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• BMP: The standard Windows bitmap still image file format. Bitmap files are not compressed, and are therefore significantly larger than the same image stored in formats such as GIF and JPEG.

• GIF: Acronym for Graphics Interchange Format. A still image file format commonly used on web pages for simple illustrations and animations. Use the JPEG format for photographic images.

• JPEG: A still image file format developed by the Joint Photographic Experts Group that can compress photographic images into much smaller file sizes while sacrificing only a little image quality. Commonly used for photographs on web pages and in e-mail. See also GIF.

• PICT: The standard Apple Macintosh still image Picture file format.

• TIFF: A lossless image file format designed for photographic images that compresses the image size while preserving all the image quality. The resulting files are therefore larger than those with JPEG compression, which sacrifices some detail in order to significantly reduce the image size.

Digital Audio Formats

• AIFF: Acronym for Audio Interchange File Format; Macintosh audio file format. Can be used for uncompressed and compressed data. See also WAV.

• MP3: An audio file format, especially popular for downloading songs from the web and for storing music in and portable music players. Named for Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) 1, Layer 3. Uses lossy compression to significantly reduce file size, but often with little perceptible loss in sound quality. Used to store large song collections on hard disc, download audio to portable audio players, and save multiple hours of music to CD. Some consumer audio players and set-top DVD players can play MP3 audio files stored on CD-R/RW discs. See also WAV, Windows Media Audio.

• WAV: The uncompressed Wave audio file format used with Microsoft Windows. See also AIFF, MP3, WAV, Windows Media Audio.

• Windows Media Audio (WMA): The Microsoft Windows Media native audio file format. Used for compressing, storing, and organizing CDs and downloaded audio in albums on disk. Also used to download audio to portable audio players. Some consumer audio players and set-top DVD players can play WMA audio files stored on CD-R/RW discs. See also MP3, WAV, Windows Media.

Digital Data Rates

• Bandwidth: The amount and rate of data that can be processed or transmitted by a given device. An analog modem has very little bandwidth compared to a high-speed cable modem, for instance, so the former cannot download video from the Internet nearly as quickly as the latter. See also data rate.

• Data rate: The speed at which data is transferred, as in bytes per second. Also called bit rate. For example, the speed to download or stream a video file over the Internet, or the speed at which the file must play from a hard disk. When you create a video or audio file, you can specify the target bit rate at which the file will be played. Also called bit rate. See also bandwidth.

• Bitstream: A collection of data, as in video or audio data compressed to a file or transmitted between devices.

• Bit: A binary digit. The fundamental element of computer logic and numbers. Represents one of two values: zero or one, off or on, false or true. See also byte.

• byte: A data element containing eight bits, or 256 distinct values. Commonly used to store a single text character. Computer data transfer rates are traditionally measured in bits, as in Mb for Megabits (millions of bits, with a lower-case "b"); whereas computer data storage is traditionally measured in bytes, as in MB, for megabytes (millions of bytes, with an upper-case "B"). See also bit, GB, KB, MB.

• MB: Megabytes ( millions of bytes). In computer use, a megabyte actually represents the closest binary power of 2 to a million, or 1024 squared. See also byte, GB, KB.

• GB: Gigabytes (billions of bytes). In computer use, a gigabyte actually represents the closest binary power of 2 to a billion, or 1024 cubed. In general use in advertising DVD disc capacity, however, the number of "GB" is actually used to specify a different value, a billion decimal. See also byte, KB, MB.

Video Editing Fundamentals

• Rough cut: A quick assembly of raw clips to approximate the desired final program. As a first step in editing, arranging a collection of clips in the desired order as a storyboard of the production.

• Storyboard: In video production, a series of cartoonlike panels drawn to describe a movie, shot by shot. In video editing, an interface that allows you to organize the sequential flow of your production by arranging thumbnails of each video clip. See also Timeline.

• Scene: A single video sequence, typically shot in one continuous take. For editing purposes, it is useful to capture or trim your video material so that each scene is stored as an individual clip that can then be edited on the Timeline. See also clip.

• Clip: A short piece of video and/or audio, often containing an individual scene. When creating a video project, you import clip files into bins in your project, and often trim longer clips into individual scenes. You then edit the clips together on the Timeline to play in sequential order to tell the "story" of your production, with transitions between clips and other added effects.

