A multimedia framework is a

software framework In computer programming, a software framework is an abstraction in which software, providing generic functionality, can be selectively changed by additional user-written code, thus providing application-specific software. It provides a standard ...

that handles media on a computer and through a network. A good multimedia framework offers an intuitive API and a modular architecture to easily add support for new audio, video and container formats and transmission protocols. It is meant to be used by applications such as

media players A media player could refer to: *Digital media player, home appliances that play digital media *Media player software, software that plays digital media *Portable media player, portable hardware that plays digital media *Windows Media Player Wi ...

and

audio Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of sound ...

or video editors, but can also be used to build videoconferencing applications, media converters and other multimedia tools. Data is processed among modules automatically, it is unnecessary for app to pass buffers between connected modules one by one. In contrast to function libraries, a multimedia framework provides a

run time environment In computer programming, a runtime system or runtime environment is a sub-system that exists both in the computer where a program is created, as well as in the computers where the program is intended to be run. The name comes from the compile t ...

for the media processing. Ideally such an environment provides execution contexts for the media processing blocks separated from the application using the framework. The separation supports the independent processing of multimedia data in a timely manner. These separate contexts can be implemented as

threads Thread may refer to: Objects * Thread (yarn), a kind of thin yarn used for sewing ** Thread (unit of measurement), a cotton yarn measure * Screw thread, a helical ridge on a cylindrical fastener Arts and entertainment * ''Thread'' (film), 2016 ...

* AVFoundation, Apple QuickTime multimedia framework replacement * DirectShow, a multimedia framework and API produced by Microsoft for software developers to perform various operations with media files or streams. * FFmpeg, a cross-platform multimedia framework to decode, encode, transcode, mux, demux, stream, filter and play media. * GStreamer, a cross-platform pipeline-based multimedia framework Multimedia software * Media Foundation, a COM-based multimedia framework pipeline and infrastructure platform provided by Microsoft for digital media in Windows Vista & Windows 7. *

Media Lovin' Toolkit Media Lovin' Toolkit (MLT) is an open source multimedia framework, designed and developed for television broadcasting. It provides a toolkit for broadcasters, video editors, media players, transcoders, web streamers and many more types of applic ...

, an open-source multimedia framework for television editing. *

Phonon In physics, a phonon is a collective excitation in a periodic, Elasticity (physics), elastic arrangement of atoms or molecules in condensed matter physics, condensed matter, specifically in solids and some liquids. A type of quasiparticle, a phon ...

, a cross-platform multimedia framework from the Qt toolkit *

QuickTime QuickTime is an extensible multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. Created in 1991, the latest Mac version, QuickTime X, is avai ...

, a multimedia framework provided by Apple for Mac OS and Windows * VLC Media Player, a media player and a multimedia framework by the VideoLAN project. {{multimedia-software-stub

See also