Glossary

.AIFF:Audio Interchange File Format. An uncompressed audio file format standard developed by Apple Inc. Uses the pulse-code modulation (PCM) codec. .AIFF produces high-quality files with relatively large file sizes compared to compressed audio codecs. Compressed versions, known as .AIFF-C or .AIFC, are also available.

.WAV:Waveform Audio File Format. Also listed as .WAVE. An uncompressed audio file format standard developed by Microsoft and IBM. Uses the linear pulse-code modulation (LPCM) codec. Produces high-quality files with relatively large file sizes compared to compressed audio codecs. Compressed versions of .WAV are also available.

Action chart:Method of organizing a script by scenes based on character action or plot points. Can also focus on mood, special moments, technical considerations, cues, and so forth.

Active:Refers to electronic components or cables that either produce changes in voltage or are powered from an external source. Active devices are typically used to boost AV signals for longer distribution runs.

ADC:Analog-to-digital converter. A device or method to convert analog signals to digital signals. For example, converting analog microphone signals into a digital format for use in a computer.

Additive:A method of color mixing based on the light model that uses the three primary colors, RGB (red, green, blue). When mixing together the light energy in the different ranges of the visible spectrum of all three colors in equal amounts, the result is white light.

Agency:The audience’s ability or sense of being able to affect their own experience and/or the outcome of events.

Algorithm/algorithmic:A set of self-contained instructions or sequence of actions executed in a structured sequence to achieve a specific goal. Usually associated with mathematics. In the case of digital art, algorithms can be executed to create art based on a mathematical process determined by the artist/programmer.

Alpha channel:An additional channel of color information referencing the transparency or opacity of RGB color channels. Used to determine how pixels are rendered and blended together when compositing images.

Amplitude:Distance from the center line (resting) of a wave to the top of a crest or to the bottom of a trough within a sound, video, or other type of signal. The higher the amplitude of a wave, the greater the energy it has. Data is encoded into fluctuations of signal amplitudes.

Ancient Shadow Puppetry:Early method of using light and shadow to create projected environments and characters on a surface.

Andrew Robinson:Leading industry expert on projection screens.

Andrew Tanenbaum:Leading American computer scientist, whose highly regarded computer science textbooks are standard in the field.

Array:An order and/or arrangement of a certain type of thing or information. Examples include a speaker array, sensor array, or an organization of data. Typically, each item in an array is the same make and model. Term used in computer science for storing like information.

Aspect ratio:The proportional relationship of a display’s or content’s width to height. Written as a single number or two numbers on opposite sides of a colon. For example, 16:9, where the first number represents the width and the second number the height. In cinema formats ratios are represented as a single number in relation to a 1. Thus 16:9 is expressed as 1.78, which is an abbreviation of 1.78:1 and is mathematically equal to 16:9.

Asset:A term used in postproduction and digital media design referring to individual content-based elements, such as photos, videos, illustrations, and text, that are used individually or in combination to create artwork. Sometimes, a designer also refers to the equipment-based components of a system as assets.

Atmospheric:A classification of digital media proposed by the authors defined as media content actors don’t actively engage with. For instance, content playing on a television underscoring a scene. Creates mood or enhances the scenography; generally, not needed until tech week.

Audio meter:A visual representation of the recording level or playback level of sound. Can be represented either vertically or horizontally. Most meters represent levels with green, yellow, and red. Red representing audio that is peaking, usually at 0 db.

Auto-follow:A type of cue programmed to automatically trigger after another cue has completed, eliminating the need for it to be called by the SM.

Balanced audio input:A feature of professional audio recording equipment that reduces electromagnetic interference and noise artifacts in audio signals.

Batch export/render:A feature of many editing, animation, and transcoding software packages that allow you to export or render multiple assets at once or in an automated sequence.

Beat(s):When breaking down a script, this is a small unit indicating a change in the action, story, character entrance, and so forth.

Bézier surface:Describes a method of deforming the edges on a mapping surface or within content creation software for precise control of curved edges. Offers two controls of manipulation per point.

Bidirectional:Microphone type with an audio pick-up pattern that resembles a figure eight, extending equally in front and behind the microphone. Has a narrow pick-up angle.

Big data:Refers to large data sets, used by scientists and artists to generate visual and audio content.

Bill Viola:Leading US-based international artist whose pioneering film and video-based art helped transform and establish video as a contemporary form of art.

