Glossary
Above-Eye-Level Camera Position: The camera is placed higher than the subject and shoots down at it.
A/B-Roll Editing: Technique of rolling two source VCRs (the A machine and B machine) simultaneously while editing in order to perform special audio or video effects.
AC Adapter: A device used to convert alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC). All portable video equipment requires the use of an AC adapter to convert regular household current to DC.
Additive Primary Colors: Red, green, and blue are the additive primary colors of light. A color separation system based on these primary colors operates in all color video cameras.
Aesthetic Factors: Production variables and the ways in which they can be manipulated to affect audience response to the video message.
Alternating Current (AC): The type of electrical power supplied to households in the United States and Canada.
Ambient Noise: Unwanted background sound that interferes with the principal audio.
Amplitude: The height of a wave. With respect to sound, amplitude determines the intensity or loudness of the sound.
Analog Signal: A signal that is continuously proportional or analogous to the input.
Aperture: The size of the iris opening of the lens, usually calibrated in f-stops.
Aperture Ring: A device that controls the size of the iris opening (aperture) of the lens.
Arc: Semicircular movement of the camera and its support around a scene.
Aspect Ratio: The relationship of the width of the television screen to its height, expressed as a ratio of 4:3 or 16:9.
Aspect Ratio Converter: Switch on a camera lens that selects the aspect ratio of the image produced as either 4:3 or 16:9.
Assemble Editing: (1) Linear videotape editing mode in which new control track and audio and video information are recorded onto the tape in the editing VCR. (2) The process of adding new information to a tape shot by shot, or scene by scene, in sequence.
At-Eye-Level Camera Position: Camera and subject are at the same height; the camera does not look up or down at the subject.
ATSC (Advanced Television System Committee) Standard: Standard for U.S. digital television set by the ATSC and adopted by the FCC in December 1996.
Audio: The sound portion of a video program.
Audio In: Line-level audio input; place where the audio signal is fed into a piece of equipment.
Audio Mixer: Equipment that combines a number of independent audio inputs into one output signal.
Audio Out: Line-level audio output; place where the audio signal comes out of a piece of equipment.
Audio Tone: Reference audio signal used to set audio levels on audio and video recording equipment.
Audio Track Chart: A log of sound sources arranged along a time line, indicating where they occur in a video program.
Auto–Edit Control: On a linear videotape editing system automatically prerolls both VCRs the designated amount of time (typically 3, 5, or 7 seconds) and then performs the edit.
Automatic Aperture: Electronic device that automatically sets the lens iris for correct exposure in the available light.
Automatic Aperture Lock: Locks in an aperture setting after it has been calculated by the automatic aperture control.
Automatic Backspace Editing: Automatic feature on many camcorders that produces clean transitions from one shot to the next when the VCR record trigger is pushed.
Automatic Focus (Auto-Focus): Automatic focusing device on some cameras; operates by emitting a beam of infrared light or ultrasound.
Automatic Gain Control (AGC): Electronic device that automatically adjusts the amplification of an audio or video signal. See also Manual Gain Control.
Azimuth Recording: Recording process in which the gap of the video head is angled several degrees off the perpendicular line in the video track. This eliminates the need for guard bands, thus allowing more video information to be recorded onto the tape.
Background Light: Light that falls on the background of a scene, often used to create mood or indicate time of day.
Backlight: Hard, focused light above and behind the subject used to separate the subject from the background by outlining the subject with a thin line of bright light.
Backspacing: Rewinding a videotape several seconds from the edit point in order to allow the machine to reach stable playing speed in time for the edit. Also called backtiming, prerolling, or cuing.
Backtiming: See Backspacing.
Balance: The distribution of the mass created by people or objects in the frame. This mass may be distributed evenly (symmetrical balance) or unevenly (asymmetrical balance).
Balanced Line: Professional-quality audio cable or connector with two signal leads and a shield that protects the signal from outside interference.
Barn Door: Metal flap that can be attached to a spotlight to control the way in which the light is thrown onto a scene.
Base Illumination: Omnidirectional (or nondirectional) baselight that illuminates without creating shadows.
Baselight: The amount, or intensity, of light required to make a scene visible to the camera.
Batch Capture: Feature on a digital nonlinear editing system that allows a group of shots on the same source reel of videotape to be imported as a group, rather than one at a time.
Battery Meter: Camcorder viewfinder display that monitors the amount of power remaining in the battery.
Bayonet Connector: See BNC Connector.
Bayonet Mount: Type of lens connector on professional video cameras in which the end of the lens is inserted into the opening in the camera head and turned until it locks into place.
Beauty Shot: The final shot in a program that features a striking visual element that seems to summarize the story.
Below-Eye-Level Camera Position: The camera is placed lower than the subject and shoots up at it.
Betacam/Betacam SP: Professional-quality 1/2̋ component analog videotape recording format developed by Sony Corporation.
Bidirectional: A microphone pickup pattern that is sensitive to sound coming in from the front or back of the microphone but not the sides. Characteristic of ribbon, or velocity, microphones.
Bin: Window in which audio, graphics, and video clips are stored in the nonlinear editing model.
Bit: Abbreviation for binary digit; a number that can have a value of either 0 (off) or 1 (on). Eight bits equal one byte.
Black Balance: Adjustment of the camera’s black level or pedestal level, usually set at 7.5 IRE.
Blanking Pulse: The signal at the end of each line (horizontal blanking) and field (vertical blanking) of the video signal that turns off the picture information.
Blast Filter: Filter built into some microphones. Protects against sound distortion caused by strong blasts of breath when a microphone is placed too close to the subject’s mouth. Also called a pop filter.
Blocking Diagram: A plan that indicates the position and movement of people and equipment in a production.
BNC Connector: A bayonet-type twist-lock connector used as a video connector on almost all professional equipment.
Body Pack: Wireless microphone system transmitting unit manufactured as a unit separate from the microphone, typically hidden on the body of the person who is the source of the sound.
Boom: An extendable pole on a tripod base, sometimes wheeled, by which the microphone is suspended close to the action.
Both Edit: An edit that simultaneously affects both audio and video.
Bounce Light: Light that illuminates an object indirectly by reflecting light onto the object from a wall, floor, or ceiling.
Brightness: The range of values from black to white in the television picture. In color television, brightness is called luminance.
Broadcast: Transmission of radio and television signals through the air. Video and/or audio signals are transmitted from an antenna through the use of a carrier signal.
Broadcast Quality: (1) Technical standards set by the Federal Communications Commission for broadcast television signals. (2) Program content and production values of broadcastable material.
B-Roll: Visual, cutaway video footage used to cover voice-over or narration.
Bulk Eraser: A powerful electromagnet used to erase video-or audiotapes.
Byte: A group of binary data consisting of eight bits.
Cablecast: Transmission of radio and television signals via a wire or cable. Receivers must be connected to the cable to receive the signal.
Camcorder: A one-piece video recording system in which the camera and video recorder are combined into one easily carried unit.
Camera Control Unit (CCU): Electronic circuitry that regulates the way in which the camera produces the video signal.
Camera Light: A battery-powered light mounted directly onto a video camera.
Camera Microphone: A microphone built into or attached to a portable video camera.
Camera Setup: Adjustment of the electronic parameters of the camera to provide accurate recording, including white balance, black balance, and gain.
Capstan: A rotating shaft driven by the motor of the videotape or audiotape recorder that pulls the tape through the machine.
Capstan Servo: A servomechanism that adjusts the playback speed of a videotape by reading the control track pulses on the tape.
Capture List: A list of each of the shots on the unedited field tapes that will be digitized (if the source tapes are analog) or imported (if the source tapes are digital) into a digital nonlinear editing system.
