The Blue Hour effect fills your screen with a vertical gradient — a bright blue tone at the top fading through deep navy to near-black at the bottom — with a slow, subtle shimmer in brightness rather than a static wash. It's for putting a cool, twilight-toned backdrop or accent behind you on camera, not for lighting your face evenly.
Before you start
- A dim or controlled room, if you want the blue to read clearly. The effect is a gradient, not a bright even field — strong competing room light will wash out the color on camera.
- A separate light source for your face, if you're on a video call. Blue Hour's own gradient fades to near-black toward the bottom, so it isn't built to evenly light a face the way Ring Light or Key Light is. Pair it with a lamp, or run a second WebLight screen on another effect, if you need to be clearly lit.
- A camera or recording app open so you can judge the actual color on screen — displays and cameras render blue differently.
Set it up
- Open the Blue Hour effect on the screen you want to use as the backdrop or accent.
- Position that screen where you want the blue tone visible — behind you, beside you, or facing the camera as a colored background.
- Leave Color Temperature untouched if you want the true blue look. The effect loads with a blue tone at the top by default.
- Set Brightness to match the room — higher in a bright room, lower once the lights are down.
- Select Go Fullscreen. The controls fade out after five seconds so they don't end up on camera; move your mouse to bring them back.
- Check your camera preview and adjust Brightness until the tone reads the way you want.
You'll know it worked when the screen shows blue at the top fading to near-black at the bottom, with a slow, subtle pulse in brightness rather than a flat, static color.
To leave fullscreen, press Escape or move your mouse and select Exit Fullscreen.
What each control does
| Control | Range | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Brightness | 10–100 | Overall opacity of the gradient. Low values look closer to black; high values bring out the full blue-to-navy range. |
| Color Temperature | Daylight, Cool White, Neutral, Warm White, Tungsten | Recolors only the top of the gradient. Daylight and Cool White push it toward white; Warm White and Tungsten push it toward orange. The navy and near-black lower on the screen don't change. |
Common setups
- Moody backdrop behind you on a call. Position the screen behind you, Brightness 40–50, Color Temperature left untouched. Low enough to read as a colored background rather than a light source pointed at the camera.
- Tech or business presentation opener. Brightness 70–80 in a dimmed room, so the blue-to-navy gradient reads clearly on a recording or shared screen before you switch to slides.
- Paired with a face light. Run Blue Hour on one screen as backdrop and a Key Light or Ring Light on a second screen or device for your face — Blue Hour's own gradient isn't built to light you evenly on its own.
- Softer, less overtly blue mood. Set Color Temperature to Warm White or Tungsten. It only shifts the top of the gradient toward orange, leaving the navy and near-black bands intact for a muted rather than fully blue result.
Troubleshooting
The screen looks mostly dark navy with barely any bright blue at the top. Brightness is likely set low, or room light is competing with the screen. Raise Brightness toward 70–90 and dim any lights that are washing out the color.
My face is dark even though the effect fills my screen. Expected — the gradient fades to near-black toward the bottom and isn't designed as a face light. Add a separate light source, or run a second WebLight screen on Key Light or Ring Light pointed at your face.
Selecting a Color Temperature turned the top of the screen white or orange instead of blue. This is expected — Color Temperature recolors only the top of the gradient, moving it toward white (Daylight, Cool White) or orange (Warm White, Tungsten) instead of blue. To bring the blue back, use the color swatch labeled Custom Color underneath Color Temperature to set your own blue rather than picking one of the presets.
Even at Brightness 100 the color looks dim or washed out. Brightness controls the gradient's opacity, not your screen's own backlight. Turn up your monitor or laptop's own display brightness too — WebLight can only be as bright as the screen underneath it.
The effect won't go fullscreen. Some browsers block fullscreen until you've clicked somewhere on the page first. Click the page, then select Go Fullscreen again. You can also open the effect URL with #fullscreen on the end to start already in fullscreen.
Next steps
For a warmer cinematic tone instead of blue, try Golden Hour. For a high-contrast black-and-white look, see Film Noir.