Binary:Information encoding method that is the basis of computer operations and storage. Uses only ones and zeros.

Black Widow (Paint Mix):An open-sourced project to create a nonproprietary paint mix for DIY projection screens.

Blackout:When a theatre stage goes completely dark. Used to indicate passage of time between scenes or the end of an act, and so forth.

Blob tracking:A type of computer vision method used to track the movement of people and objects by detecting regions of a digital image where a value such as luminance or color has changed compared to other regions of the image. Used to determine the edges, general size, and velocity of objects.

Blocking:The repeatable movement or choreography of performers and objects on the stage. Sometimes written by the playwright, but traditionally created by the director and/or choreographer.

Boost:Amplify or increase the power of a sound or video signal.

Border:A physical object, usually a curtain, that runs parallel to a theatre’s proscenium. Also, used to define the topmost edge of the theatrical space without a proscenium and typically used to hide lights or flown scenery stored behind it.

Bounce:Method used in video and photo production to redirect light off of a reflective surface. Produces a softer, more even spread of light. Also refers to light reflecting off a wall or other surface onstage, which might wash out a projection or display surface.

Bridle:A rigging technique that allows weight of a load to be evenly distributed.

The Builders Association:New York–based performance and media company. Founded and directed by Marianne Weems. Known for its original productions and use of technology.

Camcorders:A portable, moving image recording device.

Cardioid:A type of microphone recording pattern that is most sensitive in the front and least in the back, creating an isolated area of sensitivity suitable for loud stages or other environments.

CCD:Charge-coupled device. A type of sensor in digital cameras used to record still and moving images by capturing light and converting it to data via an electric charge.

Cel drawn animation:A traditional animation technique where each frame is drawn by hand on celluloid.

Channel:A video output, most typically used in the art world. A discrete audio track or signal.

Chroma:The purity of a color.

Chroma keying:A technique to remove the background color, usually green or blue, in an image or video in order to replace the background with a different image or video.

Chroma subsampling:A method for compressing image information in a video signal and for boosting computing performance. Allows for each pixel in a raster to have its own luminance data, but groups pixels together to share chrominance data. Examples of how this compression is listed include: 4:4:4 (no compression), 4:2:2 (2 color pixels per 4 pixels of luma data), and so forth.

Clapper:Short for clapperboard. A device in video production that is made of two parts connected via a hinge that, when struck together, make a sound to aid in synchronizing sound and video. Also used to visually note scenes and takes, and so forth.

Clock speed:The rate (expressed in cycles per second, megahertz or gigahertz) a computer or a microprocessor performs operations.

CMOS:Stands for complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor. A popular type of sensor in digital cameras to record still and moving images by capturing light and converting it to data via an integrated circuit and individual pixel amplifiers.

CMYK:Pigment-based color theory using the three primary colors of cyan (blue), magenta (red), and yellow (yellow) in a subtractive process that when mixed together form black (K).

Cognitive dissonance:Psychological conflict resulting from incongruous beliefs or events.

Color organ:A rudimentary audiovisual instrument that aligned the movement of keys on a harpsichord to the movement of corresponding pieces of colored paper in front of a candle. Designed by Louis Bertrand Castel in the mid-1700s.

Color space:A coordinate system that defines every possible color that can be displayed within a given range of colors. CMYK and sRGB are the two most commonly used digital color spaces. Color spaces have different bit depths and volumes of color. The colors available originate from a three- or four-dimensional mathematic color model. CMYK and sRGB have different profiles associated with them depending on the destination display or print surface.

Color temperature:The difference in colors produced by different light sources. Represented numerically by the Kelvin scale.

Command line:A text-based computer user interface that allows for the input of a series of instructions (commands) via lines of coded text.

Composite(d):To combine different elements and form a single digital image or video.

Condenser:A type of microphone technology in which the diaphragm acts as a conductor to effect variable capacitance (ability to store electric energy between two conducting bodies), which then is converted to an electrical signal. Can have different pick-up patterns. Typically used in recording studios for vocal recordings and requires external (phantom) power or a battery.

Conductor:A type of metal material in a cable that carries an electrical current in one or more directions.

Connector:The part of a cable or device (either male or female) that allows components to physically connect to each other.

Corner pin/corner pinning:Adjustable points on the four corners of an image allowing for the manipulation and correction of distortions in X, Y, and Z space to make the image appear normal.