Cardioid: A directional, heart-shaped microphone pickup pattern characterized by sensitivity to sound in the front but less sensitivity to the sides and rear.
Cassette: A plastic device that holds videotape or audiotape. The tape moves from the feed reel to the take-up reel inside the cassette when playing or recording. Cassette systems are self-threading, eliminating the need to manually thread the tape around the record and playback heads.
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT): Television/video display: The cathode ray tube is a large vacuumtype picture tube in television and video monitors and receivers. An electron beam scans a layer of red, green, and blue phosphorescent dots in the inside face of the tube to create the color video picture.
CD-ROM: Compact disc read-only memory. A small disc used to store computer data or digital audio or video data in compressed form.
Center of Interest: The most important part of a picture in terms of the visual interest it generates.
Character Generator: Electronic device or software used to generate electronic lettering for use in video productions.
Charge-Coupled Device (CCD): A camera pickup device that uses silicon chips to generate the video signal.
Chroma Key: A special matte effect in which a particular colored area is eliminated from one shot and filled in with new video information from another source.
Chrominance: The color part of the color signal, composed of hue and saturation. The three chrominance channels in the color signal are red, green, and blue.
Clip: Digital copy of audio, graphics, and video source material in a nonlinear editing system.
Closer: The ending statement in a news story.
Close-Up (CU): A tight shot that fills the screen with an object or the head of a subject.
Color Bars: Standard display of yellow, cyan, green, magenta, red, and blue bars used as a color reference by video engineers.
Color Burst: A 3.58 megahertz control pulse that controls the phasing of the color signal and ensures that the color information is kept in proper synchronization.
Color Encoder: Electronic component within a video camera that combines the individual chrominance and luminance channels into the color signal.
Color Temperature: Variations in the quality of what appears to be white light, measured in degrees Kelvin (°K). Standard television lights operate at 3,200°K. Light with a higher color temperature appears bluish; light with a lower color temperature appears reddish.
Compact Disc (CD): High-quality audio and data storage medium in which recorded information is read and reproduced via a laser beam.
Compatibility: The capability of a particular VCR to play back a particular videotape. Compatibility is determined by the size and the format of the videotape recording and the size and the format of the playback machine.
Complementary Angle: A shooting technique in which the eyeline of one person looking to one side of the screen is balanced by the converging eyeline of another person. Each person becomes the target object of the other’s eyeline.
Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS): High-quality silicon chip that is gradually replacing CCD image sensors.
Component Recording: High-quality video recording process in which luminance and chrominance information is recorded separately on the videotape.
Composite Signal: A video signal that includes both video information and sync.
Composited Image: A multilayered image.
Compression: Digital data-recording technique that reduces the amount of information that is stored in digital form as it is being converted from an analog signal. See Lossy Compression and Lossless Compression.
Condenser Microphone: A high-quality microphone that uses an electric capacitor to generate the audio signal. Requires battery or phantom power to operate.
Consumer Equipment: Audio and video equipment that is marketed to home users for their personal use.
Contact Microphone: A microphone attached directly to an object for sound pickup.
Continuity Editing: Editing of dialogue or action without discontinuous jumps in time or place.
Contrast Range: The range or ratio between the darkest and brightest part of an image. Most video cameras function with a maximum contrast range of 50:1. Also called contrast ratio.
Control Track: A series of electronic impulses recorded directly onto the videotape in their own track that regulate the playback timing of the system. Helical scan systems have 30 control track pulses per second.
Control Track Editor: An automatic edit control unit that backtimes the videotape and executes edits by counting control track pulses on the tape.
Convertible Camera: A video camera designed to be used either in the studio or in the field.
Creative Editor: An individual with significant responsibility for making and executing editing decisions. Understands the aesthetic principles of editing as well as how to operate the video editing equipment.
Crossfade: A sound transition similar to a visual dissolve. As one sound fades out, the next one fades in, with slight overlap of the two sounds during the transition.
Cross-Keying: Use of two key lights to illuminate two subjects from reverse angles.
Cuing: See Backspacing.
Cut: A straight edit from one audio or video source to another, resulting in an instantaneous change. The most common transition in video and film editing.
Cutaway: A cut to a shot that is related to the main action or separate from it. In an interview, cutaways include reaction shots of the interviewer and shots of people, places, or things referred to in the interview.
Cut-In: A cut to a close-up detail of a shot or scene.
Cut-Out: A cut to a wide or establishing shot after a close-up.
Cuts-Only Editing System: A linear videotape editing system in which the only transition possible between shots is a cut.
Cutting on Action: The technique of using action as the motivation for a cut from one shot to another.
Cycles per Second (CPS): See Hertz (Hz).
Cyclorama (Cyc): Background curtain typically suspended on a curved metal track around the perimeter of a video studio.
DAT: Abbreviation for digital audiotape. Capable of making very high-quality recordings.
Decibel (dB): A standard unit, or ratio, of measure for gauging the relative intensity of a sound.
Degrees Kelvin (°K): A measure of the quality of light or the degree of whiteness of light. The hotter the filament, the whiter the light radiated from it.
Depth of Field: The portion of a scene in front of the camera that is in focus. Measured from the point in focus closest to the camera to the point in focus farthest from the camera.
Desk Stand: Small microphone mount used to support a microphone on a desk or table in front of someone who is speaking.
Dew Lamp: Warning light that indicates when moisture or condensation has formed on the video head drum.
Dialogue: Conversation between two or more people.
Dichroic Filter: Filter that allows only certain frequencies of light to pass. Used in camera prisms and to adjust the color temperature of light sources.
Diffuser: See Scrim.
Digital Audio Workstation (DAW): Computer equipped with appropriate hardware and software for the manipulation and editing of sound.
Digital 8: 8mm digital component video recording format introduced by Sony in 1999.
Digital Nonlinear Editing System (DNLE): See Nonlinear Editing (NLE).
Digital Signal: A signal in which the input is converted into bits of information that can be stored as numerical data.
Digital Video Effect (DVE): Special effects made possible by signal processing equipment that digitizes and processes the video signal. Image compression and expansion are common types of digital effects.
Digital Videocassette (DV): A 6.35mm (1/4̋) videocassette recording format that records digital audio and digital component video signals. Three format variants differ in terms of the width of the recorded video tracks: the consumer-and prosumer-level DV utilizes a 10-micron-wide track, Sony’s professional DVCAM features a 15-micron track, and the professional-quality DVCPRO (Panasonic and others) features an 18-micron track.
Digital Zoom: Camcorder lens effect in which the image is magnified electronically to extend the range of the optical zoom lens.
Digitizing: Conversion of an analog signal into a digital signal.
Dimmer: A device that changes the intensity of a light by varying the voltage supplied to the lighting instrument.
DIN Connector: A type of connector often used to connect an external battery to a VCR. Abbreviation for Deutsche-Industrie-Norm.
Direct Current (DC): The type of current supplied by batteries. Most portable video systems require a 12-volt DC power source.
Directional Continuity: Characters or objects that are moving in one shot continue to move in the same general direction in a subsequent shot. An element of continuity editing.
Directional Light: Focused light coming from a particular direction, creating areas of light and shadow on the subject.
Dissolve: A gradual transition in which one visual source slowly fades out while another slowly fades in and the two sources overlap during the transition.
Dolly (In or Out): Actual movement of the camera and its support toward or away from the scene.
Drop-Frame Time Code: Type of SMPTE time code that drops (skips) two frames per minute except the 10th minute of each hour. See also Non-Drop-Frame Time Code.
Dropout: Loss of particles of magnetic coating from the surface of a videotape. Adversely affects picture quality and stability.
Dropout Compensator (DOC): An electronic device that detects the loss of information on a videotape caused by oxide dropouts and corrects the problem by replacing the lost information with information from the line that immediately preceded it.
