MLT Framework

MLT (Media Lovin' Toolkit) is an open-source multimedia framework designed for professional video editing and broadcasting applications. Created by Dan Dennedy and Charles Yates, MLT provides a producer-consumer-filter-transition architecture for building video editing tools, media players, and streaming solutions. The framework includes a composable multimedia processing pipeline with over 100 producers (video sources like files, generators, image sequences, and live capture), 80+ filters (color correction, audio normalization, blur, sharpen, motion tracking, chroma key, luma key, masking, compositing), and 50+ transitions (dissolve, wipe, push, slide, composite with alpha channel). MLT supports a wide range of codecs and containers via FFmpeg integration including H.264, H.265, ProRes, DNxHD, AV1, VP9, and raw video. The framework powers several notable applications: Shotcut (free open-source video editor by the same author), Kdenlive (KDE video editor), Flowblade (Linux video editor), and many commercial broadcasting solutions. MLT provides language bindings for C, C++, Python, Ruby, and Lua. Features include real-time preview with OpenGL hardware acceleration, multi-track timeline compositing, animated keyframes for filter parameters, time-remapping, and SDI output via Decklink and AJA cards. Licensed under LGPL v2.1, available on Linux, macOS, and Windows.