What is B-roll?
By Yuvraj SinghFounder, LeaxorUpdated
B-roll is the footage a video cuts to while someone is talking. The main footage, called A-roll, carries the words: an interview, a presenter, a voiceover. B-roll shows what those words are about, covers the cuts in between, and keeps the picture moving. In a cooking video, the chef talking is A-roll. The close-up of the pan is B-roll.
Where the name comes from
The term is older than digital editing. When films were cut on 16 mm, editors split the shots of a sequence across two reels: odd-numbered shots on the A-roll and even-numbered shots on the B-roll, each one paired with black leader on the other reel. Printing both reels onto the same stock let one shot dissolve into the next without a visible splice.
News crews later used the same labels for the main footage and the supporting footage, and that meaning stuck. Wikipedia's B-roll article covers the history in more detail. Today “B-roll” just means any footage that isn't the main subject talking.
A-roll vs B-roll
The easiest way to tell them apart: mute the video, then close your eyes.
| Compared on | A-roll | B-roll |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The main subject: interview, presenter, narration | Supporting footage that illustrates it |
| Its job | Carries the story and the information | Shows it, hides cuts, sets the pace |
| Test | Still makes sense with your eyes closed | Still makes sense on mute |
| Typical length on screen | As long as the point takes | About 2–5 seconds a shot in short-form |
| Faceless channel | Usually the voiceover | Almost everything you see |
Six kinds of B-roll shot, with real examples
Each clip below is a real render from Leaxor, made from one prompt with no editing. The label under each is the shot type it demonstrates, the model that made it and what that exact render costs today. All six together cost 34 credits ($3.40).
Establishing shot
Opens a section and tells the viewer where they are before anyone speaks.
The prompt
Aerial vertical shot rising slowly up the face of a black volcanic ridge in Iceland as morning fog burns off below. A thin waterfall threads down the rock; moss glows acid green against the basalt. Cold blue-grey palette, a single shaft of low sun breaking through cloud. Drone move, steady and cinematic.
Location shot
Sets the room a story happens in. Slow camera, no people, plenty of space for a voiceover.
The prompt
Slow forward glide down the centre of a minimalist sunlit apartment: pale oak floors, a linen sofa, tall windows with sheer curtains breathing in a light breeze. Morning sun draws a moving rectangle across the floor. Symmetrical centred composition, wide lens, calm and unhurried, no people.
Detail insert
A close-up of the thing being talked about. The classic cover for a jump cut.
The prompt
Locked-off macro shot of a stainless dive watch resting on black velvet. Nothing moves but the light: a soft highlight travels slowly across the sunburst dial, igniting the applied indices and the sweep of the seconds hand one at a time. Pure black background, tight centred framing, jewellery-catalogue lighting.
Texture shot
Steam, liquid, fabric. Shots that make a viewer feel something about the subject.
The prompt
Extreme close-up, subject dead centre of frame. Chopsticks lift a tangle of ramen noodles from a dark broth, steam curling upward through a shaft of warm side light. Droplets fall back into the bowl in slow motion. Chashu and a halved soft egg sit just below. Tight centred composition, macro lens, rich shadows.
Process sequence
Several short cuts of something being made. Shows the steps instead of describing them.
The prompt
A morning espresso ritual in three shots: a barista's hands locking a portafilter into a chrome machine; a macro of dark crema threading into a warm white cup; the finished cup set down on a scarred oak counter beside a folded newspaper. Warm tungsten light, soft steam, shallow focus, unhurried.
Mood shot
Atmosphere for a history or documentary voiceover, with no specific claim attached.
The prompt
A dusty film archive lit by shafts of afternoon sun through high windows. Rows of steel canisters on wooden shelves; motes of dust turning in the light. A vintage 16mm camera sits on a workbench in the foreground, its lens catching a highlight. Slow deliberate dolly in toward the lens. Muted amber palette, fine grain.
How editors use B-roll
Knowing what B-roll is matters less than knowing where it goes in an edit. Four habits do most of the work:
- Cover the jump cuts. Trim the ums out of a talking-head take, then lay a B-roll shot over each cut. The viewer sees a continuous thought instead of a face that skips.
