I tried using the Galaxy Z Fold 8’s MyFanCam on my dogs, but I hit a major wall

(Image credit: Tom's Guide) The Samsung Galaxy Z 8 series seems mostly focused on hardware upgrades, but there are still some excellent new AI and software features for you to take advantage of. My current favorite is MyFanCam, which edits a video to follow an individual rather than including the entire frame. Unfortunately, having tested the feature, there's one downside I didn't anticipate.I have two very energetic dogs, and I had hoped MyFanCam would help make videos of them playing a little easier to follow. Unfortunately the AI is only capable of recognizing people, which means my dreams of more stable and easy to follow videos of my dog chasing a ball have been dashed — for now.What is MyFanCam?MyFanCam is a new Galaxy AI feature that's been released on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, Z Fold 8 and Z Flip 8. The idea behind it is that you can reframe existing videos and shift the focus onto individual subjects rather than everything as a whole. Samsung's example videos feature people dancing together and utilizing MyFanCam to focus on a single member of the troupe. How to use My FanCam | Galaxy AI | Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, Fold8, and Flip8 | Samsung - YouTube Watch On This isn't a dedicated camera mode that follows people in frame, though. That feature has existed for a few years, and it's called Video Auto Framing. Instead, this is an AI editing feature, which takes videos you've already recorded and applies the principles of MyFanCam to the people in shot.I was able to do it with videos I recorded as far back as 2019 on a non-Samsung phone. That's helpful, because it means you could breathe new life into your old videos, without having to worry about whether they have the right markers for Galaxy AI to do what needs to be done.The other obvious benefit here is that you don't need to worry about getting the perfect shot while you're busy recording. In the same way that Reframe in iOS 27 will let you tweak the perspective of your photos, MyFanCam lets you change the main focus of the video so that viewers can hone in on what's important.It's also worth noting that MyFanCam can't focus on more than one subject at a time, because that defeats the whole purpose of the feature. However you can always go back and make another MyFanCam video that focuses on someone else.Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.So in that group of three dancers, you could potentially end up with three additional takes on the very same video.It only seems to work on people right now (Image credit: Future)I like taking photos and shooting videos of my dogs. They're adorable for one, but you never know when they're going to do something stupid and hilarious. The problem is keeping track of them when they're off their leash, and bolting around the local park. They're moving so quickly, and are often so far away, that I just can't keep track of them with my camera.Sadly, running videos of my dogs playing through MyFanCam did... nothing. The AI didn't register that the dogs were there, which obviously meant that it wasn't able to focus on one of them and edit the video accordingly. (Image credit: Future)I then went back and checked it against a video of me and one of my dogs clearly in frame, just to see what happened. As expected, it picked me up right away, but was apparently oblivious to my furry companion. (Image credit: Future)Oddly intrigued, I tried to find some bizarre videos of people, and see how well Galaxy AI was able to pick up people in situations that are a little out of the ordinary. It had no problem focusing on a Berlin street performer that was doing a handstand on a skateboard, but it had trouble recognizing that a mid-performance routine was a human being. Similarly, adolescent gorillas at the zoo straight-up didn't register.If you want to know something quite funny, MyFanCam was able to focus on certain characters on the parade floats at Disney World, including Pluto and Chip — but it struggled with Goofy. Clearly not even AI is sure what Goofy is supposed to be, because he's sure as heck not a dog. (Image credit: Future)I can't tell you whether Samsung has done this deliberately or not, but in my experience attempting to use AI camera features, I've noticed that it only really plays along when people are involved. Google's Add me feature is a very good example of this, since it also wouldn't register that my dogs were living, moving creatures that could move in and out of photos as they saw fit.As for why, I can only assume that it's because the AI utilized by these camera features has only been trained on people. Tech companies likely figured that people would mostly want to photograph or video their friends and family.Try and get the AI to register something slightly out of the usual parameters and it'll struggle. I guess people are easier for AI models to understand, whereas animals and pets come in all kinds of different shapes and sizes.Bottom line (Image credit: Tom's Guide)Despite that obvious flaw, I feel as though MyFanCam has potential. The idea that you can go back to a video and completely reshape what people see, and without resorting to changing things with generative AI, is quite impressive.I'm disappointed by the lack of support for pets, though. As anyone with energetic animals in their lives can likely attest, capturing them on camera can be rather difficult. I was so looking forward to getting MyFanCam to get to work on the videos of my dogs, but sadly that wasn't meant to be. Hopefully it's something Samsung can work on, and roll out to Galaxy phones and roll out as a software update in the near future.In the meantime, just make sure to keep your editing focused on people. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. More from Tom's GuideI just ditched my iPhone for the Z Fold 8 — Android 17’s new migration tool is pure magic, but there is one painful catchI just spent 24 hours with the Galaxy Z fold 8 Ultra — here's what I liked and what I didn'tGalaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra doesn't have a crease-free display — but it's the closest Samsung has ever got to one Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.