Glossary > 
List of Terms
 
 
 

This glossary contains terms found in this user's guide, as well as industry-standard and product terms that apply to Autodesk products.

NoteWords that appear in italics within a definition are also defined by entries in this glossary.

1080/24p1080p/24 is an HDTV format. A format used for Multi-Master Editing, it is 1920 pixels wide by 1080 pixels in height, progressively scanned at 24 frames per second.

2KA film image scanned into a computer file at a resolution of approximately 2000 (usually 2048) horizontal pixels.

3:2 pulldown3:2 pulldown is a standardized procedure to generate 60 fields of video from 24 frames of film.

4KA film image scanned into a computer file at a resolution of approximately 4000 (usually 4096) horizontal pixels. 4K is considered to be a full-resolution scan of 35mm film.

4:2:2The sampling ratio used in ITU-R BT.601-4 digital video signal. For every 4 samples of luma, there are 2 samples each of R-Y (Red minus Luma) and B-Y (Blue minus Luma).

4:4:4A sampling ratio that has equal amounts of both the luma and chroma channels. Usually used to describe an RGB signal.

additive mixA mixing process that adds the colour value of a pixel in one source clip to the value of a corresponding pixel in a second source clip, and assigns the resulting value to the corresponding pixel in the output clip. See also non-additive mix and inverse non-additive mix.

AIFFAudio Interchange File Format. This is the format for both compressed and uncompressed audio data.

aliasingDefects in the picture caused by a low sampling frequency or by poor filtering. See also anti-aliasing.

alpha channel1. A TV signal that defines a portion of an image or clip to be keyed, or overlaid with a second image. 2. A matte or mask that defines a portion of an image or clip. 3. A raster channel defined by a paint or brush stroke.

ambient lightNatural or surrounding light in a clip.

analogInformation represented electronically as a continuously varying electronic signal.

anamorphicDistortion in viewing of images or geometry; related to the difference between computer monitor screen aspect ratio, in which pixels are square, and broadcast, projected, or frame aspect ratio, in which the height differs from the width of image pixels.

animation curveA curve depicting the interpolation between keyframes that can be viewed and edited within the Channel Editor.

anti-aliasingSmoothing, reducing, or removing jagged edges along the lines and curves in text, images, or geometry. See also aliasing.

artefactVisual or audible distortion, often caused by compression.

ASCIIAmerican Standard Code for Information Interchange. Unformatted text characters that are interchangeable across platforms and applications. Also referred to as “plain text”.

aspect ratioThe ratio of picture height to width. Theatre screens generally have an aspect ratio of 1.85 to 1; widescreen television (16 x 9) of 1.77 to 1; and standard television (4 x 3) or 1.33 to 1.

ATSCThe Advanced Television Systems Committee, established in 1982, is an international organization developing voluntary standards for emerging technologies in the broadcast industry. In 1996, the Federal Communications Committee (FCC) of the United States adopted the principal elements of the ATSC DTV Standards.

audio subframeA measurement of audio. There are 100 subframes of audio for every frame of video.

axisThe element of an object or layer that can be manipulated to determine the object's two- or three-dimensional space, position, and movement.

bandwidthThe amount of information that can be transferred in a given time. The greater the bandwidth, the greater the image detail.

batchAn automated process in which clips are processed according to a schematic set up in the Batch Processing module.

batch captureThe process of automatically capturing material from a predefined list, based on logged timecode information.

Bezier1. A curve that connects the vertices of a polygon; each vertex has two tangents, or handles, which you can use to adjust the slope of the adjacent curve or side of a polygon. 2. One of the Polygon Mode options in Paint.

bicubic surfaceA surface with four control handles that can be added to a layer for creating non-linear effects. See also extended bicubic.

bilinear surfaceA surface with four control handles that can be added to a layer and used for four-point tracking.

bitOne binary digit. An 8-bit byte can define 256 brightness or colour values.

bitmapA pixel-by-pixel digital translation of an image. Bitmap images are also referred to as Raster images.

bit rateThe amount of data transferred in a given amount of time, usually defined in Mega (million) bits per second. Bit rate is one measurement of compression used on a video signal.

black levelThe level of signal equal to the maximum limits of the black in an image.

brightness1. The relative lightness or darkness of a colour. Brightness is a perceptual quantity and has no true objective measure. 2. In NTSC and PAL, brightness information at a particular instance in a picture is conveyed by instantaneous DC level of active video.

broadcast monitorTelevision set without receiving circuitry, wired directly to a VTR or other output device.