CPU:Central processing unit. The mathematical “brain” of the computer where data manipulation and logical operations occur.

Creative Commons:A nonprofit organization that allows for sharing and reuse of creative work by providing legal licensing labels and tools.

Cross-fades:Audio and video technique(s) to blend/mix sounds and/or images together.

Cue(s):A certain action to be triggered and performed at a specific point in time. Normally associated with specific moments of dramatic action, transitions, or emotional changes in performance and can take place on a line of dialogue or can be triggered by blocking, and so forth.

Cue list:A list of all a designer’s cues. Associated with a cue number, description, page number, and location to be executed.

Cue stack:A cueing method used by light boards and media server that organizes content and equipment behavior for playback through a spreadsheet-like system.

Curtain:A piece of hanging material that can normally open and close from the center of a stage and is used to hide parts of or the entirety of the stage from the audience at various moments in a performance.

David Saltz:Professor and director working at the intersection of live performance and digital media.

Degradation:Video/audio quality loss in transmission, duplication, rendering, transcoding, and so forth compared to the original quality.

Depth of field:The distance or zone between the nearest and furthest object(s) in a still or video frame that are in focus. Determined by camera sensor size, lens focal length, aperture, shutter speed, and the distance of the subject to lens.

Descriptive geometry:A method to represent three-dimensional objects in two dimensions.

Design principles:Concepts used to organize or arrange the formal and structural elements of design.

Design retreats:A dedicated time with the director and other designers reserved for brainstorming the initial creation for the design of a play.

Devised:A collaborative process in which the entire team develops the show together. All are involved in the creation process from idea to final product. Sometimes these new works have scripts associated with them, but often they do not.

Diaphragm:In optics, it controls the aperture for the iris, mechanically opening and closing to let more or less light into a camera. In a microphone, it is a thin piece of material that vibrates when sound waves hit it.

Dielectric:In a video cable, protects the video signal and insulates the conductor.

Diffuse:A method of scattering, bouncing, or softening light to make it less harsh and direct.

Diffusion gel:A type of theatrical/video gel put over a light source to scatter and/or soften the light, making it less harsh and direct.

Dimmers:Devices that vary the amount of power sent to a light, used to raise and lower the level of lighting instruments.

Directories:In computing, an organizational unit or filing system used to organize folders and files into a hierarchical structure.

Distortion:In digital video and audio, the negative results of altering images or peaking audio waveforms.

Dowser:A mechanical flag that blocks the light output of a projector or lighting instrument.

Dramaturg:Someone who typically deals with the literary aspects and storytelling of a script and/or production. Duties and responsibilities can vary depending on the theatre and production. May also provide research support and historical context to the production group.

Drop frame:A video frame rate where .03 frames are dropped or not included, such as a frame rate of 29.97.

DSP chip:Stands for digital signal processor. In a still camera, adjusts the detail and contrast of the image and then compresses the data for digital storage.

Dynamic:A type of microphone in which sound is converted into an electric signal via electromagnetism, usually by vibrations moving the diaphragm. Two popular types are coil and ribbon mics.

Dynamic range:The ratio between the lightest and darkest or minimum and maximum aspects of values, such as light intensity, in an image, color space, display device, or a sensor.

Eadweard Muybridge:An early pioneer in the development of motion for cinema.

Electric or pipe:A pipe in a theatre that lighting instruments are hung from.

Emissive:A device that radiates light, such as a television.

Encoders:Electromechanical devices that can convert an object’s positions or motions to digital code.

Erwin Piscator:A German director who pioneered the integration of film projection into theatre in the beginning of the twentieth century.

Exposure:The amount of time a camera’s shutter is open, allowing light to reach the film, tape, or digital sensor.

Feedback loop:The connection between things that inform each other. In physical devices, a return from an output to the original input. In audio, a type of sound that is created when a system of inputs and outputs is looped.

First-surface mirrors:A type of mirror used in optics where the reflective surface is above the backing. Used to bounce projections to make the throw larger from a shorter distance.

Flocking:A type of computer algorithm based on the flight pattern behavior of a group of birds.

Focal plane:The distance or zone between the nearest and furthest object(s) away from a projector lens that can be in focus.

Focus grid:An image or video loop used to converge, focus, and align projectors. Typically has vertical and horizontal lines.

Foley:A postproduction process of creating sounds and sound effects for a video or film.

