Before going ahead with learning media editing with Video Edit Magic Express, it is essential to understand the terminology involved. Terms related to Media Editing and capturing are used throughout this document.

Timeline

A Timeline is a graphical representation of media files and video effects on a time scale. The time scale runs horizontally on the timeline. A Timeline consists of multiple tracks.

Track

A Track is a linear sequence of sources. A track may contain zero or more sources.

Source

A source is any media file or video effect added to and represented in a track in the timeline. For instance, a video file that consists of video and audio both is added separately to the video track and the audio track. Sources can be edited individually.

Media

Video and/or Audio may also be called media. A media file may contain both Video and Audio or only a Video or Audio stream.

Stream

A stream is video or audio data in a media file. A single media file may contain one or more video and/or audio streams.

Media Properties

Media Properties describe a video or an audio stream.

Video Properties

Dimensions: Measured in pixels, the dimensions of a video are the height and width of the video. For example, a video of 320 x 240 pixels is 320 pixels wide (width) and 240 pixels tall (height).
Color Depth: Measured in bits per pixel (bpp), Color Depth of a video is the amount of color information it stores per pixel. High color videos are typically of 24bpp. Low color depth can look cartoony, but produce smaller files.
Frame Rate: Measured in frames per second (fps), frame rate of a video is the number of individual video frames that are displayed per second. Higher frame rates are used to shoot high motion videos.
Bit Rate: Measured in bits per second (bps) or kilobits per second (Kbps), bit rate of a video is the amount of data that can be transferred in one second. Bit rates are directly related to frame rates.
Key Frame Rate: Measured intervals (so many non-key frames between each key frame), the key frame rate of a video is the interval at which a key frame is inserted. Key Frames affect video seeking capabilities and are also used in some high-end compression techniques.

Audio Properties

Frequency: Measured in Hertz (Hz) or Kilohertz (KHz), frequency of an audio is the number of audio samples transferred in one second.
Bit Rate: Measured in bits per second (bps) or Kilobits per second (Kbps), bit rate of audio is the amount of audio data that can be transferred in one second.
Channels: An audio channel forms a part of an audio stream. Mono channel audio has 1 channel per audio stream while Stereo has 2 channels per audio stream.

AVI (Audio Video Interleaved)

AVI is a simple format that is best suited for editing purposes. Video Edit Magic Express is capable of making movies in the AVI format.

Compressor/Codec

AVI files save images sequentially at a particular frame rate. Media files that save uncompressed images, though good in quality, can take up huge amounts of disk space. Using a media Compressor/Codec significantly reduces the size of the AVI files. Video Edit Magic Express lists all Compressors/Codecs installed on a PC. These Compressors/Codices can then be used to compress AVI files. The compression level achieved depends on media properties and the Compressor/Codec in use.

MBR (Multi Bit Rate)

Multi Bit Rate is a type of WMF file that consists multiple video and/or audio streams encoded at varying bit rates. This enables MBR media files viewable over a wider range of bandwidth. For example, a video with 7 video streams encoded at bit rates from 16Kbps to 128Kbps can be viewed by audiences with internet connection speeds from 16Kbps to 128Kbps. WMF files made for playback on the local computer (not across the internet) are typically not MBR.

Capture Devices

Capture Devices is a collective term used for video and audio devices attached to your PC that capture video or sound. Web Cameras (WebCam), DV Cameras etc. qualify as video capture devices while microphones are audio capture devices. Video Edit Magic Express can use and capture from all capture devices.