Glossary

Ambient noise

Unwanted noise that can creep into your video, such as traffic, air conditioner motors, and echoes off walls, windows , and even your camera. 135

Analog camera

A camera that writes to film using continuous signals, requiring the analog signals to be decoded to digital signals before your computer can edit the video. 6

Aperture setting

The size of the opening that lets light through the lens. 49

Audio track

The audio imported or captured with your video. 104

Audio/Music track

Audio you add to your project after you import or capture video and the audio that goes with it. 104

AutoMovie

The Movie Maker feature that automatically creates a movie based on clips you select. 154

Bit rate

The number of data bits, or signals, used in one second of video. 102

Bits

Small data values that, when combined, describe the sound and video of your movie. 214

Blind carbon copy

Email terminology, typically designated by the Bcc field, to recipients of an email who are to receive a copy of the email without the primary or carbon copy recipients knowing the copy was sent. 226

Blue screen filter

Also known as a chroma key transparency filter, a blue screen filter enables you to create a useful special effect by embedding one video inside another. 40

Carbon copy

Email terminology, typically designated by the Cc field, to recipients of an email who are not designated as the primary recipient that appears in the To field. The regular recipient in the To field will see that a copy was also sent to the Cc field's email address. 226

Channels

The number of separate audio soundtracks , such as two for stereo. Movie Maker supports one or two channels. 102

Clip detection

The process Movie Maker uses to split imported video into multiple clips. 71

Credits

Descriptions of who did what at the end of a movie, such as the production staff, as well as a repeat of the stars and head people. Typically, credits scroll from the bottom to the top of the screen. 186

Cross-fade

The playing of two clips with a fading-out of the first clip while the next clip fades in at the same time, usually with some pattern such as a swirl effect, and with the second clip completely taking over at the last moment of the transition. 177

Cutaway shots

Shots that correlate to a scene but are not imperative to the scene. Cutaway shots help to keep a scene moving without being too distracting. 34

Depth of field

The amount of a scene that is completely in sharp focus at any one time. 51

Digital camera

A camera that writes to film using discrete signals that your computer can read directly without a decoding device. 6

Digital image stabilization

Built-in camera movement sensors that act as shock absorbers. If you move the camera in a jerky motion while shooting, the digital image stabilization corrects for the movement and attempts to keep the picture steady. 38

Digital rights management

Encoding of a video or audio file that protects it from unauthorized copying or distribution by programs that recognize the digital rights management system. Also called DRM. 71

DVD burner programs

A program you need in addition to Movie Maker that will write your movie to a DVD so the movie is playable on a DVD player. 215

End trim point

Determines where the clip stops playback. 125

Ending playback indicator

A selected clip's right edge on the timeline. 125

f-stop

Numbers that indicate the size of a camera's aperture opening. The formula for an f-stop is a fraction, so the larger the f-stop number, the smaller the aperture opening and the less light that can enter the camera. 49

FireWire connection

Also called IEEE 1394, a FireWire connection is a port in your camera that you can connect directly to a PC's FireWire port, allowing you to send video directly to your PC without requiring special decoding hardware, such as a video capture card. 6

Focal length

The distance from the camcorder lens to the subject. 45

Grayscale

The color description of a film or picture that shows various shades of gray and white without any other color . 180

HiMAT (High Performance Media Access Technology)

A storage method that is now recognized by many end- user consumer devices, including some DVD players. 221

Jump cuts

A quick cut from one shot back to the same shot again when the actor's position has changed, breaking the scene's continuity. 29

Lux value

A measurement that states how low a light level can be before registering on your camera. Lux values determine how much candlelight, or a unit of light, falls on a surface. 55

Mixer

An audio device with multiple microphone input jacks that enable you to combine several sound sources into one balanced soundtrack. 36

Motion blur

The effect of tracking a speeding object and the blurring of the background due to the motion. 47

Narration

Voicing over a video to provide a description, tell a story, or introduce scenes and events. 136

Newsgroups

Electronic bulletin boards , categorized by name and function, where users upload and download messages and files. 76

Overlay title

Text that appears on a clip that can be used to explain the current action, translate foreign speech, or to label a certain locale being shown. 186

Panning

Moving the camera left and right to film subject matter that is not currently in the camera's eye. 29

Peripheral vision

The area of vision off to the sides and back. You can look straight ahead and see some things off to either side. Those things are in your peripheral vision. 29

Picture duration

The length of time a picture clip remains onscreen before the next clip plays. The picture duration applies only to picture clips. Video clip length is determined by the clip's playback time. 114

Pixel

Short for picture element and used to represent the smallest dot of resolution in your video. The more pixels Movie Maker gives to your movie's quality, the smoother your video will look and the more disk space it will consume . 67

Playlist

A list of tracks used by Windows Media Player and other programs to keep track of the album name, artist, and track information for recordings on your computer. 272

Royalty-free

A label that indicates you can own a license to use a file any way you want, or that you are free to use the file in a specific, predefined way. 74

Shutter

Blades that open and close, exposing your subject to your camera's film, creating one frame of your video each time the shutter opens. 47

Shutter speed

The time between the opening and closing of your camera's shutter, determining how many frames per second your camera records. 47

Source file

A video or audio file that you import into Movie Maker. 71

Start trim point

Determines where the clip begins playback. 125

Starting playback indicator

A selected clip's left edge on the timeline. 125

Stock footage

Video depicting a common scene or event, such as a mountain range or children playing, that you might want to use as filler video in a movie. 74

Storyboard

A storyboard shows a movie's planned sequence of events. The storyboard might be sketches of proposed scenes, or snapshots of pictures with actors posing for the scenes. 22

Storyboarding

Laying out sketches or paintings of proposed movie scenes to plan and develop the sequence of events. 87

Straight cut

The playing of two clips without any noticeable delay or effect occurring when the first clip changes to the next. 177

Templates

Predesigned StoryBuilder models that contain graphics and special effects you can select that create consistent tones for your various movies. 279

Tight shots

Another name for a close-up shot that shows a subject up close and in detail without showing much of the periphery. 32

Title Overlay track

Titles and credits you add to your project's timeline. 104

Titles

The name of your movie, the stars, the director's and producer's names , and anything else you might want to tell your audience before your movie begins comprise the title. 186

Transition

The way a movie moves from one clip to another, with the tail of the earlier clip twirling, folding, exploding, fading, or in some manner changing into the next clip. 168

Transition track

The transition effect, if any exists, between clips. 104

Trim

To shorten a portion of a clip by positioning a trim point so that Movie Maker starts playing or stops playing the clip at that point. 123

Video effects

Movie Maker's term for special effects you add to change the way a clip or movie plays back. 168

Video hosting provider

A Web site on which you rent space to put your movies on for others to watch. 210