> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://captivatehelp.newbluelive.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://captivatehelp.newbluelive.com/reference-knowledge/broadcast-glossary.md).

# Broadcast and live-production glossary

This page maps the words broadcast and live-production people use to the Captivate feature that does the job, with a link to the article that explains it. Terms are grouped by area. The **also called** list is the important part: the same thing often has several names.

## Switching and mixing

**Program** — *also: PGM, on-air, line, take output.* The final composited picture exactly as the audience sees it, with every graphic and effect. In Captivate, this is the **Program** output you send to a display, SDI, NDI, or a stream. See [Choose how Captivate fits your production](/set-up-your-production/how-it-fits-your-production.md).

**Preview** — *also: PVW, PST, next.* What Program will become when the operator takes the next action. A staging area before air. (Broadcast operators sometimes call the preview bus the "preset bus", but in Captivate a **preset** is something else entirely — a saved workspace layout, zone layout, PTZ position, or browser URL — so a question about presets is not a question about preview.)

**Clean feed** — *also: clean program, program clean, dirty/clean.* A Program feed without the keyed graphics and logos. Productions often take a clean feed for archive or re-broadcast and a "dirty" feed with graphics for air.

**Cut / Take** — *also: hard cut, take to air.* An instant switch from one source to another with no transition.

**M/E** — *also: mix/effects bus, ME bank.* A layer inside a switcher where sources are combined and keyed before reaching Program.

**Downstream keyer** — *also: DSK, downstream key.* A keyer applied last, on top of everything else on Program — the classic place for a logo bug or a lower third. In Captivate, your graphics can ride the switcher’s DSK via key + fill, or Captivate can **be** the downstream keyer itself — bringing the switcher’s program in as a live source, compositing your graphics on top, and sending the finished picture back out (if your license includes it). See [Connecting Captivate to video switchers](/reference-knowledge/connect-to-video-switchers.md).

**Upstream keyer** — *also: USK, effects keyer.* A keyer inside the M/E, upstream of the DSK, supporting more key types (chroma, DVE, pattern). Used for elements that read as part of the shot.

**ATEM** — *also: Blackmagic ATEM, ATEM Mini, ATEM Constellation, ATEM Software Control, Blackmagic switcher.* Blackmagic Design’s family of production switchers, ranging from small ATEM Mini units to multi-M/E Constellation frames, controlled by hardware panels or the ATEM Software Control application. Each ATEM provides upstream and downstream keyers that composite an external fill and key pair over the program picture. In Captivate, an ATEM can be addressed as a switcher target so graphics are sent to it as fill and key and the associated keyer and tally state can be exchanged rather than switched by hand. SDI key + fill, downstream keying and SDI capture depend on your Captivate license.

**ATEM transition** — *also: switcher transition, ATEM mix, auto transition, ATEM cut, Blackmagic switcher transition.* A transition executed by a Blackmagic Design ATEM switcher - a mix, dip, wipe, DVE move or a keyer taken on and off - triggered over the switcher’s Ethernet control protocol rather than by hand on the panel. External systems can fire these so graphics and switcher moves stay in step. In Captivate, ATEM "piggyback" transitions run switcher-to-graphics: when the ATEM operator fires a transition, Captivate plays the title assigned to it.

**Downstream** — *also: downstream key, DSK, post-switcher, after the mix, over program, final key layer.* The position in a video signal chain after the main switcher mix, where graphics are keyed over the finished program output. Because a downstream key sits past the transitions and effects buses, station bugs, clocks and score bugs placed there stay on screen through cuts and dissolves between sources. In Captivate, the software is commonly used downstream of the switcher, either taking program video in and returning it with graphics composited on, or supplying fill and key to a hardware downstream keyer. SDI key + fill, downstream keying and SDI capture depend on your Captivate license.

**Fade** — *also: dissolve to black, fade to black, FTB, fade up, fade in, fade out, ramp.* A gradual transition in which a picture rises from or falls to black (or an audio level rises from or falls to silence) over a set duration. A fade involves one source and a reference level, unlike a dissolve or mix, which crossfades between two sources. In Captivate, fades are used both as graphic in and out animations and as the transition applied when a title or shot is taken on and off air.

**Instant Replay** — *also: replay, slow motion, slo-mo, action replay (UK), EVS, ISO replay, clip playback.* Immediate playback of just-recorded live action, usually at reduced speed, to show a moment again during the event. Replay is produced on a dedicated replay server or clip store that records camera ISOs continuously, letting an operator mark in and out points and roll the segment back into the program while the event continues.

**Layout** — *also: screen arrangement, split screen, multi-box, box, composition, scene, picture-in-picture arrangement.* An arrangement that positions and sizes several pictures or graphics together on one screen — a two-box interview, a four-way panel, a video wall of remote guests. Layouts define where each source sits and how large it is, and are usually recalled as presets during the show. In Captivate, a layout is built as a design that contains multiple video source layers, each positioned and sized on the canvas alongside the accompanying graphics.

**Mix** — *also: dissolve, crossfade, cross-dissolve, X-dissolve, audio mix, submix, M/E.* In video switching, a transition that fades one source down while fading another up, so the two pictures overlap for the duration of the move; the same effect is called a dissolve or crossfade. In audio, a mix is the combination of several signals into one output at chosen relative levels, and the noun also names the resulting blend. On a switcher, M/E stands for mix/effects, a complete bank of buses and keyers. In Captivate, a mix is available as the transition between graphics or shots, with a settable duration.

**Off-air** — *also: off air, not on air, down, dark, cleared, out of program.* The state of a graphic, source or channel that is not currently visible on the programme output. An off-air graphic may still be loaded, previewed and updated with data while it waits to be taken to air. Note the second sense in broadcast engineering, where an off-air signal means one received back from a transmitter or receiver rather than from the studio.

**preview area** — *also: preview monitor, preview window, preview pane, PVW, preset bus, look-ahead preview.* The display region that shows a graphic or video source as it will look on air, before the operator takes it to program. It lets an operator check spelling, data values, framing and animation without the audience seeing the result. In Captivate, the operator stages a title or source in the preview area, confirms its content, then takes or transitions it to the program output.

**Program monitor** — *also: PGM monitor, on-air monitor, transmission monitor, TX monitor, master monitor, program out.* The display that shows the composited signal currently going to air, including every key, effect and graphic layer. It is distinct from the preview monitor, which shows the next source being set up before it is taken.

**Program output** — *also: PGM, program, program feed, main output, air output, transmission feed, PGM out.* The final composited signal leaving the production system - the video, keyed graphics and audio that the audience actually sees and hears. It is distinguished from preview, which shows what is queued next, and from clean feed, which carries the same video without the graphics layer. In Captivate, rendered graphics are sent to program by way of the configured outputs, whether that is an NDI or SDI feed to a switcher or a fill-and-key pair.

**Switcher** — *also: vision mixer, production switcher, video mixer, SEG, M/E switcher, mixer.* The device or software that selects between video sources, mixes them with transitions and applies keys to build the program output. Hardware examples include Ross Carbonite and Blackmagic ATEM; software examples include vMix and Wirecast. "Vision mixer" is the UK term, and can also mean the person operating it. In Captivate, graphics are typically fed to a switcher as fill and key over SDI or as an NDI source, or Captivate can composite over incoming live video itself and output a finished program. SDI key + fill, downstream keying and SDI capture depend on your Captivate license.

**Switching** — *also: vision mixing, cutting, taking, source selection, mixing.* The act of changing which source - camera, clip, remote or graphic - is sent to program output during a live show, either as a hard cut or through a transition. The operator doing it is a technical director in North America and a vision mixer in the UK.

