Glossary

Every term you meet in a software video project, defined.

The words that get used loosely in briefs and quotes, pinned down: what a demo is and is not, where a tutorial ends and onboarding begins, what actually arrives when a project is delivered. Twenty-eight terms, in plain language, with the distinctions people get wrong marked as such.

Video types

What the finished video is, and who it is aimed at.

Product demo video: A product demo video is a short, scripted video that shows a software product doing the job it was built for, aimed at someone deciding whether to buy it. It follows a realistic use case rather than a feature list, and usually runs under three minutes. A demo persuades; a tutorial teaches someone who has already bought.; The service Product demo video; See alsoSoftware tutorial video Explainer video Walkthrough
Software tutorial video: A software tutorial video teaches a user how to complete one specific task inside a product, step by step, in the real interface. It assumes the viewer already has an account and a reason to be there. A tutorial is measured by whether the task gets finished, not by how appealing the product looks.; The service Software tutorial video; See alsoOnboarding video Video documentation Walkthrough
Explainer video: An explainer video explains a problem and the idea behind a solution, usually built from motion graphics rather than screen recording. It works before the viewer understands what the product is. The common confusion: an explainer sells the concept and often never shows the interface, while a product demo shows the actual software in use.; The service Explainer video; See alsoProduct demo video Motion graphics Animation
Onboarding video: An onboarding video helps a new user reach their first real result inside a product, covering setup, first configuration, and the first successful action. It is sequenced by the user's first week rather than by feature. Where a tutorial answers one question at any time, onboarding is ordered and meant to be watched early.; The service Onboarding video; See alsoSoftware tutorial video Video documentation
Video documentation: Video documentation is a maintained library of short videos covering a product the way written documentation does — organised by feature and task, versioned, and updated when the interface changes. It is a system, not a campaign. The distinguishing trait is maintenance: documentation that is never re-cut after a redesign stops being documentation.; The service Video documentation; See alsoSoftware tutorial video Re-cut Feature release video
Feature release video: A feature release video announces a new capability and shows it working, usually published on launch day alongside the release notes and changelog. It is short, single-purpose, and often recorded in a staging or feature-flagged environment before the code ships. Unlike a demo, it addresses existing users who already know the product.; The service Feature release video; See alsoProduct demo video Video documentation Staged data
Walkthrough: A walkthrough is a continuous run through a product or a flow from start to finish, in the order a user would actually do it, without cutting away to explanation. It is a format, not a genre: demos, tutorials, and onboarding videos can all be built as walkthroughs. The defining trait is the unbroken path.; See alsoProduct demo video Software tutorial video Screencast

Production craft

The parts a video is assembled from.

Script: A script is the written plan for a video: the narration and, for software video, the exact click path recorded beside it. It is approved before anything is captured, because re-recording a screen costs more than rewriting a line. A script is not a transcript — the script exists first, the transcript is produced from the finished video.; See alsoStoryboard Transcript Revision round
Storyboard: A storyboard is a shot-by-shot outline of what appears on screen, matched to the script. In software video it is usually a list of screens, states, and graphic moments rather than drawings, since the visuals are real captured interface. Its job is to settle disagreements about what gets shown before the expensive capture and editing work starts.; See alsoScript Screen recording Callout
Screen recording: Screen recording is the capture of a live software interface as video, including cursor movement, typing, transitions, and loading states. It is the raw source material for software video, not the finished product. The recording is performed to a script, and b-roll — spare footage kept for covering cuts — is captured in the same session.; See alsoScreencast Staged data Callout
Screencast: A screencast is a video made primarily of screen recording with narration over it. The term describes a finished video, whereas screen recording describes the capture step that produces the footage. In practice a screencast is the informal, lightly edited version; a produced software video adds scripting, motion graphics, callouts, and a mixed audio track.; See alsoScreen recording Voiceover Walkthrough
Staged data: Staged data is realistic but fictional content — accounts, records, names, numbers — created inside a sandbox or demo tenant so a product can be recorded without exposing real customer data. It is set up before capture, because a video showing an empty dashboard teaches nothing and a video showing real customers cannot be published.; See alsoScreen recording Feature release video
Callout: A callout is a graphic added in the edit to direct attention to one part of the screen: a highlight, an arrow, a label, a dimmed background, or a zoom pass into the relevant control. Callouts are what separate a produced software video from a raw recording, and they are added after capture, not during it.; See alsoMotion graphics Screen recording Storyboard
Motion graphics: Motion graphics are animated design elements — text, shapes, charts, transitions, logo builds — layered over footage or placed between shots. The distinction people miss: motion graphics animate graphic design, while animation is the broader craft that also covers illustrated characters and scenes. Most software video uses motion graphics and no character animation at all.; See alsoAnimation Callout Explainer video
Animation: Animation is any imagery created frame by frame rather than captured, including illustrated characters, scenes, and 2D or 3D sequences. It is the wider category that contains motion graphics. In software video it is normally used only where the interface cannot show something: an abstract concept, a system diagram, or a process that happens invisibly.; See alsoMotion graphics Explainer video
Voiceover: Voiceover is the recorded narration heard over a video, with no speaker on screen. It is either human-recorded or synthetic, generated from the approved script. Human voiceover carries more performance; synthetic voiceover can be regenerated line by line, which matters when the same library will be re-cut every time the interface changes.; See alsoScript Localization Re-cut

Delivery & formats

What arrives, and in what shape.

