Word Bank Inventory: F
F-stop
Used to measure a camera’s aperture size (the amount of light entering).
faceting
An error when CG objects lose the smoothness on their surface and appear to be at a lower quality than intended.
fade
A transition between 2 shots blending A shot (preceding shot) into the B shot (proceeding shot), but different from a cross dissolve because one of the shots in a fade is just a solid black/white frame rather than an image.
fade in
A transition/effect applied at the beginning of a shot/audio that gives an effect of gradually transitioning from black/white screen to the actual shot. Or, from a muted audio to not.
fade out
A transition/effect applied at the end of a shot/audio that gives an effect of gradually transitioning out of the shot and into a black/white screen. Or, from the audible audio to silence.
farm
See render farm
fast tracking
To speed up the submission or completion of a deliverable.
Also a project management term meaning to compress a schedule by performing tasks (normally done in sequence) in parallel with each other. This technique is high in risk due to its high possibility of rework down the line.
.fbx / filmbox
A file format used by various Autodesk software.
feather / feathering
To soften the selection or around an object’s edges.
feature / feature film
The main movie in a screening.
FG / foreground
background / mid-ground / foreground
—
background : what we see in the far back or behind the character/object in focus
mid ground : in between the front and back
foreground : area closest to the camera
fill lights
Softer or additional lights in a scene to help bring up the details that are in the shadow or not lit as well by the key light.
filter
(1) In data entry, to apply specific conditions to eliminate unwanted data and narrow the selection;
(2) A layer of effect applied to an image or footage.
final
Complete or approved.
Final Cut
(1) A video/audio editing software;
(2) The completed version of the edit.
FK / Forward Kinematics
See IK (Inverse Kinematics) vs FK (Forward Kinematics)
flag
To call attention to.
flashing / flickering
A rendering error in shots where a portion or a frame flips on / off.
flip
To flip vertically so that what was right side up is now upside down. Not to be confused with flop.
floating
An animation error when objects appear to hover on top of the ground; there is no contact with the ground plane is.
flop
To flop horizontally so that what was facing the right side is now facing the left side. Not to be confused with flip.
Flow Production Tracking / FPTR
See Shotgun / Shotgrid
FML frames / First Middle Last frames
3 frames out of a full frame range: the first frame, middle frame, and last frame. Often used to render out a shot for a quick test/review without having to wait for the total amount of time it will take to render a shot in its full frame range. (Less frames mean less time rendering on the farm.)
focal length
Length of the lens and the distance between the lens and the subject in the image; Magnification of a lens will depend on the length of the lens.
focus
Camera adjustment to control how clear something is in a shot.
focus testing
An activity set up to test how well a certain product is received by a specific group of people.
foley
Creating and recording of sound effects usually using various practical materials or props. Sound effects are recreated to match what we see on screen because it’s often difficult to capture these sounds when filming. For example, the rustling of clothes.
footage
A clip or video.
forced perspective
To exaggerate or emphasize the perception of depth.
forecasting
A project management term meaning to predict or estimate a project scenario based on the current info available. Usually used in resource and/or schedule planning and management.
format
Requirements of a file or component to enable it to be used properly and/or efficiently.
fps / frames per second / frame rate
The number of frames or images that play on screen within one second. Most common frame rate is 24fps, ergo, most shots play at 24 frames per second.
frame
A shot or turntable is composed of multiple individual still images stitched together and played really fast to create the illusion of movement.
A frame is what we call one of these still images, ergo, a shot is composed of a series of frames played through very quickly.
frame range
The selection of frames that will be rendered.
freeze frame / frozen frame
A shot or turntable is composed of multiple individual still images stitched together and played really fast to create the illusion of movement.
A frame is what we call one of these still images, ergo, a shot is composed of a series of frames played through very quickly.
A frozen frame is a rendering error where a frame or multiple frames are repeated consecutively, which results in the overall image looking frozen.
Fresnel Effect
A phenomenon when the reflection of light and how it looks changes depending on the angle at which the eye sees it.
frustum / camera frustum
In 3D, it’s the cone projecting from a camera representing the space that will be visible on screen from that camera. Anything inside it will be visible in the render when that camera is rendered.
functionality
Refers to how an asset is intended to be used based on the script/story requirements and what the pipeline allows. Cross-departmental agreement on an asset’s functionality is important to ensure that an asset can be modeled, rigged, animated, and rendered to match boards’ and design’s intent.
FX Department
Responsible for adding special effects to shots. Sometimes, if a callout is too complex to animate manually, FX provides simulations to assist Animation.