• Channel: The subcomponents of a clip. For images, an alpha channel can contain a matte or mask image to key certain regions of the image to be transparent. For audio, the separate left and right channels of a stereo clip.

• Timeline: In video editing, an interface that allows you to assemble a collection of clips into a production with multiple overlapping tracks. A timeline provides a view of multiple sources being combined over time, with separate tracks for video, audio, and superimposed video, as well as transitions and effects. See also storyboard.

• Track: A sequence of video or audio clips in the a video editing timeline that are to be combined and superimposed into a final production.

• Time ruler: The time display row along the top of the Timeline, showing the time code along the production. See also edit line.

• Edit line: The current editing point in the Timeline, as displayed in the Monitor window and used for inserts and deletes. Often shown by a triangle control in the time ruler with a vertical line down through the Timeline tracks.

• Jog: To move slowly through a program, as with frame advance or frame reverse VCR controls. Use the jog tread to step frame by frame through a clip or program to position to a specific frame. See also shuttle.

• Shuttle: To move rapidly through a program, as with scan forward or scan reverse VCR controls. Use the shuttle slider control to scan rapidly through a clip or program to move to a general area in the material. See also jog.

• Preview : To play a program on the Timeline and view the appearance of the final production, including transitions and effects. See also scrub.

• Real-time preview: To play back a program in the Timeline at full rate, while showing edits such as transitions, effects, overlays, and titles. Allows viewing the effects of edits immediately, without the need to wait and render the program each time. Video editors simulate the frame rate and appearance of the final program as possible depending on the complexity of the program and the system performance.

• Scrub: To play a program in the Timeline by dragging the edit line. You can also render-scrub to show the visual effects of transitions or other effects, but not at full playback speed. See also real-time preview.

• Render: To generate a video production in its final form, including transitions, effects, and superimposed tracks. You can render portions of a Timeline in order to preview your edits at that point, or render the entire production before exporting it in its final form, to a disk file or out to tape.

• Render-scrub: To preview a program in the Timeline and display the visual effects of transitions or other effects but not at full playback speed. Used to preview a portion of the Timeline before rendering it. See also scrub, real-time preview.

• Export: To save your production to a file or to an external video device. You can export both individual clips and entire productions on the Timeline to a variety of disk and Web media file formats. See also import.

• Scratch Disk: A dedicated work area on hard disk. Used for temporary storage and for saving preview files.

• Preview File: Temporary file to save the results of rendering a portion of the Timeline. With these files, editors can preview the results of your editing on the Timeline at full playback rate, including transitions and effects. See also scratch disk.

Video Editing - User Interface

• Project window: The main window, used to import and save clips used in the program you are editing and organize them into bins. You save each editing activity in a separate Project file, including the imported material and editing context.

• Bin window: A window used to import and organize folders of source clips.

• Clip window: A window used to view and trim individual clips. See also Monitor window, Source view.

• Storyboard window: A window used to organize a group of clips into a sequence. You can use this window to quickly lay out the scenes to include in your production into a rough cut and then move them into the Timeline for further editing. See also Timeline window.

• Timeline window: A window used to assemble, trim, arrange, and superimpose video, audio, and image clips into a program. See also Storyboard window.

• Monitor window: The used to preview and edit the Source view of individual video clips and the Program view of the material being assembled on the Timeline. See also Clip window.

• Source view: The Monitor window view that displays a source clip for viewing and editing on the Timeline. The source clip can be from a bin in the Project window, or from a track on the Timeline. See also Program view.

• Program view: The Monitor window view that displays the production being assembled on the Timeline. Depending on the current settings, this can be a simple preview of the cuts between adjacent clips, or a fully rendered preview with transitions and effects. See also Source view.

• Movie Capture window: The window used to preview and record from DV and analog video and audio devices. Also used for batch capture of a group of clips.

• Title window: A window used to lay out and design title text and graphics.

• Palette windows: Small floating windows that provide convenient access to information, options, and commands used in video editing. Palettes can be adjusted, hidden, and docked as desired to accommodate your editing style.

