Video editing glossary

0-9

• Mounts & accessories 1/4-inch thread The standard tripod screw thread used on cameras, tripods, lights and accessories worldwide. Action cameras use adapters or built-in threads to connect to it.
• Files, formats & codecs 2.7K video A GoPro-era resolution of about 2704 pixels wide, between 1080p and 4K. It offers more detail than Full HD with high frame rates and lighter files.
• Files, formats & codecs 4:2:2 color A chroma subsampling level that keeps twice as much color detail as standard 4:2:0, giving cleaner edges for keying and more robust heavy grading.
• Files, formats & codecs 4K video Video about 4,000 pixels wide, usually 3840 x 2160 UHD. It has four times the pixels of 1080p and is the standard high-quality mode on action cameras.
• Files, formats & codecs 5.3K video A video resolution of 5312 x 2988 pixels in 16:9, the top mode on recent GoPros. About 91 percent more pixels than 4K, leaving room to crop and pull stills.
• Files, formats & codecs 8K video Video around 7680 pixels wide, four times the pixels of 4K. In action cameras it mainly matters for 360 footage, where pixels spread over a whole sphere.
• Files, formats & codecs 10-bit color Video that stores 1,024 brightness levels per color channel instead of 256, giving over a billion colors, smoother gradients and more room for grading.
• Shooting settings 24 fps The frame rate of cinema, 24 frames per second. Combined with natural motion blur, it gives the classic film look many creators aim for.
• Shooting settings 180-degree shutter rule A filmmaking guideline: set shutter speed to about double the frame rate, such as 1/50 s at 25 fps, for natural motion blur the eye reads as smooth.
• Cameras & stabilization 360 camera A camera with two back-to-back fisheye lenses that records the full sphere around it, so you choose where to point the shot after you have filmed.
• Cameras & stabilization 360 reframing Turning a spherical 360 recording into a normal flat video by choosing where a virtual camera points, how wide it sees and how it moves over time.
• Cameras & stabilization 360 stitching Merging the images from the two fisheye lenses of a 360 camera into one seamless spherical video, done in the camera, the phone app or desktop software.
• Files, formats & codecs 1080p (Full HD) Video at 1920 x 1080 pixels with progressive frames. Still the most widely compatible resolution for sharing, editing and playback on any device.

A

• Editing & storytelling A-roll The primary footage that carries a video's story. In action sports it is usually the main runs and tricks that everything else in the edit supports.
• Drones Acro mode An FPV flight mode with no self-leveling: the drone holds whatever angle you set until you change it, allowing flips, rolls and free, fluid movement.
• Cameras & stabilization Action camera livestreaming Broadcasting live video from an action camera to a platform such as YouTube or Twitch, usually over a phone hotspot, instead of only recording to the card.
• AI & automated editing Action recognition AI that identifies what is happening in a video, such as a jump, a turn, a punch or a fall, by analyzing motion and appearance over time.
• Drones ActiveTrack A DJI subject-tracking mode in which the drone locks onto a person, car or boat you select and follows it automatically, keeping it framed as it moves.
• Mounts & accessories Adhesive mount A flat or curved base with strong adhesive that sticks permanently to helmets, boards and vehicles, giving a low, solid mounting point for an action camera.
• AI & automated editing AI slow motion Slow motion created by AI that generates in-between frames, so footage shot at a normal frame rate can be slowed down smoothly.
• AI & automated editing AI upscaling Using a trained model to enlarge video to a higher resolution, such as 1080p to 4K, by predicting plausible detail instead of just stretching pixels.
• AI & automated editing AI video editing Editing where software models watch and listen to footage, then select, trim and arrange clips into a finished video with little or no manual timeline work.
• Files, formats & codecs All-Intra (ALL-I) A compression method where every video frame is encoded on its own, with no reference to other frames. Files are big, but editing is fast and robust.
• Audio Ambient sound The natural background sound of a place, such as waves, wind in trees, crowds or engines, recorded with the footage to make scenes feel real.
• Drones Angle mode A self-leveling FPV flight mode where stick input sets a limited tilt angle and releasing the sticks returns the drone to level, easier but more restrictive.
• Mounts & accessories Anti-fog insert Small absorbent strips placed inside a camera housing to soak up moisture and stop the lens fogging in cold air or water.
• Shooting settings Aperture The opening inside a lens that lets light through, written as an f-number. It controls brightness and depth of field. Most action cameras have it fixed.
• Files, formats & codecs Aspect ratio The ratio of a video frame's width to its height, such as 16:9 for widescreen, 4:3 or 8:7 for taller action-camera modes, and 9:16 for vertical video.
• Sharing & platforms Audience retention How much of a video viewers actually watch before leaving, shown as a curve in platform analytics and a major signal for recommendations.
• Audio Audio clipping Harsh distortion that happens when a sound is recorded or mixed louder than the maximum level, flattening the tops of the wave.
• Audio Audio ducking Automatically lowering the music volume whenever speech or another important sound plays, then raising it again when that sound stops.
• AI & automated editing Audio event detection AI that recognizes meaningful sounds in a recording, such as cheering, impacts, splashes, engine revs or laughter, to help find important moments.
• Audio Audio levels How loud audio is recorded and mixed, measured in decibels on meters, balanced to stay clear without distortion or being too quiet.
• Audio Audio sync Aligning separately recorded audio with video, or several cameras with each other, so sound and picture match exactly in the edit.
• AI & automated editing Auto-reframing AI that tracks the subject and moves a crop window through a wider frame or a 360 sphere, keeping the action in view without manual keyframes.
• Cameras & stabilization AutoBoost A GoPro stabilization setting that adds crop only when the ride gets rough, keeping a wider frame on smooth sections and steadier footage on bumpy ones.
• AI & automated editing Auto captions Captions generated automatically from the spoken audio of a video, timed to the speech and usually editable before export or publishing.
• AI & automated editing Auto color Software that adjusts white balance, exposure and contrast of a clip automatically, aiming for neutral, natural-looking color without manual grading.
• Shooting settings Autofocus A system that moves lens elements to keep a subject sharp automatically. Phones, pocket gimbals and some newer action cameras use it instead of fixed focus.
• AI & automated editing Automatic highlight detection Software that scans long video and scores every moment for interest, using motion, sound and faces to find the few seconds worth keeping.
• Files, formats & codecs AV1 A modern royalty-free video codec that compresses even better than HEVC. Streaming platforms use it widely, though few action cameras record it.