Bspline1. A smooth curve that passes on the inner side of the vertices of a polygon to connect the vertices to interpolate or draw the polygon. 2. One of the Polygon Mode options in Paint. 3. A curve used to define a motion path. See also spline.

byteA sequence of bits. In general, the amount of memory needed for one character (for example, the letter A) of a specified size, usually 8 or 16 bits.

capturingThe process of converting source video to data files that can be manipulated on a computer.

channel1. A parameter whose values can be adjusted in several keyframes, and animated over a sequence of frames. 2. Image colour information. For example, an RGB image has three channels: red, green, and blue.

Channel EditorThe tool used to set keyframes and modify the animation curves of various channels.

channel hierarchyA set of animation parameters arranged and displayed in a logical group within the Channel Editor. A group, or upper-level, channel is called a folder. For example, the Camera folder contains channels for camera settings, such as position, interest, and focal length.

chromaThe element of the video signal that contains hue and saturation information.

clipA sequence of images or frames loaded from an external device such as a VTR, stored in digital format, and displayed in the clip library and on the EditDesk. You can edit, process, and record clips to external devices.

CMYKA colour model which combines cyan, magenta, yellow, and black to represent the colour spectrum.

codecAn abbreviation for Compression/Decompression; a method of compressing and decompressing video and audio data. An example of a codec is the MPEG format.

colour correctionChanging, adjusting, substituting, or suppressing colours in an image.

colour paletteA tool used to store and select colours in Paint.

colour pickerA tool used to plot colours in an image.

component videoAn analog video signal in which the luminance and chrominance signals are kept separate. Requires a greater bandwidth, but yields a higher quality picture. See composite video.

compositeA combination of image elements from two clips used to produce an output image. For example, you can composite a clip that combines background elements from one clip, and foreground elements from another clip.

composite videoAn analog video signal that combines luminance and chrominance signals. This produces a lower quality picture. See component video.

compressionA method of removing information from a video signal to reduce the size of video and audio files. Compression can cause data to be lost.

compression rateThe ratio of the amount of data in the original video compared to the amount of data in the compressed video. The greater the compression, the higher the ratio.

configuration fileContains a list of the device parameters, resource directory pathnames, and image file extensions required to run the application and all external devices properly.

constantAn option for the interpolation and/or extrapolation of an animation curve that produces a square or stepped curve.

contrastGradation between light and dark areas of an image.

crop boxA boundary box that, when superimposed on an image, can restrict colour corrections, key setups, or other processing options to the area of the clip within the box.

crossfadeA dissolve transition that occurs between a fade-out clip and a fade-in clip over a specified number of frames, and has a specified midpoint.

cue markA position indicator made on a clip that marks a frame of interest.

cutTo remove frames from a clip, or to split a clip into separate clips.

cyclesAn option for the extrapolation curve that produces cycles within the curve, based on the values of the first and last keyframes in the curve.

D1A digital VTR format that conforms to ITU Rec. 601 (ITU-R BT.601-4) 4:2:2 standards, and uses 19-mm tape.

decibelA unit of measure applied to both sound and electrical signals, based on a logarithmic scale. Often abbreviated as “db”.

deinterlaceA command in the Format menu to separate fields 1 and 2 in a source clip, producing a new clip twice as long as the original. See also interlacing.

diffuse lightWidely spread lighting that reflects equally in all directions, producing a matte (flat) reflection on an object. The reflection intensity depends on the position of the light source relative to the surface of the object.

digitalA system whereby a continuously variable (analog) signal is broken down and encoded into discrete binary bits that represent a mathematical model of original signal.

digitizeTo convert an analog signal into digital form for storage and processing purposes.

directoryA logical or physical portion of a hard disk drive where the operating system stores files. Linux uses a hierarchal tree structure to organize directories. The root directory, identified by the forward slash, contains all the other directories on the disk. When you install Flint, the installation program creates a directory on the hard disk for the product, such as /usr/discreet. In this example, /usr/discreet is a subdirectory of the /usr directory, and usr is a subdirectory of the root (/) directory.

