As a marketer or business owner you’re probably tied down with so many things. And taking up learning graphic design or video design and editing is surely not on your list of priorities.
Even so, it’s still important to be knowledgeable about these things.
So in this blog, our main goal is to provide a beginner’s guide to some common video editing terms.
But first, let us take you through why it’s important to know some of these video editing terms.
Video is a powerful tool in a brand’s arsenal. Leveraging videos is important as it helps carry out marketing strategies successfully. And about 88% of marketers agree with this.
And there is a high demand for video content. In 2023, a whopping 91% of people wanted to see brands using online videos.
To sum up, you cannot skip out on using videos. This means that either you have to learn to edit videos or you need to delegate.
As we already concluded, the former is not an option for some marketers and business owners. So the remaining option is to delegate the video editing work to someone else.
Now here comes the problem: If you don’t know what to ask for when you’re crafting design briefs for video edits, you’re in trouble. That’s where knowing some video editing terms is going to be a massive help.
It will help you:
Bottomline, it’ll help you be more aware and involved in the video creation process.
So now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s proceed to learn some video editing terms!
Here we will cover 33 of the most common video editing terms that newbies will benefit from. Each of the video editing terms will follow a very simple, easy-to-understand explanation, and some sections will include examples.
Footage is the video editing term used to refer to original, unedited video files.
Splicing refers to the process of joining two pieces of film, video, or audio together.
Stitching in video editing refers to combining multiple video clips or footage, often shot from different angles or cameras, into one continuous video.
The cut is the most basic editing technique used to remove or splice sections of video.
A jump cut is a sudden cut between scenes, often showing a significant time or space shift.
Typically a montage is a series of short clips edited together to show the passage of time or a sequence of events.
In video editing, the visual representation of your video’s sequence of clips, audio, and effects is called the timeline (as seen in the bottom of the screen in the image below).
A-roll is simply the main footage of a video. It’s the footage that focuses on the central plot or person of a given video.
Following the A-roll, the B-roll is the supplemental footage that’s used to support the main content (A-Roll).
For example, imagine you’re interviewing someone talking about their morning routine for a video. To make the video more engaging during the editing process, you can insert B-roll footage or an image like the one below of them drinking coffee while they continue talking.
This helps visually support what they’re saying and makes the transition smoother between different parts of the interview.
Transitions are the effects used to switch from one scene to another (e.g., fades).
These effects are the ones that are used for gradually increasing or decreasing audio or visual from or to black or silence.
Color correction is the process of changing a video’s tone and coloring to make it look as natural as possible.
Similar to color correction, color grading is the process of adjusting the colors of your video to achieve a desired look or mood.
The main difference between these 2 video editing terms would be that color correction is applied to make a video more natural, whereas color grading is used to make a video give out a certain aesthetic or style.
The Chroma key is also known as the “green screen”. This effect replaces a solid background with another video or image.
Layering is the process of stacking various mediums like video clips, images, text, or audio clips on top of each other. And all of the layers play together at the same time.
This is the width-to-height ratio of your video (e.g., 16:9, 4:3).
The frame rate is the number of frames per second (FPS) in your video (e.g., 24, 30, 60 FPS).
Rendering is the process of creating your final edited video. Rendering is important because raw video files are usually large and not easy to play smoothly. By rendering, you create a smaller, optimized version of the video that’s easier to watch and share with your audience.
Export in video editing terms is the process of saving your final edited video as a complete file. Simply what it means is the process of turning all your edits, clips, and effects into one finished video that can be shared or viewed outside the editing software.
The difference between the 2 video editing terms rendering and exporting is that rendering prepares the video for smooth playback in the editor, while exporting creates the final version for sharing or use.
Split edit is a technique where audio and video cuts are offset to create smoother transitions.
The keyframe is a point in the video timeline where changes in effects, motion, or audio are marked.
This is the pixel dimensions of your video, such as 1080p (1920×1080) or 4K (3840×2160).
This term refers to reducing the speed of video playback for dramatic effect.
A time-lapse is the speeding up of footage to show the passage of time quickly.
This is the process of adding images or graphics on top of your video.
Lower thirds are referred to the text placed in the lower part of the screen which is often used for titles or names as shown below.