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line): High-speed data transmission along copper telephone lines: Requires the use of a special modem to receive and send information.
Dub: (1) A copy of a video-or audiotape. (2) To transfer video or audio information from one tape to another.
DVD (Digital Versatile Disc): High-density compact disc used to store data, text, and large audio or video files.
DVDCAM: Consumer camcorder introduced by Hitachi in 2001 that uses a DVD-RAM disc instead of videotape to record the video signal.
Dynamic Editing: Editing technique that utilizes visual material to create an impact rather than simply to convey literal meaning or achieve continuity of action. More effective and complex than continuity editing. Also called complexity editing.
Dynamic Microphone: A rugged, professionalquality microphone widely used in field production.
Ear Shot: Any medium close-up or close-up shot that shows the subject in profile, rather than from the front, and in which the ear is in the center of the picture.
Earphone: A small device that fits into an ear. Used to monitor audio.
Earspeaker: Small audio speaker built into the side of a camcorder that allows the camera operator to hear the sound input directly without the use of headphones or an earphone.
Edit Control Unit: Device in a linear editing system used to set edit points, and automatically preview and perform edits.
Edit Decision List (EDL): A list of all the edits for a program. Specifies all the edit in points and out points, often with reference to SMPTE time code. Also called edit list.
Edit Master Tape: In linear video editing systems, the videotape onto which editing will be done.
Editing: The process of arranging individual shots or sequences into an appropriate order.
Editing Script: A written plan for editing a program. Consists of a brief description of each shot, including its in (entry) and out (exit) points.
Editing to Music: Editing that is motivated by a melodic or rhythmic element (the beat) in a piece of music.
Editing VCR: Videocassette recorder equipped with special electronic circuitry that enables it to edit the video signal. Can record and play back videotapes.
Editing Window: Window in which clips are trimmed in a nonlinear editing system.
Editor: See Video Editor.
Electret Condenser: Small, battery-powered condenser microphone.
Electron Gun: In a CRT television monitor or receiver, a device that emits a beam of electrons, which hits the phosphorescent surface of the picture tube and makes the video image visible.
Electronic Field Production (EFP): Video production that takes place in a location outside a television studio. Usually refers to single-camera productions shot to be edited in postproduction.
Electronic News Gathering (ENG): The use of electronic video equipment for reporting news from field locations. Also called electronic journalism.
Electronic Viewfinder: A small monitor mounted on a video camera that reproduces the scene the camera is shooting. The camera operator looks at the electronic viewfinder to cover the action.
Ellipsoidal Spotlight: Lighting instrument used to throw a controlled beam of light over a great distance; frequently used to project patterns onto the scene’s background.
Encoded Color Signal: The full color video signal, including chrominance, luminance, and synchronizing information.
EP: See SLP/EP.
Equalizer: Audio component that allows the level of various ranges of frequencies within the signal to be manipulated in order to shape the overall quality of the sound.
Erase Head: A head that erases information from a tape so that new information can be recorded in its place.
Essential Area: The central, usable area of a video screen.
Establishing Shot: An overall wide-angle view of a scene, usually a long shot. Shows the relationship of the parts to each other and to the scene as a whole.
E-to-E: Electronics-to-electronics.Method of monitoring a signal that is being fed into a VCR.
External Microphone: Any microphone not built into or mounted onto the field camera.
External Sync: Sync pulses generated by a source other than the camera, usually a sync generator.
Extreme Close-Up (ECU): The tightest shot possible on a person or object. Also called a tight close-up (TCU).
Extreme Long Shot (XLS): A very-wide-angle, panoramic shot of the elements of a scene.
Eyeline: A line created by the eyes when someone looks at a target object. Eyelines and the position of the target object are very important in creating continuity through editing.
Eyepiece Viewfinder: The most common type of viewfinder found on portable video cameras. Allows the camera operator’s (videographer’s) eye to be placed firmly against the camera.
Eyeroom: See Noseroom.
Fade: A gradual transition from black to an image or sound (fade-up) or from an image or sound to black (fade-down or fade-out).
F-Connector: A video connector frequently used on coaxial cables carrying an RF signal, such as a cable TV connection, or the RF output from a VCR.
Feedback: (1) Electronic distortion caused when a live microphone is placed near a speaker that is reproducing its output, or when a video camera shoots into its own monitor. Audio feedback is audible as a loud screech; video feedback appears as an undulating pattern of light and color. (2) That part of the communication process in which audience responses to the production are transmitted to the producers.
Field: One-half of a video frame (262.5 lines in NTSC).
Field Production: See Electronic Field Production (EFP).
File Format: Describes the structure of the data stored in digital audio, video, or graphics files.
Fill Light: (1) Nondirectional light, set at one-half to three-fourths of the intensity of the key and positioned opposite it. Used to fill in, but not eliminate completely, the shadows created on the subject by the key light. (2) Any light used to fill in shadows.
Film-Style Lighting: Lighting technique in which the lighting setup is changed each time the camera position is changed. Lighting done shot by shot. Also called single-camera lighting.
Filter: A device used to eliminate certain frequencies of light or sound.
Filter Wheel: A component built into a video camera that is used to correct the color temperature of incoming light.
FireWire: A high-speed digital interconnect standard (IEEE 1394) that allows digital video and audio to be moved directly into and out of a computer.
Fishpole: A handheld telescoping metal rod widely used as a microphone support in field production.
Flag: An opaque card that is used to control the way in which light falls on a scene.
Flash Memory: Digital audio, video, and graphics storage cards that use silicon chips instead of magnetic media to store the data.
Flashback: Insertion into a sequence of a shot or scene that took place in the past, prior to the main action.
Flashforward: Insertion into a sequence of a shot or scene that takes place in the future, after the main action.
Flatbed Scanner: Device used to convert photographs and flat artwork into a digital file.
Floodlight: Light that produces a wide beam of relatively soft, unfocused light. Also called broadlight.
Floor Stand: Telescoping stand used to support a light or microphone.
Fluid Head: High-quality tripod head that allows extremely smooth camera movement (panning and tilting).
Fluorescent Lamp: Gas-filled glass tube coated on the inside with chemicals that glow when electrical power is applied to the lamp.
Flying Erase Head: An erase head positioned in front of the video record head that allows precise frames of information to be erased. Makes insert editing possible.
Focal Length: The distance from the optical center of the lens to the point where the image is in focus (the face of the CCD). The angle of view of a lens is determined by its focal length.
Focus: Sharp detail in the important parts of the image. Pictures may be in focus or out of focus.
Focus Ring: A device that controls the distance between lens elements, thereby allowing the lens to focus on objects at different distances from the camera. Located at the far end of the lens on portable video cameras.
Foot-candle (FC): A measure of the intensity of light.
Format: See Tape Format.
Formative Evaluation: An assessment of a project that is conducted while it is in production.
Frame: One of the basic units of the video signal. There are 29.97 frames per second in the American NTSC system.
Frame Accuracy: The ability of an editing system to make an edit exactly on the planned frame. Most control track videotape editing systems are not frame accurate.
Frame Synchronizer: A time base corrector that is capable of storing a full frame of video information. Often used to synchronize nonsynchronous remote signals to other synchronous signals in a television station or video production house. Also widely used to produce video graphics.
Framing: The placement of people or objects within the video frame.
Free-Run: Operating mode of a time code generator in which time code is continuously produced while the generator’s power is on.
Frequency: The number of times a wave repeats itself in one second. Usually measured in Hertz (Hz). The frequency of a sound wave determines its pitch.
Frequency Response: The ability of any video or audio component to accurately reproduce a wide range of frequencies.
Fresnel Spotlight: A popular lighting instrument that contains a lens at the front of the instrument that focuses the beam of light produced.