**Transition** — *also: wipe, dissolve, mix, cut, fade, take, effect (transition sense).* The way one picture or graphic replaces another: an instantaneous cut, a timed dissolve or fade, a wipe, or an animated move. On a switcher the transition is applied between sources or when a key is brought on and off air. In Captivate, a title’s animated in and out are its transitions on and off air, and a shot can be set to take other shots off as it comes on — see [Set up transitions](/set-up-your-production/chapter-index-3/setting-up-transitions.md).

**Upstream** — *also: USK, upstream key, upstream keyer, M/E key, mix/effects key.* The part of a switcher’s signal chain ahead of the downstream keyers, inside the mix/effects banks, where keys are composited into the programme mix. Because upstream keys sit in the mix, they are affected by transitions and by changes of the background source, unlike downstream keys which ride over the finished picture.

## Keying and compositing

**Key and fill** — *also: fill + key, fill and cut, external key, key/fill over SDI.* A graphic delivered as two signals: the **fill** (the picture) and the **key** (also called the **alpha** or **cut** — the shape that cuts the hole the fill drops into). This is the highest-quality way to hand graphics to a hardware switcher. In Captivate, turn it on with SDI key + fill output (if your license includes it). See [Output graphics with SDI](/set-up-your-production/chapter-index/output-graphics-with-sdi.md).

**Alpha** — *also: alpha channel, transparency, cut signal.* The transparency information that says which pixels of a graphic are see-through. In Captivate, **Alpha Key** in Project Settings controls whether output carries transparency. See [Set the project format](/set-up-your-production/set-up-your-project.md).

**Chroma key** — *also: green screen, blue screen, color key.* Making a chosen color transparent so a background shows through. When Captivate feeds a compact HDMI switcher, it draws graphics over a solid color key and the switcher chroma-keys them. See [Output graphics to a display](/set-up-your-production/chapter-index/output-graphics-to-a-display.md).

**Luma key** — *also: luminance key.* Keying based on brightness rather than color — typically white text on black cut over a background.

**Mask** — *also: matte, garbage matte.* A shape that limits where a key or layer appears. "Matte" is the switcher and compositing word for the same idea. In Captivate’s Designer, mark a layer as a mask, or choose which mask a layer is **Masked by**, on the **Effects** tab. See [Add effects to design layers](/design-and-customize-graphics/chapter-index-3/add-effects-to-design-layers.md).

**Clip** — *also: media clip, video clip, clip level, key clip, threshold, gain and clip.* Two distinct senses. As media, a clip is a discrete segment of recorded video or audio used as a source in a production - a highlight, a stinger, a sponsor spot. As a keyer control, clip is the threshold that sets where the key signal begins to become transparent, adjusted together with gain to tighten the edge of a luma or chroma key. In Captivate, video clips can be placed in titles and shots as media objects, while clip in the keying sense is a threshold adjustment on a keyer rather than a piece of media.

**Downstream keying** — *also: DSK, downstream key, downstream keyer, final key, master key.* Compositing a key layer over the finished programme picture at the last stage of the signal chain, after all mix/effects work is done, so the graphic stays on screen through transitions and source changes. Downstream keys are typically used for bugs, lower thirds and clocks that must ride over everything else. In Captivate, graphics can be sent as separate fill and key signals so a switcher composites them in its downstream keyer, or composited internally when Captivate outputs a finished picture. SDI key + fill, downstream keying and SDI capture depend on your Captivate license.

**Fill** — *also: fill signal, video fill, key fill, colour signal, RGB.* The visible colour and image portion of a keyed graphic, carried alongside a separate key or alpha signal that says which parts of it are opaque. Broadcast switchers accept the pair as fill and key on two SDI links, while file and network formats such as NDI can carry both in one signal. In Captivate, a destination can be configured to output fill with an accompanying key so a downstream switcher can composite the graphic over its own program video. SDI key + fill, downstream keying and SDI capture depend on your Captivate license.

**Key** — *also: keyer, key signal, key and fill, cut and fill, alpha, matte, licence key, activation code, hotkey.* Two unrelated senses. In video, a key is the signal that cuts a hole in the background picture so a graphic can be filled into it; the fill carries the colour and the key (alpha or matte) carries the transparency, and a switcher keyer combines the two over program. In licensing and control, a key is an activation or serial code that unlocks software, or a keyboard key bound to a shortcut or playout trigger. In Captivate, graphics are delivered with fill and alpha so a downstream keyer can composite them, and keyboard keys can be assigned as shortcuts for triggering titles.

**Keyer** — *also: key, keying engine, DSK, downstream keyer, upstream keyer, USK, linear keyer, luma keyer, chroma keyer.* The processing stage that combines a foreground image with background video, using a key (alpha or matte) signal to decide which pixels are opaque, transparent or partly transparent. Keyers are described by how they derive that signal: linear keyers use a supplied alpha, luma keyers derive it from brightness, and chroma keyers derive it from a colour such as green. In Captivate, graphics are output with their own alpha so they can be fed to an external switcher’s keyer as fill and key, or composited internally over an incoming video source. SDI key + fill, downstream keying and SDI capture depend on your Captivate license.

**Keying** — *also: key, overlay, matting, compositing, superimposing, alpha compositing, CG over video, chroma key, luma key.* The process of combining a foreground graphic or image over background video by making part of the foreground transparent. The transparency may come from an embedded alpha channel, from a separate key (matte) signal, or be derived from the picture itself by chroma key on a coloured backdrop or luma key on brightness. In Captivate, graphics carry an alpha channel and can be composited internally over an incoming video source or sent out as separate fill and key signals for an external keyer. SDI key + fill, downstream keying and SDI capture depend on your Captivate license.

**Luma** — *also: luminance, Y, brightness, black-and-white component, greyscale.* The brightness component of a video signal, separate from the colour difference components, and the basis of luma keying, where pixels above or below a threshold are made transparent. Also the quantity read by waveform monitors when checking black level and peak white.

**premultiplied** — *also: premultiplied alpha, associated alpha, matted alpha, alpha over black, shaped video.* An alpha convention in which each pixel’s colour values have already been multiplied by that pixel’s transparency, so semi-transparent areas are darkened toward the matte colour (usually black). The alternative is straight, or unassociated, alpha, where colour is stored at full value and transparency is carried only in the alpha channel; compositing a file with the wrong assumption produces dark or bright fringes around soft edges and glows. In fill-and-key terms, a premultiplied fill is already 'shaped' against black, while a straight fill is 'unshaped'.

## DVE, effects, and motion

**DVE** — *also: digital video effect, digital effect, effects engine.* The engine that resizes, crops, repositions, rotates, and borders a live video source. Every "shrink the video and put something beside it" look is a DVE layout. Captivate does DVE two ways: as a **squeeze** using zone layouts (the video shrinks into a zone), or by mapping live video onto a **Live Video Variable** inside a graphic design — the video then follows the design’s animation, scaling, repositioning, and even moving in 3D, so a video box can fly in and out. The DVE is built into the graphic; no external DVE device is needed. See [Create a squeeze (squeezeback)](/set-up-your-production/create-a-squeeze.md) and [Create variables in graphics](/design-and-customize-graphics/chapter-index-4/create-variables-in-graphics.md).

**Squeeze** — *also: squeezeback, squeeze-back, squeeze and tease, DVE move, the Peruvian move.* The on-air effect where the live video shrinks to part of the screen so graphics slide into the freed space, then expands back. This is the same DVE effect family as PIP and L-bar. In Captivate it is the squeeze, built from a zone layout. See [Create a squeeze (squeezeback)](/set-up-your-production/create-a-squeeze.md).