Footlamberts:A unit of luminance or photometric brightness used in the United States for measuring the luminance of images on a projection surface.

Forced perspective:A technique to create the optical illusion of distance and/or an object’s size in an image.

Gain:The measurement of reflection off a projection screen or surface. In audio, the amplification factor of a signal.

Gamma:The luminance or brightness value in an image or video.

Gamut:The full range of colors in any given color space and/or device.

GLSL:Stands for OpenGL Shading Language. A high-level computer programming language to create shader effects in images.

GPU:Stands for graphics processing unit. A computer chip typically embedded on graphics cards to accelerate the creation and manipulation of images.

Gradient:A directional change in the color or intensity of an image. Used as a way to gradually blend the brightness when using multiple projectors.

Graphical user interface:Abbreviated GUI is a type of interface on a computer or electronic device that uses icons and visual graphics for user manipulation.

Hierarchy:System of organizing text in typography by importance.

High-level:A type of computer language that allows a programmer to write programs that have a higher level of abstraction from machine language.

Hotspot:An area, usually in the center, of a projection surface that is brighter than the rest of the projection.

Hue:A color.

Human-computer interaction:Abbreviated HCI is the research and design of how humans interface with computer technology and how that interaction can become unique.

Hybrid drives:A hard drive with a combination of platter and SSD technologies.

Hypercardioid:Commonly referred to as a shotgun mic, a type of microphone in which sound is picked up in a long, narrow pattern. Good for picking up sounds from a distance and isolating sounds from a particular location.

Image magnification:The use of cameras and displays as a method to magnify the talent or objects onstage so that the audience can have a better or close-up view.

Infrared (IR):A spectrum of light that is not perceptible to the naked eye.

Integrated:A type of graphics card usually found on laptops and tied into the motherboard of the computer. Usually power-efficient but typically less powerful than discrete cards—in terms of both processing power and memory.

Interactive:A classification of digital media proposed by the authors that is defined as media that the actor needs to play with or react to in order to perform. For example, interactive digital media can be a live video capture of another performer, or a digital avatar the performer converses with or controls. Interactive digital media is any kind of system wherein the performer directly controls the media.

Interpolation:When scaling a digital image, a process that increases the number of pixels by creating and inserting new pixels based on surrounding ones. Various software and techniques use different methods to varying levels of success.

Jared Mezzocchi:An American theatre projection designer and director. In 2017, Mezzocchi won an Obie Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, and a Drama Desk Award nomination for his work on Qui Nguyen’s Vietgone at the Manhattan Theatre Club.

Josef Svoboda:A iconic and world renowned Czech scenic designer who integrated projection into theatre.

Jump cuts:A transition between two shots that vary little in terms of angle and framing, making the subject(s) appear to “jump” in time or space.

Justification:In typography, how text is aligned to an edge or margin.

Kerning:In typography, adjusting the space between letters.

Kinect:A depth camera type sensor developed for the Microsoft Xbox, but often used by artists as a low-cost option to track performers and users in performance and installations. No longer being produced.

King’s seat:This is the best seat in the house. Everything looks great and perfectly aligned from here. Usually center, center. Historically reserved for the king.

Lamp hours:The number of hours that a projector’s lamp(s) have been on and in use. May also refer to number of hours rated for the life of a lamp.

Latency:In live video, the amount of delay between the capture and display of a camera stream. In computing, refers to the amount of time between when a computational task is triggered and the requested output is delivered.

Laurie Anderson:A leading international artist whose work helped transform and establish video and interactive technology in performance, music, installation, and performance art.

Leading:In typography, how text is positioned in space vertically from the baseline of where a letter rests.

Legacy:An outdated method or technology that created a foundation for the current standard.

Legs:A physical object, usually a curtain, that runs perpendicular to the proscenium arch, often used to define the off-stage-most edge of the theatrical space and/or to create an entrance/exit, or hide lights or scenery behind it/offstage.

Libraries:A collection of like objects, templates, fonts, scripts, or other resources used by computer programs.

Light-emitting diodes:A device that emits light when an electric current passes through it. An LED display is composed of many diodes, each serving as an individual pixel in the display that can be independently programmed.

Lighting boards:Also called a console, an electronic device that allows all the lights to be programed and controlled. Can also be programmed to control a media server.

Lighting plot:A document similar to an architectural drawing that shows the details of where all the lighting instruments are placed, how they are powered and all other relevant details.

