Keyframe (I-frame)
Also known as: I-frame, intra frame, key 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.
Updated
What it means
In compressed video, a keyframe, or I-frame, is a full picture compressed like a still photo. The frames that follow it, called P-frames and B-frames, only store differences from neighboring frames. A keyframe is the anchor that lets the decoder rebuild those dependent frames.
Keyframes appear at the start of every GOP. When you skip ahead in a video, the player jumps to the nearest keyframe and decodes forward from there. That is why seeking can land slightly before the point you clicked, especially in files with long gaps between keyframes.
The word also has a second meaning in editing: a point on the timeline where you set a value for an animation, such as position or opacity. That is covered by keyframe animation.
How it works in practice
You rarely set keyframes directly, but they matter in several places. Lossless trimming tools can only cut cleanly at keyframes. Streaming platforms recommend a regular keyframe interval so playback can adapt quality smoothly. And when a file is damaged, decoding usually recovers at the next keyframe.
Encoders also insert extra keyframes at scene changes, since predicting a brand-new picture from the previous one is wasteful. In action footage, a sudden cut from a dark tunnel to bright sky or a crash that spins the camera can trigger these extra keyframes.
All-Intra formats make every frame a keyframe, which is why they edit so smoothly.
What to watch out for
Keyframes use far more data than predicted frames. A stream with too many of them wastes Bitrate and looks worse at the same file size, while too few make seeking slow and errors spread. Leave the interval at the encoder default unless a platform asks for something specific.
When a keyframe is corrupted, every dependent frame after it can show smears, gray blocks or frozen images until the next keyframe arrives. If you see that kind of damage only in short bursts, the card or transfer may be failing. Copy the originals again and check the card with the camera format function before the next shoot.
How RawClip handles it
You do not need to think about keyframes when using RawClip. Upload the original files from your camera, and the AI decodes them, finds the strongest moments and cuts them into one highlight.