Stone Filesystem (stonefs)Autodesk framestore management software provides scalable, resolution independent storage for noncompressed material. It harnesses the power of Stone Direct disk arrays.

disk arrayCombination of multiple hard drives assembled into a single partition to deliver optimal performance and high-capacity storage.

displacement mappingThe adding of a 3D effect to a 2D image. Also called surface displacement.

displacement sourceThe source image used to generate the displacement of pixels in another image.

dissolveA transition effect in which the outgoing image blends into the incoming image.

DLTA high-capacity data tape format.

down-convertingThe process of transferring images of a higher resolution to images of a lower resolution. Because the initial resolution is high, the image quality may be superior than images acquired at this target resolution.

drop-frameAn adjustment to timecode to compensate for the 29.97 per second framerate of NTSC material. Drop-frame timecode is essential in broadcasting NTSC footage, and is identified by a comma before the frame count (for example, 10:00:00;00 is drop-frame timecode).

drop shadowThe silhouette of an image based on the matte of the image.

DTVDigital television.

DVDigital video format.

DVEDigital Video Effect.

edit sequenceA timeline reference to a section of a clip where it has been fused with another.

EDLEdit Decision List. A list of commands used to describe a series of edits. An EDL uses SMPTE timecode to interchange information between offline and online editing systems.

EthernetA form of local area network (LAN) used to interconnect computers and peripheral devices. Ethernet is a standardized system; many manufacturers supply hardware and software for Ethernet networks.

exabyteAn 8mm data tape format, popular for storing graphics due to its low cost and high capacity (8 - 40 gigabytes).

extended bicubicA surface with four vertices that can be added to a layer for creating advanced non-linear effects, such as deformations.

extrapolationA mode that defines the shape of an animation curve before the first keyframe and after the last keyframe. Only apparent if there are frames which precede and follow the keyframes.

fadeA transition effect in a clip in which it disappears into blackness (fade-out) or appears from black (fade-in).

fieldOne half of a complete video image (frame) containing all of either the odd or even scanning lines. See also frame.

field dominanceSetting in the Preferences menu that determines whether field 1 or 2 of a frame is dominant (displayed first). Commands that render in “field” mode use the specified field dominance.

fill1. Solid colour or a reference image used to fill areas of an image. 2. A command in the Paint menu used to fill images with colour or a reference image.

filterA computerized tool used to alter images. Filters can be used, for example, to soften jagged edges, sharpen blurred contours, and eliminate colour banding.

fit-to-fillAn insert edit where an incoming source clip replaces an existing segment (or gap) in the record clip. A fit-to-fill edit functions like a swap shot edit except that the edit sequence does not ripple. If the source clip has a different length than the segment it replaces, the source clip is shortened or lengthened proportionally to fit the duration of the original segment.

flex filesA log of the Telecine transfer. It contains information about film keykode, video timecode, audio source timecode, and the A-frame start of the 3:2 sequence.

frameAn image that you load into Flint from an external source, such as a VTR or framestore. A clip is made of a sequence of frames.

framerateThe number of images displayed within a given time period, normally defined in frames per second.

framestore1. A general term for hard-disk space used to store and retrieve images. Framestores can be disk arrays, a single disk, or a single file in a filesystem. 2. A disk array.

gainA colour correction parameter that adjusts colour by multiplying pixel colour values by a percentage value.

gammaA parameter that adjusts the midlevel grey values in an image. See also brightness.

gamma correctionA process to correct brightness and internal microcontrast within a computer image.

gradientA blended mix of two or three colours that is used to draw or fill objects.

hard commitRemoving the soft edit properties of an edit sequence. Hard commits cannot be restored—the fusion of the clips is permanent. Hard commits also force a render on the selected elements.

hardware inventoryA Linux command (hinv) that is used to list the hardware, memory, and peripheral equipment in, or connected to, a computer.