Aspect ratio: Aspect ratio is the shape of the video frame, written as width to height. 16:9 is the landscape standard for websites, help centres, and YouTube; 9:16 is vertical for phone-first social placements; 1:1 is square for feeds. The ratio is decided before recording, because reframing a captured interface afterwards crops away part of the screen.; See alsoMaster file Deliverable Burned-in captions
Burned-in captions: Burned-in captions are subtitles rendered permanently into the video image, so they display everywhere with no player support required. They cannot be switched off, restyled, or translated after export. The trade-off against a separate caption file: burned-in captions guarantee the text is seen in autoplay-muted feeds, but each language needs its own exported video.; See alsoCaption file Transcript Localization
Caption file: A caption file is a separate text file — usually .srt or .vtt — holding the spoken words with timecodes, loaded by the player alongside the video. Viewers can toggle it and search engines can read it. Captions and subtitles are used interchangeably in practice, though captions traditionally include sound cues while subtitles carry dialogue only.; See alsoBurned-in captions Transcript Localization
Transcript: A transcript is the full text of what is said in a video, without timecodes and formatted to be read on its own. It is not a caption file: captions are timed fragments displayed over the video, while a transcript is a document. Publishing one beside a video makes the content readable, searchable, and quotable.; See alsoCaption file Script
Master file: A master file is the final exported video at full quality, from which every other version is made — compressed uploads, alternate aspect ratios, embedded copies. It is normally an MP4 at 1080p or 4K. 4K is worth the extra file size when the interface has small text, or when the footage may later be cropped or reframed.; See alsoAspect ratio Deliverable Usage rights
Localization: Localization is adapting a video for another language and market: translated script, translated on-screen text, and either subtitles or re-recorded voiceover. Subtitling keeps the original audio and adds translated text; dubbing replaces the narration in the new language. Subtitling costs less and is faster; dubbing works better for viewers watching while operating the software.; See alsoCaption file Burned-in captions Voiceover

Scope, rights & maintenance

The commercial vocabulary around the work.

Brief: A brief is the written statement of what a video has to accomplish, agreed before production starts: the audience, the task or claim it covers, where it will be published, the length, and the aspect ratios. It defines success. A vague brief is the most common reason a finished video gets rejected for reasons nobody can articulate.; See alsoDeliverable Script Revision round
Deliverable: A deliverable is one finished item handed over at the end of a project — a specific video in a specific aspect ratio, plus its caption file, transcript, and thumbnail. Scope is counted in deliverables, not in hours or in minutes of runtime. The same edit exported at 16:9 and at 9:16 is normally counted as two deliverables.; See alsoAspect ratio Master file Brief
Revision round: A revision round is one consolidated pass of feedback on a cut, collected from everyone at once and returned as a single list. Rounds are counted because each one restarts the edit. The first cut is the first complete version shown for review; feedback that changes what the video teaches is new work rather than a revision.; See alsoScript Brief Re-cut
Usage rights: Usage rights define where, for how long, and by whom a finished video may be used. Full ownership transfer means the buyer can edit, re-host, translate, and resell it with no licence period and no per-view fee. Owning the exported video is separate from receiving the source project files, which have to be requested explicitly.; See alsoMaster file White-label production Deliverable
Re-cut: A re-cut is replacing part of an existing video — a changed screen, a renamed button, an outdated step — instead of producing it again from scratch. It is only possible when the project files, footage, and script were kept and versioned. Re-cutting is what keeps a video library accurate as the software it documents changes.; See alsoVideo documentation Revision round Usage rights
White-label production: White-label production is video work produced by one studio and delivered under another company's brand, with no attribution to the producer. Agencies use it to offer video without staffing an in-house team. The producer stays outside the client relationship: no branding on the files, no contact with the end client, ownership passing through on delivery.; The service White-label production; See alsoUsage rights Deliverable

Know the words? Now scope the project.

Send the product and the tasks your users get stuck on. You get back a video list with a purpose, a target length, and a fixed price for each — not a discovery call.

Request a project plan See how production runs