Friction Head: Inexpensive tripod head that gives fair control over camera movement.
F-Stop: A standard calibration of the size of the aperture opening of a lens.
Gaffer’s Tape: Special adhesive tape designed for use in video, film, and theatrical production. It does not reflect much light and does not leave a sticky adhesive residue when removed.
Gain: Control of the amplification or level of an audio or video signal. May be automatic or manual.
Gain Boost: Special switch on a video camera that boosts the amplification of the video signal. Used most often in low-light situations to improve color reproduction. May make the picture look noisy.
Gamma: A measure of the camera’s ability to reproduce the tonal gradations of a scene.
Gap: The small space between the two sides of a video recording and playback head.
Gel: Plastic or polyester filter, sometimes called color media, used to change the color or color temperature of a light source. Short for gelatin.
Generation: The relationship of a dubbed copy of a tape to the original. The original is a first-generation tape; the first copy made from the original is a second-generation tape; and so on. Signal quality decreases with each new generation.
Gen-Lock: Synchronization of one piece of video equipment to an incoming video signal from another piece of equipment.
Glitch: A momentary problem in the video signal. Often caused by a loss of stability or dropouts in the tape.
Graphic Material: Visual materials for video. Ranges from whole settings in which action is staged to simple captions identifying speakers.
Graphics: Printed, drawn, photographed, or electronically generated graphic material incorporated into a production.
Gray Scale: A test pattern of 10 shades of gray, which correspond to the brightness range that the video system is capable of reproducing.
Guard Band: Blank area between tracks of video or audio information on tape.
Handles: Extra footage left before and after shot in and out points of a clip when it is imported into a nonlinear editing system. The default setting is typically 2 seconds.
Hanging Microphone: Amicrophonehungabove a scene for sound pickup.
Hard Disk: Magnetic storage system for a computer.
HDV (High-Definition Video): DV tape format that records a 1,280-pixel-by-720-line high-definition video signal to a MiniDV videocassette using MPEG-2 compression.
Head: A small electromagnet used to record a video or audio signal onto magnetic tape or to play back the signal from tape.
Head Clog: Clogging of the gap in the video or audio head caused by excessive oxide dropouts from the tape.
Head Drum: Metal cylinder inside a VCR around which the tape is wrapped to bring it into contact with the video heads.
Head Drum Servo: A servomechanism that adjusts the position of the video heads spinning in the head drum so that they rotate in phase with the tracks of video information on the videotape.
Headphones: Device used for monitoring audio. Consists of two small speakers attached to a flexible band that is worn on the head, positioning the speakers over the listener’s ears.
Headroom: The distance within the television frame between the top of the subject’s head and the top edge of the frame.
Helical Scan: Tracks of video information laid down at an angle on the tape. Characteristic of all modern VCRs. Also called slant-track recording.
Hertz (Hz): Standard unit of measure of the frequency of a wave in cycles per second.
High-Definition Television (HDTV): Digital video recording and transmission system that features improved resolution resulting from an increase in the number of horizontal scanning lines and a wider aspect ratio (16:9 versus conventional 4:3) than the traditional NTSC broadcast standards.
High-Impedance: Equipment rated up to 20,000 ohms. Also called high-Z.
Hook: Something of extreme interest at the beginning of a story that catches the viewer’s attention and makes the viewer want to watch the story to find out what happens.
Horizontal Resolution: See Resolution.
Horizontal Sync Pulse: The synchronizing signal that contols the scanning of individual lines of information in a video camera.
Hot Spot: Overexposed portion of a picture; bright, glowing spot in which color and detail are lost.
House Sync: Sync supplied by a sync generator to all the video equipment in a given facility.
Hue: A recognizable color: red, blue, green, or the like.
Hydragyrum Medium Arc-Length Iodide (HMI) Light: A highly efficient professional light instrument that produces light matching the color temperature of daylight.
Image Compression: Digital video effect that squeezes the horizontal and/or vertical dimensions of the picture, thereby reducing it in size within the frame.
Image Expansion: Digital video effect that stretches the horizontal and/or vertical dimensions of the picture, causing it to grow larger within the frame.
Impedance (Z): The amount of resistance in a circuit, measured in ohms (O). Audio equipment may be high-impedance or low-impedance.
Incandescent Lamp: Light bulb that is similar in construction to a common household bulb. Has a tungsten filament within an evacuated glass bulb.
Inches per Second (ips): Measure of the speed at which video-and audiotape move.
Incident Light: The light radiating directly from a source or sources that falls on an object or scene.
Input Overload Distortion: Distortion of the audio signal caused by placing the microphone too close to the sound source. Characteristic of condenser microphones.
Insert and Track Information (ITI): A data track in Digital Videocassette (DV) tape formats.
Insert Edit: Linear videotape editing mode in which new audio or video information is recorded onto the tape in the editing VCR, leaving the control track undisturbed.
Insert Editing: The process of inserting a shot or sequence into a preexisting sequence.
Interformat Editing: Videotape editing in which the source tape is edited onto a master tape of a different format.
Interlaced Scanning: The process by which the odd and even lines of a video picture are scanned. First one field of odd lines is scanned, then one field of even lines is scanned. Also called 2:1 interlaced scanning.
Internal Sync: Sync pulses generated within a camera.
Inverse Square Rule: A method of calculating the intensity of light falling on a scene from a given instrument. Reducing the distance between the source instrument and the scene by onehalf produces four times as much light on the scene.
Iris: A circular diaphragm composed of overlapping leaves that can be manipulated to create a hole of variable size in its center that controls the amount of light passing through the lens. May be controlled manually or automatically.
Jack: Female receptacle for a pin-type audio connector.
Jog Control: Rotary dial on an edit control unit or VCR that is used to move a videotape forward or reverse one frame at a time.
Joystick: A stick-like control on an edit control unit that can be used to move the tapes forward or backward in a number of different modes: frame by frame, slow motion, normal motion, or fast motion. Performs the same function as a search dial.
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) Compression: Digital compression standard for still or moving images.
Jump Cut: A discontinuous transition from one shot to another caused by a difference in the size and position of the subject in the two shots. Jump cuts often occur when the middle of a shot is removed and the two remaining pieces are joined together, as in editing dialogue.
Kelvin (°K): See Degrees Kelvin (°K).
Kelvinometer: A color temperature meter, used to measure the color temperature of light.
Key: Special effect used in titling in which one video source (usually the keyed graphics) appears as opaque letters over the background video.
Key Light: The brightest light on the scene. Establishes the form of the subject by providing bright illumination and producing shadows on the subject.
Keyframe: In animation programs, identifies the beginning, intermediate, and ending points of the motion path of the image.
Keystoning: Distortion of visual material caused when a graphic (or object) is not displayed perpendicular to the camera axis.
Kinescope: Archival film recording of a television broadcast made by focusing a film camera on a television screen.
Lag: A smearing effect visible in the picture when the camera or subject moves. Often caused by improper or inadequate lighting.
Lavaliere Microphone: A small microphone pinned onto someone or hung around the subject’s neck with a string.
Lead: A compelling first sentence that succinctly tells what a story is about.
Leader Sequence: Information that identifies a program, usually recorded at the beginning of a videotape.
LED: Light-emitting diode.
Lens: The optical component of a camera. Collects incoming light and focuses it on the camera image sensor.
Lens Cap: A protective cap that can be attached to the end of the lens barrel when the camera is not in operation.
Lens Flare: Optical distortion of a picture caused when a light shines directly into the camera lens. Can be prevented by changing the position of the light or camera, or by shielding the lens with a lens hood.
Lens Hood: A rubber extension at the front of a lens that works like a visor to prevent unwanted light from hitting the lens and causing lens flare.