**Picture-in-picture** — *also: PIP, PiP, box, dual-box, double-box, inset.* A smaller video window placed over a background — one box for a single inset, dual-box for two side-by-side sources. In Captivate, the most flexible way to build a PIP is a **Live Video Variable**: a live source maps onto a design object, so the video inherits that design’s position, scale, and animation — including 3D moves. Because the DVE is integrated right into the graphic, a PIP that would normally need a switcher’s DVE plus careful graphics timing becomes a single animated design. A zone layout is a simpler alternative for fixed side-by-side boxes. See [Create variables in graphics](/design-and-customize-graphics/chapter-index-4/create-variables-in-graphics.md) and [Create a squeeze (squeezeback)](/set-up-your-production/create-a-squeeze.md).

**L-bar** — *also: sidebar, side bar, J-bar, L-bar squeeze, sports wrap.* A squeeze where the video shrinks into a corner and graphics fill an L-shaped or side region around it — common for scores and stats. A **J-bar** is the right-hand-side version. Built the same way as a squeeze in Captivate. See [Create a squeeze (squeezeback)](/set-up-your-production/create-a-squeeze.md).

**Wipe** — *also: pattern wipe.* A shaped transition that pushes one source off while revealing another. A wipe is one **kind** of transition, not another word for transitions in general. In Captivate, set transitions per graphic or per shot; for a retro play-in / play-out or update animation — familiar to operators coming from older character generators — use **FX Transitions** (a Properties tab). See [Set up transitions](/set-up-your-production/chapter-index-3/setting-up-transitions.md).

**Stinger** — *also: sting, animated transition, DVE transition.* A short full-frame animation (often with a logo) that covers the moment of a switch. See [Set up a stinger](/set-up-your-production/chapter-index-3/stinger-setup.md).

**Fly-in / fly-out** — *also: animate in, animate out, build on/off, reveal, exit.* A graphic animating onto and off screen rather than cutting. In Captivate, in and out animations and transitions on the design control this. See [Add transitions to design layers](/design-and-customize-graphics/chapter-index-3/add-transitions-to-design-layers.md).

**Animation** — *also: motion, in/out animation, keyframe animation, move, build, reveal.* Time-based change applied to a graphic element - position, scale, rotation, opacity, colour or text - as it enters, holds and leaves the screen. Broadcast graphics are usually built as a three-part structure: an in animation, a hold state while data is read, and an out animation. In Captivate, animations are applied to design layers in the Designer and can be built from preset effects or from keyframes on the Timeline.

**Keyframe Animation** — *also: keyframing, keyframes, tweening, interpolation, motion path, animation curve.* Motion built by recording a property value - position, scale, rotation, opacity, colour - at specific points in time and letting the system interpolate the values in between. Easing or curve controls shape the acceleration between keyframes so movement is not strictly linear. In Captivate, animation is defined over a title’s timeline, with property values set at points in time and interpolated to produce the in, hold and out motion.

**Keyframing** — *also: keyframes, key framing, animation curves, tweening, interpolation, motion path, animate a parameter.* The technique of animating a property by setting its value at specific points in time and letting the system interpolate the values in between. Position, scale, rotation, opacity, colour and effect parameters are all commonly keyframed, with easing controls shaping the acceleration between keys. In Captivate, a title’s motion is built by keyframing transform and effect parameters across its In, Play and Out animation phases, so the graphic has a defined entrance, hold and exit.

**track** — *also: timeline track, layer, lane, channel, timeline row.* A horizontal lane on a timeline that holds the media, graphic or animation for one element over time, with tracks stacked so the upper ones composite over the lower ones. Distinguish this from an audio track, meaning one channel or stem of sound, and from tracking as a camera or DVE move.

**Transition effect** — *also: transition, wipe, dissolve, mix, fly-on, in/out animation, reveal, build.* An animated change used to bring a graphic or video source on and off screen - a dissolve, wipe, push, slide or fly-on - rather than an instant cut. For graphics, the in and out transitions are usually authored as part of the design so the lower third animates on, holds, then animates off. In Captivate, each design carries its own in and out animation, so taking a shot on air plays the entry effect and taking it off plays the exit.

**Zoom** — *also: magnification, scale, punch-in, blow-up, view zoom, Zoom Meetings, Zoom Video Communications.* Two unrelated senses. As a picture operation, zoom is magnification — enlarging or reducing the displayed scale of a view or of a graphic element, either as a working aid in an editor or as an on-air move on a source. As a proper noun, Zoom is the video conferencing platform whose meetings, participants and speaker information can be brought into a production as feeds and as source material for graphics and multi-box layouts. In Captivate, zooming the design editor changes only how large the canvas appears to you; the on-air size of an element is set by that layer’s own scale and position.

## Graphics and character generation

**Character generator** — *also: CG, titler, title generator, graphics engine.* The system that creates and plays on-screen text and graphics. Captivate is a character generator. See [Design & customize graphics](/design-and-customize-graphics/branch-index.md).

**Lower third** — *also: chyron, aston, name strap, name super, super, caption, banner, nameplate.* A graphic in the lower area of the screen that identifies a speaker, place, or topic. ("Chyron" comes from the Chyron Corporation; "aston" from Aston in the UK — both used generically.) In Captivate, a lower third is a title design you play from the Library. See [Graphics Library / Library overview](/design-and-customize-graphics/graphics-library-build-side-reference/graphics-library-overview.md).

**Bug** — *also: snipe, logo bug, DOG (digital on-screen graphic), watermark.* A small persistent graphic, usually a logo in a corner. In Captivate, play it as a graphic and leave it on air.

**Crawl** — *also: ticker, news ticker, scroll, tickertape, bottom line.* Text that scrolls horizontally across the screen. In Captivate, build it with the Crawl Conductor and feed it from data. See [Crawl Conductor](/design-and-customize-graphics/chapter-index-5/crawl-conductor.md) and [Crawls Controller](/play-and-update-graphics/chapter-index-1/crawls-controller.md).

**Roll** — *also: credit roll, rolling credits, scroll up.* Text that scrolls vertically, as in end credits. In Captivate, use the Roll Conductor. See [Roll Conductor](/design-and-customize-graphics/chapter-index-5/roll-conductor.md).

**Leaderboard** — *also: standings, results board, scoreboard list, ranked list.* A self-sorting ranked list of names and numbers. In Captivate, use the Leaderboard Conductor (if your license includes it), driven by data. See [Leaderboard Conductor](/design-and-customize-graphics/chapter-index-5/leaderboard-conductor.md) and [Leaderboard Controller](/play-and-update-graphics/chapter-index-1/leaderboard-controller.md).

**Over-the-shoulder** — *also: OTS, box over shoulder.* A graphic box beside the presenter, as in a news set. Build it as a design placed to one side, or as a zone in a layout.

**Full-frame** — *also: full-screen graphic, FS, full page.* A graphic that fills the whole screen, such as a stats page or sponsor slate.

**Template** — *also: title design template, preset graphic.* A reusable graphic you customize with your own values. A template is a **design** published for reuse — every template is a design, but a design you build for one show is not a template. In Captivate, those values can be text and images, and also dynamic media clips, live video, and data graphs — and templates live in the Library. See [Modify a template](/design-and-customize-graphics/chapter-index/modify-a-template.md).

**Blueprint** — *also: template, master template, layout template, structural template, pattern.* A reusable structure that defines how a graphic or layout is put together - which elements exist, how they are arranged and which fields are fillable - so the same construction can be reproduced with different content. A blueprint describes the skeleton; the data supplied at playout gives each instance its identity.

