Definitions | Glossary | Lexicon

[zephyrnoid]

Please compile an aphabetical list of terms that will help neophytes in deciphering new words, terms or techniques. I can manage it in this post if you wish or a kind MOD can on our behalf. Thanks!:hv20-smilie70:
Words:
Terms:35mm Adapter , DOF Adapter, NLE (Non-Linear-Editor)
Techniques:Pulling focus

[white_2kgt]

NLE: Non Linear Editor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-linear_editing_system)

That one kept getting me :).

[Lunchbox]

I'll try to compile a list of common acronyms that often used in this site. Please add your suggestions and I will update the list.

HD - High Definition
HDD - Hard Disk Drive
SD - Standard Definition
SD Card - Secure Digital Card
PM - Private Message
PQ - Picture Quality
IQ - Image Quality
RTFM - Read The Freaking Manual
FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions (http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?t=3058)
RTFFAQ - :hv20-smilie58: Reading The F__king FAQ (okay, I made this one up)
DOF - Depth Of Field
NLE - Non-Linear Editor
AF - Auto Focus
iAF - Instant Auto Focus
OIS - Optical Image Stabiliser
AVCHD - Advanced Video Codec High Definition
WTB - Want To Buy
FS - For Sale
OP - Original Poster
DIY - Do-It-Yourself
WB - White Balance
AWB - Auto White Balance
MF - Manual focus

_

[manuel_d]

DOF always jumps at me when I try to read the forums. ;)

[Ian-T]

IQ - image quality.
HDTV - High Definition television

Some non-technical terms:
LMAO - laughing my ass off
LOL - Laugh out loud
IMHO - In my honest opinion
KISS - Keep it simple stupid

[CJDaniels]

MiniDV
HDV -High Definition
dB
FPS
F-stop

[Rikki]

To expand ...

MiniDV - tape format used in the HV20 and other digital camcorders since the mid 90's
HDV - High Definition Video - The data stored by HDV camera on MiniDV tapes
dB - Decibels - Used to note energy relating to sound or video, and also how much "gain" is added
FPS - First Person Shooter - Bang Bang! You're dead. See CounterStrike
FPS - Damn, also means Frames Per Second - eg: 30fps NTSC, 24fps Film-like etc
F-stop - Aperture setting on camera lenses. The lower the number (f1.8, f2, f2.8 etc) the more open the iris is and the more light comes in.

.M2T - The file container format of HDV video when its stored on a computer
NLE - Non-linear editor - A video editing program such as Vegas, Premier, ULead, Pinnacle etc
mAh - Milliamps - Capcity rating of batteries - Original HV20 BP-2L13 is 1200mAh, higher capacity ones can be double or more giving longer run times between charges
GG - Ground glass - A focusing screen used inside a 35mm DOF adapter to help achieve a more film like look
HD-DVD - High Def Digital Video/Versatile Disc - Next generation high definition video disc format. Competed directly with BluRay and lost. Now obsolete
BluRay - Sony backed 25gb/50gb per disc high definition standard to replace DVD in the future. Built into the PS3 giving it entry to homes across the world.
MB - Sometimes used to describe Magic Bullet. A suite of software plugins to mimic popular "looks" in film and TV such as Cold Case's bleached effect, CSI NY's blue effect etc
AE - After Effects - A suite from Adobe that offers photoshop style effects and such like to be applied to video

[tcindie]

Slight correction Rikki.. mAh is milliamp hours, or thousandths of an ampere-hour (Ah) -- not simply milliamps. 1mAh = .001Ah, or in other words 1200mAh == 1.2Ah.

The higher Ampere rating the more capacity the battery has, so it is able to provide the correct voltage for a longer period. General rule of thumb would be that if a 1200mAh battery gives you 1 hour of run time, a 2400mAh battery of the same voltage would give you about 2 hours. ;)

[Rikki]

Quite correct tc cheers for pointing that one out, though for some reason the 2400mAh HV20 battery I have lasts about 3 or 4 times the runtime of the standard battery which I found quite surprising :S

Some others...

