How to install live wallpapers on a PC

You can endlessly look at fire, water and live wallpapers displaying one of the elements. After connecting the animation, your monitor will look like, for example, a decorative fireplace or an aquarium. At the same time, the desktop icons remain visible, you can see the changes in the system tray icons, signaling messages.

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What is live wallpaper

The developers of the first operating systems with a graphical interface had a desire to tinker with the background of the desktop in terms of giving it aesthetics. At first, the workspace was filled with one color. Then the first wallpapers appeared in the form of pictures of nature, space, cars, etc. In our time, this format has not lost its relevance. In Windows, you can choose a wallpaper of your choice or set a periodic change of several static images.

However, many users do not want to be limited to a static format – they want live wallpapers, which are constantly changing images on the desktop. These can be simple gifs or looped video files with or without sound. Video live wallpaper usually does not shock with dynamism, since a rapidly changing screensaver will interfere with managing the icons on the desktop. Often only individual elements are mobile, for example, in a grandiose landscape painting, a slight movement of water near the coast is noticeable. Or the banners of the army of warriors of light are slightly waving before the decisive battle. To run the installation of live wallpapers in Windows, third-party software is required.

There are millions of video wallpaper options on the Internet for one display. You can also pick up interesting 2-3-monitor versions. There are wallpapers that react to the movement of the mouse pointer.

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How to put live wallpapers on a PC using programs

It is not easy to choose the optimal utility, as dozens of software developers offer to install cute live wallpapers on a PC. Programs differ in interface, cost, functionality. Here are the top 6 most popular solutions:

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Video Wallpaper

The program is well balanced in terms of combining functionality and ease of customization, especially if you download an improved version called PUSH Video Wallpaper. It is installed in a couple of clicks, after which you can load live wallpapers from your computer into the application folder using the plus-sign buttons . In the program window there are two icons with pluses: one for downloading files, the second for adding folders. Control units:

• Change Mode is a section of the interface consisting of 3 icons in the upper right part of the program window. After downloading the video wallpaper, you can start it manually or configure it to autoplay by time or sequential. Another customization option is to use only one video. To switch modes, you need to click Change at File.
• Display Properties. If the live wallpaper is smaller than the screen size, you can fill the entire space with it, leave it as it is, or stretch it. To do this, click on one of the three pictures.

In the advanced version, under Display Properties, there is a checkbox with which you can set the autostart of the program. Even lower is the slider responsible for the volume of the sound. The program works with a wide range of content: videos, gifs, animations, etc. Can take video wallpaper directly from the Web.

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VLC Media Player

You can use a media player that allows you to not only watch movies, but also set live wallpapers. In terms of functionality, this option is not the most advanced, but it is simple and free. If you are not using this program yet, the first step is to download VLC and install it on your computer. Then we select some nice short video and copy it to a separate folder. Further procedure:

1. Launch the video file using VLC.
2. Click on the button responsible for the loop (two circular arrows).
3. We turn the sound down or turn it off altogether.
4. To download the live wallpaper to your desktop, right-click on the playing video. We click “Video” → “Desktop background”. The wallpaper is turned off in exactly the same way.

The main disadvantage of VLC wallpapers is that they cover the desktop icons. The user can only use the Start button and the system tray. In principle, with this approach, you can use any media player with the option to loop videos to launch video wallpaper. VLC stands out among them in that it gives a sparing load on the hardware.

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Wallpaper Engine

WE is one of the best live wallpaper setup and customization tools. The program is paid, but it costs only $ 2-3, which is an order of magnitude less than the price tag that other developers set on similar products. After installation, you can download the live wallpaper from the Internet via the Workshop. To make your selection easier, first sift through your content using filters. You can, for example, hide the anime, set the choice of wallpaper category “For everyone”, and not for adults.
Setting up the interface:
1. The “Performance” tab.

• In the “Quality” section, it makes sense to select “High”. Full-screen anti-aliasing – x8 for a normal computer. The resolution is “Full”. Frames per second – 60. Post-processing is active if the RAM is at least 8 GB.
• In the “Playback” section in the “Another application selected” menu, click on the “Pause” item, if we want to stop the video wallpaper when the explorer windows and programs are opened not in full screen. The rest of the settings in the section are clear, most likely leave them by default.

2. The “General” tab. Here is the autoload checkbox, setting hotkeys, transparency of desktop shortcuts. You can adjust the color scheme of the explorer windows to match the wallpaper, adjust the sound settings.

The user can download plugins, edit wallpapers, create them from scratch.

