Produce · Phase 2 of 5
Editing & Post-Production
The edit, from first cut to final export. Pacing, transitions, colour, captions, and the file settings that decide how it all arrives.
Category 5 of 16 in the creator glossary · 131 terms
A
Adjustment layeraka effects layerAn empty layer on the timeline whose effects apply to everything beneath it, so one change hits many clips.Alpha channelaka alpha, transparency channelThe extra channel in an image or video file that stores transparency, alongside the red, green and blue that store colour.Animated captionsaka word-by-word captions, karaoke captions, pop-on captionsStyled subtitles that pop on word by word in time with the speech, the default look on short-form edits.Assembly cutaka assembly edit, first assembly, stringoutThe first edit pass, with every usable take laid out in story order before any trimming. It runs far too long on purpose.Audio syncaka waveform sync, sync clips, syncing footageLining up separately recorded sound with the camera's picture, usually by letting software match the two waveforms automatically.Audio visualiseraka audio visualizer, waveform visualiser, music visualiserThe animated graphic that moves with the sound, so music, podcast and voice-only videos have something to put on screen.Automatic captionsaka auto captions, auto-generated subtitlesSpeech-recognition subtitles YouTube generates after upload. A decent first draft, and never the version to leave live.AV1aka AV1, AOMedia Video 1An open, royalty-free video codec from the Alliance for Open Media, built to reach a given quality at a lower bitrate.
B
Bandingaka colour banding, gradient bandingVisible steps in what should be a smooth gradient, most obvious in skies, backdrops and lighting falloff.Bit depthaka 8-bit, 10-bitHow many tonal steps a file stores per colour channel, which decides how far a grade can be pushed before banding appears.Blend modeaka blending mode, screen, multiplyThe rule deciding how a layer's pixels combine with whatever sits underneath. Screen drops black, multiply drops white.
C
Captionsaka CC, closed captions, caption trackTimed on-screen text of the speech and important sounds in a video, which the viewer switches on and off themselves.Chroma keyaka green screen, keying, keyerRemoving a solid colour background, usually green or blue, so something else can be placed behind the subject.Chroma subsamplingaka 4:2:0, 4:2:2, 4:4:4How much colour detail a video format keeps compared with brightness detail, written as 4:4:4, 4:2:2 or 4:2:0.Codecaka encoder, compression formatThe scheme used to compress video or audio for storage and decompress it for playback; H.264 and AV1 are codecs.Colour castaka color cast, tint, white balance shiftAn unwanted tint across the whole image, usually orange, green or blue, from mixed or misjudged light sources.Colour correctionaka color correction, CC, balancingGetting footage to a neutral, accurate baseline: exposure balanced, white balance right, shots matched to each other before any creative look.Colour gradingaka color grading, grading, the gradeThe creative colour pass that gives a video a deliberate look, applied after the footage has been corrected and matched.Colour spaceaka color space, gamutThe defined range of colours a file, camera or display can represent. Rec. 709 for most YouTube delivery, Rec. 2020 for HDR.Colour wheelsaka color wheels, lift gamma gain, shadows midtones highlightsThe primary grading controls that let you shift colour and brightness separately in the shadows, the midtones and the highlights.Compositingaka comp, layeringCombining separate image layers into a single frame that reads as one photograph, the craft behind green screen and clean-up work.Compression artefactsaka artifacts, macroblocking, blockinessThe blocking, banding and smearing that appear when the bitrate is too low for the amount of motion in the shot.Container formataka container, wrapper, MP4, MOVThe file wrapper holding the video, audio and subtitle streams together. MP4 and MOV are containers; H.264 and ProRes are codecs.Cross-cuttingaka parallel editing, intercuttingCutting back and forth between two threads running in parallel, so both stay open in the viewer's head.Crushed blacksaka crushed shadows, clipped blacksShadow detail flattened to pure black and gone for good. The shadow-side twin of blown highlights, and sometimes a deliberate look.Curvesaka RGB curves, luma curve, curve adjustmentA grading control plotting input brightness against output on a graph, so you can reshape contrast or a single colour channel by hand.Cutting on actionaka cut on action, action matchMaking the cut partway through a movement so the action carries across the join and the viewer stops noticing the edit.
