Walking into the world of video editing for the first time feels a lot like landing in a foreign country where everyone speaks a different language. Terms like “B-roll,” “jump cut,” and “LUTs” get thrown around like everyday conversation, leaving beginners frantically Googling definitions while trying to look like they know what’s happening.
Here’s the truth: understanding video editing terminology isn’t just about keeping up with industry jargon. It’s about thinking more strategically about your edits, communicating effectively with collaborators, and unlocking features in your editing software that you didn’t even know existed.
This comprehensive glossary breaks down the essential editing vocabulary you’ll encounter whether you’re cutting together YouTube videos in your bedroom or stepping onto a professional production set. We’ll cover everything from basic timeline concepts to color grading terms, codec specifications, and audio fundamentals—all explained in plain English.
Core Timeline and Sequence Terms
Timeline
The timeline is your editing workspace—the horizontal interface where you arrange video clips, audio tracks, effects, and transitions in chronological order. Think of it as your canvas. Most editing software displays time running left to right, with multiple tracks stacked vertically that allow you to layer different elements.
Sequence
A sequence is a collection of clips arranged on your timeline with specific settings (resolution, frame rate, audio sample rate). When you export your project, you’re typically exporting a sequence. Large projects often contain multiple sequences—perhaps one for each scene or section of your video.
Playhead
That vertical line moving across your timeline? That’s your playhead (sometimes called the “scrubber”). It indicates your current position in the sequence and shows what frame you’re viewing in the preview window.
In Point and Out Point
These markers define the beginning and end of a clip segment you want to use. Setting in and out points lets you select just the portion you need without deleting the rest—a non-destructive way to trim footage.
Timecode
Timecode displays your position in hours:minutes:seconds:frames (01:23:14:05, for example). This standardized system makes it easy to reference specific moments, especially crucial when collaborating with others or working with multiple camera angles.
Essential Shot Types and Footage Categories
A-Roll
Your primary footage—typically interviews, main action, or the central visual content that tells your story. In a documentary interview, the person speaking directly to camera is A-roll.
B-Roll
Supplementary footage that adds context, covers edits, or illustrates what’s being discussed. If your A-roll is an interview about baking, your B-roll might show hands kneading dough, flour being sifted, or bread coming out of the oven. According to video production research, incorporating B-roll significantly increases viewer engagement and perceived production value.
Stock Footage
Pre-recorded video clips available for licensing, useful when you can’t capture specific shots yourself. Need footage of the Northern Lights or a bustling Tokyo street? Stock libraries have you covered.
Cut Types and Transition Terminology
Cut
The most basic transition—one clip ends and another immediately begins. Despite its simplicity, the standard cut accounts for roughly 99% of transitions in professional film editing. There’s elegance in simplicity.
Jump Cut
A cut between two shots of the same subject from slightly different positions or times, creating a jarring “jump” in continuity. Once considered an editing mistake, jump cuts now define the pacing of vlogs and social media content.
J-Cut and L-Cut
These audio-first transitions create smoother scene changes. In a J-cut, you hear the audio from the next scene before seeing it (the timeline shape resembles a “J”). In an L-cut, audio from the current scene continues as you see the next scene (shaped like an “L”). These techniques mirror how we actually experience the world—we often hear things before we see them, or continue listening as our eyes move elsewhere.
Cross Dissolve
One image gradually fades while another fades in, creating a brief overlap. Cross dissolves suggest the passage of time or a shift in location while maintaining a dreamlike smoothness.
Match Cut
A transition that connects two visually or conceptually similar shots, creating meaning through juxtaposition. Think of the famous bone-to-spaceship cut in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Smash Cut
An abrupt transition from one scene to a dramatically different one, often used for comedic or shocking effect—like cutting from someone sleeping peacefully to a loud alarm clock.
Frame Rate and Motion Terminology
Frame Rate (FPS)
How many individual images (frames) display per second. Understanding frame rate fundamentals changes how you shoot and edit.
| Frame Rate | Common Uses | Visual Character |
|---|---|---|
| 24 fps | Cinema, film look | Traditional, slightly stutter |
| 30 fps | Television, online video | Smooth, video-like |
| 60 fps | Sports, action, smooth motion | Very smooth, hyper-real |
| 120+ fps | Slow motion source | Captured for slow playback |
Slow Motion
Footage shot at high frame rates (60fps, 120fps, 240fps) and played back at standard rates (24 or 30fps), stretching time. To get smooth slow motion, you need source footage captured at higher frame rates than your timeline.
Time Remapping
Dynamically changing playback speed within a single clip—speeding up, slowing down, or even reversing. This creates effects like the famous “bullet time” from The Matrix.
Frame Blending
A technique that creates intermediate frames when changing clip speed, smoothing motion that might otherwise look choppy. Think of it as interpolation for video.
Resolution and Format Terms Explained
Resolution
The number of pixels in your image, expressed as width × height. Higher resolution means more detail but also larger file sizes.
Common resolutions:
- 1080p (Full HD): 1920 × 1080 pixels
- 4K (UHD): 3840 × 2160 pixels
- 720p (HD): 1280 × 720 pixels
Aspect Ratio
The proportional relationship between width and height. 16:9 is standard for YouTube and television, while 9:16 dominates vertical mobile content, and 1:1 works well for Instagram feed posts.