**Designs** — *also: templates, graphics, pages, scenes, title templates, compositions.* The authored graphic templates that a titling system plays to air - lower thirds, full-screen bugs, tickers, scoreboards - each holding its layers, text objects, animation and data bindings. They correspond to what other systems call pages, scenes or templates. In Captivate, a design is added to the Project List as a graphic layer, and several graphics can then be grouped into a Shot that plays them together.

**Graphic** — *also: gfx, overlay, element, insert, bug, page, template instance.* A single visual element laid over the program picture — a title, logo bug, lower third, scoreboard, clock or full-frame card. A graphic normally consists of artwork, text and an alpha channel so that only the intended part of the frame is visible over the underlying video. In Captivate, each graphic is built as a design in the Designer and played to air from the Project List, with its text and images supplied by variables.

**Layers** — *also: elements, objects, stacking order, z-order, levels, layer stack.* The individual elements - text, images, shapes, video, backgrounds - that make up a graphic, stacked front to back so that upper layers composite over lower ones. Layer order determines what obscures what, and each layer carries its own properties, animation and data bindings. Distinct from switcher keyer layers, which describe how graphics are stacked over program video downstream. In Captivate, a title is built as a stack of layers in the design view, and their order controls the compositing from back to front.

**Layout blueprint** — *also: template, master layout, page template, design template, wireframe, style guide.* A reusable description of how the elements of a graphic are arranged - their positions, sizes, text styles and relationships - so that the same structure can be filled with new content and stay on brand. Blueprints keep a show’s lower thirds, fullscreens and bugs visually consistent between operators and episodes.

**NewBlue Titler Live** — *also: Titler Live, Titler Live Broadcast, Titler Live Complete, TL.* NewBlue’s live titling product line, used to design and play data-driven broadcast graphics such as lower thirds, tickers, scoreboards and social media displays into a live production. It is the predecessor and sibling product to Captivate.

**NewBlue Titler Pro** — *also: Titler Pro, Titler Pro 7, NewBlueFX Titler Pro, Titler plug-in, NLE titler.* NewBlue’s titling application for non-linear editing and post workflows, used to build animated titles, lower thirds and motion graphics that are placed on an edit timeline and rendered with the finished program. It runs both standalone and as a plug-in inside host editors such as Premiere Pro, Vegas Pro, Avid Media Composer and EDIUS. Titler Pro is the post-production counterpart to Captivate: the same style of title design, but rendered into an edit rather than played to air live under operator or data control.

**Object** — *also: element, layer, item, asset, node, graphic element.* An individual component of a graphic design - a text field, shape, image, logo, video or container - that can be positioned, styled, animated and bound to data independently of the others. Other character generators call these layers, elements or nodes. In Captivate, design layers are added and stacked in the Designer, and each carries its own properties, effects and timeline animation.

**Overlays** — *also: graphics overlay, titles, supers, bugs, on-screen graphics, keys, DSK graphics.* Graphic elements composited on top of the live picture - lower thirds, name supers, clocks, scoreboards, channel bugs, tickers. They are carried with transparency so the video behind remains visible, and are usually laid in on a downstream keyer or in the graphics engine’s own compositor. In Captivate, overlays are played out with transparency, either composited over an incoming video source or sent to a switcher as fill and key. SDI key + fill, downstream keying and SDI capture depend on your Captivate license.

**Pause point** — *also: hold, stop point, cue point, animation hold, pause frame, hold frame, stop marker.* A marked stop in a graphic’s animation where playback halts and the title holds on screen until it is told to continue. It is what lets a lower third animate on, sit on air for as long as the segment needs, and then animate off on cue rather than after a fixed duration. In Captivate, a title’s animation can be given a pause point so the operator’s next trigger resumes playback and runs the out animation.

**property** — *also: attribute, parameter, field, setting, control, knob.* A named, adjustable attribute of a graphic element, layer or effect - position, scale, colour, opacity, text content, font size and so on - that carries a value the designer or operator can change. Properties are what animation keyframes and live data act upon. In Captivate, an element’s properties are edited in the design tools, and a property such as text content or colour can be bound to a data variable so incoming live values drive it.

**Rendering** — *also: render, real-time render, rasterizing, GPU rendering, frame generation, compositing to output.* The process of generating the finished video frames of a graphic from its design, layers, text, media and effects. Live graphics systems render in real time, producing every frame at the output frame rate as the show runs, whereas post-production tools may render ahead of time to a file. In Captivate, graphics are rendered and cached when they are added and re-rendered when a value changes, then played from that cache; complex designs can be pre-cached before a show.

**safe margins** — *also: title safe, action safe, safe area, safe title, graphics safe, safe guides, safe zones.* Guide boundaries inset from the edge of the video frame marking where text and essential action will survive cropping, overscan and reframing on downstream displays. Title safe is the tighter inner box for text and logos; action safe is the outer box for important picture content. In Captivate, safe-area guides can be displayed over the design canvas as a non-rendering overlay so text and logos are placed inside them.

**template design** — *also: title template, graphic template, template, CG page, scene, message, master, preset.* A reusable graphic built once with editable placeholders - text fields, images, colours, data links - so the same look can be filled with different content each time it goes to air. Templates keep branding consistent and let an operator produce a new lower third or full-screen without reopening the design. In Captivate, a template design supplies the layout and animation while the operator or a data source fills its placeholder fields for each on-air use.

**Timeline** — *also: animation timeline, timebar, sequence, track view, scene timeline.* The time-based editing area where the elements of a graphic are arranged against time, with keyframes and durations controlling when each element moves, appears and leaves. It is the standard way animated titles are authored, in contrast to scripted or physics-driven motion. In Captivate, the Designer’s Timeline holds each design layer’s animation over the in, hold and out phases of the graphic.

**Title Designer** — *also: designer, title editor, graphics authoring, scene builder, template designer, CG designer.* The authoring environment in which broadcast graphics - lower thirds, full-screen pages, bugs, tickers - are laid out, styled and animated before they are used on air. Comparable environments include Chyron Lyric, Viz Artist and Ross XPression Designer. **Title Designer** is the former name; the current term is **Designer**, where design layers are placed, styled, animated on the Timeline and bound to data.

**Titler design** — *also: design, template, graphic template, title template, page, scene, composition.* A single graphic document containing its artwork, layers, text objects, animation and data bindings - the equivalent of a page in a traditional character generator or a scene in a Vizrt workflow. One design can be reused many times with different content because its text and image fields are driven by variables. In Captivate, designs are authored in the Designer and added to the Project List as graphic layers.

**Titler Live** — *also: NewBlue Titler Live, TitlerLive, TL.* NewBlue’s live titling application for building and playing out real-time, data-driven broadcast graphics such as lower thirds, scoreboards and full-screen titles over live video. Captivate is the later NewBlue product in the same line; operators coming from Titler Live will recognise the same working concepts of titles, data sources and live output.

**Titler Pro** — *also: NewBlue Titler Pro, Titler, titling plug-in.* NewBlue’s titling application for creating animated titles and graphics inside non-linear editing workflows, used as a plug-in or companion tool to an editor rather than as a live playout system. It shares the design approach - objects, styles and timeline animation - with NewBlue’s live products.

**Titles** — *also: name keys, lower thirds, supers, straps, astons (UK), captions (UK), chyrons, name supers.* On-screen text graphics that identify and inform — presenter and guest name keys, locators, headlines, credit rolls and opening titles. Titles are the core output of a character generator and are usually built as templates whose text is filled in per use. In Captivate, each title is a design built in the Designer and listed for playout, with its text supplied by variables so the same layout can be reused throughout the show.

