Glossary
Learn the language of AI video, editing, visual storytelling, and social media through short definitions and practical examples.
24 terms
A way to generate video by describing a scene and its action in words. Specific details about the subject, setting, movement, and light help communicate what you want.
Enter “A white dog runs along the water's edge on a beach at sunrise” to create a short video.
A way to generate a moving video from an image. The image provides a starting point for composition and appearance, but its details may not be preserved exactly.
Upload a product photo and ask for a camera that slowly moves closer.
An instruction that tells an AI what you want it to create. For video, you can describe movement and camera behavior as well as the subject and background.
Specify the scene and camera movement with “Follow a person from behind as they walk through a city at night.”
An instruction describing elements you want to avoid in the generated result. Some models do not support this feature or provide a separate field for it, and exclusion is not guaranteed.
In a model that supports negative prompts, list “on-screen text, logos” as unwanted elements.
An initial value that influences randomness during generation. Reusing the same seed and settings can sometimes produce similar results, but services and models do not necessarily guarantee exact reproduction.
Save the seed and settings of a result you like, then make a small prompt change and compare the outputs.
Units used to pay for generation or other actions within an AI service. The amount required varies by service, model, video length, resolution, and other settings.
Try a short test generation to check quality and credit usage before generating the final video at high resolution.
The editing area where you arrange video, audio, and captions over time. Adjusting the position and duration of these elements shapes the flow of the video.
Place the product shot before the demonstration on the timeline so the explanation follows a clear order.
A piece of video or audio used in an edit. A section taken from a longer source file can also be called a clip.
Use a three-second section showing someone picking up a product as one clip in your edit.
To adjust a clip's start or end point and choose the portion you want to use. This changes its duration; cropping instead removes part of the picture around its edges.
Trim the two silent seconds before the speaker begins so the video gets straight to the point.
To divide a clip into two at a chosen point. You can then remove or rearrange the separate sections.
Split a clip before and after a repeated sentence, then delete the unwanted section.
An effect used when one shot changes to the next. Fades and dissolves can help communicate a change of scene.
Use a short dissolve to connect daytime and nighttime footage of the same place.
To turn your edit into a video file that can be played or uploaded. Choose resolution, frame rate, file format, and other settings to suit its intended use.
After finishing a vertical edit, check the platform's recommended settings and export an MP4 file.
The ratio of a video's width to its height. A 9:16 frame is vertical, 16:9 is horizontal, and 1:1 is square.
Set the canvas to 9:16 before you begin editing a vertical short video.
The number of pixels across and down a video frame. More pixels can show finer detail, but source quality and compression also affect how the video looks.
A common resolution for vertical Full HD video is 1080 pixels wide by 1920 pixels high.
The number of images that make up each second of video, measured in frames per second, or fps. Source footage and export settings affect the appearance of movement.
When editing 30 fps footage, matching the timeline and export to 30 fps can make the workflow easier to manage.
Supplementary footage that illustrates or supports the main footage, such as a person speaking. Close-ups of a task, products, or scenery can make an explanation easier to understand.
While explaining coffee brewing, show close-ups of grinding beans and pouring water.
A change in the camera's position or direction that changes how a subject is shown. Examples include panning left or right, tilting up or down, and moving closer to a subject.
Add “The camera slowly moves closer to the subject” to an AI prompt to bring attention to a detail.
Adjusting color and contrast to create a video's mood or visual style. This can be done alongside work to make the colors of different clips consistent.
Add a slightly warm tone throughout a travel video to create a soft evening atmosphere.
Something that catches a viewer's attention and gives them a reason to keep watching. In a short video, it can come from the opening image, words, or sound.
Show the finished video first and say, “We'll make this scene from a single photo.”
A measure of how much time viewers spend watching a video. Total watch time and average watch time are different values, and platforms vary in how they calculate them and which views they include.
If a 30-second video has an average watch time of 10 seconds, also check where viewers tend to leave.
A measure of how viewing continues through a video, such as the percentage still watching at a given point. Names, denominators, and the treatment of repeat viewing vary by platform, so check the definition in the analytics interface.
If retention falls sharply in the first five seconds, review whether your introduction takes too long.
The percentage of views that reach the end of a video. Platforms differ in what counts as a completed view and which denominator they use, such as video starts.
Compare the completion rates of 15-second and 30-second versions on the same platform, alongside views and watch time.
A measure of the proportion of interactions such as likes, comments, shares, and saves. The included actions and denominator, such as views, reach, or followers, change the result, so compare using the same calculation.
If you use “total interactions ÷ reach × 100,” apply that same formula when comparing other videos.
A request that tells viewers what to do next. Saving, commenting, following, or reading a full guide can be useful actions depending on the video's purpose.
End a tutorial with “Save this so you can try it later.”
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