Descript's Eye Contact feature uses AI to shift where your eyes appear to be looking so it seems like you're gazing directly at the camera — even when you were reading notes, checking a script, or glancing at a slide. You record naturally, look wherever you need to, and fix the gaze in post-production.
What you’ll walk away with:
- Natural-looking eye contact in your course videos
- The ability to read notes while appearing to look at the camera
- A clear understanding of when to use (and skip) the feature
Why this feature matters for course creators
When you teach on camera, your eyes naturally drift. You glance at your notes. You check your bullet points. You look at the slide deck to make sure you're on the right one. Each time you look away, your students register it — not consciously, but as a subtle drop in connection. Research on nonverbal communication has consistently shown that direct eye contact increases perceived trustworthiness and engagement. In a pre-recorded lesson, where students can't ask questions or give you feedback in real time, that gaze matters more than you'd expect.
The problem is that maintaining eye contact with a camera lens while simultaneously teaching is genuinely difficult. You're not looking at a person — you're looking at a small circle on the top of your laptop. Most course creators end up choosing between reading their notes (and losing eye contact) or winging it from memory (and sometimes losing their train of thought). Descript's Eye Contact feature gives you a third option: read your notes when you need to, then let AI correct the few seconds where your gaze drifted.
How to use it: step by step
Import your video into Descript
Open Descript and create a new project. Drag your course video file in, or use File > Import. Descript will automatically transcribe the audio, which takes a minute or two depending on length. You don't need the transcript for Eye Contact specifically, but it's there if you want to edit by text while you're at it.
Find the Eye Contact feature
Select your video clip in the timeline. In the right-hand properties panel, look for the "Eye Contact" option under the video effects. In recent versions of Descript, it's grouped with other AI-powered video adjustments like Studio Sound and Green Screen.
Toggle it on and preview
Turn on Eye Contact and play back a section of your video. Watch carefully — compare the corrected version to the original. The feature applies in real time, so you can scrub through your video to see where the correction kicks in and where your gaze was already fine. Pay attention to moments where you were looking at notes versus moments where you were already looking at the camera. The correction should be invisible in the second case and subtle in the first.
Decide which sections actually need it
This is the step most people skip, and it matters. Watch your full video and note the timestamps where your gaze drifts noticeably. If you only glanced at your notes for a second here and there, the correction will look natural across the whole clip. But if you spent thirty seconds reading from a script while looking at your desk, no amount of AI eye correction will make that look like genuine camera engagement. For those sections, you're better off re-recording or cutting to a slide or screen share.
Export your corrected video
Once you're satisfied with the preview, export your project. Descript renders the Eye Contact correction into the final file. From there, you can upload the finished video directly to your course platform.
The human layer
Real eye contact — the kind where you're actually looking at the lens because you've practiced your delivery and barely need your notes — is always better than AI-corrected eye contact. There's a subtle quality to genuine engagement that no algorithm fully replicates. When you really know your material and can speak to the camera like you're talking to a student sitting across from you, people feel it.
Descript's Eye Contact feature is useful as a correction for the inevitable moments when you check your notes — not as a license to read your entire script off-screen. If you find yourself relying on it for most of every video, that's a signal to invest time in practicing your delivery rather than depending on post-production fixes. Put your notes in larger font, move them closer to your camera lens, or break your script into shorter sections so you can memorize each one before recording.
Course creator tips
Position your notes near the camera
Before you even think about AI correction, try reducing the problem at the source. Tape your key bullet points right next to your webcam or below the lens on your monitor. The closer your notes are to the camera, the less your eyes have to move when you glance at them — and the less work Eye Contact has to do in post. Some creators use teleprompter apps that overlay scrolling text directly below the camera, which virtually eliminates the gaze drift issue.
Use it for glances, not for sustained reading
Eye Contact works best when the correction is small — a quick glance down at notes, a brief check of your slide deck. The AI can convincingly shift your gaze by a few degrees. When you're looking significantly off-camera for five or ten seconds straight, the correction becomes noticeable. Think of it as a touch-up brush, not a full repaint.
Test it before recording your whole course
Record a two-minute test clip in your normal setup — notes in their usual spot, your typical lighting, the glasses you normally wear. Apply Eye Contact and watch the result closely. If something looks off, you'll want to know before you record ten lessons, not after.
What it gets wrong
The most common issue is the uncanny valley effect. When Eye Contact corrects a sustained off-camera gaze, the result can look slightly robotic — your eyes track to the camera but your facial expressions don't fully match, creating a disconnect that perceptive viewers notice even if they can't articulate why. It's the same unsettling feeling you get from a video call where someone's gaze is a few degrees off.
Glasses present a real challenge. The AI has to work around reflections and frames, and the result is sometimes a subtle warping around the eye area that looks more distracting than the original off-camera glance would have been. If you wear glasses on camera, test this feature carefully before relying on it.
Finally, there's a philosophical limitation: Eye Contact can make it look like you're engaging with the camera, but it can't make your delivery feel engaged. If you're reading in a flat monotone while looking off-screen, correcting the gaze doesn't fix the underlying problem. Students respond to energy and presence, not just where your eyes are pointed.
Frequently asked questions
Does Descript Eye Contact work with glasses?
It can, but results vary. Glasses with strong reflections or thick frames give the AI less to work with, and the corrected gaze sometimes looks slightly off. Test it on a short clip before applying it to an entire lesson. If the result looks unnatural, adjusting your lighting to reduce glare on your lenses often helps.
Does the Eye Contact feature cost extra in Descript?
Eye Contact is included in Descript's paid plans (Hobbyist at $24/month and above). It's not available on the free plan. If you're already using Descript for editing course videos, you likely have access to it without any additional cost.
Can I use Eye Contact correction on my entire video?
You can, but you probably shouldn't. The effect works best on brief glances away from camera — a second or two where you check your notes. When applied to longer stretches where you're looking significantly off-camera, the correction can look artificial. Apply it selectively to the moments that need it rather than blanket-applying it to everything.
From corrected gaze to finished lesson
Your video looks polished — steady eye contact, clean audio, no distracting glances at your notes. Now it needs to live somewhere students can actually watch it. On Ruzuku, you upload your video directly into a lesson step. Built-in video hosting means there is no separate service to configure — your corrected recording sits right alongside the exercises, discussion, and resources that make up the full lesson.
The best use of Eye Contact is to barely need it. Practice your delivery, position your notes near the lens, and record in short sections. When you do glance at your notes — because you will — let Eye Contact clean up those moments so the final video feels natural and connected.
Related guides
- How to Edit Course Videos Using Descript's AI Features — the full Descript editing workflow for course creators
- How to Remove Filler Words From Course Videos Using Descript — clean up ums and uhs without sounding robotic
- How to Record Course Videos with Descript — recording setup and best practices
- How to Create Your First Online Course — complete guide from planning through launch
- Ruzuku Course Builder — upload finished videos directly into lessons with built-in hosting