## Signal, transport, and sync

**SDI** — *also: HD-SDI, 3G-SDI, 12G-SDI, serial digital, BNC.* Professional video over coax with locking BNC connectors, standard in broadcast. Carries embedded audio; two SDI feeds carry key + fill. In Captivate, SDI is both an output (with a DeckLink or AJA card) and an input — capture a live SDI source with the same card. See [Output graphics with SDI](/set-up-your-production/chapter-index/output-graphics-with-sdi.md) and [Cameras and capture cards as a live source](/set-up-your-production/chapter-index-2/camera-as-a-live-source.md).

**HDMI** — *also: display output, monitor out.* Consumer/prosumer digital video, good for short runs to displays and compact switchers. In Captivate, the Display output feeds an HDMI or DisplayPort screen. See [Output graphics to a display](/set-up-your-production/chapter-index/output-graphics-to-a-display.md).

**NDI** — *also: Network Device Interface, IP video, video over network.* Video, audio, and optional alpha over a standard network, widely supported by software switchers. In Captivate, use NDI output or bring an NDI camera in as a source. See [Output graphics with NDI](/set-up-your-production/chapter-index/output-graphics-with-ndi.md) and [NDI as a live source](/set-up-your-production/chapter-index-2/ndi-input.md).

**OMT** — *also: Open Media Transport.* A low-latency, NDI-class network video transport. In Captivate, use OMT output. See [Output graphics with OMT](/set-up-your-production/chapter-index/output-graphics-with-omt.md).

**SRT** — *also: Secure Reliable Transport.* A protocol for reliable low-latency streaming over unpredictable networks, including the public internet. In Captivate, SRT works as both an output and a live input, in either **Caller** mode (connect out to a remote device) or **Listener** mode (wait for a device to connect). See [Stream with SRT](/set-up-your-production/chapter-index-6/streaming-with-srt.md).

**RTMP** — *also: RTMPS, ingest URL.* The common protocol for sending a finished stream to YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, and similar. You authenticate with a **stream key** — the credential the streaming service issues you, not a protocol or a synonym for one. In Captivate, set up streaming with your service’s URL and stream key. See [Streaming with Captivate](/set-up-your-production/chapter-index-6/set-up-streaming.md).

**Tally** — *also: tally light, on-air light, red light.* The signal that marks a source live. In Captivate, the Live Monitor shows **NDI tally**: the NDI output lights up on-program (red) or on-preview (green) as the downstream NDI switcher reports it, and Captivate marks its own NDI input sources as on-program. Some switcher integrations, such as ATEM, also exchange tally. See [Preparing your Blackmagic ATEM switcher](/solution-recipes/chapter-index/atem-integration.md).

**Genlock** — *also: reference, black burst, sync, house sync.* A shared timing reference that keeps sources frame-aligned. A facility-level concept; SDI hardware handles it.

**Timecode** — *also: TC, SMPTE timecode.* A running clock stamped on video for synchronization and logging.

**Embedded audio** — *also: SDI audio, audio over SDI/NDI.* Audio carried inside the video signal rather than on separate cables. Captivate embeds the Program mix in its SDI and NDI outputs. See [Audio Mixer panel](/set-up-your-production/chapter-index-5/the-audio-mixer.md).

**Blackmagic Design** — *also: Blackmagic, BMD, ATEM, DeckLink, UltraStudio.* Manufacturer of production switchers, capture and playback cards, converters and cameras widely used in live production. Its ATEM switchers and DeckLink/UltraStudio I/O devices are common points of integration for graphics systems. In Captivate, Blackmagic capture and playout hardware can carry video in and graphics out, and ATEM switchers can be integrated with the production.

**Camera** — *also: cam, camera feed, camera source, input, ISO, POV, robo.* A live picture source feeding the production, whether a studio pedestal camera, handheld, POV mini-cam or field unit, arriving at the switcher over SDI, HDMI or an IP transport such as NDI or SMPTE 2110. Each camera occupies an input on the switcher and may also be recorded as an isolated feed. In Captivate, a camera can either stay on the switcher — with Captivate supplying fill and key over it — or be added directly as a live video layer and cut in the Video Switcher panel.

**Feed** — *also: source, input, stream, line feed, camera feed, data feed.* A continuous supply of material into the production. In the video sense it is an incoming picture and sound - a camera, a remote contribution, a return feed from another facility. In the data sense it is a live stream of values, such as a scoring or statistics feed, that graphics read from. In Captivate, video feeds arrive through capture hardware or network sources, while data feeds are connected as data sources and bound to graphics.

**Final output** — *also: program out, PGM, master out, air output, transmission feed, main output.* The completed, composited signal a system sends onward to air, to a recorder or to a downstream device. It represents everything the operator has mixed, keyed and rendered, in the production’s video format and frame rate. In Captivate, the final output can be delivered over NDI, over a video card as SDI, as fill and key for a switcher, or into a software production system for further mixing. SDI key + fill, downstream keying and SDI capture depend on your Captivate license.

**Frame rate** — *also: fps, frames per second, refresh rate, video standard, temporal rate.* The number of frames delivered each second by a video source, renderer or output, for example 25, 29.97, 50 or 59.94. Every device in a production chain should be running the same rate, since a mismatch causes judder, dropped frames or animation that plays at the wrong speed. In Captivate, the project frame rate should be set to match the production’s video standard so graphics animate and play out at the intended speed.

**Frames** — *also: video frames, picture, frame count, frames of duration.* The individual still images that, played in sequence, make up moving video. Frames are also the smallest unit of broadcast timing: durations, delays and timecode are all counted in frames rather than in fractions of a second.

**Input** — *also: feed, incoming signal, in, source, camera feed, ingest.* An incoming picture or program signal that the system receives for compositing, monitoring or pass-through, arriving over baseband connections such as SDI or HDMI or over IP transports such as NDI or OMT. Each input is a distinct addressable feed within the production. In Captivate, an input is added to the project so a live feed can be used as a video source inside a design or layout, or as the background the graphics key over.

**Input source** — *also: input, feed, source, incoming signal, input channel, upstream source.* The device or stream that supplies video, audio or data to the system: a camera on SDI or HDMI, a capture card, an NDI or SRT stream, a media file, or a data connection such as a scoreboard controller or spreadsheet. Each input source is normally named and assigned so that downstream stages can reference it. In Captivate, input sources are configured once and then referenced by graphics, shots and data bindings by name.

**Interlaced** — *also: interlace, field-based video, 2:1 interlace, 1080i, i formats, fields.* A video format in which each frame is transmitted as two fields, one carrying the odd lines and one the even, drawn a half frame apart in time. Interlaced formats halve bandwidth compared with progressive at the same line count, but fine horizontal detail and crawling text can flicker if a graphic is not built with field order in mind.

**Live Video** — *also: live source, camera feed, input, video source, feed, live input.* An incoming real-time video signal - from a camera, capture card, switcher output, network source or capture device - as opposed to a recorded file. In a graphics system it can be shown full frame, placed in a window inside a design, or used as the background a graphic is composited over. In Captivate, live video sources such as NDI and capture inputs are added to the Project List as live video layers, with graphics playing over them.

**Live video source** — *also: live input, live feed, camera feed, real-time source, live source, NDI source, SDI input.* A video source arriving in real time from a camera, capture card, SDI or HDMI input, or a network stream such as NDI or SRT, as distinct from a video file played from disk. Live sources carry timing implications: they must be synchronised with the program feed and add latency if they are routed through additional processing. In Captivate, a live video source can be placed inside a title design as a moving picture element, or used as the background over which graphics are keyed.

**Output** — *also: out, feed, render output, fill and key output, program out, destination, channel output.* A rendered video signal or stream leaving the system on its way to a switcher, encoder, display wall or recorder. Graphics outputs usually carry both fill (the picture) and alpha (the transparency mask) so a downstream keyer can composite them cleanly over program video. In Captivate, a project’s rendered graphics are sent to one or more configured outputs — such as NDI, an SDI card or a connected switcher — with the alpha channel preserved for keying.