B

• Editing & storytelling B-roll Supporting shots around the main action, such as landscapes, gear, faces and travel moments, used to give a video context, a sense of place and pacing.
• Shooting settings Backlight Light coming from behind the subject toward the camera. It creates glowing outlines and dramatic silhouettes, but often leaves faces dark.
• Mounts & accessories Backpack strap mount A clamp that attaches an action camera to a backpack shoulder strap, giving a steady chest-height POV for hiking, ski touring and city walks.
• Cameras & stabilization Balanced Optical SteadyShot Sony's optical stabilization that floats the whole lens and sensor block on a tiny gimbal-like mount, used in Handycams and the FDR-X3000 action cam.
• Sport-specific Barrel shot Surf footage filmed from inside or just behind a breaking wave as the surfer rides through the tube, the most prized shot in surf video.
• Sport-specific BASE jump footage Video of parachute jumps from fixed objects such as cliffs, bridges or antennas, with short freefalls, low openings and dramatic terrain.
• Cameras & stabilization Battery life How long an action camera can record on one charge. It depends on resolution, frame rate, temperature, screens and wireless features, not just the battery.
• Editing & storytelling Beat sync Timing video cuts, transitions and effects to the rhythm of the music, so shot changes land on beats and the edit feels driven by the soundtrack.
• Sport-specific Bike park A mountain bike area with built trails, jumps and features, often lift-served, where riders lap the same lines many times a day.
• Files, formats & codecs Bitrate The amount of data a video uses per second, measured in megabits per second (Mbps). Higher bitrate preserves more detail but fills memory cards faster.
• Shooting settings Blue hour The twilight period just before sunrise or after sunset when the sun is below the horizon and the sky turns deep blue, ideal for calm, moody shots.
• Cameras & stabilization Bluetooth remote A small wireless controller, often worn on the wrist or bar, that starts and stops an action camera recording when the camera is out of reach.
• AI & automated editing Blur detection Software that measures how sharp a frame or clip is, flagging motion blur, misfocus or a dirty lens so blurry shots can be skipped.
• Sport-specific Boom mount An arm that holds a camera off a wake boat tower or training boom, filming the rider from the boat for a steady, repeatable angle on every set.
• Audio BPM (tempo) Beats per minute, the tempo of a song, which sets how often its beats fall and so how fast cuts can follow the music in an edit.
• Cameras & stabilization Bullet time A 360 camera effect where you swing the camera around your head on a string or stick, creating a slow-motion shot that orbits around you.
• Shooting settings Burst mode A photo mode that fires a rapid series of still images in a short time, so you can pick the perfect frame of a jump, splash or trick.

C

• Sport-specific Cable park A wakeboard park where riders are towed by an overhead cable system around a lake, past kickers, boxes and rails, instead of behind a boat.
• Sport-specific Camera flyer A skydiver who jumps with helmet cameras to film other jumpers - tandem students, formation teams or wingsuit flights - from the exit to landing.
• Mounts & accessories Camera tether A short cord that connects a camera or mount to a fixed point, so it does not fall away if the mount breaks. Cheap insurance for water and speed.
• Sport-specific Canopy flight The part of a skydive after the parachute opens, from deployment to landing, with calmer footage of views, steering and the landing approach.
• Mounts & accessories Car mount Any mount that puts a camera in or on a car, from dashboard and headrest mounts inside to suction and magnetic mounts outside, for road trip footage.
• Files, formats & codecs Chaptered video files Long action-camera recordings split into a series of ~4 GB files called chapters. Each one picks up exactly where the last ended, with no lost frames.
• Sport-specific Chase cam Footage filmed by a rider following closely behind another, so the camera captures the lead rider moving through the terrain at full speed.
• Drones Chase shot A shot where the camera follows directly behind a moving subject, matching its speed, to show the action and the path ahead from the subject point of view.
• Mounts & accessories Chest mount A harness that straps an action camera to the rider's chest for a lower, steadier POV showing hands, handlebars or skis along with the terrain ahead.
• Mounts & accessories Chin mount A mount on the chin bar of a full-face helmet that places the camera low and in front of the face, giving an immersive rider POV for moto, MTB and snow.
• Files, formats & codecs Chroma subsampling Saving space by storing color at lower resolution than brightness, written as ratios like 4:2:0 or 4:2:2. Eyes notice brightness detail far more than color.
• Files, formats & codecs CinemaDNG An open raw video format that stores each frame as a separate DNG raw image, used by some professional drones and cinema cameras for maximum grading room.
• Drones Cine mode A drone flight mode that limits speed and softens stick response, making movements slower and smoother for cinematic aerial footage.
• Drones Cinewhoop A small FPV drone with ducts or guards around its propellers, built to fly smoothly and safely close to people, through buildings and in tight spaces.
• Mounts & accessories Clamp mount A spring or screw clamp that grips poles, branches, railings and handlebars, with a flexible arm to aim the camera. One of the most versatile mounts.
• Sport-specific Climbing footage Video of rock climbing, bouldering or alpine routes, filmed from the climber, the belayer or above, to show movement, exposure and height.
• Editing & storytelling Clip A single piece of video, from one press of record to the stop, or a section of it placed on an editing timeline. Edits are built from many clips.
• Shooting settings Close-up shot A tight shot of a face, hands or object that shows detail and emotion. In action edits, close-ups give rhythm and break up long wide POV clips.
• Sharing & platforms Cloud backup Copying footage to online storage so it survives lost cards, broken drives and stolen laptops, usually alongside at least one local copy.
• Mounts & accessories Cold shoe A simple slot mount without electrical contacts, found on camera cages and frames, used to attach microphones, lights and small monitors.
• Files, formats & codecs Color banding Visible stripes or steps in smooth gradients such as skies or walls, caused by too few tonal values or heavy compression. It is common in 8-bit footage.
• Editing & storytelling Color correction The technical first pass on color: fixing exposure, white balance and contrast so clips look natural and match each other before any creative look is added.
• Editing & storytelling Color grading The creative stage of color work that gives footage a deliberate look or mood - warm, cool, punchy or film-like - after it has been technically corrected.
• Editing & storytelling Color matching Adjusting clips so their color, brightness and contrast look consistent, especially when footage comes from different cameras, settings or times of day.
• Files, formats & codecs Color space The defined range of colors a video can represent and how they are encoded, such as Rec. 709 for standard video or Rec. 2020 for HDR.
• Files, formats & codecs Compression artifacts Visible flaws created when a codec throws away too much detail: blocks, smearing, banding, mosquito noise around edges and shimmering in fine textures.
• AI & automated editing Computer vision The field of AI that teaches computers to understand images and video: recognizing objects, people, motion and scenes the way humans do by sight.
• Files, formats & codecs Constant bitrate (CBR) An encoding mode that spends roughly the same amount of data every second, no matter how complex the picture is. Predictable size, uneven quality.
• Files, formats & codecs Container format The file wrapper, such as MP4, MOV or MKV, that holds video, audio and metadata streams together. It is separate from the codec that compresses them.
• Sharing & platforms Content ID YouTube's automatic system that matches uploaded videos against copyrighted audio and video, then blocks, mutes or monetizes matching uploads.
• Editing & storytelling Contrast The difference between dark and bright parts of an image. Higher contrast looks punchy and deep; lower contrast looks soft, flat or hazy.
• Drones Course Lock A drone mode that locks the flight direction so the drone keeps moving along a straight line while you rotate the camera freely, for smooth tracking passes.
• Cameras & stabilization Crop factor How much smaller a sensor is than full-frame 35 mm, expressed as a multiplier. It tells you how a lens on that camera compares in field of view.
• Editing & storytelling Cross dissolve A transition where one clip gradually fades out while the next fades in, overlapping for a moment. It suggests a gentle passage of time or a change of mood.
• Shooting settings Crushed blacks Shadows so dark that their detail merges into flat black. It can come from underexposure, a strong contrast curve or heavy grading after shooting.
• Editing & storytelling Cut The point where one clip ends and the next begins with no transition effect. Most edits are made almost entirely of well-timed cuts.
• Editing & storytelling Cutaway A shot of something other than the main action, inserted briefly before cutting back. It adds context, hides jumps and gives the edit breathing room.

