Animation and video glossary: 40 terms explained simply

New to animated video and running into words like easing, fps, Ken Burns or codec? This animation glossary gathers 40 terms used in animation, motion design and video editing, explained plainly — with pointers to where each concept shows up in Editor de Vídeo Online.

Styles and techniques

Whiteboard animation: a video where a hand draws the illustration stroke by stroke. See what is whiteboard animation.

Collage animation: a composition of photo cutouts, papers and drawings where each piece enters with motion. In Editor de Vídeo Online, this is the Vox collage mode. See Vox-style collage.

Doodle video: another name for a hand-drawing video.

Line art: a drawing made only of lines, with no fills or shading. Ideal for whiteboard.

Motion design (motion graphics): animating graphic elements — shapes, text, icons — to communicate ideas.

Stop motion: photographing objects frame by frame; motion has small "jumps". See the stop motion effect.

Scrapbook: a handmade-album look with photos, tape and notes.

Zine: the look of photocopied independent magazines, with high contrast and cut-out text.

Papercraft: a look of layered cut paper.

Motion and timing

Entrance animation: how an element appears on screen (slide, pop, spin…). Editor de Vídeo Online has 47. See the entrance animations guide.

Easing: the acceleration curve of a motion. Entrances that slow down at the end feel more natural.

Keyframe: a point that defines an element's position or state at a moment; the software calculates the in-between.

Delay: waiting time before an animation starts.

Pacing: the overall speed at which information appears.

Loop: a video that restarts with no noticeable seam.

Timing: the duration and exact moment of each action.

Camera

Ken Burns: a slow zoom combined with a pan over a still image. See camera moves.

Zoom in / zoom out: pushing in toward / pulling away from the image.

Pan: sideways camera movement; in Editor de Vídeo Online, the "side pan".

Film grain: a film-like grain texture applied to the video.

Image and cutouts

Cutout: an element separated from its background.

Transparent PNG: an image with an invisible background, used to layer cutouts.

Mask: an area that defines what shows and what is hidden in an image.

Layer: each independent element in a composition. See layers, merge and eraser.

Merge layers: combining two or more layers into one.

Lasso: a tool to trace around and select an area by hand.

Quick selection: a tool that selects similar areas as you paint over them.

Aliasing: jagged, "staircase" edges. Editor de Vídeo Online calculates edges at the final resolution to avoid it.

Resolution: the number of pixels in an image or video (e.g. 1080 × 1920).

Video and files

Aspect ratio: the relationship between width and height: 9:16, 1:1, 4:5, 16:9. See social media formats.

fps (frames per second): how many images the video shows per second; 30 fps is the web standard.

Codec: the way video is compressed. H.264 is the most compatible.

MP4: a video file format accepted by every platform.

WebM: a web video format that sometimes needs converting. See how to convert WebM to MP4.

Bitrate: the amount of data per second; higher bitrate means more quality and a bigger file.

Render: generating the final video file from the animation.

Editing

Timeline: where clips are arranged in time. In Editor de Vídeo Online, it lives in the Studio. See how to edit the video.

Hard cut: an instant switch between two clips.

Dissolve (crossfade): a gradual blend between two images.

Fade to black: the image goes to black before the next one.

Summary table of the most-used terms

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between animation and motion design?

Motion design is a type of animation focused on graphic elements that communicate information. Animation is the broader term, covering characters, stop motion, whiteboard and more.

What frame rate should I use?

For social media and the web, 30 fps is standard. 24 fps feels more cinematic; 60 fps is used for gaming and high-motion content.

What does "render" mean?

It is the process of producing the final video file. In Editor de Vídeo Online, it happens when you click Record video or Generate final video.

Conclusion

Knowing the terms helps you follow tutorials, talk to designers and get more out of your tools. Bookmark this glossary and, when you want to put the concepts into practice, open Editor de Vídeo Online.