Level: The strength of an audio or video signal.
Light Meter: A device used to measure the light on a scene. Incident light meters measure the amount of light falling on the scene; reflected light meters measure the amount of light reflected off the scene.
Lighting Plot: A plan that indicates the type and position of each of the lighting instruments in a scene or shot.
Line: In the NTSC system, each television frame is composed of 525 lines of information. ATSC formats include 480-, 720-, and 1,080-line variants.
Linear Time Code (LTC): SMPTE time code recorded in a linear audio or address track of a videotape or audiotape. Compare with vertical interval time code (VITC).
Linear Videotape Editing: Videotape editing system in which edits are made in sequential fashion, one after the other, starting at the beginning of the program or segment and working to the end.
Line-Level Audio Signal: An amplified audio signal that is considerably stronger than a microphonelevel signal. A line-level audio signal is one volt.
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD): Flat-panel television/ video display screen.
Lithium Ion (Li-Ion): Small, lightweight, rechargeable battery type widely used to power consumer and professional video camcorders.
Long Shot (LS): A shot from a wide angle that shows the relationship between actors or actresses and their setting. Often used as an establishing shot.
Lossless Compression: Compresses an audio or video file with no loss of information.
Lossy Compression: Eliminates repetitive or redundant information from a digital audio or video file.
Low-Cut Filter: An audio filter that eliminates lowfrequency sounds from the audio signal.
Lower–Third Keyed Title: Graphic information that is inserted in the lower–third section of the video frame.
Low-Impedance: Equipment rated at 600 ohms or below. Characteristic of most professional microphones. Also called low-Z.
LP: Long-play (four-hour) mode on VHS machines.
Lumen: A unit of measure of the flow of light.
Luminance: See Brightness.
Lux: A unit of illumination.
Macro Lens: A lens used for extreme close-ups. Many portable video cameras have a built-in macro lens that is activated by a macro lever.
Macro Lever: Lever on the barrel of the lens that activates the macro lens.
Magnetic Stripe: A thin strip of magnetic recording material at the edge of 16-mm film. Formerly used to record news interviews; now obsolete.
Manual Gain Control: Manual control of the amplification of an audio or video signal. See also Automatic Gain Control (AGC).
Medium Close-Up (MCU): A head-and-shoulders shot that ends at the chest of the subject. One of the most frequently used shots in television.
Medium Shot (MS): A shot from a medium angle of view, often used to show the relationship between people in a shot or scene.
Microphone: A transducer that changes sound waves into electrical energy.
Microphone In (Mic In): Input jack used to connect a microphone to a piece of electronic equipment.
Microphone-Level Signal: Unamplified output of a microphone; a very weak signal usually measured in millivolts.
Microphone Proximity Effect: Tendency of a microphone to overemphasize the reproduction of low frequencies in relation to higher frequencies as the distance between the sound source and microphone decreases.
Mini-Cassette: A videocassette in a small tape housing designed to be used in a portable camcorder.
Mini-Plug: A small single-pin, unbalanced plug frequently used as a microphone and earphone connector.
Mix: The technique of combining several simultaneous sound sources in such a way that their relative volume matches their importance.
Modeling: Creating the illusion of three-dimensional subjects and objects on the two-dimensional video screen through lighting.
Moiré: A herringbone-like pattern of video noise, frequently caused by radio frequency interference or high-contrast patterns on the subject being videotaped.
Monitor: (1) To check the audio or visual quality of a recording by listening to it or looking at it. (2) A device used to display an audio or video signal. (3) A video set not capable of receiving a broadcast signal.
Monopod: A single telescoping support tube attached to the base of a camera. Often inserted into a belt pouch and used on portable cameras with rear-mounted eyepiece viewfinders.
Montage: An edited sequence of images.
MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group) Compression: Digital compression standard for CD-ROMs (MPEG-1), DVDs (MPEG-2), broadcast television (MPEG-2), and digital television streaming media (MPEG-4).
Multimedia: Computer program that incorporates animation, sound, text, illustrations, and video, frequently produced for distribution on CDROM.
Narration: Description of a visual scene provided by a narrator, frequently as a voice-over (VO).
Natural Sound (Nat Sound): Sound naturally present on a location that is organically connected to the visual action taking place.
Neutral-Density Filter: A filter that reduces the amount of light hitting the camera CCD without affecting its color temperature.
Nickel Cadmium (NiCad): High-quality, rechargeable battery type widely used to power professional video camcorders and monitors.
Noise: (1) Unintended sound. (2) Unwanted electrical interference. Video noise, or snow, makes the picture look grainy; audio noise is audible as static or hiss.
Noncomposite Signal: A video signal that includes only the video (picture) information, but not horizontal and vertical sync.
Non-Drop-Frame Time Code: SMPTE time code generated at the rate of 30 frames per second. Because the actual frame rate of NTSC video is 29.97 frames per second, non-drop-frame time code does not provide an accurate measure of real elapsed time. See also Drop-Frame Time Code.
Nonlinear Editing (NLE): Type of video editing made possible by magnetic-disk-based editing systems that allow random access to the audio and video information stored on the disk. Differs from the sequential linear editing characterized by videotape-based editing systems.
Noseroom: The distance within the television frame between the edge of the subject’s nose, seen in profile, and the edge of the frame. Also called eyeroom.
Notch Filter: A special audio filter that eliminates a particular range of frequencies within the signal.
NTSC (National Television System Committee) Standard: Early technical standard for U.S. television line and frame scanning rates, as well as the system for television color.
Objective Camera: The camera acts as an unseen observer of the action and presents a neutralperspective view from outside the scene.
Ohm (Ω): A measure of electrical resistance.
Omnidirectional: A microphone pickup pattern that is sensitive to sound coming in from all directions.
180-Degree Rule: See Principal Action Axis.
Online: In video editing, refers to editing the final version of the program or program segment, usually on a high-quality editing system.
Open Reel: A metal or plastic device that holds videotape or audiotape. Open-reel tapes must be threaded through the playback and record heads and then fastened to the take-up reel for normal operation. Both 2̋ and 1̋ videotape recorders used open-reel tape, now obsolete.
Operating Light Level: The amount of light, measured in foot-candles, that a camera needs to produce a picture. The optimum light level is the recommended amount; the minimum light level is the smallest amount of light the camera must have, but usually results in an inferior picture.
Optical-Video Transducer: In a video camera, the CCD or CMOS image sensor that changes incoming light into an electrical video signal.
Overlapping: Shooting technique in which dialogue or action at the end of one shot is repeated at the beginning of the next shot. Makes editing easier.
Overlapping Edit: The process in which the end of one shot is erased and recorded over by the beginning of the next shot during the process of editing.
Overlay Edit: In nonlinear editing systems, a shot that is used to replace and/or cover up a shot of similar length in the time line.
Over-the-Shoulder Shot: Camera shot, usually of two people. Person in foreground has back to the camera; second person is slightly in the background and faces the camera.
Page Pull or Page Push: Digital video effect in which the picture appears to be pushed or pulled off the screen.
Page Turn: Digital video effect in which the picture appears to turn like the page of a book, revealing a new picture (or page).
Paint: Adjustment of camera color reproduction to achieve a particular mood or effect.
Pan: Horizontal movement of the camera head only. Short for panorama.
Parallel Cutting: Cutting between two actions that are happening at the same time in different locations or between events happening at different points in time. A type of dynamic editing.
Patching: Connecting audio and video inputs and outputs with a cable.
Peak Limiter: An electronic device that prevents the audio signal from exceeding 100 percent (0 dB) on the volume unit meter scale. Also called an audio limiter.
Peak Program Meter (PPM): Audio meter that monitors loudness peaks in an audio signal.