D

• Shooting settings D-Log M DJI's Log color profile for its compact drones and Osmo cameras. It records flat 10-bit footage with extra dynamic range for grading in post.
• Editing & storytelling Dead time The stretches of a recording where nothing interesting happens, such as lift rides, climbs, setup and waiting, which fill most raw action footage.
• Editing & storytelling Denoise Editing tools that reduce grain and color speckles in footage shot in low light, using spatial and temporal analysis. Strong settings soften real detail.
• Shooting settings Depth of field The range of distance in a shot that looks sharp. Action cameras have a deep depth of field, so almost everything from near to far stays in focus.
• Mounts & accessories Depth rating The maximum water depth a camera or housing is rated to survive without leaking, such as about 10 m for a bare action camera or 60 m in a dive case.
• Drones Digital FPV FPV video systems that send a digital HD feed from drone to goggles, giving a far clearer view than analog, with onboard recording and slightly higher latency.
• Cameras & stabilization Digital zoom Zooming by cropping into the center of the sensor and enlarging it, rather than moving lens glass. It narrows the view but also lowers the real detail.
• Mounts & accessories Dive housing A sealed, pressure-rated case that lets an action camera or phone go deeper underwater than its own waterproofing allows and keeps the image sharp.
• Drones DJI SRT flight log A subtitle file a DJI drone can write next to each video, holding GPS position, altitude and camera settings over time. It is not needed for editing.
• Mounts & accessories Dog harness mount A harness that lets a dog wear an action camera on its back or chest, capturing the run, the swim or the trail from a pet point of view.
• Drones Drone panorama A drone mode that takes a series of photos while rotating and tilting, then stitches them into a wide or full-sphere aerial image of a location.
• Drones Dronie A drone selfie: the shot starts close on a person, then flies backward and upward, pulling away to reveal the landscape around them in one continuous move.
• Sport-specific Drop-in The moment a rider enters a run, wave, ramp or line from the top, and the opening shot that sets up the action that follows.
• Mounts & accessories Dual battery charger A charger that tops up two or more spare camera batteries at once, outside the camera, so a fresh rotation is ready for the next session.
• AI & automated editing Duplicate shot detection AI that finds clips showing the same moment or a near-identical scene, so an edit keeps the best version instead of repeating it.
• Shooting settings Dutch angle A shot with the camera deliberately tilted so the horizon is slanted. It adds tension or energy, but used by accident it just looks crooked.
• Cameras & stabilization Dynamic range The span between the darkest and brightest detail a camera can record in one frame, measured in stops. More range keeps both bright sky and dark shade.

E

• Cameras & stabilization Electronic image stabilization (EIS) A stabilization method that crops into the sensor and shifts each frame in software to cancel shake, based on motion measured by a gyroscope.
• Cameras & stabilization Enduro battery A GoPro battery with improved chemistry for cold weather and longer runtime, made for recent HERO cameras that often lose charge fast on cold days.
• Sport-specific Enduro stage A timed descent in enduro mountain biking or motorcycling, ridden flat out between untimed transfers, and a long, demanding run to film.
• Shooting settings Establishing shot A wide shot that shows where a scene takes place, such as a mountain, a beach or a town, before the edit moves closer to the action.
• Files, formats & codecs exFAT The file system most cameras use on large SD cards. It supports files over 4 GB and works on Windows and Mac, unlike the older FAT32.
• Editing & storytelling Export preset A saved set of export settings, such as codec, resolution, frame rate and bitrate, that turns a finished edit into a file for a platform or device.
• Shooting settings Exposure How much light reaches the sensor for each frame, set by aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Correct exposure keeps detail in both highlights and shadows.
• Shooting settings Exposure compensation (EV) A setting that tells an automatic camera to make the image brighter or darker than it would choose, in steps of EV, without switching to full manual.
• Shooting settings Exposure lock Freezing the exposure the camera has chosen so it stops adjusting during a shot, keeping brightness steady even when the light or the scene changes.
• Audio External microphone A separate microphone connected to a camera, usually through an adapter or media module, for clearer sound than the built-in mics provide.

F

• AI & automated editing Face detection AI that finds human faces in images and video and marks where they are. It differs from face recognition, which identifies who a person is.
• Editing & storytelling Fade to black A transition where the picture gradually darkens to black, usually to end a video or a chapter. The reverse, fading in from black, often opens one.
• Cameras & stabilization Field of view (FOV) How much of the scene a camera captures, measured in degrees. Action cameras range from ultra-wide fisheye views to narrower, flatter linear crops.
• Editing & storytelling Film grain A fine, random texture added to digital video to imitate the look of film, soften an overly clean image or hide banding and compression artifacts.
• Editing & storytelling Final cut The finished version of an edit, after the structure is locked and cuts, color, sound and titles are complete, ready to export and share.
• Cameras & stabilization Fisheye distortion The curved, bulging look of ultra-wide action-camera lenses, where straight lines bow outward and objects near the edges look stretched or bent.
• Sport-specific Fixed-camera recording Filming from a camera that never moves - on a tripod, clamp or wall mount - capturing everything that happens in one area for a whole session.
• Shooting settings Fixed focus A lens set permanently at one focus distance, as on most action cameras. Thanks to the wide lens, everything from close range to infinity looks sharp.
• Shooting settings Flat color profile A low-contrast, low-saturation camera profile that keeps more highlight and shadow detail for grading, though footage looks dull until it is edited.
• Drones Flight time How long a drone can fly on one battery. Rated figures assume ideal conditions; wind, cold, speed and payload shorten real flights considerably.
• Mounts & accessories Floating hand grip A buoyant handle for an action camera that floats if dropped in water, made for surfing, snorkeling, paddling and filming from boats.
• Cameras & stabilization FlowState stabilization Insta360's gyro-based stabilization. On 360 cameras it is applied when the footage is processed in the app or Insta360 Studio rather than in the lens.
• Drones Fly-through shot A continuous FPV drone shot that flies through a building, venue or landscape in one take, passing doors, windows and gaps for an immersive tour.
• Drones Flyover shot A drone shot that flies directly over a subject, often with the camera tilting to keep it in frame, creating a dramatic sense of scale and movement.
• Drones FocusTrack DJI umbrella name for its subject-tracking modes, including ActiveTrack, Spotlight and Point of Interest, which keep a person or object in frame automatically.
• Mounts & accessories Follow cam Footage filmed by someone riding behind or beside the athlete, keeping them in frame from a third-person view that a POV camera cannot capture.
• Drones FPV drone A drone flown through live video goggles from an onboard camera, usually in full manual mode, for fast, low and acrobatic shots camera drones cannot do.
• Drones FPV goggles Head-mounted displays that show the live camera feed from an FPV drone, putting the pilot virtually in the cockpit for immersive, precise flying.
• Shooting settings Frame grab A still image pulled from a single frame of video. High-resolution recording makes frame grabs sharp enough for social posts and even prints.
• Editing & storytelling Frame interpolation Creating new frames between existing ones to raise frame rate or slow motion down smoothly, using optical flow or AI models.
• Shooting settings Frame rate (fps) The number of still images a camera records for each second of video, measured in fps. It sets how smooth motion looks and how far a clip can be slowed.
• AI & automated editing Frame sampling Analyzing only a selection of frames from a video, such as one or two per second, so AI can process long footage without reading every frame.
• Sport-specific Freefall The part of a skydive between leaving the aircraft and opening the parachute, typically under a minute and the core of skydiving video.
• Drones Freestyle FPV An FPV flying style focused on creative tricks, flips, dives and flowing lines around structures and terrain, often filmed with an onboard action camera.
• Editing & storytelling Freeze frame Holding a single frame of video on screen for a moment, stopping the action at its peak for emphasis, a title or a dramatic ending.
• Cameras & stabilization Front screen A second color display on the lens side of an action camera, so you can frame yourself for vlogs and selfie shots without guessing what the camera sees.