A tracking shot is a camera movement following a subject, often used for dynamic shots.
The bit rate, also known as the data rate is the amount of data processed per second in a video or audio file and is usually measured in kilobits per second (kbps) or megabits per second (Mbps).
A close-up is a shot that frames a subject in a video tightly as shown below. It’s often used to highlight the subject of a video which could be a product, a person, or any item.
This is the seamless process of combining multiple visuals like video clips, images, or various graphics into a single scene. Simply, it’s like layering different video pieces like the background, characters, special effects, etc to create one final image or video.
Compression is the process of reducing the file size of a video by reducing the amount of data in it. There are various special software both online and offline to do this. Compression is highly recommended to make the uploading and download process quicker.
A storyboard is the overall guide for the video. It can be a series of drawings, images, or an outline illustrating how the video sequence will line up.
A rough edit, also known as a rough cut is simply the very first iteration of a video edit. It’s usually presented for reviewing purposes before working on the final edit.
While there are so many more video editing terms that you can learn, we believe these particular ones will be the most useful for novices.
A good understanding of these video editing terms will ensure you reap the benefits we previously discussed.
As a bonus, we want to give you a brief look into some of the common video editing solutions out there. A knowledge of the available software and solutions will also add to those benefits.
In this section, we will briefly look at some of the different video editing solutions on the market that you can explore either individually or with the help of professional designers.
Advanced video editing software is the best solution to create professional videos. This is because they’re created for that very purpose and include advanced features that expert video editors can use to craft jaw-dropping edits.
Here are some of the top picks:
If you’re wondering what the industry standard video editing tool is to create various types of video content, Adobe Premiere Pro is the one.
It packs a punch with its professional-grade tools, customization, and flexibility. Beyond that, it’s one of the most easy-to-integrate software. With Adobe Premiere Pro users can integrate with other Adobe products like Adobe After Effects, Photoshop which helps when you need to work on complex projects.
The downsides to Adobe Premiere Pro emerge if you start thinking about using the software yourself. It has a steep learning curve and is quite expensive if you’re just starting in video editing. In such cases, just knowing video editing terms is not enough.
For those who want to avoid a hefty price tag, Davinci Resolve is a great video editor. It offers a lot of cool features in its base version which is accessible at no cost.
Even the paid version comes with some of the most advanced features available in video editing software. That’s probably why you’ll find it a favorite of Hollywood production companies.
But fair warning, the learning curve is quite steep owing to its complex tool system which again showcases the fact that just familiarizing yourself with the above video editing terms is not enough.
Besides the kinds of software that we mentioned above, there are ways to use video editing software and apps that offer templates and easy DIY tools.
One of the most famous tools out there for this kind of usage is Canva. But in recent years many Canva competitors on the market can rival the robust design tool. It would be best to check those out too.
CapCut is also a great tool for template-based video editing. It cuts short the time taken to edit videos.
The video editing terms we discussed would come in handy when using these kinds of tools. But to create advanced video edits and original content these tools would not be the best solution unless you know your way around them.
This next solution is the best possible one for busy marketers. Paired with a good knowledge of video editing terms you can really make something out of hiring a professional video editor.
There are agencies/companies to hire professional video editors who are experts in their field. But sometimes there’s a heavy price tag that some businesses, especially startups just can’t gulp down.
In such cases, hiring freelancers from platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, Dribbble, and Behance might seem like a good idea. If you have time to go through portfolios and screen video editors from these platforms, they can be beneficial.
For those who want to fully outsource the video editing process, pay a flat, fixed rate a month to companies with vetted video editors, then unlimited video editing services are your best bet.
There are several such services out there that you can try out. Some are solely for video work while others add graphic design and custom illustrations to the mix. A lot of people like them for the numerous benefits they offer.
Here’s a list of the top 10 unlimited video editing services we know. You can go through our list of video editing terms when you’re creating task briefs for these companies.
Video editing terms are very useful whether you’re doing solo work or using a professional video editor or service. So it’s best to familiarize yourself with at least some of these video editing terms so that you’re knowledgeable. It takes practice and exposure to practical displays of what each of these video editing terms mean to fully grasp them. So don’t give up, you’ll eventually get the hang of it and before you know it, you’ll know what each of these video editing terms mean.
