What better to spice up your video chats than with a couple of effects? This is where a program like CamTwist comes into play.

The sofware package offers all sorts of original effects to add live to your webcam videos. It is a little difficult to set up, but once installed works with most video chat services like Skype, Yahoo! Messenger or uStream. However it won't work with Apple's very own iChat service.

CamTwist includes a Studio section, which will allow you to do a bit of live mixing, like adding overlays, switching cameras, or creating a live slideshow. This coupled with the effects on hand let you really get creative, without having to dish out a single penny, simply because CamTwist is completely free. If you like tweaking around with your Mac, you'll also be glad to know that CamTwist offers AppleScript support, which opens the application up to all sorts of customizations.

Despite being a little difficult to set up and lacking iChat support, CamTwist is a very good free tool to add fun effects to your video chats.

Review by Cyril Roger