• Transitions palette: A window that lists the available video transitions, grouped by type. Used to access transitions to be applied to the Timeline. You can also reorganize and customize the list.

• Video Effects palette: A window that lists the available video effects, grouped by type. Used to access effects to be applied to a video clip. You can also reorganize and customize the list.

• Effect Controls palette: A window that lists the current effects applied to an audio or video clip. Used to adjust the order of effects and change effect settings.

• Audio Effects palette: A window that lists the available audio effects, grouped by type. Used to access effects to be applied to an audio clip. You can also reorganize and customize the list.

• Audio Mixer window: A window used to dynamically monitor and control the volume level and pan/balance of multiple audio tracks on the Timeline to combine them into a final program.

• Navigator palette: A window that displays a miniature view of the current Timeline work area within the overall program. Used to scroll and zoom the program in the Timeline view.

• Commands palette: A window that contains a list of preset commands. You can customize the palette to define buttons and function keys for fast access to often-used commands.

• Info palette: A window that displays information about a selected clip or transition.

• History palette: A window that displays a list of your recent actions during the current working session. Used to undo recent operations and return to a previous state of the project.

Video Editing - Import and Capture

• Import: To bring media elements into your current working space. Video editors can import video and audio clips, still images, and animated sequences in a variety of formats. You can import both individual clips and folders of clips, and add them to bins in an open Project. See also capture, export.

• Capture: To digitize, or import and convert, video and/or audio into digital format on your computer from external devices, such as a camcorder or VCR. You typically use a special video capture card to input analog video into your computer, and then convert and save it into digital files on your disk. With DV camcorders, you transfer digital data directly into your computer over a FireWire / 1394 interface. See also import.

• Batch capture: The automated process of capturing an entire group of clips (such as from a DV camcorder) as defined by a batch list.

• Batch list: A list of clips with the timecode values for each In and Out point (also called a timecode log) to be used in a batch capture process. See also batch capture, log, timecode.

• Log: A list of clips in a longer sequence, identified by starting and ending timecodes. Use the batch log to build a list of clips to be batch captured from a tape.

Video Editing - Clips and Tracks

• Single-track editing: A style of editing in which the Timeline is condensed to a single row per track. See also A/B editing.

• A/B editing: A style of video editing in which you edit together clips in pairs - A and B - typically with a transition from one to the next. This style is useful for assembling a program with simple drag-and-drop convenience. See also single-track editing.

• Duration: A length of time. For a clip, the length of time that it will play, determined by its overall length. Or if the clip has been trimmed, the difference in time between its In point and Out point. See also timecode.

• Crop: To make an image physically smaller by trimming away one or more edges. This reduces the dimensions of the image, and reduces the size of the computer file.

• Trim: To cut out a segment of a clip by removing frames from the beginning and/or end. To adjust the In or Out points of a clip to identify the portion to be used in the final production.

• Marker: A placeholder used to mark a specific timecode in a sequence. Use to keep track of changes, events, or synchronization points in a longer sequence. You can use the In and Out point markers to mark a clip to be captured from a source tape, to mark part of a clip to be trimmed, or to mark a portion of the Timeline to be played. See also In Point, Out Point.

• In point: A placeholder used to mark a specific timecode as the starting point of a segment in a longer sequence. You can use In and Out points to mark a clip to be captured from a source tape, to mark part of a clip to be trimmed, or to mark a portion of the Timeline to be played. See also marker, Out point.

• Out point: A placeholder used to mark a specific timecode as the end point of a segment in a longer sequence. You can use In and Out points to mark a clip to be captured from a source tape, to mark part of a clip to be trimmed, or to mark a portion of the Timeline to be played. See also marker, In point.

• Split edit: To adjust the video and audio portions of a clip separately so that they start or end at different times. Used for audio cross-fading so that the audio can lead in or fade out independently from the cut in the video. See also L-cut and J-cut.

• J-cut: A split edit in which the In point of a clip is adjusted to overlap the preceding clip so that the audio portion of the later clip starts playing before its video as a lead-in to the visual cut. Also called an audio lead. See also L-cut.

• L-cut : A split edit in which the audio Out point of a clip is extended beyond the video Out point, so that the audio cuts after the video and continues playing over the beginning of the next clip. See also J-cut.

