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Just bought your first mirrorless camera and want to start taking on video projects for cafes or social media content? Great! But when you open YouTube to learn from tutorials or chat with fellow videographers, do you get a headache from all the weird terms?

They're talking about B-Roll, Shoot in Log, and Frames Per Second (FPS). Don't worry, you don't need to open an Oxford dictionary. The Berkah Abadi Studio team has compiled a list of technical terms that beginner videographers or solo shooters need to know. Let's learn them so you can look professional when chatting with clients or on set!

1. B-Roll (Savior of Boring Videos) This term is often mentioned. When you're recording someone talking (like an interview or vlog), that's called A-Roll (main footage). B-Roll is the supporting footage or illustration. For example: A barista is saying, Our coffee is made from selected beans. (This is A-Roll). Then the camera cuts to a close-up of the coffee beans being ground or the coffee being poured (This is B-Roll). B-Roll is your best friend when the talent makes a mistake or you need to cover up a rough cut!

2. FPS (Frames Per Second) & Slow-Motion Video is basically hundreds of photos played quickly. FPS is the number of photos in one second.

1. 24fps: The standard for movie theaters. It makes hand movements look natural and slightly blurred (cinematic).
2. 60fps or 120fps: You need to use these when creating Slow-Motion scenes during editing (like someone running or coffee spilling). Don't force a 24fps video to be slow-motion, or it'll look robotic!

3. Aspect Ratio (Your Video's Canvas Size) When a client asks you to create a video, you need to ask: Where will it be uploaded? This is related to the Aspect Ratio (the ratio of the video's length and width).

1. 16:9 (Landscape/Horizontal): The standard size for TVs or YouTube videos. It's wider than it is tall.
2. 9:16 (Portrait/Vertical): The king of modern formats! This is the required size for TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. If a client asks for Reels, you need to shoot vertically (vertical shooting).

4. Shoot in Log / Flat Profile Have you seen the behind-the-scenes of video productions where the camera's monitor shows a pale, gray, and colorless image? That's because they're recording in Log Profile (each camera brand has a different name: S-Log for Sony, C-Log for Canon, V-Log for Lumix). Why is it pale? So the camera can capture more details in the brightest and darkest areas. The beautiful colors will be added later during Color Grading on a laptop. (If you're a total beginner, it's better to record in standard format first so editing won't be overwhelming!)

5. ND Filter (Sunglasses for Your Lens) This is a must-have if you often shoot outdoors or in bright sunlight. An ND (Neutral Density) Filter is like sunglasses for your lens. Its function? When you want to create a blurry (bokeh) background in broad daylight, the image will be overexposed (washed out). The ND filter reduces the sunlight entering the lens, so you can still get a beautiful bokeh without damaging your camera settings.

6. Overexposed & Underexposed This is about the brightness and darkness of your image (Exposure).

1. Overexposed: Your image is too bright. The sky that should be blue becomes plain white (details are lost/clipping). It's hard to fix during editing!
2. Underexposed: Your image is too dark. The person's face becomes invisible. If you try to brighten it on a laptop, the image will have many noisy dots (noise/grain).

Every expert was once a beginner. Don't be afraid to keep exploring your camera. Keep practicing taking beautiful B-Roll shots, and don't forget to memorize the terms above to make your freelance career smoother. Happy creating!