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Animated Wallpaper Maker

The app will be a good choice for those who not only know how to install live wallpapers on a computer desktop, but also know how to create this kind of animations from photos. A very modest set of ready-made live wallpapers is posted on the official website. The program costs about $ 35, a trial version is available.

Installation of the program is not difficult even for beginners. After starting, the editor opens, the window of which is divided into parts horizontally. On the left you can add pictures, on the right – animation effects. Most of the effects can be customized at your discretion: change the size, color, animation speed. After integrating the effects with the picture, ready-made video wallpaper is easy to install or create an installer that can be used by owners of other PCs.

The advantages of the application include:

• setting up the soundtrack;
• various effects, for example: flowing water, flame, glare on glass.

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Lively Wallpaper

It is difficult for other software to compete with the program, since you do not need to pay anything for advanced functionality and the interface is in Russian. The utility can be downloaded from the Microsoft Store or the developer’s web page.

After the first launch of Lively Wallpaper, the initial settings window appears on the screen. In it, you can leave the program at startup or cancel its startup. Further, the user is provided with a set of ready-made live wallpapers: a screen from the “Matrix”, periodic table, landscapes and so on. It is possible to add other animated content to the playlist: gifs and videos from the PC and the Internet. There is a “+” button for this. Implemented 3 options for adding wallpaper:

• dragging with the mouse ,
• opening through the navigator,
• download from the link.

Wallpaper can be customized. There are tabs for this:

• The choice of the interface language, the path to the wallpaper catalog, light or dark theme.
• Here we set how the video wallpaper should react to user actions affecting the desktop. You can set them to turn off when the laptop is running on battery power.
• The size of the video wallpaper, the choice of the player, the quality of the broadcast.

The volume is adjusted in a separate tab.

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DeskScapes

If you need an easy-to-use wallpaper, it makes sense to take a closer look at the DeskScapes program. It is shareware, you can safely use the trial version for a month. How to set live wallpapers on PC with DeskScapes? In the first installation window, the attachment offers to install one more utility at the same time. Most likely, you do not need it, so do not forget to uncheck the corresponding box. Next, you will need to enter your email. A letter will be sent to it with a link that you should click to confirm the trial registration.

Let’s go over the settings:

• The default performance is minimal. Accordingly, the emphasis is on maximum quality. In the same tab, you can offer the program to pause the wallpaper if the laptop is running on battery power.
• Here are the directories from which the program takes content for playback.
• You can connect support for additional video adapters, adjust the aspect ratio if more than one monitor is connected, pause when expanding the window of another program to full screen. There are also settings for the transparency of the desktop and the mouse.

Each video wallpaper can be customized separately. If you select a movie with the mouse, a corresponding picture will appear on the right side of the program window, and buttons below it. You can use parameters and effects to adjust. The parameters affect, for example, the animation speed (depending on the wallpaper). The user chooses the effects to add novelty to the playback.

The program is registered in the context menu of the desktop, starts and pauses video wallpaper playback in one click.

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How to make a slideshow on your desktop

To diversify the look of the screen, it is not necessary to use live wallpaper: you can add new colors to everyday life using a slideshow. Beautiful landscapes downloaded from the Web are often used as alternating pictures, or their photographs, of which a huge number are usually typed on a computer. How to make a slide show by clicking on the desktop? Follow a simple algorithm:

• First of all, we go into personalization.
• On the left, select “Background”.
• In the right part of the window, open the menu of the same name and select a slideshow.
• We click on “Browse” and point the system to a folder with pictures that will alternate on the screen. The system also has its own pictures, but you shouldn’t be limited to them.
• Select the interval for changing images (the range is available from a minute to a day).

In the settings of the tenth Windows, for some unknown reason, the option “Randomly” was removed, but additional features remained. To open them, you need to select “Lock Screen” → Slideshow Advanced Options in “Personalization”. In the settings you can:

• enable slideshow when the laptop is running on battery power;
• start syncing your slideshow through OneDrive with other devices;
• choose pictures that match the screen parameters;
• set the use of the lock screen.

You can sync your taskbar color change with your slideshow. To do this, go to the same “Personalization”, only choose not “Background”, but “Colors”. Then we activate the Auto Select the main color. Option with slides is good that virtually no ship iron PC, suitable for weak computers.

In conclusion, a few words about the attitude of users to live wallpapers. Some admire the gorgeous animations, others scold them for the consumption of PC resources (a possible additional load on the processor is 25%). Some video wallpapers inspire, cheer up, while others prevent them from focusing on design or programming. In general, there is no definite answer to the question of the advisability of animations on the desktop. Much depends on the purpose of the computer, its characteristics and the user’s worldview.