LANC - Local Application Control BUS System - remote control interface for controlling video recorders and camcorders NOT found on the HV20 but commonly mentioned as something people would have liked to have had featured.

AF - Auto Focus

iAF - Instant Auto Focus - Quicker AF systems employed on HDV Canon cameras

OIS - Optical Image Stabiliser - Helps fix slight camera shake through the use of mechanical elements in the Canon's lens system. Generally accepted to be better than software / electronic only image stabilisers.

CCD - Charge Coupled Device - Mature image sensor technology

3CCD - 3 independant CCD's, one for each colour (Red Green Blue)

CMOS - Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor - Newer image sensor technology as used in the HV20/30

ENG - Electronic News Gathering - Generally means outdoor/on location news reporting without using film

Lux - A measure of how much light is needed to produce a usable image

ND - Neutral Density (as in filter) - Like a set of sunglasses for your camera, blocking off a consistant amount of light so you can shoot in brighter locations, or to enable opening up the iris further in bright conditions.

RGB - Red Green Blue - The primary colours CMOS and CCD sensors record

CMYK - Cyan Magenta Yellow Key (Black) - The other colour standard as used for outputting to print

XLR - Extended Locking Round - Balanced audio connector used in prosumer and above equipment as opposed to RCA or 3.5mm jack plugs and sockets

AVCHD - Advanced Video Codec High Definition - MPEG 4 Profile 10 compression aka H.264 as used in flash and hard drive based camcorders. Currently just below the quality obtained from HDV recording due to the fact manufacturers are crippling AVCHD devices by using a very low data rate. At the same data rate as HDV uses (25mbps) AVCHD would in fact produce far better results, but this hasnt happened yet.

DiVX - Commercial MPEG 4 compression codec as used on the web

XViD - Open source / freeware MPEG 4 compression codec fully compatible with DiVX and noted to be better at encoding too (though slower)

HUFFYUV - Lossless codec noted for speed in compression though delivering fairly low compression rates due to the algorythms utilised (RLE and Huffman coding)

MSP - (Sony Vegas) Movie Studio Platinum - Cut down version of Sony's flagship Vegas product, an NLE that is quote common with HV20 users

GOP - Group of Pictures - Used in video compression to describe a "block" of frames that are compressed together into one small stream. This is used in HDV and others systems. MiniDV does not use this and uses a frame by frame compression system. Downsides to GOP compression is if a tape dropout occurs you loose from the current tape position to the end of the GOP so could have a half second "glitch" whereas with MiniDV you might not even notice it

[Kyleman]

Great idea! I didn't know but a couple of these.

-Kyle

[Cindy34]

Is ND neutral or natual density? And what is MSP? Thanks. Cin

[tcindie]

ND is neutral density. Essentially what it means is that it decreases the amount of light without affecting the color.

As for MSP, well... that's the airport code for the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. :)

[CycleWriter]

How could all of you braniacs forget GOP?:eek::hv20-smilie84:

[Rumpelgeist]

IQ - image quality.
Nope, IQ is something totally different. Picture quality is PQ.

[Lunchbox]

Nope, IQ is something totally different. Picture quality is PQ.

Are you talking about Intelligence Quotient? I don't use IQ as Image Quality but I've seen others have done so. I think PQ is more commonly used.

[Rikki]

Fixed spelling error and added the others.