G

• Files, formats & codecs Gamma curve The curve that maps recorded values to on-screen brightness. Standard gamma looks natural; log and HDR curves spread values differently to hold more range.
• Drones Geofencing Built-in drone software that warns about or blocks flights in restricted areas such as airports, prisons and some national parks, based on GPS location.
• Cameras & stabilization Gimbal A motorized mount that keeps a camera steady on three axes by actively countering movement, used handheld, on drones and inside pocket cameras.
• Drones Gimbal pitch The up and down tilt of a drone camera on its gimbal, from looking at the horizon to pointing straight down. Smooth pitch moves add drama to aerial shots.
• Mounts & accessories Goggle mount A clip that attaches an action camera to the strap of ski, snowboard or motocross goggles, giving a true eye-level POV of what the rider sees.
• Shooting settings Golden hour The period shortly after sunrise and before sunset when the sun is low, giving warm, soft, directional light that flatters landscapes, riders and faces.
• Mounts & accessories Gooseneck mount A flexible, bendable arm that holds a camera at an adjustable angle and position, used with clamps or bases for creative and hard-to-reach shots.
• Files, formats & codecs GOP (group of pictures) A run of video frames that starts with one complete keyframe followed by frames stored as changes. Its length sets the balance of file size and editability.
• Cameras & stabilization GoPro Quik The official GoPro app for controlling the camera, copying footage to your phone and making quick automatic or hands-on edits on the go.
• Files, formats & codecs GPMF telemetry GoPro's format for sensor data stored inside each MP4: gyroscope, accelerometer and, on GPS models, location and speed, all synced with the video.
• Sport-specific Grappling footage Video of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling or submission grappling rounds, filmed to study positions, transitions and submissions after training.
• Cameras & stabilization Gyroflow Free, open-source software that stabilizes video after shooting from the camera gyro data, turning shaky FPV and action footage into gimbal-smooth shots.

H

• Files, formats & codecs H.264 (AVC) The most widely supported video codec, also called AVC. Nearly every camera, phone, browser and editor can record or play it, hence the label Most Compatible.
• Files, formats & codecs H.265 (HEVC) The successor to H.264, also called HEVC. It keeps similar quality at roughly half the bitrate and is required for 5.3K, top frame rates and 10-bit recording.
• Mounts & accessories Handheld grip A short handle for holding an action camera steadily by hand, often doubling as a mini tripod. Ideal for walking shots, vlogs and quick angles.
• Mounts & accessories Handlebar mount A clamp that fixes an action camera to the handlebars of a bike, motorcycle or scooter, filming forward at the track or back at the rider from a fixed point.
• Files, formats & codecs HDR10 An open HDR video standard using the PQ curve, Rec. 2020 colors, 10-bit depth and metadata describing brightness, widely used for streaming and TVs.
• Shooting settings HDR video HDR video captures and displays a wider range of brightness and color than standard video, keeping detail in bright skies and dark shadows at once.
• Mounts & accessories Helmet mount An adhesive, strap or chin bracket that fixes an action camera to a helmet, so the shot moves with the rider's head and shows where they are looking.
• Mounts & accessories Helmet side mount A mount on the side of a helmet that holds the camera next to the head, giving a POV view with part of the helmet edge or shoulder in frame.
• Shooting settings High frame rate (HFR) Recording far more frames per second than normal playback, such as 120 or 240 fps, so footage can be slowed down smoothly or show very fluid motion.
• Shooting settings Highlight clipping When the brightest parts of an image exceed what the sensor can record and turn into flat white with no detail. Clipped areas cannot be recovered later.
• Editing & storytelling Highlight reel A short edited video that keeps only the best moments from hours of footage, cut tightly and usually to music, so a whole trip fits into one short video.
• Cameras & stabilization HiLight tag A marker you add to a GoPro clip while recording, by button, voice or app, to flag a moment worth finding later. It is stored in the file metadata.
• Shooting settings HindSight A GoPro feature that buffers the last 15 or 30 seconds before you press record, so a clip includes the moment that made you reach for the button.
• Shooting settings Histogram A graph that shows how many pixels fall at each brightness level, from black on the left to white on the right, giving an objective view of exposure.
• Files, formats & codecs HLG Hybrid Log-Gamma, an HDR transfer curve that looks acceptable on standard screens and shows extra highlight range on HDR displays without needing metadata.
• Editing & storytelling Hook The opening moment of a video designed to grab attention immediately, so viewers keep watching instead of scrolling past. Crucial on social platforms.
• Cameras & stabilization Horizon Lock A stabilization mode that keeps the horizon level even when the camera tilts or rolls, so the world stays flat while the rider or vehicle leans.
• Sport-specific Hot lap One full lap of a track or course ridden at race pace, filmed continuously, often as an onboard POV that shows the whole layout.
• Sport-specific Housing fog Condensation that forms inside a camera or its housing when warm, humid air meets a cold lens, turning footage milky and hazy until it clears.
• AI & automated editing Human-in-the-loop editing An editing workflow where AI does the heavy lifting, such as selecting and trimming clips, while a person reviews, adjusts and approves the result.
• Drones Hybrid zoom Zoom on drones that combines a telephoto lens with digital cropping, letting you film distant subjects or compress perspective without flying closer.
• Shooting settings Hyperlapse A time-lapse in which the camera travels a long distance during capture, creating fast, sweeping movement through a scene. Drones do it especially well.
• Cameras & stabilization HyperSmooth GoPro's in-camera electronic stabilization, which uses gyro data to smooth bumps and shakes by cropping into the sensor and shifting every frame.
• Cameras & stabilization HyperView An ultra-wide GoPro digital lens that stretches the full-height 8:7 sensor image into 16:9, giving an even more immersive, faster-looking view than SuperView.

I

• Cameras & stabilization Image sensor The light-sensitive chip inside a camera that turns light into an electrical signal for every pixel. Its size and design shape noise, color and dynamic range.
• Shooting settings In-camera noise reduction Processing the camera applies to smooth grain from high ISO or dim light. A little helps; too much turns faces waxy and fine textures into smudges.
• Editing & storytelling Insert shot A close shot of a detail within the main scene, such as hands on brakes or a boot clicking into a binding, inserted to show what matters.
• Cameras & stabilization Insta360 Studio The free Insta360 desktop app for stitching, stabilizing and reframing 360 footage and exporting it as standard flat or spherical MP4 video.
• Sharing & platforms Instagram Reels Instagram's short vertical video format with music, effects and its own feed, used by creators to reach people beyond their followers.
• Editing & storytelling Instant replay Repeating a key moment right after it happens, often in slow motion or from another angle, so viewers can see a jump, trick or crash in detail.
• Files, formats & codecs INSV file Insta360's native 360 video format: unstitched footage from both fisheye lenses that must be stitched and reframed in Insta360 software before normal use.
• Cameras & stabilization Invisible selfie stick A thin pole that vanishes from 360 footage because it sits in the blind spot between the two lenses, so the shot looks like a hovering drone.
• Shooting settings ISO ISO sets how much a camera amplifies its sensor signal. Higher ISO brightens dark scenes but adds visible noise, especially on small action-camera sensors.

J

• Editing & storytelling J-cut and L-cut Split edits where sound and picture change at different moments: in a J-cut the next clip's audio starts early, in an L-cut the previous audio carries on.
• Editing & storytelling Jump cut An edit between two shots of the same subject from nearly the same angle, so time visibly skips forward. Used to compress long takes or add energy.

K

• Mounts & accessories Kayak mount A mount that fixes a camera to a kayak deck, gear track or rail, filming the paddler, the bow cutting through water or rapids ahead.
• Editing & storytelling Ken Burns effect Slowly panning across and zooming into a still image or static shot to add motion, named after the documentary filmmaker who made it famous.
• Files, formats & codecs Keyframe (I-frame) A complete video frame stored on its own, without reference to other frames. Players and editors use keyframes as entry points into a stream.
• Editing & storytelling Keyframe animation Setting values for position, scale, opacity, speed or effects at specific points on the timeline, so the editor animates smoothly between them.
• Sport-specific Kicker A ramp-shaped jump built of snow, dirt or wood that launches riders upward, and a staple setup for filming tricks and air time.
• Sport-specific Kitesurfing footage Video of riders pulled across water by a large kite, featuring jumps, high speed and spray, usually shot from line, board or helmet mounts.

