# Glossary

> The words of video editing and music used in this manual and in the studio, explained simply.

https://driftedit.app/manual/glossary/

| Word | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| **Adjustment layer** | A clip whose effects apply to everything on the tracks under it. |
| **Aspect ratio** | The shape of the video: 16:9 is wide (YouTube), 9:16 is tall (TikTok, Reels, Shorts), 1:1 is square, 4:5 is a tall rectangle. |
| **Bar** | A group of beats in music, usually four. Cutting on the bar feels calm and steady. |
| **Beat** | The pulse of the music you tap your foot to. |
| **Bitrate** | How much data a second of video uses. Higher keeps more detail and makes bigger files. |
| **Blend mode** | How a picture combines with the one under it: Screen lightens, Multiply darkens. |
| **B-roll** | Footage shown over a person talking, to illustrate what they say. |
| **Clip** | One piece of video, photo, sound or text on the timeline. |
| **Cut** | Where one clip ends and the next begins. |
| **Drop** | The moment a song hits hardest after a build-up. Auto mode saves the best shots for it. |
| **Ease** | How a value changes between two keyframes: steadily, starting or ending slowly, or held until the next one. |
| **Frame** | One picture of a video. Video plays at 24 to 60 frames a second, or 120 for very smooth motion. |
| **Frame rate (fps)** | How many frames a second the video shows. |
| **Grade** | The colour and look of a video, set with looks, wheels, curves and LUTs. |
| **In and out points** | The start and end of a part of the edit, to loop or export. |
| **J-cut and L-cut** | The sound of the next shot starting early (J), or the last shot's sound carrying on (L). |
| **Keyframe** | A value pinned at a moment, so it can change over time between keyframes. |
| **Kick** | The deep drum hit of a song, the one cuts usually land on. |
| **LUT** | A file (`.cube`) that turns colours into other colours: a grade in one step. |
| **Marker** | A named flag on the ruler, to remember a moment. |
| **MCP** | The protocol AI agents use to work with tools such as DriftEdit. |
| **Nest** | Clips turned into a sequence that plays as one clip. |
| **Playhead** | The line on the timeline that marks the frame the viewer shows. |
| **Proxy** | A lighter copy of a video, used for smooth playback while editing. |
| **Ripple delete** | Deleting a clip and closing the gap it leaves. |
| **Roll** | Moving the cut between two clips, one longer as the other gets shorter. |
| **Safe areas** | The parts of the picture a phone app's buttons and captions do not cover. |
| **Sequence** | One edit's timeline. A project can hold several. |
| **Slip** | Moving the footage inside a clip without moving the clip. |
| **Slide** | Moving a clip between its neighbours, which trim to make room. |
| **Snap** | Clips and the playhead jumping to kicks, bars, edges and markers when close. |
| **Snare** | The sharp drum hit, usually between kicks. |
| **Stems** | A song's parts on their own: vocals, drums, bass and the rest. |
| **Still frame** | One frame held still. DriftEdit's still frames also cut its subject out and animate it over the background. |
| **Track** | A row of the timeline. Higher picture tracks are drawn over lower ones. |
| **Transition** | A movement from one clip to the next, on the cut. |
| **Trim** | Making a clip shorter or longer from its start or end. |
| **VFX** | Visual effects drawn over the picture: fire, smoke, lightning, sparks. |
| **WebGPU** | The browser's way of using the graphics card, which makes DriftEdit fast. |