**Source** — *also: feed, input, origin, channel, provider, asset.* Any origin of content used by the production — a camera or live feed, a media file on disk, a remote contribution, or a data provider supplying values. In routing terms a source is what gets assigned to a destination; in graphics terms it is what a layer draws its content from. In Captivate, sources include the video inputs, media files and data connections that a project’s designs and shots reference.

**Video** — *also: picture, vision (UK), footage, moving image, program video, essence.* Moving-picture content or the signal that carries it into, through and out of a production system. The term covers both recorded clips used as assets and live feeds routed through the chain.

**video format** — *also: video standard, raster, resolution and frame rate, project format, timing, 1080i59.94, 1080p60.* The combination of frame size, frame rate and scanning method - interlaced or progressive - that defines a video signal, written in forms such as 1080i59.94, 1080p50 or 2160p29.97. Every device in a chain must agree on the format, or the signal will not lock. In Captivate, the project’s video format sets the resolution and frame rate at which graphics are rendered and sent to outputs, and should match the switcher or encoder downstream.

**video inputs** — *also: sources, input channels, feeds, incoming video, capture inputs, cameras.* The live video signals arriving at a system from cameras, players, computers and other devices, carried over connections such as SDI, HDMI, NDI or OMT. Each input is addressed as a named source that can be switched, keyed over or composited. In Captivate, connected inputs appear as selectable video sources that can be brought into the program output or used as the background beneath graphics.

**Video source** — *also: video input, video feed, camera source, picture source, clip source, fill source.* Any signal or file that supplies moving pictures to the system, including cameras on SDI or HDMI, capture devices, network streams such as NDI or SRT, screen captures, and video files on disk. A video source may be used as the background being keyed over, or placed inside a graphic as a video window. In Captivate, a video source can be assigned to a layer in a title design so that live pictures appear inside the graphic, for example a camera thumbnail beside a name.

## Streaming, encoding, and delivery

**Bitrate** — *also: data rate, kbps/Mbps.* How much data per second a stream uses. Higher looks better but needs more bandwidth.

**Keyframe interval** — *also: GOP, keyframe, I-frame spacing.* How often a stream sends a full frame; streaming services usually want about 2 seconds.

**Codec** — *also: H.264, AVC, H.265, HEVC.* The compression format for video. H.264 is the safe default for playback and streaming; H.265 is smaller but needs newer hardware.

**Virtual camera** — *also: virtual webcam, NDI/virtual cam, software camera.* Making Captivate’s output appear as a webcam that Zoom, Teams, Meet, or a browser can select. See [Output graphics as a Virtual Webcam](/set-up-your-production/chapter-index-6/output-graphics-as-a-virtual-webcam.md).

**Simulcast** — *also: multistream, restream, multi-destination.* Sending one production to several streaming destinations at once. See [Stream to multiple destinations](/set-up-your-production/chapter-index-6/streaming-to-multiple-destinations.md).

**Destination** — *also: output, output target, program out, publish target, render target, feed.* An output target that finished graphics or video are sent to - an SDI or HDMI card, an NDI stream on the network, an RTMP or SRT delivery to a platform, or a recorded file. A production may run several destinations at once with different formats. In Captivate, destinations are configured per project and define where each program or fill-and-key output is sent, including video hardware, network streams and file recording.

**Stream** — *also: live stream, RTMP feed, webcast, encode, transport stream, simulcast.* A continuous flow of encoded video and audio delivered over a network to or from a destination such as YouTube, Twitch, a CDN or an internal decoder. Streams are defined by their protocol (RTMP, SRT, HLS, RTSP), bitrate, resolution and frame rate. In Captivate, graphics are normally keyed into the program upstream of the encoder, so the outgoing stream carries them burned into the picture.

## Audio

**Embedded audio** — audio carried inside the video signal; see **Signal, transport, and sync** above. Captivate embeds the Program mix in its SDI and NDI outputs.

**Audio follows video** — *also: AFV, audio-follows-video.* A source’s audio turns on only while its video is live. In Captivate, set **Audio Follows** on the source. See [Audio Mixer panel](/set-up-your-production/chapter-index-5/the-audio-mixer.md).

**Mix-minus** — *also: clean feed audio, N-1.* An audio feed to a remote guest that contains everything except their own voice, to avoid echo. A routing concept; set levels in the Audio Mixer.

**Loudness** — *also: LKFS, loudness normalization.* A perceptual measure of audio level that broadcasters normalize to, expressed in **LUFS** — loudness units relative to full scale, the unit rather than the property itself. The EBU R128 broadcast target is -23 LUFS. Captivate meters it in the Loudness Panel. See [Loudness Panel](/set-up-your-production/chapter-index-5/loudness-panel.md).

**Audio** — *also: sound, sound track, embedded audio, audio track, levels.* Sound content, or the signal carrying it, associated with media, inputs and outputs in the production chain. In broadcast it may travel embedded in a video signal, as discrete channels, or as a file attached to an asset. In Captivate, audio accompanies video and audio media placed in a design and is carried through with the graphic when it plays.

**Integrated loudness** — *also: program loudness, LUFS, LKFS, ITU-R BS.1770, EBU R128, average loudness, I value.* The perceived loudness of an entire programme averaged over its full duration and expressed in LUFS (or LKFS in North America), measured with a gated algorithm defined by ITU-R BS.1770. Delivery specifications set a target, commonly -23 LUFS under EBU R128 or -24 LKFS under ATSC A/85, with a permitted tolerance.

## Sports data and scoreboards

**Scoreboard controller** — *also: scoreboard console, All Sport, game console, timing console.* The device courtside that operators use to run the venue scoreboard. Its live output is what a graphics tool reads to show the score. See [Connect a hardware scoreboard via serial port](/play-and-update-graphics/chapter-index-3/connect-a-hardware-scoreboard.md).

**Real-time data** — *also: RTD, live scoring feed, scoreboard feed, game data.* Live score, clock, and period information pushed from a scoreboard controller. In Captivate, a Data Controller reads it and binds it to your graphics. See [Data Controller catalog](/play-and-update-graphics/chapter-index-3.md).

**Stat feed** — *also: statistics feed, box score, live stats.* A running feed of game statistics (often from stat software such as StatCrew). See [Connect Stat Crew statistical data to a graphic](/play-and-update-graphics/chapter-index-3/connect-statcrew.md).

**Roster** — *also: lineup, team sheet, player list.* The list of players for a team, often supplied as a spreadsheet. In Captivate, load a roster into Tables and drive player graphics from it. See [Drive a graphic with Tables: Row](/play-and-update-graphics/chapter-index-1/drive-a-graphic-with-tables-row.md).

**Game clock / play clock / shot clock** — *also: period clock, timer.* The running clocks a scoreboard reports. In Captivate, bind them to a clock graphic through a scoreboard Data Controller.

**Scoreboard** — *also: score bug, scorebug, fascia, clock and score, game state graphic, scoreboard overlay.* An on-screen graphic that carries live game state - team names, scores, period or inning, game clock, shot clock, timeouts and possession - usually parked in a corner or along the top of frame for the duration of play. The term also refers to the venue scoreboard hardware and its controller, which is often the data source for the on-screen version. In Captivate, scoreboard graphics are driven by a Data Controller bound to a scoreboard controller or sports data feed, so scores and clock update on air without operator input.

