens. You can ask for it in the window or from Claude or Codex in plain words, such as "he reads from a laptop below the camera: put his eyes on the lens".

It all runs on your Mac. There is no upload, no credit spent per minute and no limit on how much footage you correct: Sharpy is one plan with unlimited edits. Editing with AI without uploading your footage explains why that matters for unreleased work.

Check the result the way a viewer would: watch the corrected stretch at full speed with the sound on, then once more with the sound off, looking only at the eyes. If a line still looks read, the cleaner fix is often a different take or a cutaway over it. The talking-head editing guide covers where cutaways fit.

Frequently asked questions

Does Teams have an eye contact feature?

Microsoft's eye contact correction lives in Windows rather than in a Teams setting: Windows Studio Effects adjusts your gaze on video calls on PCs with a neural processing unit, according to Microsoft. It works on calls, not on a recording you edit later.

Is eye contact correction cheating?

It moves the eyes, not the words. Used on a take you really gave, it makes a read script feel spoken; it does not put anything in your mouth.

Can you fix eye contact in a video that is already recorded?

Yes. Editing tools such as Sharpy and Descript correct a recorded video, as long as the face is clear, mostly towards the camera and only glancing away from the lens.

Does eye contact correction work with glasses?

Often, but glare on the lenses can stop it. Tilt the glasses slightly down or move the key light higher and to the side to keep reflections off the eyes.

Where should I put my script when filming?

As close to the lens as possible: in a teleprompter in front of it, or directly beneath it, with the camera far enough away that the angle stays small.

Sources

Checked on 18 October 2026.