Editing & Post-Production

Non-linear editor

Also called: NLE, editing software, editor app

The name is a leftover from tape, where editing meant copying shots in order and changing one meant redoing everything after it. A non-linear editor leaves the source files untouched and stores your decisions as a list, so any clip can be replaced or shifted at any point without disturbing the rest.

Everything else follows from that: multiple video and audio tracks, undo, project files holding no media themselves, proxies standing in for large files. It also means the project depends on media staying where you left it, and offline clips are the most common panic in an editor's first month.

More in Editing & Post-Production

All 131 Editing & Post-Production terms

Trying to put this into practice? The Chewbr Knowledge Bank walks the whole upload workflow, phase by phase.