Line:One of the most basic elements of design, a mark or band of defined space, can be straight, curved, textured, jagged, smooth, or any number of different variations.

Line set:Part of the fly system of a theatre made up of individual pipes or battens attached to pulleys.

Liveness:A term used to question how alive an event is, made relevant by the increased use of digital and analog media and video in live performance and events.

LOG/RAW:LOG is a video recording method that produces a flat, unsaturated image for further postproduction processing. RAW is the sensor data from a camera before any image processing is applied, so while you can use it for postproduction processing, you can’t see the RAW image when recording.

Loie Fuller:An American dancer and actress who pioneered early theatrical lighting techniques in the late 1800’s, specifically known for introducing electric light to her dance production work.

Low-level (access):A type of computer language that has no or very little abstraction from machine language, which allows for control of the hardware as directly as possible with little processor overhead.

Luma:The brightness of an image.

Lumens:Established by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the ANSI lumen is the standard calculation used to measure how bright a light source is. Most commonly used to represent the brightness of projectors.

Magic or golden hour:The hour just after sunrise and just before sunset when the sun is lower in the sky and casts a redder and softer light than when it is higher in the sky.

Mask:The ability to hide or reveal content using a premade or custom image as a type of filter.

Megapixel:One million pixels.

Mica flakes:A type of mineral that in powder or flake form adds a reflective quality when mixed in paint for a DIY projection surface.

MIDI:Musical Instrument Digital Interface, a popular standard for networking electronic instruments and computers. It uses a music-inspired channel-addressing scheme. Each channel of MIDI is limited to transmitting whole numbers between 0 and 254, for a total of 255 steps.

Motion capture:The process of recording or capturing movement data of objects and/or people for further computational analysis or art creation.

Moving lights:Also known as intelligent lights, can be programmed to tilt, rotate, and change color, patterns, gobos, beam spread, and so forth.

Nam June Paik:A leading international artist who is often credited as being one of the founders of electronic and video art.

Node-based:A type of media server built upon a visual programming language that allows for a variety of different methods to play back cues. Isadora is currently the only type of node-based server specifically created for playback of cues as understood in the theatrical context. All other node-based servers need to have a custom interface created for playing cues.

Noise:A type of usually unwanted disturbance or interference in a video or audio signal creating snow, digitized pixels, and so forth.

Non-drop frame:A video frame rate where no frames are dropped or every frame is included, such as a frame rate of 30.

Nonplanar:A type of geometric surface that does not fall or lie in one plane.

NTSC:National Television System Committee. Refers to a legacy analog and a newer digital video standard used in North America and some of South America, based on a frame rate of 30 or 60.

Number of cores:Modern CPUs (central processing units) have multiple processing units called cores. Currently CPUs with 2, 4, 8, 16, or 18 cores are common. A 72-core CPU was recently announced by Intel. Threaded programming and computing techniques allow software to use multiple cores for the processing of certain tasks and running multiple pieces of software simultaneously.

Obscura Digital:A creative studio based in San Francisco that creates some of the world’s leading immersive experiences.

Occlusion:Term sometimes used in projection to mean an object or person who is in the projection cone and occluding or blocking the projection on a surface.

Off-axis:Viewing a projection or display from off of center.

OHM:A unit to measure electrical resistance.

Omnidirectional:A type of microphone in which sound is picked up from all sides.

The Open Theatre:A groundbreaking, avant-garde, American experimental theatre group led by Joseph Chaikin.

Operating system:A computer’s system software that manages hardware, functions, and all other applications.

Optical prism block:Module located behind the lens in video cameras to separate the light of an image into three primary colors—red, green, and blue—and directs each color to its own CCD sensor.

Orthographic view (projection):A type of parallel projection where imagined lines are located perpendicular to a projection plane as a means of representing a three-dimensional object in two dimensions.

OSC:Stands for Open Sound Control, a popular UDP type networking communications protocol in the performing arts used to coordinate and transfer number data between computers and other devices. Channels of data sent via OSC are not limited to 255 steps, can use floating point numbers, and even send groups of changing values together in a single channel.

Outer jacket:The outside of a cable, which protects everything inside.

Over-modulated:When audio is too loud for its intended target to handle and becomes distorted.

PAL:Standing for phase alternating line, an analog and now digital video standard used in Europe and most of Asia and Africa, based on a frame rate of 25 or 50.

