MAD·AMV Glossary

Terminology changes across regions, periods, and event rules. The working definitions below are designed for research and discovery; they do not present community usage as a single universal standard.

Terminology Policy

MAD Producer: The official name of the organization maintaining this project.
MAD DOC: The official name of this knowledge-base project and website.
MAD·AMV: The site-wide umbrella term for the related creative fields and materials. It does not imply that MAD and AMV are completely synonymous.
MAD and AMV: When discussing a particular work, creator, region, event, or historical source, the source’s own designation is preserved and recorded separately.
Official: Used only for a confirmed rights holder, platform, event organizer, or page operated by MAD Producer. Community compilations, personal accounts, and reposts are not labeled as official sources.
Rules: Platform, category, and contest rules are documented with their publisher, scope, and year. They are not generalized into a single industry-wide standard.

Works and Styles

Term	Meaning
MAD	A broad term from Japanese dōjin remix culture. It may use sound, anime, manga, games, and many other kinds of source material
AMV	Anime Music Video, an unofficial music video that creates expression through anime footage and music
Still-image M@D	A work built primarily from static materials such as manga, illustrations, and character art, animated through compositing
MMV	Manga Music Video, a music video made primarily from manga images
GMV	Usually Game Music Video; the expansion may differ between platforms
ASMV	Anime Story Music Video, generally emphasizing dialogue, music, and narrative arrangement
Animegraphy	An anime-footage compilation organized around a year, period, theme, or large body of works
Raw	Relies primarily on shot selection, editing, synchronization, and basic processing rather than conspicuous compositing
FX／VFX	Emphasizes visual effects and compositing; contests do not consistently distinguish the two labels
Mograph／MG	Motion Graphics, expression through the movement of graphics, text, shapes, and layout
IG／INS	A community label originating in the Instagram publishing ecosystem. It may include rhythmic short edits, motion design, FX, VFX, live action, or game footage and does not denote a single fixed technique
Style-focused	A Chinese community term for works that emphasize visual design, atmosphere, rhythm, motion, or an individual style. It can include long and short works and cannot be identified solely by the amount of effects used
Short edit	An editing format that develops synchronization, visual design, or an emotional passage within a short duration. It describes a publishing and production context, not low production value, and is not synonymous with all style-focused works
MAID	A community term proposed by Chinese MAD creators for works whose primary source material is AI-generated and is organized through MAD·AMV methods. It is not an internationally standardized category
Character Profile	A work focused on developing a character or group of characters
Cross-over	Brings characters, worlds, or events from different works together within one narrative
Non-anime	Uses live action, film, or other non-anime footage; eligibility depends on the community or contest
パロ／Parody	Imitates, parodies, or structurally remakes an opening, advertisement, music video, or another work
Alt-Opening	An unofficial alternative opening made for an anime

Techniques

Term	Meaning
Sync／Synchronization	Establishes a relationship between visual changes and a song’s beat, melody, lyrics, emotion, or structure
Beat Sync	Aligns cuts, actions, or effects with musical beats
Internal Sync	Uses motion already present within a shot to correspond with sound, rather than relying only on cut points
Over-sync	Creates a visible response to every small sound, which may produce a dense or deliberately exaggerated effect
Lip Sync	Re-edits or deforms mouth movements so that a character appears to sing or speak new material
Masking	Uses masks to separate regions, characters, foregrounds, or backgrounds
Rotoscoping／Keying	Tracks contours frame by frame to isolate or reassemble an object
Match Cut	Connects shots through similarities in action, shape, composition, direction, or color
Flow	The sense of continuity between shots, motion, composition, emotion, and musical sections
Time Remapping	Controls source speed with a curve
Frame Interpolation	Generates intermediate frames to change frame rate or smooth slow motion; incorrect estimation can produce warped artifacts
Camera Mapping	Separates a flat image into layers, then creates spatial depth and virtual camera movement
Typography	Dynamic visual design applied to lyrics, dialogue, or other text
SFX	Sound Effects that reinforce actions, environments, transitions, or impacts
TTS／Voice Cloning	A process that generates speech in a target timbre from text and voice references. Permission should be obtained before publicly using the identifiable voice of a natural person
Voice Conversion／VC	Converts existing speech or singing into another timbre while attempting to preserve the original performance’s timing, pitch, and expression
RVC	Retrieval-based Voice Conversion, a class of voice-conversion frameworks based on retrieved features. It is commonly used for voice and singing conversion and is not equivalent to TTS
Source Separation	Estimates dialogue, vocals, drums, bass, accompaniment, or other components from a mixed track. The result is not an official stem and generally contains residual sound and artifacts
Labeling of AI-generated synthetic content	Adds perceptible labels or embedded information to AI-generated or synthetic text, images, audio, or video. Specific obligations depend on the place of publication and platform rules