• Four-point edit: A method of setting In and Out points to precisely control where and how frames are inserted into a Timeline. In a four-point edit, you set all four In and Out markers, and the editor displays a warning dialog if the durations do not match. See also three-point edit.

• Three-point edit: A method of setting In and Out points to precisely control where and how frames are inserted into a Timeline. In a three-point edit, you set any three such markers, and the software determines the fourth to match the specified duration. See also four-point edit.

• Ripple edit: A method of editing in the Timeline so that when new material is inserted, or existing material is deleted, other material is adjusted to fit. In a ripple edit, the change ripples through the rest of the material, as the existing clips slide apart to make room for the new material, or slide together to fill a gap. See also rolling edit, slide edit, slip edit.

• Rolling edit: A method of editing in the Timeline by adjusting and trimming two adjacent clips. When you roll the cut point between the adjacent clips, the durations of the two clips are adjusted to keep the overall program duration unchanged. The Out point of the first clip is changed in tandem with the In point of the second clip so that, as one increases in duration, the other decreases to match it. See also ripple edit, slide edit, slip edit.

• Slide edit: A method of editing in the Timeline by moving a clip and trimming neighboring clips to adjust to the change. When you slide a clip earlier or later in the program, the neighboring clips are trimmed accordingly by changing their In and Out points so that the duration of the overall program remains unchanged. See also ripple edit, rolling edit, slip edit.

• Slip edit: A method of editing in the Timeline by changing the trim points in a clip. When you slip the trim points earlier or later in a clip, the In and Out points are adjusted correspondingly so that the duration of the clip is unchanged. A slip edit also does not affect the rest of the program on the Timeline. See also ripple edit, rolling edit, slip edit.

Video Editing - Titles

• Title: Onscreen text (and associated graphics) that can be used to add information to your production. Used as a title screen at the beginning of your production, for subtitles superimposed under the video, and for rolling credits at the end.

• Subtitle: A text overlay on video materials, typically used to display the audio dialog in various languages, or to transcribe hard-to-understand speech.

• Caption: Title text that labels a scene or identifies a location or person onscreen.

• Credit: Title text that identifies the people who contributed to a production. Usually scrolled at the end of a show.

• Crawl: To scroll a line of title text sideways, left or right across the screen. See also roll.

• Roll: To scroll lines of title text vertically up or down the screen. See also crawl.

• Kerning: The spacing between adjacent characters in a text string, as in a title.

Video Editing - Transitions

• Transition: A visual effect to segue from the end of one clip or scene and the start of the next. The most basic transition is a cut, in which the last frame of one clip is immediately followed by the first frame of the next clip. More interesting transition effects include fades, dissolves, and wipes between adjacent clips.

• Cut: To switch instantly from one clip to another. A video cut appears suddenly onscreen without any other kind of transition effect. The cut is the most basic kind of transition for changing scenes and dropping titles onto the screen. See also fade, transition.

• Fade: A gradual transition from one clip to another. With video, the clip changes from transparent to fully opaque (or vice versa) to fade in or out. With audio, the gain changes between silence and full volume.

• Dissolve: A video transition in which one video clip fades into the next. See also fade, transition.

• Wipe: A video transition in which the new video physically moves into the frame while displacing the old video.

Video Editing - Effects

• Effect: The result of processing audio and video clips to enhance, improve, or distort them. See also filter.

• Animate: To move and manipulate an object over time, such as a title, a superimposed logo, or a transition between frames.

• Keyframe: A point along a timeline or path that defines where and how the settings for an effect will change. One or more settings can then be interpolated from keyframe to keyframe to create the appearance of a smoothly change over a series of frames or along a motion path. See also interpolate.

• Scale: To reduce or enlarge an image or video sequence by squeezing or stretching the entire image to a smaller or larger image resolution.

• Filter: A transformation applied to a video or audio clip to enhance it or create a visual or auditory effect. See also effect.

• Gamma: A display setting related to the brightness of the middle tones of an image. You can adjust the gamma of an image to lighten or darken the midtones (the middle-gray levels), without significantly changing the dark and light areas (the shadows and highlights).