Parallel projection/parallel perspective:A means of representing a three-dimensional object in two dimensions using linear perspective in which lines are located parallel to the projection plane.

Parsed:In terms of data, taking the input and breaking it into more manageable parts or running it through some process to organize or perform some other operation for further output/manipulation.

Particle systems:A method or technique to create and manipulate multiple visual elements in relatoin to one another, such as OBJs, sprites, and images. Often used to create smoke, fire, and other effects. May include simulations of gravity and other physics.

Passive:Devices, components, or cables that either cannot produce voltage or are not powered from an external source. Passive devices are typically less powerful than active devices and do not boost AV signals for long distances.

Paul Bourke:A leading researcher, scholar, and practitioner in applied visualizations using novel and emerging data capture and display technologies.

Peaking:Audio signal that exceeds the maximum range of the audio channel.

Perceived brightness:The brightness of a display or projection surface relative to other stage light, distance a viewer is from the surface, size of the image, and so forth.

Perfect loop:A video that plays continuously in a loop so that there is no noticeable beginning or ending.

Persistence of vision:Quality of human perception that allows the brain to see multiple still frames as one continuous image with motion when a sequence of still images moves at a fast-enough rate.

Phillip Galanter:A generative artist, computer scientist, and professor.

Photocall:Dedicated time for designers and the director to take portfolio photographs and video.

Pico projector:A small, portable projector.

Pixel pitch:Physical distance between pixels, which determines the density of pixels per display.

Platter drives:Hard drives made of several platters or disks stacked together in a single housing. The platters spin at several thousand revolutions per second and information is read off and written to them by a small head that moves across the surface of the platter.

Playback:The ability to play a video or audio recording.

Point cues:Cue numbers that are not an integer, such as cue 3.5; normally added in technical rehearsals when a new cue needs to be added between two consecutive cue numbers.

Polar patterns:The three-dimensional space around the capsule of a microphone where it is most sensitive to picking up sound.

Poly cyc:A synthetic substitute for muslin that doesn’t wrinkle.

Postproduction:Any work on a film or video done after recording the picture, such as editing, special effects, and mixing sound.

Preamps:Stands for preamplifier. Boosts an audio signal before being transmitted to the main amplifier on the recording device.

Primary color:The foundational colors from which all other colors are created: cyan, magenta and yellow in pigment color theory and red, green, and blue in light theory.

Prime lens:A fixed focal length lens.

Procedural:In computation, a set of self-contained instructions or sequence of actions that are performed or executed in a prescribed sequence to achieve a specific goal.

Process:A type of art that incorporates a series of actions into the art/art making, often by the use of various systems to generate artwork. Usually focuses more on the method of creation rather than on the art itself, so that the way of making becomes the art.

Production:The actual recording of the images and audio for a film or video.

Programing language:A method or language to communicate instructions to a computer/machine.

Projection plane:Used in descriptive geometry and graphical representation, a type of view in which graphical projections from an object intersect.

Projection throw:The distance from a projector’s lens to the display surface, such as a screen; helps determine the size of the projection on the surface.

Projector black:In projections, when there is black or no image but the projector is still on, the video projected is black, and thus the projector is still emitting light that may be seen in a dark theatre.

PTZ:A camera that can pan, tilt, and zoom via built-in mechanisms and usually manipulated by remote control.

Quad surface:A basic polygon with four straight sides that allow for warping by clicking and dragging on one or more of the four corners.

Quartz Composer:In Mac OS, part of the Xcode development environment; a node-based visual programming language used to process and render graphical data.

QuickTime:A multimedia framework and application developed by Apple, Inc.; being replaced by AV Foundation and may soon become a legacy format.

Rainbow effect:A shifting pattern of light in DLP projectors, created by the red, blue, and green reflected from the projector’s spinning disk of dichroic filters.

Raster:The alignment of pixels forming a grid (usually rectangular) on digital display devices, and digital image capturing devices.

Raster size:The final display size of content.

Resolution:The number of pixels in a raster represented by the width and height of an image and calculated by multiplying the two numbers.

Reverse image search function:A method or software, such as the Google search engine process, to search a database (such as the World Wide Web) via an image rather than text.

RFID:Radio frequency identification. A passive radio data collection technology. Typically used for inventory tracking and automated item tracking. Small form factors allow RFID markers to be embedded in small stickers and then activated by a powered sensor. Relies on radio frequency (RF) to transmit and receive information.