Collaboration and Contests

Term	Meaning
MEP	Multi-Editor Project, in which multiple editors create separate music segments that are assembled by a coordinator
Collab	A general term for a collaborative work. It need not divide a song evenly or follow an MEP workflow
IC	Iron Chef, a timed creation contest with assigned themes, source material, or both; some use a battle format
Major contest	Usually a comprehensive contest with a longer submission period, shortlisting or rankings, and multiple awards. It is not a legally defined tier with a universal threshold
Exhibition match	An event focused on celebration, exchange, or screening, generally without an official overall ranking or cash prize
Song pack	A set of songs supplied by an IC organizer when the contest begins. Songs may be grouped into categories such as Action, Dance, and Drama, with cross-category use restricted
Shortlisted	An entry has passed preliminary review or selection and proceeds to screening, final judging, or ranking. It does not mean the entry has already placed
Preliminary／final judging	Preliminary judging commonly checks compliance and selects finalists; final judging commonly determines rankings and awards. The exact weighting depends on that edition’s rules
Multiple submissions	Entering the same work in multiple contests simultaneously or in succession. Most contests restrict this practice, but scope and exceptions depend on the rules for that edition
Publish after delivery	The creator may publish an entry after the organizer confirms receipt, rather than waiting for an official compilation
Loop	Repeats an already edited passage. Contests generally prohibit using loops merely to reach the minimum main-program duration
Beta	A test version shared for feedback before formal release
Beta Tester	A person who comments on rhythm, narrative, technique, and readability in a test version
Coordinator	The person coordinating an MEP or collaborative project, including its rules, segment assignment, delivery, and assembly
Track	A music segment assigned to one creator or group within an MEP
Intro／Outro	Opening, closing, and credit segments of a work or collaborative project
Deadline	The closing time for submissions or delivery; contests generally specify a time zone
Premiere	The first public release or screening

Common Terms in Chinese Communities

Term	Meaning and notes
MADer	A community term for a MAD creator
Triple-editing	A simple re-edit of another creator’s completed transformative video; it commonly creates serious attribution and copyright risks
High-energy	A broad Chinese label for works centered on intensity, action, and a high-energy experience
Emotional climax	A community label for works that combine emotional buildup with the release of action or a climax
Editing sensibility	An overall impression created by rhythm, shot selection, direction of motion, and audiovisual continuity, rather than a single technical metric
Source utilization	Whether the choice of source material serves the theme; it does not mean that using more shots is inherently better
Homogenization	High repetition across works in song choice, source material, structure, effects, or templates
Beat matching	Changes a shot or effect on a beat; a basic form of synchronization
Misinterpretation	Reorders relationships and plot elements from the source so that viewers infer a different story. Its boundaries and name arise primarily from Chinese communities
Imitation	Recreates another work’s effects or workflow for study. Public releases should identify the reference and must not be presented as original work
Long-form MAD·AMV community	A mainland Chinese creative community centered on Bilibili uploads, teams, and contests, commonly structuring works around a full song or a longer passage. This is an observation about a community, not a work type
Style-focused short-edit community	A mainland Chinese creative community characterized by short edits, individual style, and circulation through short-video platforms or instant-messaging groups. It overlaps with the long-form community, but their social networks and evaluative contexts have clearly diverged

Potentially Misleading Terms

“Effects”: May refer to anything from a simple transition to complex compositing. Discussions should identify the actual method whenever possible.
“Original”: May mean original editing and expression or original source material; the two involve different rights.
“Copyright-free”: Usually inaccurate. More precise descriptions include public domain, a specific open license, permission granted, or royalty-free licensing.
“Official”: A rights holder, platform account, event organizer, and community administrator are different entities.
“Rules”: Contest rules govern only that event, and platform rules govern only that platform. Neither is a universal definition.

MAD·AMV Glossary ​

Terminology Policy ​

Works and Styles ​

Techniques ​

Collaboration and Contests ​

Common Terms in Chinese Communities ​

Potentially Misleading Terms ​

Further Reading ​