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FilmScribe

Video and caption glossary. Every term with an example.

The terms you run into when you caption, clip and deliver video: subtitle formats, timecode, audio, vertical video and the path to your editor. Each definition answers in a few lines, shows a concrete example and tells you where to handle it in practice.

Captions and formats

The subtitle files YouTube, players and editors read, and the ways to put text on screen.

Animated captions Captions that light up, change color or appear word by word at the exact moment each word is spoken. Read the definition → ASS subtitles A subtitle format that keeps the styling with the text: font, size, color, outline, position and even effects. Read the definition → Auto captions Captions generated from the video's speech, with the text and timing of each line ready and nothing typed by hand. Read the definition → Burned-in captions Captions rendered into the video image itself: they show in every player and the viewer cannot turn them off. Read the definition → Characters per second (CPS) A caption's reading speed: how many characters the viewer has to read for every second it stays on screen. Read the definition → Closed captions Captions the viewer turns on and off in the player with the CC button, with the speech and the sounds that matter. Read the definition → SBV A simple caption format tied to YouTube: start and end on a single line, separated by a comma, with no numbering. Read the definition → SRT A plain text file of numbered captions, each with a start time, an end time and the words shown on screen. Read the definition → TTML An XML caption format with the start, end and style of every line, required by streaming, TV and some players. Read the definition → WebVTT (VTT) A caption format made for web video players, close to SRT but with its own header and positioning options. Read the definition →

Time and editing

How video counts time, how an edit moves from one app to another and the most common cuts.

B-roll Supporting footage that covers the main speech, like details, places and action, while the audio keeps going. Read the definition → Drop frame A 29.97 and 59.94 fps timecode rule that skips frame numbers so the timecode matches the real clock. Read the definition → EDL A text list of every cut in a timeline: which file, from where to where and at what point in the sequence. Read the definition → Frame rate (fps) How many images a video shows per second: 24 for film, 30 for web and US TV, 60 for fast motion. Read the definition → Jump cut A cut that skips forward within the same shot, removing part of the speech without changing camera. Read the definition → Timecode The address of every frame in a video, written as hours, minutes, seconds and frames: HH:MM:SS:FF. Read the definition → Timestamps Markers of the moment each line or scene happens in a recording, in hours, minutes and seconds. Read the definition → XML and FCPXML Files that describe a whole timeline, with segments, tracks and timing, so a video editor can open it. Read the definition →

Audio and speech

Loudness measured the way platforms measure it, and speech turned into text with the name of who said it.

LUFS (loudness) A unit that measures loudness the way the ear hears it, used by YouTube, Spotify and broadcast to level audio. Read the definition → Speaker identification Separating who said each line in a recording with several voices, with a label or the name of each person. Read the definition → Transcription The speech in audio or video written down as text, either verbatim, with every hesitation, or clean and easy to read. Read the definition →

Vertical video and clips

What turns a moment from a long video into a Reels, Shorts or TikTok post that stops the scroll.

9:16 aspect ratio The shape of vertical video: 9 wide by 16 tall, or 1080 x 1920, the standard for Reels, Shorts and TikTok. Read the definition → Clip template The whole look of a vertical clip applied at once: captions, title, on-screen text, background and layout. Read the definition → Hook The line or scene at the start of a video that makes someone stop scrolling and want to see the rest. Read the definition → Reframe Cropping a horizontal video to vertical or square while keeping the person who is speaking in frame. Read the definition → Safe zone The part of a vertical video the app interface does not cover, where captions and text stay visible. Read the definition → Vertical clip A short moment cut from a long video, in 9:16, that makes sense on its own and goes to Reels, Shorts and TikTok. Read the definition →

Workflow

The steps and tools between raw footage and the published video: paper edits, chapters and your AI assistant.

MCP The standard that connects an AI assistant, like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, to an outside service, with your permission. Read the definition → Paper edit The edit planned on paper from transcripts and timecodes, picking and ordering lines before opening the timeline. Read the definition → YouTube chapters A video split by topic, created from the list of timestamps and titles you paste into the description. Read the definition →

Every term from A to Z

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Frequently asked questions

Who is this glossary for?

Anyone who shoots, edits or publishes video and hits acronyms along the way: wedding filmmakers, church media teams, podcasters, teachers and social media managers. The definitions are short, with a real example for every term.

Do the terms follow a technical standard?

They follow industry usage. Where a standard exists, like SMPTE timecode, drop frame or loudness in LUFS, the definition follows it. Where the term is informal, like hook or vertical clip, we explain the meaning most video creators use.

Where do I put these ideas into practice?

Every term points to a free tool, an example or a FilmScribe feature. Timecode leads to the calculator, characters per second to the subtitle checker, LUFS to the audio normalizer and paper edit to the full guide.

From the term to the work. Try it with your own video.

Upload a video or paste a YouTube link. We transcribe every word with its timing, and you download captions, clips and timelines for your editor. Try it for 3 days.

Try it with my video
See the result on your own recording before adding a card.