MSP is a Member of the Scottish Parliament BTW :)

[Cindy34]

MSP seems to refer to Movie Studio Platinum, but the other ones work too ;) Cin

[Terrible]

AFAIK - As Far As I Know
FYI - For Your Information

And as long as we are at this, there are a lot of post where users mention sites just by one word... it would be a good idea to list those too. For example:

B&H - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/
Vimeo - http://www.vimeo.com/

[Rikki]

WTB - Want to buy
FS - For Sale
PAL - Phase Alternating Lines - TV standard in Europe and some other places. 25 frames per second / 50 fields per second
NTSC - Never Twice the Same Colour / National Television Standards Committee - USA / Japan and other places. 30 frames per second / 60 fields per second

Relates to the frequency of the power systems used as in the UK and some of Europe runs on 50Hz (like PAL's 50 fields per second) and USA on 60Hz (NTSC 60 fields per second)

4:2:0 / 4:2:2 etc - Chroma subsampling - Not really sure on this myself so if you are interested in finding out more visit - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chroma_subsampling

Lagarith - A freeware lossless video codec in a similar vein to HUFFYUV but is apparently better though slower

LAME - Free / open source MP3 encoder used by VirtualDub and other programs (Lame Aint an MP3 Encoder)

VirtualDUB - Freeware AVI editor, quite hardcore but lots of functions for resampling, recompressing and filtering. Not an NLE though

[tcindie]

FWIW - For What It's Worth

AFAIK - As Far As I Know

IIRC - If I remember correctly / If I recall Correctly

OP - Original Poster / Original Post / Other Person / Other Post

YMMV - Your Mileage May Vary

[Rikki]

HTH - Hope that helps

FWIW - For What Its Worth

IMHO - In My Humble Opinion

[nolonemo]

OTOH - On the other hand
BIMAR - But I'm always right :hv20-smilie84:

[tcindie]

PEBKAC - Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Computer (another way of saying stupid user error)

FUBAR - F---ed up Beyond All Recognition

[Terrible]

PEBKAC - Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Computer (another way of saying stupid user error)

FUBAR - F---ed up Beyond All Recognition


YAJMUA - You Are Just Making Up Acronyms

Between the keyboard and the computer there's usually a cable or sometimes a bluetooth device, there can actually be a problem.

"PEBKAC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEBKAC)" - Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair

[Hannibalekta]

For a long time I did'nt even know what DIY means :hv20-smilie29:

[tcindie]

YAJMUA - You Are Just Making Up Acronyms

Between the keyboard and the computer there's usually a cable or sometimes a bluetooth device, there can actually be a problem.

"PEBKAC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEBKAC)" - Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair

meh.

:)

[Dennis Vogel]

Lux - A measure of how much light is needed to produce a usable image


Lux is a measure of light intensity on a surface, not necessarily how much light is needed to produce a usable image. Some cams can do so at 5 lux (or less); others need 100 lux (or more).

Good luck.

Dennis

[hvheinz]

And this one:
NMTA = Nothing more to add
LOL

[Rikki]

Lux is a measure of light intensity on a surface, not necessarily how much light is needed to produce a usable image. Some cams can do so at 5 lux (or less); others need 100 lux (or more).

Good luck.

Dennis


So, when quoted in a camcorders specs it is used to describe the amount of light needed for an adequate image capture?

[leteeci]

E2E - edge to edge ( sharpness )

[Dennis Vogel]

So, when quoted in a camcorders specs it is used to describe the amount of light needed for an adequate image capture?

Hard to say. Although a standard is in place in the United States (and perhaps elsewhere) to specify minimum quality standards for light levels, adherence to this standard is not mandatory. Since manufacturers know that consumers want cameras that shoot under low light levels, they are reluctant to use that standard and look inferior to a competitor who is not adhering to the standard. So a manufacturer might say just about anything and it's difficult to tell just what they mean when they quote a particular lux rating.

By the way, "lux" is not an acronym. It's a word.

Good luck.

Dennis

[Wolken]

I may add:
WB: white balance
AWB: auto white balance
MF: Manual focus

[dangerface]

"bokeh?"