Codec
A compression algorithm that encodes and decodes video data. According to Google’s developer documentation, choosing the right codec balances quality, file size, and compatibility. H.264 remains the most universally compatible, while H.265 (HEVC) offers better compression at the cost of processing power.
Bitrate
How much data is processed per second, measured in megabits per second (Mbps). Higher bitrates preserve more detail but create larger files. A 4K video might use 50-100 Mbps, while heavily compressed social media video might be 5-10 Mbps.
Container Format
The file wrapper that holds your video, audio, and metadata. Common containers include MP4, MOV, and AVI. Think of the codec as the language and the container as the envelope.
Color Grading and Correction Terms
Color Correction
The technical process of fixing color issues and standardizing footage so all clips match. You’re correcting problems—adjusting white balance, fixing exposure, matching shots from different cameras.
Color Grading
The creative process of establishing a visual mood or aesthetic through color manipulation. After correction comes grading—adding that teal-and-orange blockbuster look or desaturated noir atmosphere.
LUT (Look-Up Table)
A preset that transforms your color values, essentially a filter that maps input colors to output colors. LUTs provide starting points for grading or help you preview how LOG footage will look after conversion.
White Balance
Adjusting colors so whites appear truly white under different lighting conditions. Your camera might be set to daylight white balance (5600K) or tungsten (3200K), and mismatches create those orange or blue color casts that need fixing in post-production.
Saturation
The intensity or purity of colors. Increasing saturation makes colors more vivid; decreasing it moves toward grayscale.
Highlights, Midtones, and Shadows
The three tonal ranges in your image. Professional color work treats these separately, allowing you to warm highlights while cooling shadows, for example.
Audio Terminology in Video Editing
Sample Rate
For audio, the number of samples captured per second, measured in kilohertz (kHz). 48 kHz is standard for video production, while 44.1 kHz is standard for music CDs.
Bit Depth
How much information is stored for each audio sample. 16-bit is standard, while 24-bit provides more dynamic range and is preferred for professional production.
Diegetic vs. Non-Diegetic Sound
Diegetic sound exists within the world of the film (dialogue, footsteps, a radio playing in a scene). Non-diegetic sound exists outside that world (musical score, narrator voiceover). Understanding this distinction helps you mix audio more thoughtfully.
Room Tone
The ambient background sound of a location recorded separately. Editors use room tone to fill gaps, smooth edits, and maintain consistent audio texture.
Audio Ducking
Automatically lowering background music or ambient sound when dialogue or voiceover occurs. This ensures speech remains intelligible while maintaining atmospheric audio.
Equalization (EQ)
Adjusting the balance of different frequency ranges. You might boost low frequencies to add warmth to a voice or reduce harsh high frequencies from wind noise.
File Management and Workflow Terms
Project File
The file your editing software creates containing edit decisions, effects, and timeline arrangements. Importantly, it typically doesn’t contain the actual media—just references to where that media lives on your hard drive.
Media Management
How you organize and maintain access to your source files. Poor media management leads to the dreaded “media offline” error where your editing software can’t locate files.
Proxy Editing
Creating lower-resolution copies of your footage for smoother editing performance, then automatically reconnecting to high-resolution originals for export. This workflow makes editing 4K or 6K footage possible on modest computers.
Rendering
The process where your computer generates the final version of effects, transitions, and modifications. Some effects play back in real-time, while complex operations require rendering before smooth playback is possible.
Export/Encoding
Converting your timeline into a single playable video file with specific settings. You might export at different resolutions and bitrates for different platforms—full quality for archival, compressed versions for social media.
Advanced Editing Techniques and Effects
Keyframing
Setting specific parameter values at particular points in time, allowing changes to happen gradually. Want text to move across screen? Set a position keyframe at the start and another at the end—the software interpolates everything between.
Masking
Isolating specific areas of your frame for selective adjustments or effects. You might mask a window to add fake exterior footage or mask a person to apply specific color adjustments only to them.
Chroma Key (Green Screen)
Removing a specific color (usually green or blue) to composite subjects over different backgrounds. The effectiveness depends on even lighting, proper color separation, and quality keying tools.
Motion Graphics
Animated graphic elements, text, or visual effects created within or imported into your edit. Lower thirds, animated titles, and data visualizations all fall under this category.
Nested Sequence
Placing a sequence inside another sequence, treating multiple clips as a single object. This organizational technique simplifies complex projects and allows you to apply effects to entire sections.
Adjustment Layer
An invisible layer that applies effects to everything below it on the timeline. Rather than applying the same color grade to fifty individual clips, place one adjustment layer above them all.
Performance and Technical Terms
Scrubbing
Moving through your timeline by dragging the playhead, allowing quick visual scanning of footage. Smooth scrubbing requires either rendered footage or powerful hardware.
Dropped Frames
When your system can’t process footage fast enough for smooth playback, frames get skipped. This indicates performance issues—perhaps your codec is too demanding or your hard drive isn’t fast enough.