L

• Drones Latency The delay between something happening in front of the camera and the pilot seeing it on screen or goggles. Low latency is vital for FPV flying.
• Audio Lavalier microphone A tiny clip-on microphone worn on the clothing near the mouth, used for clear voice recording in vlogs, interviews and talking-to-camera shots.
• Shooting settings Leading lines Lines in a scene, such as roads, trails, rivers or ridges, that guide the viewer eye toward the subject and add depth to a shot.
• Cameras & stabilization Lens cover The flat glass or plastic window that protects an action camera lens. Many models let you unscrew and replace it when it gets scratched or cracked.
• Cameras & stabilization Lens distortion correction Straightening the curved lines of a wide or fisheye lens, either in the camera or in editing software, so horizons and buildings look straight again.
• Shooting settings Lens flare Streaks, circles or haze caused by bright light bouncing inside the lens. It can add drama, but often lowers contrast and hides detail in action footage.
• Mounts & accessories Lens protector An extra layer of glass or a cap over an action camera lens that takes scratches and impacts instead of the camera, cheap to replace when damaged.
• Editing & storytelling Letterbox Black bars added above and below a video to give it a wider, cinematic aspect ratio, or to fit wide footage inside a taller frame.
• Cameras & stabilization Light Mod A small waterproof LED light for action cameras that mounts on a cold shoe or mounting fingers to brighten faces and close subjects in dim light.
• Cameras & stabilization Linear lens An action camera lens mode that digitally removes fisheye curvature so horizons and buildings stay straight, in exchange for a narrower field of view.
• Sport-specific Line choice The path a rider, skier or paddler picks through terrain or water, and how footage can show that decision and why it mattered.
• Sport-specific Lineup shot A surf shot showing the lineup, the area where surfers wait for waves, used to set the scene, show conditions and give scale to the break.
• Shooting settings Log profile A flat-looking picture profile that records more dynamic range using a logarithmic curve. It needs color correction or a LUT before it looks normal.
• Drones Long-range FPV FPV flying focused on covering large distances and following terrain such as mountain ridges, using efficient drones and strong radio links.
• Files, formats & codecs Long GOP Compression that stores full frames only now and then and saves the frames between as changes, giving small files that are harder to edit smoothly.
• Shooting settings Loop recording A mode where the camera records continuously and overwrites the oldest footage when the card fills up, keeping only a recent window, like a dashcam.
• Cameras & stabilization Low-light performance How well a camera keeps detail, color and smooth motion when light drops, at dusk, indoors or in forest shade. Weak low-light footage looks grainy and smeared.
• Editing & storytelling Lower third A text graphic in the lower part of the frame that names a person, place or detail, such as a rider name and trick, without covering the action.
• Files, formats & codecs LRV file A low-resolution copy of a video clip that GoPro and Insta360 cameras record next to the full file, used for fast previews in the phone app.
• Editing & storytelling LUT A lookup table: a file that maps every input color to a new output color, used to convert log footage to normal contrast or to apply a ready-made look.

M

• Files, formats & codecs Macroblocking A compression artifact where parts of the image break into visible square blocks, usually during fast motion or detailed scenes when the bitrate runs short.
• Mounts & accessories Magnetic mount A mount with a strong magnet base that sticks to steel surfaces like car bodies, railings or gym equipment, for quick, tool-free camera placement.
• Cameras & stabilization Magnetic quick-release A mounting system that snaps a camera onto mounts with magnets and clips, so you can swap between helmet, bike and handheld setups without screws.
• Editing & storytelling Markers Flags placed on a timeline or clip to mark important moments, such as music beats, the best part of a run or notes for later edits.
• Drones MasterShots A DJI intelligent flight mode where the drone flies a whole series of automated moves around a subject and the app can turn it into a short edited video.
• Editing & storytelling Match cut A cut that links two different shots through a shared shape, movement or composition, so the change of scene feels connected rather than abrupt.
• Cameras & stabilization Max Lens Mod A screw-on GoPro HERO accessory lens that replaces the stock front cover with an ultra-wide one, adding a wider view and stronger horizon leveling.
• Cameras & stabilization Media Mod A GoPro accessory frame that adds a better directional microphone, extra ports and cold shoe mounts, turning the camera into a compact vlogging rig.
• Cameras & stabilization Me Mode An Insta360 shooting mode that uses a 360 camera on a selfie stick to output a flat, third-person view of you, as if someone were filming you.
• Shooting settings Metering How a camera measures the light in a scene to decide exposure, by averaging the whole frame, weighting the center or reading a single spot.
• Editing & storytelling Montage A sequence of short shots cut together, usually to music, to compress time, show progression or build energy. The backbone of most action edits.
• Shooting settings Motion blur The streaking of moving objects inside a single video frame, caused by movement during the exposure. A little reads as smooth motion; too much looks smeared.
• Drones Motor vibration High-frequency shaking from motors and propellers that travels into the camera, causing jello, blur or wobble in drone and FPV footage.
• Mounts & accessories Mounting fingers The interlocking two- and three-prong mounting system with a thumbscrew used by GoPro and many other action cameras and accessories.
• Sport-specific Mouth mount A bite-grip mount that holds an action camera in a surfer's mouth, putting the lens near eye level for an immersive POV shot from inside the barrel.
• Files, formats & codecs MOV Apple's QuickTime video container. iPhones record MOV files, and many DJI cameras offer it as an alternative to MP4 for the same video and audio.
• Files, formats & codecs MP4 The most common video container format: one file that holds compressed video, audio and metadata. Recorded natively by GoPro, DJI, Sony and most phones.
• Editing & storytelling Multicam editing Editing footage from several cameras that recorded the same moment, synced together so you can switch between angles like a live director.
• AI & automated editing Multimodal video analysis AI analysis that reads video frames, sound and sometimes text together, so a model understands what happens in footage rather than only how it looks.

N

• Drones Naked GoPro A GoPro removed from its housing and stripped to a light circuit board and lens, so it can fly on small FPV drones while still recording high-quality video.
• Shooting settings ND filter A neutral density filter is tinted glass that cuts light evenly without changing color, so the camera can use slower shutter speeds in bright light.
• Shooting settings Night lapse A time-lapse mode for dark scenes that uses long exposures per frame to capture stars, city lights and light trails, compressed into a short clip.
• Cameras & stabilization Night mode A camera setting tuned for dark scenes that changes exposure, noise reduction and frame rate to keep night footage brighter and cleaner than standard modes.
• Editing & storytelling Non-destructive editing An editing approach where cuts, effects and color changes are stored as instructions, leaving the original video files untouched and every change reversible.