HDTVHigh-Definition Television.

headVideo or audio material that has been trimmed out of the front (leading) end of a clip. This material may remain in the clip to be used in a dissolve transition. See also tail.

hermiteAn option for the interpolation of an animation curve that produces a smooth curve by assigning a slope to each vertex on the curve. Each vertex has a tangent handle that can be used to adjust its slope.

hierarchyA structure of levels that organizes component elements. For example, the Linux operating system uses a tree-like hierarchy to organize directories on a hard drive.

highlightsLight areas in an image.

histogramA bar graph that is used to adjust the values of the red, green, blue, and luma channels of an image when creating a matte.

HLSA colour model based on human perception of colours. Its primary components are hue, lightness, and saturation.

hueOne of the main characteristics that distinguishes one colour from another. Hue values define a colour by its position on the spectrum from red through yellow and blue.

hybrid spliceEdits or film splices that occur on a “B” or “C” frame in the 3:2 pulldown sequence.

image windowThe image viewer that is seen at the top half of the screen when working in modules such as the Keyer or the Colour Corrector.

in pointUsed with out points in editing to determine where and how edits are inserted into the record clip, and to determine what part of a source clip is used in an insert or overwrite. See also out point.

insert editThe insertion of a source clip into a record clip, in which the record clip edit sequence ripples (the duration changes to accommodate the inserted clip). The material before and after the insert edit is not affected.

interlaceA command in the Format menu to recombine deinterlaced fields in a clip, producing a new clip half as long as the original. The process combines, or interlaces, all the fields numbered 1 in the first frame with all the fields numbered 2 in the second frame and produces a new single frame in the new clip.

interlaced scanInterlaced scan systems display all the odd lines, and then all the even lines of an image, creating two fields each made up of half the entire image.

interlacingThe means by which traditional television picture tubes create images on-screen. An interlaced-scanning tube sends information to each pixel in even-numbered rows of pixels on a screen; left to right, then top to bottom. It then sends information to odd-numbered rows. The even and odd lines of each frame are referred to as fields.

interpolationA mode that automatically defines the shape of an animation curve between keyframes on the curve. See also extrapolation.

inverse non-additive mixA mixing process that evaluates the corresponding pixels in the outgoing and incoming source clips to determine which has the lower colour value; the pixel in the resulting dissolve is assigned the lower of the two values. Inverse non-additive dissolves must be rendered to view them.

IRIXA version of the UNIX operating system used by SGI machines.

keyThe process of making regions of colour in a clip transparent to reveal a background clip; used to create a composite by combining images, text, or other elements.

keykodeThe bar code printed along the edge of negative film stock. The bar code contains information on manufacturer, film type, emulsion number, date, and footage count. Keykode can be machine read to provide accurate cutting lists.

KeyerA tool used to create a composite from a background and foreground clip. An input key-in clip determines how the clips are combined. The input key-in clip is used to create a black and white matte that defines the areas of the foreground and background clips used in the result clip.

keyframeA frame within a clip to which unique parameters have been assigned. Once a keyframe is set, these parameters can be animated over the frames between one keyframe and the next (to which unique parameters have also been assigned) using interpolation. Colour correction, morphing, and timewarps are among the effects that can be animated using keyframes.

layer1. A combination of a front and matte clip on top of a background clip (called media in Action). 2. Images, objects, scenes, for example, that are stacked on top of each other in a frame. Layers are used in Paint, Text, and other modules.

linear1. A mode of interpolation or extrapolation of an animation curve in which the keyframes are either connected by straight lines (interpolation) or the curve is continued in a straight line before the first keyframe and after the last keyframe (extrapolation). 2. Editing based on the sequence of frames recorded on a tape. See also hermite, cycles, and constant.

logical operationA mathematical calculation performed using the corresponding pixel values of two source clips. The calculation may be addition, subtraction, multiplication, or comparison of minimum or maximum values.

