B

Backdrop : A picture that is automatically composited behind a 3D scene. The matte paintings used in traditional movie making are an example of backdrops.
Bezier Curve : (1) A spline curve that (in the usual case of a cubic Bézier curve) is represented by four control points defining a cubic polynomial.
(2) A curved line segment drawn using the Pen tool that can be reshaped by manipulating its anchor points or direction lines.

Bit Depth : The number of bits used to define the shade or color of each pixel in an image. A 1-bit image is black and white. An 8-bit grayscale image provides 256 shades of gray. An 8-bit color image provides 256 colors. A 24-bit image provides over 16 million colors: 8 bits are used for red, 8 are for blue, and 8 for green.
Bits per Pixel : The number of bits used to describe the color or intensity of a pixel. For example, using 8 bits for to store a value from the RGB color model would permit 3 bits to be used for both red and green values and 2 bits for the blue value. Blue gets a smaller range because the human eye contains less blue cones and is thus is less sensitive to blue variations.
Bitmap : Strictly a one-bit-per-pixel representation for a defined area of a display. In PhotoShop, Bitmap is also a one-channel mode consisting of only black and white pixels.
Blur : Reduces areas of high contrast to soften an image.
Boolean : An object created by combining two objects using mathematical operators. The two object may be subtracted from each other, merged, or intersected to form the new object.
Brightness : (1)The perceived intensity of a radiating object.
(2) The amount of light reflected by a surface.
(3) The intensity of a light source.
(4) The luminance of a color.
Bump Mapping : A technique used to increase the realism of a surface by changing how light reflects from that surface. Usually, the surface normal at a given point on a surface is used in the calculation of the brightness of the surface at that point. Part of what gives this techniques its appeal is that the original surface maintains its original (usually smooth) shape, and the bump-mapping distortion is specified by a compact function of shape. This is usually much simpler and more compact than specifying the surface texture by explicitly representing the textured surface.