Peak White: The highest part of the video waveform, equivalent to the brightest part of the scene being shot. Should not exceed 100 percent on the waveform.
Pedestal: Black level; control over the reproduction of the deepest shades of black reproduced by the camera. Usually set at 7.5 percent on the waveform monitor.
Persistence of Vision: Perceptual phenomenon that creates the illusion of motion in a movie.
Phantom Power: Power supplied to a condensor microphone from an external source (e.g., an audio mixer) rather than from an internal battery.
Phone Plug: A large, unbalanced single-pin plug used as a headphone or microphone connector.
Pickup Pattern: Thepatternof directions in which a microphone is sensitive to incoming sound.
Pistol Grip: A small handle attached to a shotgun microphone.
Pitch: The high or low quality of a particular sound; results from differences in the frequency of sound waves.
Pixels: Literally, picture elements. Extremely small silicon semiconductors arranged in precise horizontal and vertical rows on a CCD or CMOS chip that change incoming light into electrical energy.
Plasma Display Panel (PDP): High-quality flatscreen television/video display.
Point of View (POV): See Subjective Camera.
Pop Filter: See Blast Filter.
Portable VCR: Lightweight, battery-powered videocassette recorder designed for remote field production.
Portapak: Early term used to describe a small, portable camera-and-VCR-recording system.
Postproduction: State of production after field production is complete. Principal component is usually editing.
Poststriping: Adding time code to a videotape that was originally recorded without it.
Potentiometer (Pot): Used to increase or decrease the gain amplification of an electronic signal.
Preinterview: An interview with the potential subject of a program or program segment that takes place before the actual production date. Used to gain familiarity with the subject and to put novice subjects at ease before they appear on camera.
Preproduction: Production planning before the production begins.
Prerolling: See Backspacing.
Pressure Zone Microphone (PZM): Registered trade name of Crown International for its boundary microphone with a hemispheric pickup pattern.
Preview Control: On a linear editing system, allows the editor to see what an edit will look like without actually performing the edit.
Principal Action Axis: In staging for continuity, the camera stays within an imaginary 180-degree semicircle created by the line formed by the principal action in a scene and thus stays on one side of the action. Also called the principal vector line or the 180-degree rule.
Principal Vector Line: See Principal Action Axis.
Printing to Tape: Recording onto videotape a finished program or segment that was first edited in a computer-based digital nonlinear editing system.
Prism Block: A glass prism in high-quality video cameras that breaks incoming light into its red, green, and blue components.
Processing Amplifier (Proc Amp): A device to correct color quality as well as sync and color burst in the video signal.
Producer: The member of the production team who is responsible for the overall organization of a production.
Production: (1) The shooting stage of the video production process. See also Preproduction and Postproduction. (2) The video program itself.
Production Assistant (PA): The member of the field production team who serves as a general assistant. Often has responsibility for setting up audio, helping with lighting, carrying equipment, and logging tapes.
Professional/Broadcast Equipment: Very high– quality audio and video equipment that is designed for professional production applications.
Program Window: In a nonlinear editing system this is a window on the computer monitor screen that displays the edited program from the time line.
Progressive Scanning: Scanning each of the lines in the video frame in successive order. Scanning begins at the top of the frame and continues to the bottom.
Prosumer Equipment: Audio and video equipment with more features and higher quality than consumer equipment but not equivalent to professional/broadcast equipment.
P2: Flash memory video recording system introduced by Panasonic in 2004.
Quantizing: Process of sampling an analog waveform and converting it into digital information.
Question Re-Ask: Technique frequently used in single-camera production; questions asked by an interviewer are recorded onto videotape after interview has been completed.
Quick-Record Button: Camcorder control that bypasses the standby mode and instantly puts the camcorder into the record mode.
Quick-Release Plate: Mounting system used on a camcorder and tripod head to allow for fast mounting and release of the camcorder on the tripod.
Radio Frequency (RF): The range of electromagnetic frequencies used to transmit broadcast or cablecast signals. Different frequencies correspond with different channels of reception.
Range Extender: Optical device attached to the end of a lens or built into the lens itself that increases the magnifying power of the lens. A 2:1 range extender doubles the focal length of the lens.
RCA/Phono Connector: A small unbalanced audio connector often used for line-level audio inputs and outputs. Also used as a video connector in home video equipment.
Reaction Shot: A cut, usually to a close-up of a person, that shows a reaction to what was just seen or said.
Receiver: A television capable of picking up an RFmodulated video signal.
Record-Run: Operating mode of a time code generator in which time code is produced only when the VCR is in the record mode.
Record Safety: A safety device built into a videocassette to prevent accidental erasure of the tape. A small plastic tab or switch on 1/2̋, 6.35mm, and 8mm cassettes.
Record VCR: In an editing system, the editing VCR. Also refers to any VCR capable of making a recording from a camera or line input, from another VCR, or off the air.
Reference White: Brightest possible point a video system will reproduce. Should not exceed 100 percent on the waveform.
Reflected Light: The light reaching the camera from the scene.
Reflector: Any opaque substance, usually bright metal or treated fabric, designed to redirect light back onto a scene. An important part of standard lighting instruments.
Remote Production: Any video production that takes place outside a studio. It may be as simple as a single-camera production or as complicated as large-scale coverage of a sports event.
Remote Survey: A survey to gather technical and aesthetic information about a remote location in which a program will be shot.
Rendering: Time-consuming process through which a computer creates special effects, transitions, and animation frame by frame, or in some cases, field by field.
Resolution: A measure of the amount of detail in a picture.
Retrace: The time during blanking that it takes the beam in a cathode ray tube (CRT) to move from the end of one line to the beginning of the next (horizontal retrace) or from the bottom of one field to the top of the next (vertical retrace).
Reverse Angle: Complementary angle of videotaping people so that their eyelines converge when the individual shots are edited together.
RF Interference: Audio or video noise caused by proximity to an RF transmitter.
RF Modulator: A device that converts standard electrical audio and video signals into a radio frequency signal that can be displayed on a conventional television receiver.
RGB Signal: Unencoded red, green, and blue video signals.
Ribbon Microphone: High-quality voice microphone designed originally for use in radio. Also called a velocity microphone.
Room Tone: Ambient sound present on location. Sometimes recorded and dubbed back onto an audio track during editing to preserve sound continuity.
Rough Cut: A preliminary edited version of a program. Safe-Title Area: >Essential area; the central, usable area of the video screen where titles and graphics should be placed to be legible.
Sampling: See Quantizing.
Sampling Rate: In audio and video recording, describes how often the elements of the analog signal are converted into packets of digital information. See Quantizing.
Saturation: The intensity or vividness of a color. For example, pink is a lightly saturated red, whereas deep red is highly saturated.
Scrim: A type of light diffuser used to reduce the amount of light and make it softer.
Search Dial: A circular control on a VCR or edit control unit used to move a videotape forward or backward at various speeds.
Segue: A transition from one sound to another in which one sound source fades or cuts out completely and then the next source fades or cuts in. There is no overlap of the two sounds.
Selective Focus: The technique of keeping some parts of the picture in focus while others are out of focus. Emphasizes depth and draws the viewer’s attention to particular elements in a shot.
Servo-Lock Indicator: Warning light on a VCR that indicates when the machine has reached the proper play or recording speed and the picture has stabilized.
Servomechanism (Servo): A variable-speed motor used to control various mechanical systems in video equipment.
Shock Mount: A rubber cradle used to attach a shotgun microphone to a boom and insulate it from noise.
Shooter: In video field production, the camera operator. Also called the videographer.
Shooting Ratio: Ratio of amount of tape shot to amount actually used in the final production. If 20 minutes of tape are shot to produce a oneminute production, the shooting ratio is 20:1.