## Project, design, and playout

**Assets** — *also: media assets, resources, elements, artwork, media pool, bin items, content library, source files.* The reusable media and design resources a production draws on: still images, logos, video clips, fonts, sounds, colour palettes and pre-built title templates. Managing assets well matters because a show file is only as portable as the files it references. In Captivate, images, video, fonts and sounds brought into a title design are referenced by the project, so an asset that goes missing or moves on disk will show as unavailable when the project is reopened.

**Broadcast** — *also: transmission, on air, live production, telecast, programme output.* The delivery of live program video, audio and graphics to an audience, whether over the air, by cable or satellite, or as an internet stream. Used more loosely, it also names the professional discipline and equipment class - broadcast quality, broadcast workflow - built around continuous, timed, unrecoverable live output.

**Captivate** — *also: NewBlue Captivate, Captivate Live, the graphics system, CG.* NewBlue Captivate is a live broadcast graphics application for building and playing out real-time titles, lower thirds, full-frame pages and scoreboards driven by live data. It serves the role a character generator or graphics engine plays in a traditional control room.

**Channel** — *also: output channel, playout channel, graphics channel, engine output, colour channel, component, audio channel.* Two distinct senses. In playout, a channel is an independent output path through which graphics or video are played, so one system can feed several destinations or several simultaneous graphics streams. In signal terms, a channel is a single component of a larger signal: the red, green, blue or alpha channel of an image, or one discrete track of audio. In Captivate, each channel is an independent show list with its own on-air state and primary Program Out routing; The number of channels depends on your Captivate license, with more available as add-ons.

**Conductor** — *also: control surface, playout panel, rundown, take panel, on-air control.* The live operating view of a graphics system, separate from the design environment, used during the show to cue, trigger and sequence graphics on air. Equivalent surfaces are called the playout or take panel in other character generators. In Captivate, a Conductor is a Designer tool that generates repeating elements — the Crawl, Roll and Leaderboard Conductors. Shots are fired from the Shot Launcher, not from a Conductor.

**Controllers** — *also: control panel, control surface, operator panel, playout panel, hotkey panel, take panel, run-down control.* The operator-facing panels used during a live show to trigger graphics, type or edit the text they display, and manage what is on air. A controller separates the show-time job from the design job, so the person at the desk sees only the buttons and fields they need rather than the full design environment. In Captivate the operator-facing surfaces are the Project List, the Shot Launcher, and the Live Values and Values Grid tabs; a **Data Controller** is a data connection, not an operator panel.

**Designer** — *also: title designer, template editor, layout editor, authoring environment, scene editor, Lyric (Chyron), Viz Artist (Vizrt).* The authoring environment in which graphics are built, as opposed to the playout side where they are triggered. A designer works in layers, placing text, images, video and shapes, setting animation in and out, and binding fields to data so the finished design can be reused with different content. In Captivate, the Designer is where a graphic’s design layers, text, media, animations and variable bindings are created before it is added to the Project List.

**Editor timeline** — *also: timeline, animation timeline, track editor, sequence, keyframe timeline.* The time-based workspace in which graphic elements, media and animation are arranged on tracks and edited against a common time ruler. Position along the timeline sets when something starts, how long it lasts and how its animated properties change over time. In Captivate, the Designer timeline is where the in, hold and out behaviour of a title’s layers is built and timed.

**Live** — *also: on air, on-air, real time, hot, transmission, going live.* Content or operation happening in real time as the show goes out, as opposed to prepared, offline or rehearsal material. Anything live is subject to immediate operator action and to data that can change without warning. In Captivate, work divides between building designs offline and running them live, where shots are triggered on air and bound data updates the graphics as it arrives.

**Media** — *also: assets, content, clips, stills, footage, bins, library.* The reusable asset content a production draws on — images, logos, video clips, audio files and fonts — as distinct from the live signals arriving on inputs. Media is stored as files and referenced by the designs that use it. In Captivate, media files are brought into the project and placed on image, video or audio layers within a design.

**NewBlue** — *also: NewBlue Inc., NewBlueFX, NewBlue FX.* The software vendor that develops Captivate, formerly sold as Titler Live, of live graphics products and a range of video effects plug-ins for editing systems.

**NewBlue Designer** — *also: Designer, title designer, graphics authoring tool, design mode, template builder.* The authoring environment in which NewBlue graphics are built: layers, text, images, video, effects and animation are assembled into a title that can then be played to air. It is the design-time counterpart to the live control surface used during a show. In Captivate, work moves between Designer, where a title is built and animated, and the playout side, where that title is filled with data and taken to air.

**NewBlue Titler design** — *also: title design, titler file, graphic design file, title project, design document.* A NewBlue design document holding everything that makes up a single graphic: its layers and artwork, text and media objects, animation, and the data bindings that fill its fields at run time. A design is authored once and then instanced in a production, where its editable fields are populated per use. In Captivate, title designs are created and edited in the Designer and added to the Project List, where the operator fills their fields and takes them on air.

**NewBlue Titler project** — *also: titler project, Captivate project, project file, show file, production file.* The saved production container used by NewBlue titling software, holding the shots, graphic designs, data connections, playlists and output settings for a show. Opening the project restores the whole on-air setup rather than a single graphic, which is the difference between a project and an individual design. In Captivate, the project is what you open at the start of a session; it holds the Project List items, the data sources and the output settings.

**NLE** — *also: non-linear editor, non-linear editing system, edit suite, post application, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Avid Media Composer.* A non-linear editing application, in which shots are assembled on a timeline and can be trimmed, reordered or replaced at any point without re-recording the material in sequence. NLE work is post-production: the result is a rendered file rather than a live output. Captivate is a live graphics system rather than an NLE, though NewBlue also publishes plug-in effects and titling tools that run inside common NLEs.

**Playhead** — *also: time cursor, current time indicator, CTI, scrubber, position marker.* The marker showing the current position in a timeline or clip. Dragging it - scrubbing - moves playback to that point, and in an animation editor it also sets the time at which property values are inspected or recorded.

**Playout** — *also: play to air, transmission, on-air playback, take to air, output, transmission play-out.* The act of playing graphics or media to air, covering the timing of the take, the in and out animations, how long the item holds, and the resulting on-air state. Playout is distinct from design: it is what happens at show time, under operator or automation control. In Captivate, playout is driven from the Project List row, the Shot Launcher, a hotkey or an external control surface, with each graphic running its in animation, its hold and its out animation on the channel it belongs to.

**Playout sequence** — *also: playlist, rundown, stack, take list, running order, sequence.* An ordered list of graphics playback steps that are executed in turn, so an operator can advance through a show with a single take command rather than selecting each item by hand. Sequences mirror the running order of the programme and can mix titles, fullscreens and clears. In Captivate, Project List order sets which graphic renders on top; to chain items, give a row a **Duration** and a **Next Layer** so playout advances automatically.

**Project** — *also: show file, production file, show, session, document, workspace.* The top-level document for a production, holding everything a show needs: the graphic designs, the ready-to-air items, the connections to live data, and the output configuration. Moving a project between machines moves the whole production setup with it. In Captivate, the project is what you open, save and hand off; it contains the designs you build, the shots you play out, the data sources they draw on, and the output settings that feed your switcher or stream.

**Send live** — *also: take, take to air, play to air, punch up, push to program, go live, cue.* The action of putting a prepared graphic onto the live output so that viewers see it, normally triggered by a single command that runs the graphic’s in-animation. The opposite action takes the graphic off air, running its out-animation. In Captivate, playing a graphic from the Project List sends it to the live output; taking it out removes it.

**Shot** — *also: page (Chyron/Vizrt), take item, template instance, item, rundown item, playlist entry, graphic instance.* A ready-to-air instance of a design, complete with the text, data bindings and timing it will use, treated as one unit the operator triggers during the show. Many shots can share a single design while carrying different content. In Captivate, shots are the things the operator plays; each is taken to air as a unit, by clicking it or by keyboard shortcut.