D
E
Easingaka ease in ease out, keyframe easing, bezier easingShaping how an animated value speeds up and slows down between keyframes, instead of changing at one constant rate.Edit decision listaka EDLA plain text list of every clip, source and timecode in a cut, used to carry an edit between different systems.Exportaka render, render out, output, encodeTurning a finished timeline into a single video file, with the codec, container and bitrate settings that decide how it survives upload.Export presetaka export settings, output preset, render settingsA saved bundle of export settings, so every upload leaves the editor with the same codec, resolution and bitrate every time.
F
Face bluraka blur faces, custom blurringStudio's privacy tool for hiding a face in an already-published video, tracked through the shot without re-uploading anything.Fade to blackaka fade out, fade in, fade from blackA transition dissolving the picture to a solid colour, usually black, to close a section or end the video.Filler word removalaka um removal, remove filler wordsCutting the ums, ahs and false starts out of a recording, either by hand in the timeline or with a tool that finds them from the transcript.Film grainaka grain overlay, add grainA layer of noise laid over a digital picture in post to imitate photochemical film, soften clinical sharpness or disguise banding in flat areas.Fine cutaka polish pass, final passThe pass after the rough cut, where timing, graphics, sound and detail get resolved and the edit stops changing shape.Freeze frameaka hold frame, frame holdA single frame held on screen as a still, used to label something, land a joke or stop time for a beat.
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H
H.264aka AVC, x264, MPEG-4 Part 10The codec YouTube recommends for uploads, and the one nearly every camera and editor produces. Universally compatible, and no longer the most efficient.H.265aka HEVC, x265HEVC, the codec that followed H.264, holding similar quality at roughly half the bitrate and now standard for 4K and HDR.Hard cutaka cut, straight cutThe plain cut with nothing between two clips. The default edit, and the one to reach for before any transition.Hardware encodingaka NVENC, GPU encoding, Quick SyncExporting or streaming through a dedicated chip on the graphics card, far faster than asking the processor to do the same work.HDR videoaka HDR, high dynamic range, HDR uploadFootage carrying a wider brightness and colour range than standard video, so bright highlights hold detail instead of clipping to flat white.HSL qualifieraka qualifier, colour key, isolate a colourA grading tool that isolates one range of hue, saturation and luminance so you can change a single colour and leave the rest alone.
I
In and out pointsaka in point, out point, mark in mark outThe start and end frames marked on a clip or a timeline, defining exactly which section gets used, played or exported.Invisible cutaka seamless cut, hidden cut, stitchA cut hidden inside motion or darkness, so two separate takes read to the viewer as one continuous shot.
J
K
Ken Burns effectaka pan and zoom, photo motionA slow pan and zoom across a still photograph so it moves on screen instead of sitting there as a static card.Keyframeaka key, keyframingA marker storing a property's value at a moment in time, so the software can animate between one marker and the next.Kinetic typographyaka animated text, text animationAnimated text used as the main visual, timed to speech or music rather than laid over other footage.
L
L-cutaka audio trail, split editAn edit where the audio from the current shot keeps running after the picture has already cut to the next one.Lower thirdaka name strap, chyron, name tagThe name or label graphic that appears in the bottom portion of the frame, usually introducing whoever is speaking.LUTaka look-up table, LUT, cube file, creative LUTA file that maps one set of colour values to another, used either to convert log footage to a normal picture or to apply a look.
M
Markeraka timeline marker, clip marker, chapter markerA flag dropped on a timeline or clip at a specific timecode, used to note a fix, a beat, or a chapter point.Maskaka masking, matte shapeA shape limiting where a layer or effect appears, so a blur, a colour change or a second angle only shows inside it.Match cutaka matched cut, graphic matchA cut between two shots sharing a shape, a movement or an action, so the join reads as deliberate.Media binaka bin, media pool, project binThe folder structure inside an editing project that holds imported clips, audio, graphics and every other asset.Media cacheaka cache files, peak files, conformed audioThe temporary files an editor writes to keep playback smooth: waveform peaks, conformed audio and clip index files.Media offlineaka missing media, relink media, offline clipsThe error an editor shows when a project can no longer find the source files its clips point at.Monitor calibrationaka display calibration, colour calibrationSetting a display to a known standard so that what you see while grading or designing matches what everyone else will see.Montageaka montage sequenceA run of short shots cut together to compress a process or a stretch of time into a few seconds.Motion graphicsaka mograph, motion design, animated graphicsAnimated text, shapes and graphic elements built into an edit, covering lower thirds, counters, kinetic type and explainer animation.Motion graphics templateaka MOGRT, editable template, preset graphicA packaged graphic with editable text and controls that drops onto a timeline, so you change the words without opening After Effects.Motion trackingaka tracker, planar tracking, corner pinAnalysing movement within a shot so a graphic, blur or effect stays attached to something as it moves.Multicam editingaka multicam, multi-camera edit, multicam sequenceSyncing several camera angles into one clip so you can switch between them in real time as the footage plays.
