Set Up Your Webcam for Hand Tracking

Place the Camera at a Stable Height and Distance

Set the webcam near eye or upper-chest height and keep it stable. Sit or stand about one arm length away, then raise both hands to a comfortable playing position. The preview should include fingertips, palms and wrists without requiring the shoulders to stay lifted.

Move the camera rather than twisting your body to fit the frame. A consistent front-facing angle makes left/right assignment and wrist tilt easier to interpret across a complete session.

Use Soft Front Light and Avoid Backlighting

Place a diffuse light in front of you or slightly to one side. Avoid a bright window directly behind the hands, strong flicker and deep shadows across the fingers. The goal is visible separation, not maximum brightness.

Choose a background that contrasts with skin and sleeves. Busy moving backgrounds and hands passing across the face can make boundaries less clear even when the webcam image looks attractive.

• Light the palms and fingertips from the front.
• Close blinds or turn away from a bright rear window.
• Keep the background visually quiet.
• Avoid sleeves that hide the wrist boundary.

Keep Both Hands Separate and Fully in Frame

Leave horizontal space between the hands so one does not cover the other. Keep wrists visible because height and tilt help control expression. When a pose approaches the edge, move your body or camera back instead of stretching farther out of frame.

Begin with simple open-finger counts and hold each one briefly. After the Left and Right indicators respond consistently, introduce wrist tilt, octave thumb and faster song transitions.

Study every hand gesture control →

Adjust the Setup for Desktop and Mobile

On a laptop, raise the screen if the built-in webcam points upward from below the hands. On a desktop, secure an external webcam so desk movement does not shake the frame. Connect an external camera directly when a slow hub introduces drops or disconnects.

On a phone or tablet, use landscape orientation and a stable stand. Keep browser controls from covering the instrument, prevent the device from rotating mid-session and avoid holding the device with the same hands required for playing.

Troubleshoot blocked camera access → · Reduce tracking and audio lag →

Run a One-Minute Camera Diagnostic Pass

Test the picture before attempting a fast song. Press Start, hold both open palms at the normal playing height and wait for the Left and Right readouts to settle. Lower only the left hand, return it, then repeat with the right. This reveals whether one side is leaving the frame, being covered by the other hand or blending into the background. Next, form a simple finger count on each side and rotate the right wrist slightly while keeping its height steady.

If the preview is frozen or absent, treat that as a permission or device-selection problem rather than a gesture problem. Confirm that the browser is allowed to use the intended camera, close another app that may have exclusive access, and reload after changing permission. If the video is smooth but the readouts respond late, reduce other CPU-heavy tabs or enable the app's low-performance option. Change only one condition between tests so you can tell which adjustment helped.

• Stable video but unstable labels: improve light, contrast, spacing or pose clarity.
• No video preview: check site permission, camera selection and competing apps.
• Smooth preview but delayed labels: reduce device load and try low-performance mode.
• One hand fails repeatedly: test that side alone in the centre before widening the frame.

Use the camera permission decision tree →