[Erik Bien]

Aperture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aperture)
Aspect Ratio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_aspect_ratio)
Bayer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayer_filter) (also known as "GRGB")
Bokeh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh)
CMOS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_sensor)
Color Temperature (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_temperature)
CRI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_rendering_index)
DoF (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field)
DoF Adapter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/35mm_adapter) (also known as "35mm Adapter")
DoP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Director_of_photography) (also known as "DP")
DV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DV) (also known as "MiniDV")
EDL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edit_decision_list)
Exposure (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_(photography))
Filter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photographic_filter)
FireWire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireWire) (also known as "IEEE 1394")
Focal Length (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_length)
Focus Puller (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_puller) (also known as "First Assistant Camera" or "1AC")
Follow Focus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Follow_focus)
FoV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle_of_view) (also known as "Angle of View")
Frame Rate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame_rate)
F-Stop (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F_stop) (also known as "F/Stop" or "F Number")
Gaffer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaffer_(motion_picture_industry))
Gain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gain)
Grip (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grip_(job))
HDMI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI)
HDV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDV)
HMI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrargyrum_medium-arc_iodide)
Interlaced (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlace)
ISO (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_speed#Digital_camera_ISO_speed_and_exposure_i ndex) (also known as "ASA")
LANC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LANC)
L Cut (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L_cut) (also known as "Split Edit")
Lens Mount (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_mount)
Lens Speed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_speed)
LUT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lookup_table)
Matte Box (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matte_box)
MOS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOS_(film))
MPEG (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG)
NTSC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTSC)
PAL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAL)
PAR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_aspect_ratio) (pixel aspect ratio) or PAR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parabolic_aluminized_reflector_light) (parabolic aluminized reflector)
Phantom Power (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_power)
Prime Lens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_lens)
Progressive scan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_scan)
Rack Focus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rack_focus)
RAW (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_image_format)
SD Card (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SD_card)
SDI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_Digital_Interface)
Shotgun Mic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microphone#Shotgun) (also known as "Boom Mic")
Shutter Speed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutter_speed) (also known as "Shutter Angle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutter_angle)")
Slate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clapperboard) (also known as "Clapper Board" or "Sticks")
Slow Motion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_motion) (also known as "Overcranking" or "Off Speed")
Telecine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecine) (also known as "Pulldown")
Timecode (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timecode)
TRS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip_ring_sleeve) (also known as "Jack" or "Mini-Jack")
XLR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XLR)
Zoom Lens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoom_lens)

[Seo]

List of Terms

Note: Sorry guys, still working on this. I'll try to get it finished ASAP.

The list is organized into three main sections, which break down into sub-sections. The terms are in alphabetical order. After the terms themselves are a link to its Wikipedia article (if available) and found after them is a brief one-line description of the term. Press Ctrl-F (or Cmd-F on a Mac) to find the term you're looking for.

Pre-Production

Film Crew

Art Director
Best Boy (electrical)
Best Boy (grip)
Boom Operator
Camera Operator
Casting Director
Cinematographer:
Composer
Compositer
Colorist
Costume Designer
Dialogue Editor
Director
Director of Audiography
Director of Photography
Dolly Grip
Film Editor
First Assistant Camera
First Assistant Director
Focus Puller (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_puller) (also known as "First Assistant Camera" or "1AC")
Foley Artist
Gaffer
Hairdresser
Illustrator
Key Grip
Lighting Technician
Line Producer
Location Manager
Make-up Artist
Matte Painter
Music Supervisor
Producer
Production Assistant
Production Coordinator
Production Designer
Production Sound Mixer
Props Master
Re-recording Mixer
Screenwriter
Second Assistant Camera
Second Assistant Director
Set Decorator
Steadicam Operator
Sound Editor
Utility Sound Technician
Visual Effects Supervisor