Shotgun Microphone: Microphone with an extremely directional pickup pattern, often used to pick up sound at a distance.
Shoulder Mount: A contoured brace attached to the bottom of a portable video camera; allows the camera to be carried on the camera operator’s shoulder.
Shuttle Control: Rotary dial on an edit control unit or VCR that is used to move a videotape forward or reverse at varying slow or fast speeds.
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (S/N): Ratio of electronic noise to the total signal, expressed in decibels (dB). Measures how much higher the signal level is than the noise.
Silk: A giant cloth diffuser used to control light intensity and color temperature in outdoor productions.
Slant-Track: Helical scan recording.
Slate: Audio or video information used to identify the material that will immediately follow on a videotape.
SLP/EP: Standard long-play/extended-play (six-hour) mode on VHS machines.
Small Computer System Interface (SCSI): Rectangular connector used to attach peripheral devices to a personal computer. SCSI is pronounced “scuzzy.”
Small-Format: Portable video equipment characterized by its small size. Tape width is 6.35mm, 8mm, or 1/2̋; camera image sensors are 1/6̋, 1/4̋, 1/3̋, 1/2̋, or 2/3̋.
Smear: Unique type of CCD image distortion, visible as a bright vertical band running through the image, caused by a very bright point of illumination in the scene.
SMPTE Time Code: Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers time code. A binary electronic signal that is recorded onto videotape. Identifies each frame in terms of hours, minutes, seconds, and frames; aids in computer editing. Two main types of time code are linear time code (LTC) and vertical interval time code (VITC).
Soft Light: A floodlight with an aluminized cloth reflector stretched over a frame; produces a bright, shadow-free light.
Software: (1) A computer program that contains a set of commands that allow a computer to perform various tasks, such as word processing, video graphics generation, etc. (2) A video program or program segment, as opposed to video equipment, which is called hardware.
Sound: (1) A pattern in the vibration or movement of molecules of air. (2) Any aural component of a program that is intentionally present.
Sound Bite: (1) Voice segment of the subject of an interview. (2) A sound-on-tape (video and audio) segment of a person speaking on camera. (3) Any sound-on-tape or voice-over use of an individual’s voice within an edited program.
Sound Effects (SFX): Prerecorded or live sounds that are added to a production, often to reinforce the visuals or to convey a sense of place.
Sound on Tape (SOT): Picture and synchronous sound recorded onto videotape.
Sound Perspective: The matching of loud sound with close objects and quiet sound with faraway objects so that sound and picture seem to be the same distance away.
Sound Presence: Characteristic of the quality of a close sound that distinguishes it from a faraway sound; can be created by placing the microphone very close to the sound source.
Source VCR: In a linear editing system, the playback VCR.
SP: Standard-play (two-hour) mode on VHS and S-VHS machines, one hour on DV machines.
Split Edit: An edit in which sound and picture are edited individually rather than simultaneously. Two separate edits are made on the same shot—one on audio, the other on picture—and one follows the other in time. Also called L edits or L cuts.
Split Screen: Special effect in which two images are simultaneously displayed on the television screen. Usually activated by stopping a horizontal wipe at the halfway point.
Spotlight: Lighting instrument that produces a narrow beam of hard, focused light. May have a variable or fixed beam.
Standard-Definition Television (SDTV): Video pictures with 480 active scanning lines in either 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio.
Standby Switch: Switch found on many video cameras that reduces the camera’s power consumption. Allows the camera electronics and image sensor to warm up, but does not cause the image sensor to produce an image.
Stand-Up: Sound-on-tape segment in which the reporter is seen on camera and talks directly into the camera. Commonly used in electronic news gathering.
Steadicam®: Camera mounting system that allows a camera operator to carry a camera and achieve extremely smooth camera movement. Registered trademark of the Tiffen Company.
Sticks: A wooden tripod.
Story Outline Script: Script format used for magazine-style production. Often includes a description of the story, a list of locations to be used, essential visual material to be recorded at the various locations, and the names of individuals who will appear in interview segments.
Storyboard: A script that contains illustrations of the principal visual elements of a production.
Stripe Filter: Color separation device found on the face of the image sensor in single-CCD cameras; breaks incoming light into its red, blue, green, and luminance components.
Studio Viewfinder: A large viewfinder that is mounted on top of a video studio camera.
Subjective Camera: The camera acts as a participant in the scene. The perspective presented is that of a participant rather than an observer. Also called point of view (POV).
Subtractive Color: Color theory concerned with mixing pigments, paints, and dyes. Subtractive primary colors are magenta, cyan, and yellow.
Summative Evaluation: Assessment done when a production is completed.
Supercardioid: A very directional microphone pickup pattern that is sensitive to sound in a very narrow angle in front of the microphone. Characteristic of shotgun microphones.
Superimposition: Special effect in which two video sources are combined when editing. Both sources appear on the screen simultaneously and are somewhat transparent because neither is at full strength.
S-VHS: Super-VHS. A 1/2̋ video recording format with greatly improved luminance-and chrominance-recording capabilities in comparison with conventional VHS format.
S-Video Connector: Video input/output connection on monitors and VCRs used in conjunction with Hi8 and S-VHS systems in which luminance (Y) and chrominance (C) signals are processed separately. Such systems yield better color purity and image detail than conventional signal processing and display.
Sync Generator: A device that generates horizontal and vertical sync pulses. Typically used when several cameras are used simultaneously in conjunction with a video switcher; it synchronizes them with all the other equipment used in the production.
Sync Pulse: The synchronizing signal that controls the scanning of individual lines of information (horizontal sync) and individual fields of video information (vertical sync).
Talent Release: A standard agreement signed by an individual who appears in a video production. Gives the program producer or production agency permission to use the subject’s image and/or voice.
Tape Format: Describes differences in the width and physical configuration of a videotape; the location of audio, video, control track, and time code information on the tape; and the type of recording process employed. Popular portable videotape formats include Hi 8, Digital 8, VHS/S-VHS, DV/DVCAM/DVCPRO, HDV, and Digital Betacam.
Tape Log: A list and description of every shot on a particular videotape.
Tape Speed: The speed at which the tape is pulled through the VCR.
Tape Transport Controls: Buttons that control the movement of a videotape within a VCR. Typical controls include PLAY, STOP, FAST FORWARD, SEARCH, REWIND, RECORD, and PAUSE.
Tapeless Recording: Recording video to a computer hard disk, optical disc, or flash memory card, instead of to videotape.
Target Object: The end point of an eyeline. The object or person that someone is looking at.
Technical Editor: Usually a production subordinate who executes the editing decisions that have been made by someone else. More concerned with the operation of the editing system from a technical standpoint than with making creative editing decisions.
Technical Factors: Principles of video equipment operation; understanding how the components of the video field production system function and interrelate.
Telecine: A special video camera and film projector that is used to transfer film to video by converting the 24-frames-per-second film projection standard to the 30-frames-per-second video standard.
Telephoto Lens: A lens with a long focal length and a narrow angle of view. Magnifies a scene by making distant objects appear to be large and close.
Three-Point Lighting: Traditional lighting technique that utilizes a key light to establish the form, a backlight to separate the object from its background, and a fill light (or lights) to reduce the intensity of the shadows created by the key.
Tight Close-Up (TCU): Very close framing of the subject. See Extreme Close-Up.
Tilt: Vertical (up-and-down) movement of the camera head similar to the movement of the head when a person looks up or down.
Time Base Corrector (TBC): Electronic device used to correct timing errors in the video signal on a videotape as it is played back.
Time Code: See SMPTE Time Code.
Time Code Character Generator-Inserter: Converts time code readout into video information that can then be inserted into the picture on a monitor or rerecorded with the video information on another videotape.