O

• AI & automated editing Object tracking Following a chosen object or person through video frames, so software knows where it is at each moment. Used by drones, gimbals, editors and AI tools.
• Drones Obstacle avoidance Sensors and software that let a drone detect obstacles like trees and buildings and brake or steer around them. Coverage and reliability vary by model and mode.
• Editing & storytelling Opening sequence The first section of a video that sets the mood, place and promise of what follows, often with establishing shots, music build and a title.
• Editing & storytelling Optical flow A technique that analyzes how pixels move between frames, used to create new in-between frames for smooth slow motion or to stabilize and stitch footage.
• Cameras & stabilization Optical image stabilization (OIS) Stabilization that physically moves a lens element or the sensor to cancel shake during the exposure, instead of cropping and shifting the frame in software.
• Drones Orbit shot A shot where the camera circles a subject at a steady distance while staying locked on it, creating strong parallax between the subject and the background.
• Shooting settings Overexposure An image that received too much light, so it looks too bright and loses detail in highlights. Clipped skies and white snow without texture are typical signs.
• Cameras & stabilization Overheating When an action camera gets too hot and stops recording or shuts down to protect itself, common with high resolutions, frame rates and little airflow.
• Files, formats & codecs Oversampling Recording or reading more pixels than the output needs, then scaling down. The result is sharper, cleaner video with less noise and fewer jagged edges.

P

• Editing & storytelling Pacing How fast or slow an edit feels, controlled by shot length, cut frequency and how quickly new information appears. Good pacing keeps viewers watching.
• Sport-specific Pad work footage Video of a fighter striking focus mitts or Thai pads held by a coach, filmed to review technique, speed and combinations or share training clips.
• Sport-specific Paragliding footage Video from paraglider flights, from launch to landing, typically long and calm with big views, filmed by pilot or passenger cameras.
• Sport-specific Park lap One run through a ski or snowboard terrain park, hitting jumps, rails and boxes in sequence, and a common format for continuous POV edits.
• Drones Pedestal shot A camera move that rises or descends vertically while keeping the same direction, often with a tilt to hold the subject, revealing or concealing the scene.
• Sharing & platforms Platform recompression The re-encoding every video platform applies to uploads, lowering bitrate to save bandwidth, which can make detailed action footage look blocky.
• Cameras & stabilization Pocket gimbal camera A small camera built into a motorized three-axis gimbal, such as the DJI Osmo Pocket range, that gives very smooth handheld video from something pocket-sized.
• Drones Point of Interest (POI) An automated drone mode that flies a smooth circle around a chosen subject at a set radius, height and speed, keeping the camera pointed at it.
• Shooting settings Polarizing filter (CPL) A rotating filter that cuts reflections from water and glass and deepens blue skies. Popular on drones and for water sports, it also darkens the image.
• AI & automated editing Pose estimation AI that finds the positions of body joints such as shoulders, knees and hands in video, building a skeleton that describes how a person moves.
• Mounts & accessories POV footage Video filmed from the body of the person doing the action, usually with a head, chest or mouth-mounted action camera, so viewers see what they saw.
• Sport-specific Powder day footage Ski and snowboard footage from a day of deep fresh snow, prized for face shots and spray but hard to expose and keep the lens clear.
• Files, formats & codecs Progressive scan Video where every frame is a complete picture, shown in one pass. It is the standard for modern cameras and screens, unlike older interlaced video.
• Shooting settings Pro mode A camera setting that unlocks manual control over shutter speed, ISO, white balance, color profile and sharpness instead of leaving them on automatic.
• Drones Propeller guards Frames or rings around drone propellers that reduce damage and injury in close contact, at the expense of extra weight, drag and shorter flights.
• Files, formats & codecs ProRes An Apple family of high-quality, lightly compressed video codecs built for editing. Files are huge but decode easily and survive heavy grading.
• Files, formats & codecs ProRes RAW An Apple format that stores raw sensor data with ProRes-style compression, so white balance, exposure and color can be set flexibly in post.
• Shooting settings Protune GoPro advanced settings menu with manual control over bitrate, color profile, white balance, ISO, shutter, sharpness and audio for a more editable image.
• Editing & storytelling Proxy editing Editing with small, low-resolution copies of your footage instead of the heavy originals, then switching back to full quality for the final export.
• Editing & storytelling Punch-in Zooming into a clip in the edit, either as a sudden cut to a tighter frame or a smooth push, to emphasize a moment or create a second angle.

Q

• Drones QuickShots A set of preprogrammed DJI flight moves, such as Dronie, Circle, Helix and Rocket, that fly and film a short cinematic clip around a subject automatically.
• Cameras & stabilization QuikCapture A GoPro feature that powers the camera on and starts recording with a single press of the shutter button, then turns it off again when you stop.

R

• Sport-specific Rapid class The international scale from Class I to VI that rates river rapids by difficulty and danger, used by paddlers and rafting guides.
• Editing & storytelling Raw footage The original, unedited video files straight from the camera, before any trimming, cutting or color work. The source material every edit is built from.
• Editing & storytelling Reaction shot A shot of someone responding to the action, such as friends cheering, a rider laughing or a gasp after a crash, adding emotion and human connection.
• Files, formats & codecs Rec. 709 The standard color space and gamma for HD video, used by most cameras in normal profiles, web platforms and TVs for standard dynamic range viewing.
• Files, formats & codecs Rec. 2020 A wide color gamut standard for ultra HD and HDR video that can show far more saturated colors than Rec. 709. It pairs with HLG or PQ for HDR.
• Mounts & accessories Red filter A red or magenta lens filter for underwater filming that restores the warm tones water absorbs, so blue-green footage looks closer to natural color.
• Cameras & stabilization ReelSteady Gyro-based stabilization software, later bought by GoPro, that smooths footage after shooting using the camera motion data and became popular with FPV pilots.
• Drones Remote ID A system that makes a drone broadcast its identification and location during flight, like a digital license plate, required by rules in some countries.
• Files, formats & codecs Remuxing Moving the existing video and audio streams into a different container, for example MKV to MP4, without re-encoding. Fast, lossless and quality-neutral.
• Editing & storytelling Rendering and export The final step of editing, where the software calculates every frame of the timeline and encodes it into one playable file, such as an H.264 MP4.
• AI & automated editing Resumable upload An upload method that sends a large file in pieces and remembers its progress, so a dropped connection resumes where it stopped instead of starting over.
• Drones Return to Home (RTH) A drone safety feature that flies the aircraft back to its recorded takeoff point automatically when signal is lost, battery runs low or the pilot asks for it.
• Drones Reveal shot A camera move that starts with the view hidden or limited, then flies, rises or tilts to uncover the full scene - a staple opener in drone and travel videos.
• Editing & storytelling Reverse playback Playing a clip backwards, so water flies back into the lake or a rider jumps up onto a ledge. Used for fun, surprise or rewind-style transitions.
• Editing & storytelling Rhythm editing Editing where the timing of cuts follows a rhythm, usually the music, so picture and sound feel locked together. It goes beyond hitting every beat.
• Sport-specific Road cycling footage Video of road and gravel rides, from bike-mounted cameras and drones, showing climbs, descents, scenery and group riding over long distances.
• Cameras & stabilization RockSteady DJI's electronic stabilization for Osmo Action cameras and some FPV drones. It crops into the sensor and counters shake using gyroscope readings.
• Mounts & accessories Roll bar mount A clamp that fixes a camera to round tubing such as a roll cage, UTV bars, a boat tower or a quad frame, for steady vehicle and off-road angles.
• Shooting settings Rolling shutter A distortion caused by a sensor reading the frame line by line, so fast motion or vibration makes straight lines lean, wobble or look like jelly.
• Editing & storytelling Rough cut An early version of an edit that puts the chosen clips in order to show the overall story and length, before fine-tuning cuts, color and sound.
• Editing & storytelling Royalty-free music Music licensed once or by subscription, with no per-play royalties owed for covered uses. It is still copyrighted, and the license sets the rules for use.
• Shooting settings Rule of thirds A composition guideline that divides the frame into a 3 by 3 grid and places key subjects or the horizon along those lines for a balanced, dynamic shot.