• Gradient : Gradual change from one color (or intensity level) to another. Gradient colors can also become opaque or transparent, varying in translucency from one side to the other.

• Interpolate: To automatically create graduated steps between two or more keyframes to create smooth transitions for video, audio, and motion effects.

• Antialias: To smooth out a jagged or stair-step appearance or motion between adjacent points so that it appears continuous.

• Motion blur: The effect of tracking a speeding object and thus blurring the background because of the motion.

Video Editing - Compositing

• Composite - superimpose: To layer multiple tracks onto the Timeline. To composite portions of multiple clips into the final production by overlaying clips with transparent regions to allow the underlying tracks to show through. See also key.

• Superimpose track: In video editing, the Video 2 track and above, which can include titles, logos, and other material to be overlaid on the bottom Video 1 track.

• Opaque: Regions of a superimposed image that are solid (not transparent), and therefore cover over the underlying image. See also transparent.

• Transparent: Regions of a superimposed image that are invisible, and therefore show through to the underlying image, as used for logo overlays and blue-screen effects. May be defined using a key color or alpha mask. Technically, overlays also can be translucent, and blend portions of the two images. See also opaque.

• Key: To specify a region of an image or video clip to be used as a mask for transparency. Used to make part of the scene transparent or semitransparent, and then composite it with other superimposed images or video tracks. The region can be specified using features such as color (a color key) or intensity, or with a separate alpha mask or image matte. See also blue screen, matte.

• Mask: An image which defines areas in a frame to be used as a transparency key or matte. Each pixel in the mask image indicates the degree of transparency to be used for the corresponding pixel position in each frame. See key, matte.

• Matte: An image mask used to define the transparent areas of each frame to be used in superimposing multiple clips. See also key.

• Alpha channel: Extra information stored with an image to define transparent areas used for keying and superimpositions. Also called an alpha mask. Sometimes present in files prepared using a tool such as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. See also key.

• Blue screen: A specially colored backdrop (typically blue or green) that can be matched with a color key and made transparent so that it can be replaced with another video layer. For example, you can cut out a subject from the blue screen background and composite it into another scene. See also matte, key.

• Garbage matte: A mask used in a keying operation to remove a region of a frame that contains unwanted objects.

• Watermark: A small, semitransparent graphic that identifies a scene or speaker. Many TV broadcasts use a watermark to let you know what channel you're watching.

Audio Editing and Effects

• Rip: To extract data from a removable disc. Typically, to copy songs from a prerecorded CD-Audio disc to hard disc in order to organize a collection, and play and burn personalized playlists.

• Playlist: Typically, a list of songs to be played in a specified order. Used to organize collections to download to a portable audio player or burn to a CD.

• Sweeten: To use audio effects to enhance and manipulate the audio sound.

• Audio waveform: A graphical representation of an audio clip, helping to visualize the sound in the clip by showing the signal levels. Editors can show a waveform in audio tracks in the Timeline and in a separate Clip window when you open an audio clip.

• Gang: To adjust multiple tracks at the same time, as in the Audio Mixer window.

• VU meter: An audio mixer's display of audio levels for each track.

• Gain: Overall audio output volume. Increase gain to amplify a clip, or decrease gain to attenuate a clip, making it quieter.

• Amplify: Increase the audio volume.

• Attenuate: To reduce audio strength or volume.

• Dynamic range: The difference between the softest and loudest sounds. Decrease to compress the range and reduce noise, or expand to emphasize volume differences.

• Balance: To distribute two channels of a stereo clip between the left and right channels. See also pan.

• Pan: To move the apparent location of a mono audio track to position it between the left and right stereo channels. With stereo clips, you adjust the balance between the two channels. See also balance.

• Delay: An audio effect that provides an echo of a sound after a specified time period.

• Equalize: To adjust the tonal quality of an audio clip. As with graphic equalizers found in home or auto audio equipment, an equalize effect can to boost or cut the original signal at different frequency bands.

• Reverb: An audio effect that simulates the ambience of a room of a specific size and with different sound-absorbent properties.

• Bandpass effects: Audio effects designed to remove specific frequencies from an audio clip (manifested as hisses, whines, and hums).

 

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