---
title: "Glossary"
description: "Look up Creator Terminal’s words and find the nearest terms in After Effects, Figma and Rive."
canonical: "https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/concepts/glossary/"
last_updated: 2026-10-27
---

# Glossary

Look up Creator Terminal’s words and find the nearest terms in After Effects, Figma and Rive.

These are comparisons of purpose. A name in another tool does not mean it behaves the same way.
Figma’s core design editor has no timeline or keyframe editor; animation tools and plugins add them.

| Creator Terminal | What it means | After Effects | Figma | Rive | Read more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stage | The picture you edit and watch | Composition panel | Canvas | Canvas | [Screen](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/home-and-screen.md#stage) |
| Artboard / composition | The document’s width, height, frame rate and time range | Composition | Frame | Artboard | [Rail](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/home-and-screen.md#rail) |
| Rail | Values and controls on the right, following what you select | Properties panel | Properties panel | Inspector | [Rail](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/home-and-screen.md#rail) |
| Score | Layers and animated properties over time | Timeline | Animation plugin timeline | Timeline | [Score](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/home-and-screen.md#score) |
| Left panel | Drawing tools and recent files | Tools panel | Toolbar | Toolbar | [Left panel](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/home-and-screen.md#left-panel) |
| Bottom line | Hints, results, errors and keyboard focus | Status and info areas | Context hints | Context hints | [Bottom line](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/home-and-screen.md#bottom-line) |
| Keys sheet | The searchable list of keyboard shortcuts, opened with `?` | Keyboard Shortcuts | Keyboard shortcuts | Shortcuts | [Keys](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/keys.md) |
| Palette | Search for a command, layer, frame or file with `:` | Command search through tools | Quick actions | Command search | [Palette](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/home-and-screen.md#the-command-palette) |
| Key | A stored property value at a frame; elsewhere, a keyboard button | Keyframe | Keyframe in animation tools | Keyframe | [First animation](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/getting-started.md#4-give-it-two-keys) |
| Playhead | The current time, shown as a line through the score | Current-time indicator | Playhead in animation tools | Playhead | [Score](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/home-and-screen.md#score) |
| Track | A score row for one animated property | Property timeline | Property track in animation tools | Property track | [Keys](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/keys.md) |
| Move | The change from one key to the next | Keyframe interval | Transition | Keyframe interval | [Ease box](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/home-and-screen.md#ease-box) |
| Span | A layer’s time range; a move also spans two keys | Layer duration | Animation duration | Animation range | [Score](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/home-and-screen.md#score) |
| Ease | How a value speeds up or slows down between keys | Temporal interpolation | Easing | Interpolation | [Ease box](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/home-and-screen.md#ease-box) |
| Ease box | The small curve editor beside a selected key | Keyframe Velocity / easing controls | Easing picker | Interpolation controls | [Ease box](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/home-and-screen.md#ease-box) |
| Graph editor | Values and handles drawn over time in place of the score | Graph Editor | Curve editor in animation tools | Graph Editor | [Graph editor](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/home-and-screen.md#graph-editor) |
| Hold key | A value held until the next key, with no change between | Hold keyframe | Instant transition | Hold interpolation | [Keys](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/keys.md#after-effects-shortcuts) |
| Loop / work area | A stretch you repeat while editing | Work area | Repeating prototype animation | Loop range | [Keys](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/keys.md) |
| Layer | A shape, text, image, sound or other part of a document | Layer | Layer | Object | [Layers](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/layers.md) |
| Precomp / group | Layers nested inside a composition that you move as one | Precomposition | Group / component | Nested artboard / group | [Editing](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/editing.md) |
| Instance | Another use of a group that shares its contents | Reused precomposition | Component instance | Nested artboard instance | [Layers](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/layers.md) |
| Anchor | The point a layer turns and scales around | Anchor Point | Transform origin | Origin | [Editing](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/editing.md) |
| Parent | A layer whose transform another layer follows | Parent | Containing frame / group | Parent object | [Layers](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/layers.md) |
| Pick-whip | Drag a control onto the row it should follow | Pick whip | No direct equivalent | Link or constraint target | [Behaviours](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/behaviours.md) |
| Path / point / handle | A vector outline, one of its points, and the controls that bend its curves | Path / vertex / tangent | Vector / point / Bézier handle | Path / vertex / handle | [Editing](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/editing.md) |
| Fill / stroke | Colour inside a shape / along its outline | Fill / Stroke | Fill / Stroke | Fill / Stroke | [Layers](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/layers.md) |
| Mask | A path that hides part of its layer | Mask | Mask | Clipping path | [Layers](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/layers.md) |
| Matte | Another layer that controls where a layer shows | Track matte | Mask layer | Clipping object | [Layers](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/layers.md) |
| Blend | How a layer’s colours mix with those beneath | Blending mode | Blend mode | Blend mode | [Layers](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/layers.md) |
