There must be many terminologies that you don’t understand or have never seen before; some terms may seem so unfamiliar even for an expert. This section is built for providing definition and explanation in plain English for those terminologies that are not easy to understand. It’s a great spot to get started from for beginners and meantime a help toolkit with basic support for pros.
If you think a terminology should be included in “Glossary” section, which is currently not listed, please contact us with the term(s) included.
A/B-roll
A-Roll and B-Roll are terms from the old days of linear film editing, when editors would use two rolls of identical footage to create transitions between shots. With modern non-linear editing tools, there’s no longer a need for two separate rolls, but the terms are still used today.
back to menu ↑Deinterlace
If you record a fast moving object, you will get a “striped” picture. The Deinterlace filter transforms the mixed frames into normal video frames and removes interlaced horizontal rows.
back to menu ↑Dissolve
In graphics and video editing dissolve is a term used to describe a transition effect in which one video clip is gradually fads out while another image simultaneously replaces the original one. Also called video dissolve, film dissolve, or linear light blend.
back to menu ↑Fade
Fade is the dissolve transition between a normal image and a black screen. When you dissolve from an image to black, it’s a fade out. When you dissolve from black to an image it’s called a fade in.
back to menu ↑Freeze frame
A freeze frame is a single frame of a video that repeats for some time, creating an illusion of pausing the video. You can use freeze frames to emphasize a moment or create a pause to explain things to the viewer.
back to menu ↑Frame Rate
Frame Rate is the rate at which a shutter opens and closes, or a sensor captures video during one second. Typical frame rates are 24, 25, and 29.97, 30 and 50 and 60.
back to menu ↑Generation Loss
Generation loss is the reduction of film quality with each successive copy from the master. Generation loss is overcome with digital video transferring.
back to menu ↑J-cut
It gets its name for how the clips line up in the editing software. A J cut is used when the audio from clip B comes in when we’re still seeing clip A. Pretty much every documentary interview you’ve ever seen uses J cuts throughout.
back to menu ↑Linear Editing
Linear video editing is a video editing post-production process of selecting, arranging and modifying images and sound in a predetermined, ordered sequence.
back to menu ↑Marker
A marker is a visual cue that you can apply on your Timeline. You may insert markers to locate and remember a certain event in the Video or Audio tracks.
back to menu ↑Transitions
Transitions are short animations that use geometric shapes and transparency to connect two clips in a creative way.
back to menu ↑Montage
A montage is “a single pictorial composition made by juxtaposing or superimposing many pictures or designs. In filmmaking, a montage is an editing technique in which shots are juxtaposed in an often fast-paced fashion that compresses time and conveys a lot of information in a relatively short period.
back to menu ↑Pan, Tilt, Zoom
Pans are fixed, lateral movements made with the camera. Tilting is when you move the camera vertically, up to down or down to up, while its base is fixated to a certain point. Zooming is often used as a clutch when the videographer is not sure what else to do to add interest to a shot.
back to menu ↑Timeline
Timeline is a commonly used interface found in most video editing programs. This interface enables authors to lay a video project out in a linear fashion horizontally across a monitor.
back to menu ↑Tracking Shot
A Tracking shot physically advances or changes the position of the camera relative to the subject, changing the spatial relations between a subject and its surroundings. These shots are often captured using a dolly or slider.