Lookup Table (LUT)Files used to convert colour information in an image.

losslessCompression or duplication that does not affect video and/or audio quality.

lossyCompression or duplication that results in some level of degradation to video and/or audio quality.

lumaBrightness; the value that determines the black and white elements in an image.

matchMatching an individual frame from an assembled clip to the corresponding frame in its source clip.

matteThe monochrome template used to create a composite image. The solid black part of the matte represents the transparent area of the resulting image where the background appears. The solid white part of the matte represents the opaque area of the result image where the foreground appears. See also alpha channel.

meshA grid that is superimposed over an image for deformations such as morphing or warping.

midtonesMidlevel greys in an image.

mixThe act of combining two video sources.

monochromeA black and white image, or an image of a single colour.

morphTo transform one image into another image by warping and dissolving between the two images over a series of frames.

motion blurA digital effect that simulates the blur of fast-moving objects.

motion jitterJerky movements in a clip, often caused by gate slip when film is converted into video.

motion pathA Bspline displayed in the image window and a timing curve displayed in the animation curve window that defines the translation, or motion, of an object, camera, camera point of interest, displayed axes, or light sources.

nodeAn object and its axis as represented in Schematic view.

noise1. Aberrant specks that appear in a video image that increase with each generation of the video. 2. A type of effect simulated in the Processing menu.

non-additive mixA mixing process that evaluates the corresponding pixels in the first and the second source clips to determine which has the higher colour value; this value is assigned to the pixel in the resulting dissolve. Non-additive dissolves must be rendered in order to view them.

NTSCNational Television Standards Committee. Standards for colour broadcasting used in North America and parts of South America. The NTSC format uses 525 horizontal lines per frame, with two fields per frame of 262.5 lines each. Each field refreshes at 60 Hz. See also PAL.

offline editA rough, low-resolution edit, which usually produces an EDL to be used during online editing.

offset1. The horizontal and vertical displacement of a clip. 2. Reference numbers that indicate the change, in terms of frames, that takes place when you trim.

OMFIOpen Media Framework Interchange. A standard file format used for the exchange of digital multimedia data between applications and across platforms.

online editA final, high-resolution edit, using the original source material and an EDL. The online edit produces a finished product ready for distribution.

online table of contentsA file listing the contents of an archive. The online table of contents is created automatically by the application and saved in the UNIX filesystem.

orbitThe rotation of the camera eye around the point of interest.

out pointUsed with in points in editing to determine where and how edits are inserted into the record clip, and to determine what part of a source clip is used in an insert or overwrite. See also in point.

overwrite editThe addition of a source clip into a record clip, where the record clip edit sequence does not ripple (the duration does not change). The source clip overwrites an equal number of frames on the edit sequence. Also known as an overrecord edit.

PALPhase Alternate Line. The PAL standard uses a total of 625 lines per frame, with two fields per frame of 312.5 lines each. Each field refreshes at 50 Hz. PAL-B (PAL-I) is a European colour broadcasting standard; also used in China, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, The Middle East, and parts of Africa. PAL-M is a Brazilian colour broadcasting system. See also NTSC.

pan1. To reposition an image horizontally or vertically in the image window in order to focus on a particular area of the image. 2. In the Channel Editor, to scroll through the animation curve window, move the camera eye and point of interest, or scroll through the scene in the image window.

pan & scanThe process of extracting a 4 x 3 image from a program with a larger aspect ratio; it is usually performed at Telecine transfer. Multi-Master Editing necessitates pan & scan functions in online finishing.

parentA hierarchal relationship in the Action and Batch Processing modules in which one object is linked to the other, and controls or affects its behaviour.

