Cheese is a webcam application for the GNOME desktop that lets you take photographs and record short videos using a connected camera. Its straightforward interface makes it suitable for casual photography, video messages and testing webcam functionality.
The program provides a live preview of the camera image, with controls for switching between photographs, burst photography and video capture. It is designed for everyday desktop use rather than detailed camera configuration or professional recording.
Cheese uses GStreamer for multimedia processing and graphical effects. These effects can alter the appearance of photographs and video, allowing users to experiment with different visual styles without using a separate editing application.
Camera compatibility depends on the device and the multimedia capabilities available through GStreamer and Video4Linux.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Captures JPEG photographs directly from compatible webcams.
- Records short webcam videos using the WebM format.
- Live camera preview allows users to frame photographs before capturing them.
- Countdown timer provides time to prepare before a photograph is taken.
- Burst mode captures a sequence of photographs automatically.
- Configurable photograph count and delay between captures in burst mode.
- Optional screen flash provides additional illumination when taking photographs.
- Graphical effects can be applied to photographs and video.
- Supports multiple effects including colour alterations, distortion and artistic transformations.
- Captured photographs and videos can be browsed and managed within the application.
- Allows captured media to be saved, deleted and shared using available desktop facilities.
- Supports camera resolution selection where exposed by the device.
- Fullscreen mode provides a larger camera preview.
- Uses the GStreamer multimedia framework for video handling and effects.
Website: wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Cheese
Support:
Developer: David King, Daniel G. Siegel, Jaap A. Haitsma, Filippo Argiolas and contributors
License: GNU General Public License v2.0
Cheese is written in Vala. Learn Vala with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
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Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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Applied the Dice effect, and cheese quit working.
And what action did you take? Did you see if it’s a known bug? Did you try to replicate it on a different system? Did you raise a bug report? Did you…
what webcams work with cheese
I love this program. Is there a way to combine these effects with other web cam applications such as Skype or discord?