Glossary
Video Editor Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential video editor terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key video editor vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in video editor training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- B-roll
- Supplemental footage.
- Bins
- Folders for organizing footage.
- Codec
- A file compression format.
- Color grading
- Adjusting color for mood.
- Continuity
- Consistency between shots.
- Export
- Rendering the final file.
- Fine cut
- A refined edit.
- Frame rate
- Frames per second.
- J-cut and L-cut
- Audio leading or trailing video.
- Jump cut
- An abrupt cut within a shot.
- Lower third
- On-screen text identifying people.
- Picture lock
- When the edit is final.
- Proxy
- A lower-resolution copy for editing.
- Rough cut
- An early version of an edit.
- Timeline
- Where clips are arranged.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Video Editor practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Video Editor training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.