Thin films based on transition-metal carbides exhibitmany interesting physical and chemical properties making them attractive for a variety of applications. The most widely used method to produce metal carbide films with specific properties at reduced deposition temperatures is sputter deposition. A large number of papers in this field have been published during the last decades, showing that large variations in structure and properties can be obtained. This review will summarise the literature on sputter-deposited carbide films based on chemical aspects of the various elements in the films. By considering the chemical affinities (primarily towards carbon) and structural preferences of different elements, it is possible to understand trends in structure of binary transition-metal carbides and the ternary materials based on these carbides. These trends in chemical affinity and structure will also directly affect the growth process during sputter deposition. A fundamental chemical perspective of the transition-metal carbides and their alloying elements is essential to obtain control of the material structure (from the atomic level), and thereby its properties and performance. This review covers a wide range of materials: binary transition-metal carbides and their nanocomposites with amorphous carbon; the effect of alloying carbide-based materials with a third element (mainly elements from groups 3 through 14); as well as the amorphous binary and ternary materials from these elements deposited under specific conditions or at certain compositional ranges. Furthermore, the review will also emphasise important aspects regarding materials characterisation which may affect the interpretation of data such as beam-induced crystallisation and sputter-damage during surface analysis. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.