RGB:Light-based color theory using the three primary colors of red, green, and blue in an additive process that when mixed together form white.

Ribbon:A type of dynamic microphone.

Richard Schechner:Self-described “founder of the Performance Group. Performance theorist, theatre director, author, editor of TDR and the Enactments book series. A Professor of Performance Studies who combines performance theory with innovative approaches to performance.”

Rimini Protokoll:German theatre collective focusing on intersections between film, theatre, sound, and installation art. Their events “allow [for] unusual perspectives on our reality.”

Ringing out:An audio engineering process to maximize volume and prevent feedback in an audio system.

Robert Edmond Jones:A scenic, lighting, and costume designer who experimented with film projection in theatre and conceived of the “New Theatre,” a hybrid art form of theatre and cinema.

Robert LePage’s Ex Machina:Canadian director, playwright, actor, film director, and cultural ambassador. His multidisciplinary company Ex Machina is world-renowned for its meaningful integration of technology into its devising and performance works.

Room tone:The sound of a room or location without anyone speaking, recorded on location and used in video postproduction to fill in gaps of sound or placed under any new audio meant to happen within a given location.

Scale:The size of an object(s) in relation to other objects. Usually works in tandem with proportion.

Scene-by-scene breakdown:A method of organizing a script by scenes based on action, mood, special moments, technical considerations, cues, and so forth.

Score or outline:A written method of organizing action and plot points in lieu of a script, often used in devising.

Screen gain:The reflective quality/amount of a projection surface.

SDK:Stands for software development kit. Software development tools allow a user to create custom features, stand-alone applications, and so forth for software and/or hardware.

SECAM:Stands for sequential color with memory. An analog television system used mostly in France.

Secondary color:In the CMYK, subtractive color mixing theory, primary colors are mixed together to create the three secondary colors of orange, green, and purple.

Sensor:Hardware that is used to capture light and record digital media, as in a camera’s sensor or specialized hardware to collect any type of data, such as audio or motion.

Serial commands:A method to control electronic devices with short text-based code via a serial or network cable.

Serif:A typeface that has small decorative lines or embellishment added to each character.

Shielding:A part of a cable that helps prevent interference from contacting the conductor and creating noise.

Shotgun microphone:A highly directional microphone often used in video production.

Show control:Software, hardware, or turnkey system used to play back digital media.

Skeletal data:Motion capture data that provides joint information of a human body.

Soft box:A type of diffusion for video and photographic lighting instruments.

Software-based:A type of media server that is software-only, requiring you to provide a computer and any other hardware that meets the minimum requirements of the software.

Solid-state drives:A fast type of hard drive that uses memory technology with no moving parts.

Spine:The essential story arc/dramatic action of a script or the central action/need of a character.

Spout or Wyphon:Open-source communication protocols for PCs, similar to Syphon on a Mac, that allow video to easily be shared between applications.

Square wave:A periodic waveform that varies in amplitude between two fixed values.

Stack:The placement of a projector directly above or below another in order to beam the same exact image onto the same exact location to enhance brightness, and so forth.

Stage directions:Written by a playwright or the original production’s stage manager to describe the action of the play.

Staging (staged):The movement or choreography of performers and objects on the stage. Sometimes written by the playwright, but traditionally created by the director and/or choreographer.

Steve Dixon:Self-described as “internationally renowned researcher in the use of media and computer technologies in the performing arts. His seminal, 800-page book, Digital Performance: A History of New Media in Theatre, Dance, Performance Art, and Installation, is recognized as the most comprehensive scholarly work on the subject.”

Stop down:Refers to the f-stop on a camera’s settings. Used as term to change this setting in order to decrease the amount of light that enters through the camera’s iris.

Stop-motion animation:A method of creating animation frame by frame with real-world objects by moving each object a little bit in order to simulate natural movement.

Subtending:In geometry, the opposite.

Subtractive:A method of color mixing used primarily in pigment-based color theory that uses the three primary colors CMY (cyan, magenta, yellow). When mixing together the three colors in equal amounts, all light is subtracted, resulting in black. Subtractive color mixing is typically more complex than additive color mixing.

Supertitles:Projected or displayed text. Typically, dialogue, lyrics, or captions projected or displayed on a screen(s) above or beside the stage.

Sync:Short for synchronization. Aligning audio with visuals.

Syphon:Open-source communication protocol for Mac that allows video to easily be shared between applications.