| Skeleton | Every shape drawn as a thin line for inspection | Wireframe-style view | Outline view | Outline view | [Editing](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/editing.md) |
| Onion skin | Outlines of frames before and after the current one | Onion-skin preview tools | No core equivalent | Onion skin | [Editing](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/editing.md#onion-skin) |
| Motion path | A layer’s positions drawn as a path on the stage | Motion path | Motion path in animation tools | Motion path | [Editing](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/editing.md) |
| Motion sketch | A drag recorded as position keys while time plays | Motion Sketch | Recorded motion in plugins | No direct equivalent | [Editing](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/editing.md) |
| Behaviour | Motion or a link applied over a property’s keys | Expression / animation control | Prototype interaction / plugin control | Constraint / animation logic | [Behaviours](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/behaviours.md) |
| Repeat / field / stagger | Linked copies, influence over those copies, and delays between them | Repeater / expression controls / offset | Repeated instances / plugin controls | Duplicated objects / animation offsets | [Repeats](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/repeats.md) |
| Emitter / particle / burst | A source, the things it throws, and a group thrown at once | Particle emitter / particle / burst | Particle plugin terms | Procedural particle setup | [Particles](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/particles.md) |
| Token | A named value an app can set while the animation plays | Expression control / exposed property | Variable | Data binding / view model property | [Layers](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/layers.md#tokens-and-themes) |
| Document theme | A named set of token values | Set of exposed values | Variable mode | View model values | [Layers](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/layers.md#tokens-and-themes) |
| Interface theme | The editor’s colours, separate from the document | UI appearance | UI theme | UI theme | [Themes](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/home-and-screen.md#interface-themes) |
| State / transition / input | A playback mode, a rule for changing mode, and a value the app supplies | Interactive runtime logic | Prototype state / interaction / variable | State / transition / input | [States](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/states.md) |
| Marker | A named stretch of the score, also used by states | Composition marker / duration | Named prototype segment | Animation / timeline range | [States](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/states.md) |
| Template | An animation remade from data and words | Template composition | Template design | Reusable animation setup | [Templates](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/templates-and-styles.md#templates) |
| Style / MOTION.md | A film’s visual and motion rules, kept in a text file | Motion design system | Design system | Motion design system | [Styles](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/templates-and-styles.md#styles) |
| Copilot / agent / take | An assistant in your document, an assistant building an idea, and one result | Assistant tools | Assistant tools | Assistant tools | [Copilot](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/copilot.md), [Agents](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/agents.md) |
| Zen / preview / try | A reduced editor, playback alone, and an interactive player | Focused workspace / preview / runtime | Focus mode / present / prototype | Focused workspace / playback / state machine preview | [Screen](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/home-and-screen.md), [States](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/states.md) |
| Lottie / dotLottie | Animation data in JSON / a `.lottie` package with animation and related assets | Export formats through tools | Export formats through plugins | Interchange formats; distinct from `.riv` | [Export](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/export.md) |
| Save / export / sync | Keep edits in your file / write a delivery file / send supported edits to Creator | Save project / render / collaboration | Save / export / collaboration | Save / export / collaboration | [Export](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/export.md), [Creator sync](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/creator-sync.md) |
| Channel / dimension | One part of a property, such as Position x or y | Property component | Axis / colour channel | Property component | [Graph editor](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/home-and-screen.md#graph-editor) |
| Null | An invisible layer used to move or parent other layers | Null object | Invisible containing group | Empty parent object | [Layers](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/layers.md) |
| Rig / control | Values that drive other parts of a drawing or motion | Rig / expression control | Component property / variable | Rig / data binding | [Behaviours](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/behaviours.md) |
| Trim paths / draw on | Show a changing stretch of a stroked path | Trim Paths | Stroke animation in plugins | Trim Path | [Layers](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/layers.md) |
| Shutter / phase / samples | The blur’s exposure angle, its timing offset and maximum samples | Shutter Angle / Shutter Phase / samples | Motion blur in plugins | Renderer-specific blur controls | [Layers](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/layers.md#motion-blur) |
| Gradient stop | One colour and its place along a gradient | Colour stop | Gradient stop | Gradient stop | [Layers](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/layers.md) |
| Data row | One set of token values from a table | Data-driven input row | Variable values from data tools | Bound data values | [Layers](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/layers.md) |
| Material / Ink / Soft | Looks applied to a shape or its edges, drawn on the stage and in picture or video output | Shader / effect | Fill or effect plugin | Renderer effect | [Layers](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/layers.md) |