- Show the noun. When the voiceover names a thing, cut to it. “The grinder” on the audio and the grinder on screen land harder than either alone.
- Cut on a change. Change shots when the sentence changes or the action in the clip changes, not on a fixed timer. A cut in the middle of a camera move feels like a mistake.
- Leave room for captions. Vertical B-roll with an empty top or bottom third is easier to caption. Busy frames fight the words.
Where to get B-roll
Shoot it.Free, and it always matches your channel. The cost is time, and some shots you can't get: a ridge in Iceland at dawn, a product you haven't made yet.
Stock libraries.Free libraries such as Pexels and Pixabay have plenty of generic scenery and office footage. The catch is that everyone uses the same clips, and the exact shot you need often isn't there.
Generate it.Describe the shot and an AI video model renders it. This is where AI video works best, because B-roll rarely needs a real person or a real event. It costs money per clip, and you should never pass AI footage off as a real event. Leaxor's AI video maker does this on 23 models, from a sentence or from a photo.
What a set of AI B-roll costs
A typical short needs 10 to 20 B-roll shots. Here's what 20cost at each model's shortest, cheapest setting. Draft on a cheap model, then re-render the few shots that carry the video. Every model's price is on the affordable AI video generator page.
| Model | One clip | 20 clips | Shortest clip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini Omni Flash 1.1 | $0.10 | $2.00 · 20 credits | 3s · 360p |
| Hailuo 2.3 | $0.40 | $8.00 · 80 credits | 6s |
| Kling v3 | $0.30 | $6.00 · 60 credits | 3s |
| Veo 3.1 | $1.00 | $20.00 · 200 credits | 4s · 720p |
The cheapest is Gemini Omni Flash 1.1 or Seedance 1.0 Pro. Longer clips and higher resolutions cost more.
How to prompt AI B-roll
A B-roll prompt is a shot description, not a story. Name the shot type, the subject, one camera move and the light. Leave people talking out of it, since that's A-roll. The six prompts above all follow that shape.
Google's video generation prompt guide for Veo breaks a prompt into subject, action, style and camera, which is the same structure. Already have a photo of the subject? Start from it with the AI video generator from image, so the clip matches your real product or location.
B-roll FAQ
What does B-roll mean?
B-roll is secondary footage that plays over or between the main footage of a video. The main footage, called A-roll, is usually someone talking: an interview, a presenter or a voiceover. B-roll shows what they're talking about. The name comes from film editing, where shots were split across two reels labelled A and B.
What is the difference between A-roll and B-roll?
A-roll carries the story: the interview, the presenter, the narration. B-roll illustrates it: the product close-up, the street, the hands at work. If you muted a video and it still made sense, you were mostly watching B-roll. If you closed your eyes and it still made sense, the A-roll was doing the work.
What is B-roll in video editing used for?
Three jobs. It hides cuts, so a talking-head edit with jump cuts looks continuous. It shows what the speaker describes, so the viewer isn't asked to imagine it. And it sets pace: short B-roll cuts make a section feel faster without changing what's said.
How long should a B-roll clip be?
In short-form video, most B-roll shots stay on screen for about 2 to 5 seconds. Longer shots work for slow, scenic openings. It is safer to generate or shoot a bit longer than you need and trim it, because the start and end of a clip are where camera moves tend to drift.
Where can I get B-roll footage for free?
Shooting it yourself on a phone is free and always on-brand. Free stock libraries such as Pexels and Pixabay have large collections of generic B-roll. Leaxor isn't free: it generates B-roll from a prompt, with clips starting at a few cents, which is useful when stock doesn't have the exact shot.
Can AI generate B-roll?
Yes, and B-roll is where AI video is most usable today, because it rarely needs a specific real person or a real event. Leaxor runs 23 video models that can render establishing shots, details, textures and process sequences from a text prompt or a photo. Don't use AI B-roll to depict real news events or real people as if it were footage of them.
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