S

• Sharing & platforms Safe zones The central area of a video frame that stays visible on a platform, free from buttons, captions and crops, where text and key action belong.
• Audio Sample rate How many times per second audio is measured when recorded digitally, usually 48 kHz in video, which sets the highest frequency that can be captured.
• Editing & storytelling Saturation How intense or vivid colors look, from gray at zero to strong, pure colors at high values. A key setting in camera profiles and color grading.
• AI & automated editing Scene detection An automatic technique that finds where one shot or scene ends and the next begins by measuring how much the picture changes from frame to frame.
• Files, formats & codecs SD card speed class Ratings such as V30, U3 or V60 on memory cards that promise a minimum sustained write speed, which high-bitrate video recording needs to avoid dropped frames.
• Sharing & platforms Seamless loop A short video edited so its last frame flows into its first, making it replay endlessly without a visible jump, popular on short-form platforms.
• Mounts & accessories Seatpost mount A clamp that attaches a camera to the seatpost of a bike, usually facing backward to film riders following you or the trail you just rode.
• Mounts & accessories Selfie stick A telescopic pole that holds a camera at arm's length or farther to film yourself, often paired with 360 cameras that erase the stick from the shot.
• Cameras & stabilization Sensor size The physical dimensions of a camera image sensor. Bigger sensors gather more light, so they usually give cleaner low-light footage and wider dynamic range.
• Sport-specific Session One continuous outing of riding, surfing or flying, from gearing up to packing away, and the natural unit for filming and editing action video.
• Editing & storytelling Sharpening An editing adjustment that increases contrast along edges so details look crisper. A little helps soft footage; too much creates halos and grain.
• Shooting settings Sharpness setting A camera option that controls how much artificial edge contrast is added to the image. High sharpness looks crisp on phones but can create halos and noise.
• AI & automated editing Shot scoring Rating each moment or clip by how interesting, exciting or visually good it is, so an editor or AI can pick the best ones for a highlight.
• Shooting settings Shutter angle A way of describing exposure time relative to frame rate, borrowed from film cameras. 180 degrees means each frame is exposed for half its duration.
• Shooting settings Shutter speed How long each video frame is exposed to light, written as a fraction such as 1/120 s. It controls brightness and how much motion blur every frame carries.
• Sport-specific Skatepark footage Video of skateboarding, BMX or scooter riding in a skatepark, focusing on tricks in bowls, ramps and street sections, often from a low angle.
• Editing & storytelling Skin tones The colors of human skin in footage. Viewers are very sensitive to them, so natural-looking skin is a key goal of color correction and grading.
• Mounts & accessories Ski pole mount A clamp that attaches an action camera to a ski pole, turning it into a handheld stick for filming yourself, friends or the slope while skiing.
• Shooting settings Slow motion Footage that plays back slower than real time, usually made by recording at a high frame rate such as 120 or 240 fps and playing it at 24, 30 or 60 fps.
• AI & automated editing Smart trimming Automatically choosing where a clip should start and end, cutting away setup and dead time so only the meaningful action remains.
• Sport-specific Snorkeling footage Underwater video shot near the surface while snorkeling, usually in shallow, bright water, with fish, reefs and the surface in frame.
• Audio Sound design Shaping the full soundscape of a video, from effects and ambience to transitions and silence, so the audio makes the picture feel bigger.
• Sport-specific Sparring footage Recordings of practice rounds in boxing, MMA, Muay Thai or BJJ, filmed to review technique and share the best exchanges with teammates or fans.
• AI & automated editing Speech-to-text AI that converts spoken words in an audio track into written text with timestamps, used for transcripts, captions and searching inside video.
• Editing & storytelling Speed ramping Smoothly changing playback speed within one clip - say, real time into slow motion at the peak of a jump and back - to put weight on a key moment.
• Drones Sport mode A drone flight mode that unlocks maximum speed and agility, useful for chasing fast subjects, but often disables obstacle avoidance and drains battery quickly.
• Drones Spotlight mode A drone tracking mode where the camera stays locked on a chosen subject while the pilot flies the drone freely, ideal for creative two-person shoots.
• Shooting settings Spot metering A metering mode that measures light from a small point in the frame, so exposure is set for exactly that subject regardless of the rest of the scene.
• Shooting settings Star trails Curved lines of stars that appear when many long exposures of the night sky are combined, showing the rotation of the earth over time.
• Audio Stereo audio Audio recorded or mixed on two channels, left and right, so sounds have a position and width instead of coming from a single point.
• Cameras & stabilization Stitch line The seam in a 360 video where the images from the two lenses are joined. Objects crossing it close to the camera can look broken, doubled or bent.
• Editing & storytelling Story arc The shape of a story from beginning through rising tension to a peak and resolution. Even short action edits feel stronger with a clear arc.
• Drones Sub-250 g drone A drone weighing less than 250 grams at takeoff, a category that often faces lighter rules in many countries and fits easily in a travel bag.
• Editing & storytelling Subtitles and captions On-screen text of spoken words or sounds. Subtitles translate or transcribe dialogue; captions also describe sounds. Most social videos are watched muted.
• Mounts & accessories Suction cup mount A mount that holds a camera to smooth surfaces like car windows, hoods or boat hulls with a vacuum cup, giving vehicle angles without drilling or tape.
• Editing & storytelling Supercut A fast-paced compilation of many short clips sharing a theme, such as every powder turn of a season or all the best waves of a trip.
• Cameras & stabilization SuperView A GoPro digital lens setting that stretches the tall 4:3 sensor image into a 16:9 frame for a wider, faster-feeling view with warped edges.
• Mounts & accessories Surfboard mount An adhesive or leash-plug mount that fixes an action camera to the deck of a surfboard, usually on the nose facing back at the surfer.

T

• Sport-specific Tabletop Either a jump with a flat top between takeoff and landing, or a trick where the rider lays the bike flat in the air like a table.
• Sport-specific Tandem skydive video A video of a first-time tandem skydive, filmed by the instructor's hand camera or a separate camera flyer, and usually the jumper's keepsake.
• Mounts & accessories Tank mount A camera mount on the fuel tank of a motorcycle, often with suction or magnets, giving a low view of the rider body, controls and the road ahead.
• Sport-specific Telemetry overlay Gauges for speed, altitude, G-force or a GPS track drawn on top of action footage, using sensor data recorded by the camera or a separate device.
• AI & automated editing Template-based editing Editing by dropping clips into a prebuilt structure of cuts, transitions, text and music, so a video follows a fixed recipe with little manual work.
• Files, formats & codecs THM file A tiny JPEG thumbnail an action camera saves next to each video clip, so the camera screen and phone app can show a preview grid without opening the video.
• Sharing & platforms Thumbnail The still image shown for a video before it plays, in search results, feeds and profiles, and often the deciding factor in whether people click.
• Sharing & platforms TikTok video A short vertical video on TikTok, where an algorithmic feed decides reach based on how viewers react in the first seconds and how long they watch.
• Shooting settings Time-lapse Video made by capturing frames at long intervals and playing them at normal speed, so hours of slow change like clouds or crowds compress into a short clip.
• Files, formats & codecs Timecode A time label for each frame in hours, minutes, seconds and frames, used to sync cameras and audio recorders and to reference exact moments in an edit.
• Editing & storytelling Timeline The main workspace of a video editor, where clips, audio and effects are arranged in order along a horizontal time axis to build the final video.
• Editing & storytelling Time remapping Changing the playback speed of a clip over time with keyframes, so it can slow down, speed up or freeze smoothly within one shot.
• Shooting settings TimeWarp GoPro's stabilized moving time-lapse mode. It speeds up footage shot while walking, riding or driving and keeps it smooth with HyperSmooth stabilization.
• Drones Tiny whoop A very small, ducted FPV drone, often palm-sized and light, designed for indoor flying, practice and playful close-range filming.
• Editing & storytelling Title card A screen of text in a video, such as the film name, a location or a chapter heading, shown full-frame or over footage to orient the viewer.
• Drones Top-down shot A drone shot with the camera pointed straight down at 90 degrees, turning roads, waves, fields and people into flat graphic patterns seen from directly above.
• Drones Tracking shot A shot where the camera moves alongside a subject at the same speed, usually from the side, keeping it in frame while the background slides past.
• Sport-specific Trail running footage Video of runs on mountain and forest trails, filmed with chest, handheld or drone cameras to show terrain, effort and landscapes along the route.
• Files, formats & codecs Transcoding Decoding a video and encoding it again in a different codec, resolution or bitrate. It changes compatibility and size, but every pass can lose quality.
• Editing & storytelling Transition The way one clip changes into the next, from a plain cut or crossfade to whips, zooms and wipes. Good transitions support pacing rather than draw attention.
• Editing & storytelling Trim Shortening a clip by moving its start or end point, removing unwanted frames before or after the action while keeping the original file untouched.
• Mounts & accessories Tripod A three-legged stand that holds a camera steady. For action cameras, small tripods give static angles, time-lapses and fixed views of training sessions.
• Drones True vertical shooting A drone gimbal feature that rotates the camera 90 degrees to record native vertical 9:16 video without cropping, made for Reels, Shorts and TikTok.