**Shot launcher** — *also: control surface, playout panel, trigger grid, take panel, hot buttons, rundown buttons, panel.* A grid of buttons used during a live show to take prepared shots on and off air. Each button is bound to a shot, so the operator works by pressing the graphic they want rather than navigating a design workspace. In Captivate, the shot launcher is the operator-facing page of buttons built from the shots in a project, and it can be driven by mouse, keyboard shortcuts or an external control surface.

**Shot Layout** — *also: layout, scene layout, composition, arrangement, screen layout.* The arrangement that determines where the graphics and video sources within a shot sit on screen and at what size - for example a full-screen source, a side-by-side two-box, or a video window inset behind a title. In Captivate, a Shot Layout stores which graphics and which switcher source play together and how the shot behaves; on-screen position and size come from the design itself, or from the project’s zone layout.

**Titler project** — *also: project, project file, show file, production file, rundown file.* The file that gathers everything needed for a production: the shots and designs, the data connections that feed them, the playlist order and the output settings. It is the show-level container, as opposed to a design, which is one graphic. In Captivate, the project is the working document for a show; designs, data sources and outputs are all configured within it.

**update while live** — *also: live update, on-air edit, edit on air, hot update, dynamic update, refresh on air.* Changing the content of a graphic that is currently on air - a name, a score, a stat - without animating it off and back on. It is what lets a scorebug stay up for a whole period while its numbers change. In Captivate, text and data-bound fields of an on-air title can be changed and pushed to the program render while the graphic stays visible.

## Data and automation

**Data** — *also: live data, data feed, data source, datasource, stats, telemetry, external data.* Live values pulled from feeds, files, spreadsheets, scoreboards or web services and bound to graphics so that on-air text and imagery update by themselves as the values change. Data-driven graphics remove the need to retype numbers during a show. In Captivate, a data source is connected to the project and its fields are bound to variables in a design, so the graphic reflects the current value whenever it is on air.

**Data Controller** — *also: data connector, data provider, data adapter, data link, data bridge, feed connector, data driver.* A component that connects to an external data source, reads its values and delivers them into graphics fields so the on-air text and images update automatically. The controller handles the specifics of the source, such as the file format, protocol or scoreboard vendor, and presents the result as named values a designer can bind to. In Captivate, a data controller links title fields to values arriving from a spreadsheet, scoring system, web feed or other external source, so those fields update on air without anyone retyping them.

**Data graph** — *also: node graph, data flow, node tree, data pipeline, data routing, patch graph.* A visual network of connected nodes that takes incoming live data, transforms or filters it, and routes the results to the fields of on-screen graphics. Nodes handle jobs such as selecting a record, formatting a value, doing arithmetic or switching between feeds, so the graphic itself stays a simple design. In Captivate there is no node graph: a **Data Graph** is a variable type set on **Properties > Special** that drives a layer’s size or fill from a numeric value, and live sources reach titles through Data Controllers bound to design variables.

**Data Graph Variable** — *also: graph variable, node variable, data flow variable, computed variable.* A value carried inside a data graph, produced or transformed by one node and passed to others, which can then be bound to a property of an on-air graphic. Because the value is computed rather than typed in, it updates whenever its upstream source changes. In Captivate, a data graph variable is set on **Properties > Special** and drives one layer’s geometry from a numeric value; text, images and visibility are driven by their own variable types.

**Data source** — *also: feed, live data feed, data provider, external data, source data, data input, data connection.* A live or external supply of information whose values are bound to on-screen graphics: a scoring or timing system, a spreadsheet, a database, an RSS or JSON web feed, a text file written by another application, or an API. The graphic holds the layout while the data source supplies the changing content. In Captivate, a data source is attached to a project and its named values are mapped onto title fields, so scores, names, times and statistics update on air as the source changes.

**Design variables** — *also: variables, fields, placeholders, data fields, merge fields, tags, parameters.* Named slots defined inside a graphic design whose values are supplied when the graphic is played rather than fixed at design time. Text, images, colours, numbers and visibility states can all be driven by them, which is what makes one design serve every name, score or headline in a show. In Captivate, variables defined in a design appear as fields the operator can type into at playout, or can be bound to a data source so they update automatically.

**External Data** — *also: data source, live data, data feed, data link, dynamic data, third-party data.* Information supplied to graphics from outside the project file - a spreadsheet, CSV, RSS or JSON feed, database, scoring system, timing system or web service - so that on-air text, numbers and images update automatically instead of being retyped. Standard practice for scores, statistics, election returns, weather and playlist metadata. In Captivate, an external data source is connected once and its fields are bound to properties of a title, so the graphic reflects the current values whenever it is on air.

**Graph Variable** — *also: data graph variable, node variable, shared variable, binding variable.* A named value defined inside a data graph that any node in that graph can read or write, used to pass state between processing steps and to feed graphic properties. Naming the value once means several graphics can reference the same number or string. Captivate has no separate "graph variable" — see **Data Graph Variable**.

**Update live** — *also: live update, auto-update, on-air editing, live edit, dynamic update, push to air.* A working mode in which changes to a graphic’s text, images or data values reach the on-air output as soon as they are made, without taking the graphic down and re-cueing it. It is what allows a score bug or ticker to change while it is visible. In Captivate, a shot that is on air reflects edits to its variable values immediately, so an operator can correct a name or a scoreboard connection can refresh a number without the graphic leaving the screen.

**variable translation** — *also: value mapping, lookup table, substitution, data mapping, translation table, alias.* A rule that converts the raw value arriving in a data variable into a different value for display - expanding a scoreboard code such as 'P1' into 'Period 1', turning a team abbreviation into a full name or a logo, or reformatting a clock or number. It keeps the graphic readable when the source feed speaks in codes. In Captivate, translation rules are authored in the Designer on the design variable — **Text Variable Translation** on the Variables tab, or **Variable Translation** on the Style tab.

**Variables** — *also: data fields, placeholders, merge fields, tags, parameters, dynamic text, data bindings.* Named data placeholders inside a design whose values are supplied at play time rather than being typed into the artwork. Binding text, images, colours or visibility to a variable lets one design serve many on-air instances — a single lower third template covering every guest name in the rundown. In Captivate, variables created in the Designer are exposed for entry or binding, so their values can be typed in, pulled from a data source such as a spreadsheet or scoreboard feed, or set by an automation command.

**Visibility variable** — *also: show/hide variable, visibility binding, conditional visibility, enable flag, boolean variable.* A variable whose value controls whether an element in a graphic is drawn or hidden, rather than what text it displays. It lets one design cover several cases - hiding the penalty clock when no penalty is active, or dropping a sponsor logo when no sponsor is assigned - instead of building separate designs. In Captivate, a layer’s visibility can be bound to a variable so incoming data or operator input turns that element on and off at playout.

**workbook** — *also: spreadsheet, Excel file, XLSX, Google Sheet, data sheet, CSV source.* A spreadsheet file used as a live data source for graphics, where rows and columns hold the names, scores, stats or rundown entries that populate templates. A workbook is the whole file; a worksheet or tab is one sheet inside it. In Captivate, a workbook is connected as a data source and its cells or columns become variables that can be bound to fields in a title, updating the graphic when the sheet changes.

## See also

* [Connecting Captivate to video switchers](/reference-knowledge/connect-to-video-switchers.md)
* [Connecting Captivate to streaming and meeting platforms](/reference-knowledge/connect-to-streaming-and-meeting-platforms.md)
* [Connecting Captivate to scoreboards and data sources](/reference-knowledge/connect-to-scoreboards-and-data.md)


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