Glossary of Terms

Analog Video (AV) - Motion video from a VCR, older camcorder, laserdisc or Television, (RCA or S-VHS connection). At 640 x 480, 30 fps, analog format consumes 1 Gig of disk space per 30 minutes of video (VHS quality).

Animation - A graphic image that moves. Typically comprised of 2 or more frames or cels that give the appearance of motion or a single graphic that follows a predefined path.

Arrow Keys - The four keys on computer keyboards designated with up, down, left and right arrows. In MediaWorks, the up and down arrows control the sound volume while previewing or playing a Project. In pause, press the left arrow to go back to the previous track or the right arrow to advance to the next track. Holding the Shift key and pressing the left arrow goes to the previous Scene; the right arrow advances to the next Scene.

Attributes - The characteristics associated with an object. Every imported object has attributes, which can be accessed by clicking once on the object the highlight it and selecting Object-Attributes.

AVI - A Microsoft-standard video file format typically viewed using Windows Media Player.

Background - A background color, graphic or photo that remains in every Scene throughout a Project (similar to a background in PowerPoint). Access the Background layer by selecting Background from the Scene Navigation menu, or set a background color using Edit-Background Color menu option.

Batch Drag and Drop - Drag and drop multiple media files at one time, onto the Project window.

Batch Process - A term for applying an operation to multiple objects at the same time. Batch processing saves vast amounts of time.

Batch Sequencing -Selecting multiple timebars in the Sequencer window and moving as a group, stretching their duration, or auto-sequencing.

Batch Transitions - Applying a transition effect to multiple objects at the same time.

Buttons - Graphic or photo objects (of any size) that can link to other Scenes, Objects, Projects, web pages or other files. To create a Button, press CTRL/COMMAND key while dragging one or more files into MediaWorks, or use Object-Import-Button and select an image, or click the Button icon on Main Tools palette to create a Button.

Burnt Text - A check box setting in the Text Attributes dialog that converts the text into a picture track. This removes any font dependencies on other computers.

Color Coded - The visual representation of timebars in the Sequencer window in different colors. Each color represents a unique type of object: Pictures are purple, Video sements are blue, Sounds are red, Animations are yellow, Text objects are green, and Buttons are gray.

Compression - Any object may be individually compressed by highlighting it, selecting Object-Compression and choosing the desired compressor. You must also choose the desired compressor when rendering your scene, if you choose to render your scene. If you will be rendering your scene, you should not compress the objects individually.

Digital Video (DV) - Motion video from a Digital Video (DV) camcorder, (Firewire connection). At 720 x 480, 30 fps, DV format consumes 1 Gig of disk space per 5 minutes of video. MediaWorks can capture and export to DV devices, and may also export as a .dv file that may be imported into DVD authoring programs or other DV editing packages like iMovie.

Drag and Drop - A term for selecting an object or group of objects with the mouse, dragging them to another location and releasing the mouse.

Escape - To exit from previewing a Project by pressing the Escape key.

Export - The process of saving a Scene as an industry standard file or recording to a DV camcorder.

Extend to End - A check box option in the Sound Attributes dialog that truncates or loops the selected sound to match the current end time of the Scene. Also, a check box option in the Button Attributes dialog that always forces a Button's duration to the end time of the Scene.

Frame Grab - To capture a single frame or image from a video and saving it as a file or sending the frame to MediaWorks.

Frames Per Second - The Frame Per Second (FPS) determines how smooth your scene plays back. By default, the FPS is set to 20. Increasing the FPS will make your scene run smoother. There is also a preference setting for the FPS available from the Edit-Preferences menu option.

Gradient - A graphic effect consisting of a gradual change in color. Create gradients in MediaWorks Paint/Photo by selecting a color; selecting the Paint Bucket and dragging a short distance in the direction you want the gradient to flow.

Handle Bars - The small squares that appear around a selected object in the Project window. Dragging these squares adjusts the dimension of the object. Hold the Shift key to maintain the aspect ratio.

Interactive - Interactive projects include buttons and more than one scene. An example of an interactive project would be a presentation where the user could select from various options on a main menu. Interactive projects require that you make a Player (.plr) file out of your project before sharing it with others.

Linear - Linear projects play from beginning to endand do not include buttons. An example of a linear project is a slide show or video or other dynamic movie.