Production

Camera Terms

Aperture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aperture)
Aspect Ratio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_aspect_ratio)
Bayer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayer_filter) (also known as "GRGB")
Bokeh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh)
CMOS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_sensor)
Color Temperature (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_temperature)
CRI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_rendering_index)
DoF (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field)
DoF Adapter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/35mm_adapter) (also known as "35mm Adapter")
DV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DV) (also known as "MiniDV")
Exposure (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_(photography))
Filter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photographic_filter)
FireWire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireWire) (also known as "IEEE 1394")
Focal Length (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_length)
Follow Focus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Follow_focus)
FoV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle_of_view) (also known as "Angle of View")
Frame Rate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame_rate)
F-Stop (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F_stop) (also known as "F/Stop" or "F Number")
Gain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gain)
HDMI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI)
HDV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDV)
HMI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrargyrum_medium-arc_iodide)
Interlaced (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlace)
ISO (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_speed#Digital_camera_ISO_speed_and_exposure_i ndex) (also known as "ASA")
LANC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LANC)
L Cut (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L_cut) (also known as "Split Edit")
Lens Mount (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_mount)
Lens Speed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_speed)
LUT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lookup_table)
Matte Box (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matte_box)
PAR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_aspect_ratio) (pixel aspect ratio) or PAR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parabolic_aluminized_reflector_light) (parabolic aluminized reflector)
Phantom Power (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_power)
Prime Lens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_lens)
Progressive scan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_scan)
Rack Focus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rack_focus)
RAW (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_image_format)
SD Card (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SD_card)
SDI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_Digital_Interface)
Shotgun Mic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microphone#Shotgun) (also known as "Boom Mic")
Shutter Speed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutter_speed) (also known as "Shutter Angle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutter_angle)")
Slate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clapperboard) (also known as "Clapper Board" or "Sticks")
Timecode (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timecode)
Zoom Lens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoom_lens)

Audio Terms

TRS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip_ring_sleeve) (also known as "Jack" or "Mini-Jack")
XLR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XLR)

Post-Production

Editing

MOS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOS_(film))
EDL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edit_decision_list)
L Cut (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L_cut) (also known as "Split Edit")
Slow Motion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_motion) (also known as "Overcranking" or "Off Speed")
Telecine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecine) (also known as "Pulldown")

Video Formats

AVI
NTSC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTSC)
PAL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAL)
MPEG

Audio Formats

AIFF
MP3
Ogg Vorbis
PCM
WAV

[ncusa367]

can someone explain ISO, i dont understand the wikipedia page. is it gain?

[koolpenguin89]

If im not mistaken, ISO is a carry over from the days of film photography. In the digital realm, i think it is just a way to measure gain other than by decibals.

Dylan

[cgbier]

Not completely. The light sensitivity of films was standardized, either in ISO/ASA or DIN. If you bought a 100 ISO film, you knew that it was 100 ISO (with tolerances, of course). You knew how fine grained a film was (graininess also depended on exposure and developer, but this is a deeper story).

In the digital realm, it depends on the basic light sensitivity. There is no real standard for much gain has to be used to get a specific ISO value. A sensor with a high base sensitivity can achieve a specific EV at 800 ISO without any gain, while another sensor with a lower base sensitivity needs e.g. 3db to achieve the same and has some noise in the picture.
The ISO value in digital is basically meaningless, and is only used as an equivalence for comparison .... like the 35mm equivalence in lenses (should be field of view instead of focal length in most cases).

[drapeama]

Could be usefull for some newbies, ask yourself before posting:
WWSD : What Would Seo Do

[makemoney02]

MiniDV - tape format used in the HV20 and other digital camcorders since the mid 90's
HDV - High Definition Video - The data stored by HDV camera on MiniDV tapes
dB - Decibels - Used to note energy relating to sound or video, and also how much "gain" is added
FPS - First Person Shooter - Bang Bang! You're dead. See CounterStrike
FPS - Damn, also means Frames Per Second - eg: 30fps NTSC, 24fps Film-like etc
F-stop - Aperture setting on camera lenses. The lower the number (f1.8, f2, f2.8 etc) the more open the iris is and the more light comes in.

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