Tech notes:Notes or action items given at the end of every technical rehearsal.

Tech/tech week:The one to two weeks before a show opens where all the technical elements are put together and the show is rehearsed on the stage it will be performed on.

Telepresent:The use of technology to allow people the ability to interact in real-time across physical distances.

Tertiary color:A set of colors in the CMYK subtractive color mixing theory. There are six tertiary colors: yellow-orange, red-orange, red-violet, blue-violet, blue-green, and yellow-green.

Three-point light(ing):Traditional video lighting consisting of a key light, a fill light, and a hair or background light.

Throw distance:The distance from a projector’s lens and a display surface. Used in conjunction with throw ratio to determine the size of a projection.

Throw ratio:The ratio of the distance from the projector lens to the screen (throw) to the screen’s width.

Timecode:A linear method of counting video and/or audio frames, usually represented by hour, minute, second, and frame.

Timeline:A type of media server that has a playhead that moves across multiple layers of video similar to the graphical interface of a nonlinear video editing software. Typically, timeline-based servers work in a similar logic to editing software in terms of layering, compositing, and sequential playback.

Tint:The mixture of a color with white, which increases lightness.

Total work of art:English for the German “Gesamtkunstwerk,” meaning a work of art that dramaturgically makes use of many art forms.

Tracking:In typography, similar to kerning, but deals with spacing of an entire word, not just between letters. In computer vision, the process of analyzing a video stream to gather info about moving elements such as a performer or prop.

Turnkey:A type of media server that requires both proprietary software and hardware (computer).

Uncompressed:Digital video or audio that has not been encoded to maintain high-quality results and does not focus on limiting, transmission bandwidth, and/or ensuring small file sizes.

Unidirectional:A type of microphone in which sound is predominantly picked up from one direction.

United Scenic Artists Local USA 829:Stage, film and television union for designers, artists and craftspeople.

Upscaling:A process or method that increases the resolution of a video. Does not add new detail to the video.

Upstage:Part of the stage closest to the back and furthest from the audience or something that takes focus away from the primary action on the stage.

Vanishing point:A point (or set of points) in an image plane where parallel lines intersect or converge in order to create perspective. A point where something disappears.

Vector:Graphics that rely on points, lines, and curves within a digital mathscape and converted into a raster of pixels only when displayed. This allows vector images to be infinitely scalable as all pixel data is rendered via math and not via pixel creation.

Video art:A form of contemporary art that uses video, audio, and video/audio technology, often in disregard to traditional, formal, or standard conventional forms of cinematic storytelling.

Video black:In projections, when there is black or no image but the projector is still on, the video projected is black, and thus the projector is still emitting light that may be seen in a dark theatre.

Video capture:Camera that records video or hardware and/or software that records and/or allows input/throughput of a video signal.

Video scaler:Hardware that changes the resolution of a video.

Video shoot:The act of recording all the needed moving images for a video.

Viewfinder:Allows you to preview the image on a camera.

Viewing angle:Where in physical space the audience is viewing an object/screen/display from along the imaginary x-, y-, and z-axis in relation to the thing being viewed.

Visual flow:The movement and direction in which a viewer’s eyes are led from one thing to another in an image.

VJ-based media server:A type of media server that is intended for the live and improvisational performance of video content. Does not have a theatrically focused cue system to play back prerecorded cues.

Waveform:A visual representation of an audio signal’s changing amplitude over time.

Wendall Harrington:“The godmother of modern projection design,” working in the field of projected media for live events since the mid-1970s. Harrington is head of the MFA program in projection design at the Yale School of Drama.

Wild sound:Audio recorded without images to be inserted into the video in postproduction.

Wipes:A type of video transition where one shot is replaced by another through some form of geometric pattern.

Wireframes:Skeletal representations of a 3D object using lines and curves before maps, textures, or polygon faces have been added.

Wireless lavalier:A small microphone that attaches to a transmitter and wirelessly sends the signal to a receiver.

The Wooster Group:A New York–based company of artists who make experimental work for theatre, dance, and media. Their productions often include seminal use of video technology.

Z space:The z-axis in 3D space.

Zoetrope:A spinning barrel or drumlike mechanism with slits in the side that reveal a series of still images within the device. When viewed at the correct angle, the spinning images create the illusion of motion/animation.

Zoom lens:A type of lens assembly that can smoothly change between different focal lengths.