particlesA stream of 3D models with varying size, speed, and distribution, originating from a surface, a light source, or another 3D model in Action.

particle bouncerAn object or node in Action that influences the behaviour of particles when they come in contact with a surface.

particle generatorAn object or node in Action that creates a stream of particles when attached to a light source, 3D model, or surface.

particle manipulatorAn object or node in Action that influences either the position or the speed of particles.

partitionThe physical storage space of the application framestore. The storage is organized into logical units that are specified when configuring the partition.

pathnameA description of a file, program, or directory location on a hard disk drive that incorporates names of directories and subdirectories. For example, /usr/discreet is an example of the full pathname for the directory that contains Flint.

Perspective viewA view of the animation scene from the camera eye, equivalent to the viewing frustum of the camera. In Perspective view, an object's size depends on its distance from the camera eye.

pixelA combination of the words “picture” and “element” describing the standard unit of colour: one dot on a screen or monitor. As a picture element or picture cell: one sample of picture information. Pixels are the most basic unit from which video/computer images are created.

point of interestThe focal point of the scene; portion or area of a scene on which the camera focuses.

priorityThe order in which surfaces, 3D models, and 3D text is drawn in the scene in Action.

progressive scanWhen a system draws each line of an image sequentially, rather than alternately drawing even and odd lines. See also interlacing.

proxyA low-resolution copy of a high-resolution image, one for each frame. Proxies are used to provide real-time playback of processed results and to provide low-resolution stand-in clips in a compositing environment so composites can be quickly created.

rateA Paint attribute that determines the rate at which brush images are deposited on canvas.

reelA section of the desktop that displays clips. It includes controls that mimic a VTR.

renderingtranslates the structure of an object to a graphic format that preserves its three-dimensional properties as a graphic 2D image.

resolution1. The amount of detail in an image. Higher resolution images have greater detail. 2. A measurement of image size, usually in pixels.

resolution-independentA term to describe equipment that can work in more than one resolution. Most equipment can work only in either film resolution or video resolution; resolution-independent equipment can work in both resolutions.

reverseA command used to reverse the order of frames in a clip.

RGBRed, Green, Blue. An industry colour standard used to describe colour components or colour space. Computers and some analog component devices use separate Red, Green, and Blue channels to retain full bandwidth and provide the highest-quality picture.

rippleA setting that determines how the overall length of the edit sequence is affected when a clip is inserted. When ripple is on, the timecode and frame count increase or decrease (ripple) to accommodate the added or removed material.

rotoscopingThe procedure of touching up frames to add or remove elements, such as in wire removal. It originally described the time-consuming process of manually painting on each frame of film, but now also refers to the use of computer-generated paint objects.

sampling frequency (rate)The number of sample measurements taken from an analog signal in a given period of time. These samples are then converted into numerical values stored in bytes to create the digital signal.

saturation1. The intensity of colours. 2. The degree by which the eye perceives a colour as departing from a grey or white scale of the same brightness.

sceneAn image window view in Action module in which you can see and manipulate objects, axes, lights, and the camera.

Schematic viewAn illustration in the Action module that depicts the different relationships between various objects and media. See also Perspective view.

SCSISmall Computer System Interface. A high-performance type of connection used with disk drives and peripheral devices.

SECAMSequential Colour And Memory. A broadcast standard used in Eastern Europe and France that is partially compatible with the PAL standard but incompatible with NTSC. The SECAM standard uses a 625-line 25-frame-per-second signal.

selection setA user-defined group of channels that is easy to view and animate in the Channel Editor.

setup filesFiles containing customized menu settings, animation channels, key information, and other data. You create and save setup files in the UNIX filesystem, and can load them for use during another work session.

shadowsDark areas in an image created by a digital light source.

shotCommonly, a shot refers to a continuous take on a single camera. It is also used to refer to a specific image sequence or clip.