MPEG - Motion Pictures Expert Group. A series of industry-wide standard multimedia file formats. MediaWorks imports standard MPEG 1, 2 and 4 formats and exports to MPEG-4. QuickTime plug-in required to import MPEG-2 files.

Object - A generic term for any element (sound, text, graphic, video animation, button etc.) added to a Scene. Objects are represented as color-coded timebars placed in the Sequencer window.

Object Animation - A stationary frame-based animation that cycles over a specified time (e.g. animated GIF, or PICS). Maximum dimension of a frame or cel animation created in MediaWorks Animator is 256 x 256 pixels.

Preview - The term for viewing your Project by clicking play on the Control Panel or by pressing CTRL/COM-G. Pressing the Escape key returns you to edit mode.

Path Animation - An object that travels over time along a path over time. The Scene-Render option must be on to access the Path Tools and create path animations.

Player Document - A single file that results from using the File-Make Player command that may be freely distributed with the MediaWorks Player applications.

Project - A MediaWorks document. On Windows, Project files use the extension .mwd. Projects created in the Windows version are saved as a single file. On Macintosh, Project files are saved in a folder along with the individual Scenes. Project files can only be opened/edited on the platform they were created.

QuickTime - Part of your Operating System used to deliver rich multimedia experiences. Any scene created in MediaWorks may be exported as a QuickTime movie - an industry standard file format that may be easily played in other applications, over the Internet and on PCs running Windows. It is important to think of a QuickTime movie as a container to store any combination of multimedia objects, regardless of whether it's a slide show, video sequence or presentation. MediaWorks uses QuickTime to handle importing, playback and compression.

QuickTime Media - File formats, which may be opened by the QuickTime-based applications like MediaWorks. QuickTime supports nearly all media file formats.

Registration Point - The point from which the movement of an object takes place. The default registration point in MediaWorks is in the exact center of the image. The center is not always the best place to generate the movement from. Set a different registration point using the Path Tools palette (Scene-Render must be turned on).

Render/Rendered/Rendering - The act of processing all objects into a single video track and single audio track (if present). Rendering is required for Scenes containing path animation, Dissolve transition, or scaling effects prior to previewing or exporting. Also recommended for movies uploaded to the Internet. Note that only Export-Scene-Rendered combines sound tracks into a single audio track.

Render Region - The area of your scene that is included in the rendering process.

Select All - To select or highlight all the files in a folder or all the objects within a Scene. In MediaWorks, CTRL/COMMAND-A selects all the visible objects in a Scene. Another option is to use the mouse to drag a selection around all the timebars in the Sequencer window.

Sequencer - The window that displays Scene objects as they appear over time. Each object is displayed on its own time track as a color-coded timebar and positioned using the mouse. Other methods of adjusting timebars include auto-sequence, auto-sequence to markers, snap to end and snap to Current Time.

Scene - Like chapters in a book, scenes are used to organize your project into logical segments. A Scene can contain any number of elements and can be linked in any order using the Scene-Links command or linked together using Buttons (Object-Links).

Scrolling Text - A function applied to text objects that give the appearance of motion. Access the scrolling text options by selecting the text object and choosing Scrolling… from the Text menu.

Scrub - A video editing term for adjusting the current time of a Scene. In the Sequencer window, drag the blue arrow to another position or in the Play Controls window drag the Slider.

Snap To End - In the Sequencer window, clicking the 'sideways T' will force the duration of the selected timebar(s) to match the current end time of the Scene.

Snap To Current Time - Pressing the Shift Key when clicking the Snap to End button will snap the selected timebar(s) to the edit point (blue arrow).

Text Links -Text objects can link to any external file, to a Web page, FTP site or prompt for email. Access the Text linking functions by highlighting the Text object and selecting Object-Attributes.

Text Format (Text Style Preferences) - Preset up to four text styles with font, size, color, style and other characteristics for Project/Scene font consistency and faster editing.

Text Object - A type of object or container specifically designed to hold text.

Timebar - A visual representation of an object in the Sequencer window. Timebars are color-coded and can be a short as 30th of a second (at 30 frames per second) or as long as desired.

Transition - An "A to B" effect applied between two visible objects (i.e. wipe, cross fade, radial, etc.) or an effect applied to the beginning and/or the ending of a single visible object, (open vertical, dissolve, zoom etc.).

Unrendered - The option to export your scene as a QuickTime movie where all objects are not rendered into a single track.

Video Editing - The process of modifying video. Typically associated with removing unwanted segments or connecting multiple clips into a single segment.