Manual · Chapter 23
Glossary
The words of video editing and music used in this manual and in the studio, explained simply.
| 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. |