SMPTESociety of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.

soft clipA clip assembled using soft edits.

soft commitRemoving the soft edit properties of an edit sequence. The soft properties can be restored at any time using the U (uncommit) button in the Timeline menu.

soft editAn electronic edit that maintains source clips in memory and tracking processes so that edits can be modified without starting from scratch.

softnessA blending or mixing along lines or edges in an image.

sourcingTo separate the front and matte clips ofmedia in Action so different transformations can be applied to each.

SparksThird-party software plug-ins.

splineA curved line.

Stone DirectAutodesk high-performance disk array that provides real-time video playback, resolution-independence, and protection against loss of stored images.

stabilize1. To remove motion jitter and unwanted camera movement from a clip. 2. To track an image in a clip in the Stabilizer.

surfaceA representation of media that contains material attributes in the Action module.

surface displacementThe adding of a 3D effect to a 2D image by displacing the pixels of the image; also called displacement mapping.

swap shotAn insert edit where the segment of an edit sequence that lies between two transitions is swapped for the incoming source clip. Swap shots ripple, meaning the edit sequence duration changes if the source clip is of a different length than the segment it replaces.

tailVideo or audio material that has been trimmed out of the back (trailing) end of a clip. This material may remain to be used in a transition. See also head.

TelecineDevice that transfers film to video. Telecines are designed to transfer negative, print, duplicate negative or interpositive film. They can transfer film to video at various framerates and various resolutions.

texture mappingAttributing a surface quality, such as a colour, roughness, smoothness, or volume to a 3D model.

TIFFTagged Image File Format. A tag-based format for storing and interchanging Bitmap (Raster) images.

tilingA technique for displaying high-resolution images that divides images into portions (tiles) and loads the portions into memory as needed for display on screen.

timecodeThe indexing method used for timing and editing video and audio material. The numbers in a timecode denote hours, minutes, seconds, and frames (00:00:00:00) elapsed on a videotape.

timelineThe graphical representation of time in Flint.

timewarpSpeeding up or slowing down the action in a clip by decreasing or increasing the number of frames in a clip.

toleranceA range of colour values for an operation such as keying or colour correction.

track1. To pan the camera in order to maintain alignment with a moving object. 2. To attach an axis to a moving background.

transitionA smooth passage from one segment of video or audio to another with a visual effect, creating a segue. A transition can be in the form of a splice, dissolve, or wipe.

transition rateThe number of frames over which a dissolve or wipe transition occurs.

up-convertingThe process of transferring images of a lower resolution to images of a higher resolution. It may cause image artefacts if varying framerates or image filtering is introduced during the conversion process.

vector imageAn image described by basic geometric shapes like rectangles, polygons, circles, ellipses, lines, and curves.

verticesSmall handles that are displayed when you draw or edit geometric shapes that can be manipulated.

viewA perspective of the animation scene from the camera eye, equivalent to the viewing frustum of the camera. In Perspective view, an object's size depends on its distance from the camera.

virtual sourceA source clip that generates new frames as needed; it has no real beginning or end. Virtual sources can be trimmed to any extent.

volumeA store of metadata, audio, and images of varying resolutions and bit depth that are organized on a corresponding partition. Clip library information pertaining to the metadata is stored on the system disk, while audio and image data is stored on the Stone Direct disk array.

VTRA video tape recorder. Examples include Betacams and D1s.

warpTo distort or change the shape of an image.

white levelThe level of signal equal to the maximum limits of the white in an image.

wipe1. An effect that uses a pattern to progressively reveal a new clip and obscure the current clip during a transition. 2. To apply colour, filter, or an effect to an entire image.

WireAutodesk networking utility for transferring clips from a remote framestore to a local framestore.

wireframeA display option where solid or filled objects are represented by mesh lines and/or curves.

Y'CBCRA colour signal which is divided into luma (Y), and the colour difference signals, B-Y and R-Y. Tape uses Y'CBCR. Synonymous with YUV.

write-onA series of recorded paint strokes played back in a clip.

zoom1. To increase or decrease the percentage of an image that you can see in an image window. It gives the impression of moving closer to or farther from an image. 2. To reduce or enlarge the display of the animation curves in the Channel Editor.