U

• Shooting settings Underexposure An image that received too little light, so it looks dark and muddy. Brightening it later reveals noise, banding and dull colors in the shadows.
• Mounts & accessories Underwater dome port A large curved window for an action camera housing that corrects underwater lens effects and enables half-above, half-below water split shots.
• Sport-specific Underwater video light A waterproof continuous light used while diving to restore the reds and yellows that water absorbs and to light subjects in dark water.

V

• Files, formats & codecs Variable bitrate (VBR) An encoding mode that spends more data on complex scenes and less on simple ones, giving better quality for the same file size than constant bitrate.
• Files, formats & codecs Variable frame rate (VFR) Video whose frame rate changes during the recording instead of staying fixed. Phones and screen recorders produce it, and editors sometimes struggle with it.
• Shooting settings Variable ND filter A neutral density filter you can twist to adjust how much light it blocks, so you keep a natural shutter speed as the light changes without swapping filters.
• Mounts & accessories Vented helmet strap A strap mount that threads through the vents of a bike helmet to hold an action camera on top, without adhesive and easy to move between helmets.
• Editing & storytelling Vertical video (9:16) Video framed taller than it is wide, at a 9:16 aspect ratio, made for phone screens and short-form platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.
• Files, formats & codecs Video codec The method used to compress video so it fits on a memory card and to decompress it for playback. H.264, H.265 (HEVC), AV1 and ProRes are common examples.
• AI & automated editing Video embeddings Compact lists of numbers that describe what a video clip or frame looks like, so software can compare, group and search footage by content.
• Files, formats & codecs Video metadata Extra information stored in a video file besides picture and sound, such as date, camera model, settings, rotation, GPS and color tags.
• Drones Video transmission The wireless system that sends a live video feed from a drone to the controller or goggles. Range, latency and image quality depend on it.
• AI & automated editing Video understanding model A large AI model that takes video frames, and often audio, as input and can describe, search or reason about what happens over time.
• Editing & storytelling Vignette Darkening (or lightening) toward the edges of the frame. It happens naturally with some lenses and is added in editing to draw attention to the center.
• Drones Visual line of sight (VLOS) Keeping a drone close enough that the pilot can see it with their own eyes during the whole flight, a basic requirement in most drone rules.
• Cameras & stabilization Voice control Controlling an action camera by speaking commands such as start recording or take a photo, so you can operate it hands-free on a helmet, bike or board.
• Audio Voiceover Narration recorded separately and laid over the footage to explain, guide or tell a story, without the speaker appearing on screen.
• Files, formats & codecs VP9 An open, royalty-free video codec from Google, common on the web and in YouTube playback, offering compression similar to HEVC in a WebM container.

W

• Sport-specific Wake surfing Surfing the wave created behind a slow-moving boat without holding the rope, a sport with close, steady filming from the boat itself.
• Editing & storytelling Warp stabilizer Editing software stabilization that analyzes a shaky clip and warps or crops frames to smooth the motion. It helps clips shot without stabilization.
• Sport-specific Water droplets on the lens Drops of water that cling to an action camera lens cover and show up as blurry blobs, a common problem when rafting, surfing or riding in rain.
• AI & automated editing Watermarked preview A reduced-quality version of a finished video with a visible mark over it, shared so you can judge the edit before receiving the clean full-resolution file.
• Cameras & stabilization Waterproof camera body An action camera sealed to survive water without an extra housing, usually rated to around 10 m, so it can go surfing, snorkeling or into rain as it is.
• Audio Waveform The visual graph of an audio signal over time in an editor, showing loud and quiet moments as tall and flat shapes along the timeline.
• Drones Waypoints A drone flight mode that flies a route you plan in advance, point by point, repeating the same path, altitude, speed and camera angle every time you run it.
• Cameras & stabilization Webcam mode A setting that lets an action camera act as a USB webcam for video calls and streaming, using its wide lens instead of a laptop camera.
• Sport-specific Whip A motocross and mountain bike trick where the rider turns the bike sideways in the air, then straightens it before landing.
• Editing & storytelling Whip pan transition A transition built from very fast camera pans that blur the image, hiding the cut between two shots and creating an energetic jump to a new scene.
• Shooting settings White balance The camera setting that makes white objects look white under different kinds of light, measured in kelvin. It shifts the whole image warmer or cooler.
• Sport-specific Whitewater kayaking Paddling a kayak down fast-flowing rivers with rapids and drops, filmed with helmet, boat and shore cameras for its spray, drops and lines.
• Cameras & stabilization Wide lens The default action camera lens mode: a very wide view with natural fisheye curve at the edges, a balance between immersion and a usable, uncorrected picture.
• Audio Wind noise The low rumble and crackle a microphone records when moving air hits it, the most common audio problem on action cameras at speed.
• Drones Wind resistance How much wind a drone can handle while staying stable and controllable, usually given as a maximum speed or level. Exceeding it risks drift and crashes.
• Audio Windscreen (dead cat) A foam or furry cover placed over a microphone to slow down moving air before it reaches the capsule, reducing wind noise outdoors.
• Sport-specific Wing foiling A water sport where a rider holds a handheld inflatable wing and rides a hydrofoil board that lifts above the surface, filmed for its silent glide.
• Sport-specific Wingsuit footage Video from wingsuit flights, where jumpers glide forward at high speed in a suit with fabric wings, from aircraft or as BASE jumps near terrain.
• Sport-specific Wipeout A fall or crash during a run, wave or trick; in action video, wipeouts are often the most watched and most shared moments.
• Mounts & accessories Wrist mount A strap that holds an action camera on the wrist, back of the hand or forearm, popular for surfing, swimming and climbing POV shots.

X

• Files, formats & codecs XAVC S Sony's recording format for consumer and prosumer cameras: H.264 video with audio, stored in an MP4 file. Used by Sony action cams, Alpha and ZV models.

Y

• Sharing & platforms YouTube Shorts YouTube's short vertical video format, shown in a swipeable feed, where clips up to a few minutes long compete for attention in the first seconds.

Z

• Shooting settings Zebras Striped overlays on a camera preview that mark areas brighter than a set level, warning you where highlights are close to clipping while you film.