RTFFX Glossary of Technical Terms

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Term

Type

Meaning
Dissolve
Editing
 An editing transition where a scene gradually fades out and the next scene simultaneously fades in.
Wipe
Editing
 An editing transition where a line or other shape moves across or around a scene revealing the next scene.
Non-Linear Editing (NLE)
Editing
 An editing scheme where the time required to access a particular scene does not depend on when it occurs. Previously, editing was done tape-to-tape. It was necessary to frequently rewind the tapes, particularly when the scenes were re-arranged out of order relative to the order in which they were shot. This method wasted time.
Compositing
Effect
 Layering one image or sequence of images upon another. The effect is that one or more objects not in the scene when the scene was shot, are added to a scene.
Chroma key Effect Also known as "Blue Screen" or "Green Screen". A scene is shot in front of a color background (usually blue or green). The colored background is replaced with another piece of video or another image. Actually this is a type of "compositing". Most people have already seen this effect in use on a television weather forecast where the weather forecaster appears to be in front of a weather map.
Letterboxing Video This term refers to the placement of dark horizontal bars at the top of, or the vertical bars on the sides of, an image on a television. You get some form of letterboxing if the video does not fit on the type of TV you are watching. In other words, letterboxing occurs if the "aspect ratios" of the video and the TV itself do not match. (see "aspect ratio" below)
Aspect Ratio Video Aspect ratio is the ratio of the width to the height of what you see on the screen. It applies to both the television screen size and the movie image size. So called "Widescreen" uses a 16 by 9 (16:9) aspect ratio. So called "fullscreen" uses 4 by 3 (4:3). Television began its history using 4:3.
Anamorphic Video Video The video for a video track on a DVD is always stored on the DVD using a 4:3 aspect ratio (see "aspect ratio" above). Anamorphic video is "widescreen" video (16:9 ratio) which has been squeezed horizontally to fit on the DVD. The DVD player "un-squeezes" the video when it is played. The result may end up "letterboxed", unless the TV itself has a 16:9 screen and can display widescreen images.
DVD Authoring DVD The process of formatting the video, audio, and other data structures to be played on a DVD into the correct data format recognizable by a DVD player. Usually this definition includes actually making a disc or a number of discs from the assembled data. This process also may refer to production of the first copy or first set of DVDs.
DVD Duplication DVD Copies of DVDs made by a "burning" process. DVDs (and CDs) can be made this way on a personal computer with the appropriate hardware and software.
DVD Replication DVD Copies of DVDs made by an injection molding technique. Replication is a highly specialized manufacturing process which must be done at a suitably outfitted facility (a "replicator"). Replication is oriented towards mass production. However, a replication facility may be used when making even a small quantity of discs if those discs are multiple layer discs, such as a DVD-9, are two-sided, or use copy protection.
Multi-Angle Video
DVD
 This is the ability to switch to other video track(s), which usually are shot from a different camera angle. The additional angles are the same length as the "main" video. The "Angle" button on the DVD remote control is used to select the desired angle.
Mixed Angle Video
DVD
 This is the ability to switch to other tracks during certain sections of the "main" video. This is different from "Multi-Angle Video" in that the additional tracks are not as long as the "main" video and much less space is taken up on the DVD. The effect is that alternate sets of scenes may be selected. An example of this is having several endings to a movie. All of the additional sets of scenes must be the same length and all must occur at the same time(s). The "Angle" button on the DVD remote control is used to select the desired angle.
Region Codes DVD DVD's can be programmed with a code that permits them to only be played on a DVD player purchased for a particular region of the world. The code on the disc must match the code the DVD player supports, usually based on where the player was sold. The regions are: 1: U.S., Canada, U.S. Territories, 2) Japan, Europe, South Africa, Egypt and Middle East, 3) Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and East Asia, 4) Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean, 5) Eastern Europe including the Former Soviet Union, Indian subcontinent, Africa, North Korea, and Mongolia, 6) China, 7) Reserved, 8) Special international areas. It is, however, possible to author a DVD which plays in all regions.
DVD+/-R DVD A DVD which, when initially blank (erased) can be written upon once only. Once it is programmed, that's it as far as writing on it is concerned. The plus (+) or minus (-) signs refer to one of the two types or formats of writable DVDs. (the "/" is not part of the name, but here indicates one or the other.).
DVD+/-RW DVD A DVD which may be erased and re-programmed some number of times.
Story DVD A predetermined sequence of clips of a that your DVD player can play. Unlike scenes, the whole sequence must be played in the order programmed. Once programmed, the order cannot be changed. A story is also different from a series of scenes in that the endpoints of clips may be specified as long as they occur before the next chapter (scene) marker. Normally a story is used to play a summary or highlights, and only parts of scenes, from the "main movie".
Chapter Marker DVD A marker which is placed into DVD data to indicate the start of a scene. The DVD player starts playing the video at the marker associated with a scene that the viewer picks out of the "chapter index".
Timecode Video A method of identification of every frame (image) of a video. It is displayed in the form: "hh:mm:ss:fr" where the numbers are "hours", "minutes"., seconds and "frame number", all separated by colons (:). The "frame number" may be preceeded by a semicolon (;) instead of a colon (:) to indicate a different type of timecode called "drop-frame" time code.