N
Nestingaka nested sequence, compound clipWrapping a group of clips into a single item on the timeline so the whole run can be moved, trimmed or graded as one.Non-linear editoraka NLE, editing software, editor appTimeline-based editing software where clips can be moved, trimmed and reordered at will. Premiere, Resolve, Final Cut, CapCut.
O
On-screen textaka supers, text overlay, on-screen graphicsAny words laid over the picture: labels, punchlines, corrections, and the numbers you would rather show than say out loud.Open captionsaka burned-in captions, hardsubs, baked-in subtitlesCaptions rendered into the picture itself, so they always show and no viewer can switch them off.Optical flowaka frame blending, motion interpolationA slow-motion method that invents new frames by tracking pixel movement between existing ones, smoother than frame blending when it works.Outroaka video outro, sign-offThe closing section of a video: the sign-off, the one ask, and the end screen offering somewhere else to go.
P
Pacingaka edit pace, cut rhythmHow fast information and images move through a cut. The felt speed of a video, set by shot length, density and rhythm.Paper editaka transcript edit plan, edit outlinePlanning a cut on the transcript or on paper before opening the timeline, so the structure is settled before the fiddly work starts.Picture lockaka locked cut, locked pictureThe moment in post when the edit's timing is declared final, so sound, colour and graphics can finish against something that will not move.Picture-in-pictureaka PiP, inset, facecam insetA smaller video window laid over a full-frame shot, most often a facecam sitting in the corner of gameplay or a screen recording.Playheadaka scrubber, scrubbing, current time indicatorThe vertical marker on an editing timeline showing which frame you are looking at; dragging it is scrubbing.Post-productionaka post, the editEverything that happens once filming wraps: the edit, sound, colour, graphics, captions and the final export.Power windowaka grading mask, vignette windowA shape drawn in the grade that limits a colour correction to one area of the frame, often tracked to a subject.Preview renderingaka render cache, background render, render in to outGetting your editor to pre-render heavy stretches of the timeline so they play back smoothly while you keep working.ProResaka Apple ProRes, ProRes 422, mezzanine codecApple's high-quality intermediate codec. It is what you edit and hand over in, and generally not what you upload.Proxy mediaaka proxy, proxies, proxy workflow, optimised mediaLow-resolution copies of your footage that the editor plays instead of the originals, so the timeline runs smoothly on ordinary hardware.Punch-inaka digital zoom, jump zoom, reframe zoomScaling into the frame in post to make a tighter shot out of wide footage, faking a second angle or adding emphasis.
R
Rec. 709aka Rec709, BT.709, standard dynamic rangeThe standard colour space for HD video, and what most YouTube uploads are graded in and viewed in.Recommended upload encoding settingsaka YouTube upload settings, YouTube encoding spec, recommended bitrateYouTube's published guidance on container, codecs, resolution, frame rate and bitrate for the file you hand it at upload.Retention editingaka editing for retentionEditing driven by one question at every cut: what would make somebody click away here, and can it be tightened, covered or removed?Ripple deleteaka close gap, delete and close gapRemoving a section of timeline and pulling everything after it back, so no gap is left behind.Rotoscopingaka roto, roto brushCutting a subject out of the frame by hand across time, used where no green screen exists to key against.Rough cutaka first cutThe version where the story works and nothing else does yet: structure in place, timing loose, no colour, music, graphics or sound work.