Timeline Settings
The master specifications for your sequence: resolution, frame rate, audio sample rate. Mismatched settings between footage and timeline often cause quality issues or performance problems.
Native Editing
Editing footage in its original codec without transcoding. Modern editing software increasingly supports native editing of camera codecs, though some formats (especially highly compressed ones) remain challenging.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between video editing terms and filmmaking terminology?
Video editing terminology specifically covers the technical and creative vocabulary used during post-production—the phase where footage gets assembled, refined, and finalized. Filmmaking terminology encompasses the entire production process, including pre-production planning, on-set shooting vocabulary, and post-production editing. While there’s significant overlap, editing terms focus on timeline manipulation, effects, transitions, audio mixing, and color work rather than camera angles, lighting setups, or directing techniques.
Do I need to memorize all these editing terms before starting?
Absolutely not. Learning video editing terminology happens naturally as you work with software and watch tutorials. Start with fundamentals like timeline, playhead, cuts, and A-roll/B-roll. As you explore more advanced features—color grading, audio mixing, effects—the associated vocabulary becomes relevant and memorable through context. Trying to memorize a glossary upfront is like memorizing a dictionary before learning to read. The practice teaches the language.
Are editing terms the same across different software like Premiere Pro, Final Cut, and DaVinci Resolve?
Core concepts remain consistent across platforms—every editor understands what B-roll, jump cuts, and keyframes mean regardless of their software. However, specific feature names sometimes vary. What Adobe calls “Essential Graphics” might be “Motion Graphics” elsewhere. Timeline structures differ slightly between non-linear editors. But once you understand the fundamental editing vocabulary, transitioning between software becomes a matter of finding where familiar concepts live rather than learning entirely new principles.
Why do editors use so much jargon instead of plain language?
Precision. Saying “add a J-cut with some room tone ducked under the B-roll” communicates exactly what’s needed much faster than describing the same concept without technical terms. Specialized vocabulary exists in every profession because shared language enables efficient communication. What sounds like jargon to beginners is simply efficient communication between professionals. That said, good editors can absolutely explain these concepts in accessible ways when working with clients or beginners—which is exactly what this glossary aims to do.
What video editing terms should absolute beginners learn first?
Focus on these foundational categories: timeline navigation (playhead, in/out points, scrubbing), basic cuts and transitions (cut, cross dissolve, J-cut/L-cut), footage types (A-roll, B-roll), and essential export settings (resolution, frame rate, codec). Understanding these allows you to complete basic projects and follow most tutorials. More specialized terminology around color grading, advanced audio mixing, and complex effects becomes relevant as your projects grow more sophisticated.
How do codec and bitrate affect my understanding of video quality?
These technical terms explain why some videos look crisp while others appear blocky or compressed. The codec determines the compression algorithm—how efficiently video data gets squeezed into files. Bitrate indicates how much data represents each second of video. Together, they control the quality-versus-file-size balance. A high-quality codec like ProRes or H.265 with a generous bitrate preserves detail beautifully but creates massive files. Heavy compression (low bitrate, aggressive codec) creates small files but visible artifacts. Understanding these terms helps you make informed decisions about shooting formats, editing workflows, and export settings for different platforms.
What’s the relationship between frame rate terminology and creating professional-looking videos?
Frame rate fundamentally affects motion perception and viewer experience. Shooting at 24fps creates that “cinematic” look our eyes associate with movies, while 30fps looks more like traditional television, and 60fps appears hyperreal (great for sports and gaming content but sometimes too smooth for narrative work). Understanding frame rate terminology matters most when planning slow motion—you need high-frame-rate source footage (120fps, 240fps) to create smooth slow motion in a 24fps or 30fps timeline. Mismatched frame rates between footage and timeline create stuttering or other motion artifacts that immediately flag amateur work.
Building Your Editing Vocabulary Over Time
Learning video editing terminology isn’t about memorizing definitions for a test. It’s about gradually building a framework for thinking about the craft more strategically. When you understand what a match cut is, you start noticing them in films and thinking about where you might use one. Knowing the difference between color correction and color grading helps you approach your footage more systematically.
The vocabulary in this glossary represents concepts you’ll encounter repeatedly in tutorials, software menus, and conversations with other editors. Some terms you’ll use daily from your first project. Others won’t become relevant until you tackle specific challenges—maybe you won’t care about LUTs until you start shooting in LOG profiles, or nested sequences until your projects reach a certain complexity.
Bookmark this guide and return to it when you encounter unfamiliar terms. Over time, this editing vocabulary will become second nature, freeing your mental energy to focus on the creative decisions that transform raw footage into compelling stories. The technical language serves the creative vision—once you’re fluent in the terminology, you can focus entirely on the art.
Every professional editor started exactly where you are now, puzzled by unfamiliar jargon and uncertain about the difference between a cross dissolve and a cross fade. The path from beginner to expert isn’t about innate talent—it’s about consistent practice and gradual vocabulary building. Each new term you internalize expands your creative toolkit and makes you a more effective storyteller.
Start editing, stay curious about unfamiliar terms, and trust that fluency develops through practice rather than memorization.