Time Code Generator: Electronic component that produces time code.
Time Code Reader: Displays time code as a visual digital readout in hours, minutes, seconds, and frames.
Timed Cut: Editing technique in which shot length is determined by time rather than by content. A cut or series of cuts, each of a certain duration.
Time Line: Graphical linear representation of a program in a nonlinear editing system.
Time-of-Day Time Code: Time code that is referenced to a 24-hour clock.
Tone Generator: An audio oscillator that generates an electronic tone used to set the levels on audio equipment.
Track: (1) An area of video, audio, or control track information on a tape. (2) Music, voice, or sound effects that are recorded onto the audio channel of a videocassette so that they can later be edited into the edit master tape.
Track Pitch: The width of the track of video information on a videotape. Track pitch is affected by the width of the video head and the speed at which the tape moves through the machine.
Tracking: Adjustment on analog VCRs that controls the way in which the video heads line up with the tracks of video information on a tape in analog VCRs. The video heads must be precisely aligned with the video tracks to produce a clear and stable playback picture.
Tracking Control: A device that adjusts the position of the video heads in relation to the tracks of video information on the tape. Used to optimize the level of the playback signal.
Tracking Meter: Meter that displays the strength of the video signal in playback. Maximum meter display indicates that the heads are tracking correctly over the tracks of video information.
Tracking Shot: Moving camera effect typically created by rolling a wheeled camera dolly, often mounted on a set of rigid tracks, in front of the scene being photographed.
Trim: To add or subtract frames from an edit point after it has been entered into the control unit.
Trim Control: The control in an editing system that is used to add or subtract frames to/from a shot at its edit point.
Tripod: A three-legged device used to support a camera. Tripods contain legs (which may telescope) and a head (where the camera is attached), and may include wheels (a dolly) to allow easy movement. Also called sticks.
Truck (Left or Right): Horizontal movement of the camera and its support in front of a scene. Also called tracking.
Tungsten-Halogen Lamp: Lighting instrument in which a quartz bulb is filled with halogen. The filament is tungsten. These bulbs burn at a constant color temperature of 3,200°K and are the industry standard for professional lighting equipment.
Umbrella: Special fabric device used to soften and diffuse the quality of light produced by openfaced spotlights and floodlights.
Unbalanced Line: Inexpensive audio cable or connector widely used on portable audio and video equipment; susceptible to electrical and RF interference.
Unity: Principle of graphic material design in which all materials act together in support of the major theme or purpose of the program.
Universal Serial Buss (USB): Small connector used to connect peripheral equipment to a personal computer.
VCR: See Videocassette Recorder (VCR).
VCR Trigger: Button on camcorder lens assembly that stops and starts the camcorder recording process.
Vectorscope: Special oscilloscope used to monitor the color video signal.
Velocity Microphone: See Ribbon Microphone.
Vertical Interval Time Code (VITC): SMPTE time code inserted in the vertical blanking area of the video signal. Compare with linear time code (LTC).
Vertical Sync Pulse: The synchronizing signal that controls the scanning of individual fields or frames of video information in a video camera.
VHS: Video home system. A popular 1/2̋ consumer videocassette format, now largely displaced by DVDs.
Video: The picture portion of the television signal; an electronic signal used to record or transmit television images.
Video Black: A black video signal that contains horizontal and vertical sync pulses along with color burst. Also called crystal black.
Video Editor: The member of the video production team who is responsible for editing the field video footage into its finished form.
Video Field Production: Video production that takes place in a location outside a television/ video production studio. Usually refers to singlecamera productions shot to be edited in postproduction.
Video In: Line-level video input; place where the video signal feeds into a piece of equipment.
Video Insert: See Insert edit.
Video Out: Line-level video output; place where the video signal comes out of a piece of equipment.
Video Player: A playback-only VCR that does not contain recording circuitry.
Video Player-Recorder: A VCR that has the capability to play back and record a videotape.
Video Server: Computer equipped with a hard disk storage system used to record and play back video, often in a configuration in which it is connected to other computer workstations.
Video Signal: An unmodulated electrical signal containing the synchronizing and picture information that forms the video picture.
Video Switcher: Production device that allows several video sources to be mixed and manipulated. Used to perform dissolves, wipes, and other special effects.
Videocassette: A videotape that has been packaged in a cassette housing.
Videocassette Recorder (VCR): Videotape recorder that records the video and audio signals onto a videocassette.
Videographer: In video field production, the camera operator. Also called the shooter.
Videotape: Oxide-or metal-particle-coated plastic (polyester or mylar) used to record video and audio signals.
Videotape Format: Describes differences in the width and physical configuration of a videotape; the location of audio, video, control track, and time code information on the tape; and the type of recording process employed. Popular videotape formats include DV/DVCAM/ DVCPRO, HDV, Digital Betacam, Hi8/Digital 8, and VHS/S-VHS.
Viewfinder: A small video monitor attached to the camera. Used by the camera operator to frame the scene being shot. Also called electronic viewfinder.
Virtual Set: An electronically generated image of a scene that is used instead of an actual setting as the background for a subject.
Voice-Over (VO): Narration that is delivered from off camera. The voice of the narrator is heard over background visuals, but the narrator is not seen.
Volume: Relative intensity or loudness of sound.
Volume Unit (VU) Meter: A meter indicating audio levels in a standard calibration of signal strength.
VTR: Videotape recorder. See also Videocassette Recorder (VCR).
Warm Balance: Camcorder white balance that has been manipulated to produce a warmer (redder) picture.
Watt: A unit of electrical power. Watts = amps × volts.
Waveform: The form of a video signal when it is displayed on a waveform monitor, a special oscilloscope designed to display the video signal.
White Balance: Adjustment of the relative intensity of the chrominance channels in a color video camera to allow the camera to produce an accurate white picture in the light available on location. Compensates for differences in the color temperature of light.
Wide-Angle Lens: A lens with a short focal length and a wide angle of view.
Window Dub: A copy of a videotape that includes the time code display in a black box, or window, keyed into the picture information.
Windscreen: Foam cover placed over a microphone to eliminate wind noise. Also called a wind filter.
Wipe: A transition in which one screen image is replaced by another. The second image cuts a preselected hard-or soft-edged pattern (such as a circle, square, diagonal, or diamond) into the frame as the transition takes place. Accomplished with the use of a video switcher or special effects software.
Wired Microphone: Any microphone connected to an input via a cable.
Wireless Microphone: A microphone that sends its signal to a receiver via RF transmission rather than through a cable. Also called a radio microphone.
Writing Speed: The speed at which the video heads hit the videotape, determined by the rotation speed of the heads, the speed at which the tape is pulled through the VCR, and the size of the head drum. In general, the higher the writing speed, the better the recording quality.
XDCAM: Professional optical disc recording system introduced by Sony in 2003.
XLR Connector: A three-pin connector used on professional-quality equipment for audio inputs and outputs. Also called a Cannon connector.
Y/C Signal Processing: A set of video signals with separate luminance (Y) and chrominance (C). Color purity and image detail are higher quality than composite recording. Also called S-Video.
Z-Axis: The dimension toward and away from the camera; the imaginary line from the camera passing through the object.
Zebra-Stripe: Type of camera viewfinder video level indicator.
Zoom: Apparent motion created by moving the lens elements in or out. Brings the scene closer to, or moves it farther away from, the viewer.
Zoom Lens: A variable-focal-length lens.
Zoom Ratio: The ratio of the wide-angle and narrow-angle focal lengths on a zoom lens. A zoom lens with a wide-angle focal length of 8mm and a narrow-angle focal length of 160mm has a zoom ratio of 20:1. Also called zoom range.
Zoom Ring: A device that controls the focal length adjustment on a zoom lens. May be automatic or manual.