S
Saturationaka chroma, colour intensityThe intensity of colour in an image, raised or lowered uniformly across everything in the frame.Scratch diskaka cache drive, working driveThe drive an editing or design application uses for cache files, render previews and temporary data while you work.Secondary colour correctionaka secondaries, secondary gradeGrading one part of the picture rather than the whole frame. Skin, sky, a logo, a single colour.Selectsaka pulling selects, selects reel, keepersThe takes and moments marked as usable on a first pass through the footage, before any cutting or sequencing begins.Sharpeningaka sharpen, unsharp maskAdding contrast at edges to make an image read as crisper, applied in the edit, on export, or in camera.Shot matchingaka colour matching, match shots, match gradeMaking shots from different angles, cameras or days look like one continuous scene, mostly by matching exposure, white balance and contrast.Silence detectionaka strip silence, auto-cut silences, detect silenceAn editing tool that finds gaps in a recording below a set volume threshold and strips them out automatically.Skin tonesaka skin tone lineThe reference every grade gets judged by, with a dedicated diagonal line on the vectorscope for checking them.Slip editaka slipping a clipChanging which part of a source clip plays, without moving the clip or altering its length on the timeline.Smash cutA jarring cut between two shots that clash on purpose, used for comic timing or for shock.Speed rampaka speed ramping, rampAn animated change in clip speed, usually accelerating into a cut and slowing out of it.Spill suppressionaka green spill, spill removal, despillRemoving the green or blue light bouncing off the screen onto your hair, shoulders and edges after a key.SRT fileaka subrip, .srt, subtitle fileA plain-text subtitle format of numbered cues with start and end timecodes, readable by almost every platform.Subtitlesaka subs, subtitle trackTimed on-screen text of what is said, often translated into another language, without the sound descriptions that captions carry.Supercutaka montage supercutAn edit that strings every instance of one thing back to back, so the repetition itself becomes the joke or the argument.
T
Text-based editingaka transcript-based editing, edit by transcriptCutting video by editing its transcript. Delete a sentence in the text and the matching footage leaves the timeline.Three-point editingaka three point editSetting three of the four in and out points across source and timeline, and letting the editing software work out the fourth.Time remappingaka retiming, speed change, slow motion in postChanging a clip's playback speed across its own length, so one shot can ramp from slow motion into real time.Timecodeaka TC, drop frame timecodeThe hours, minutes, seconds and frames address for any point in footage, used to locate and sync material precisely.Timelineaka sequence, edit timelineThe track-based workspace in an editor where clips, audio and effects are laid out in time and assembled into a cut.Timeline trackaka track, video track, audio track, layerA horizontal lane in an editing timeline holding clips. Stacked video tracks composite upwards; audio tracks all play together.Title cardaka title slide, section card, chapter cardA full-frame graphic marking a section, a chapter or a joke. Gives the viewer a beat and gives the edit visible structure.Title safe areaaka safe zone, safe margins, action safeThe inner region of the frame where text is guaranteed to survive cropping and stay clear of player controls and platform interface.Track matteaka matte, alpha matte, luma matteUsing one layer's shape or brightness to control what is visible in another, the standard trick for putting text behind a subject.Transcriptaka video transcript, caption transcriptThe full written text of everything said in a video, used for captions, chapters, subtitles, translation and repurposing.Transitionaka video transitionAny effect carrying the edit from one clip into the next instead of a straight cut: a dissolve, a wipe, a whip pan.Trimaka trimming, trim editAdjusting where a clip starts or ends on the timeline. The most-used edit there is, and the one worth learning shortcuts for.Two-pass encodingaka 2-pass, dual pass exportAn export where the encoder analyses the whole video first, then spends its bitrate on the second run where the picture needs it.
U
V
Variable bitrateaka VBR, CBR, constant bitrateEncoding that varies how much data each second of video gets, spending more on complicated shots and less on simple ones.Vectorscopeaka colour vectorscopeA circular scope showing a picture's hue and saturation, with a diagonal skin tone line used to judge whether faces look right.Video noise reductionaka denoise, NR, noise removalCleaning sensor grain out of footage in post. Effective in small doses and instantly obvious in large ones.Video processingaka YouTube processing, still processing, SD then HDThe work YouTube does after an upload lands, re-encoding the file into every resolution it will serve to viewers.Video scopesaka scopes, colour scopesMeasurement displays such as the waveform, vectorscope, histogram and RGB parade, used to judge exposure and colour by numbers.VP9aka VP9, WebM codecGoogle's royalty-free video codec, one of the formats YouTube transcodes uploads into for delivery to viewers.
W
Warp Stabilizeraka warp stabiliser, post stabilisationAdobe's post-production stabilisation effect, which analyses a clip and then smooths out the shake it finds.Waveform monitoraka waveform, luma waveformA scope plotting brightness across the frame, so exposure gets judged by measurement instead of by how your screen happens to look.WebVTTaka VTT, .vttThe standard text format for web captions, storing timed cues in a plain file that supports positioning and basic styling.Whip pan transitionaka swish pan, whoosh transitionA fast pan that blurs the frame, used to hide the join between two shots so the cut reads as one continuous move.Wipeaka wipe transitionA transition where the incoming shot pushes or slides the outgoing one off the screen along an edge.