MLT is an open-source multimedia framework designed and developed for television broadcasting. It provides the engine for authoring, managing, and running multitrack audio and video compositions, and can power applications beyond desktop video editors. Its toolkit serves broadcasters, video editors, media players, transcoding systems, web streamers, and other multimedia applications.

MLT offers ready-to-use tools, XML authoring components, and an extensible plug-in-based API. Its capabilities include processing and combining audio and video, applying filters and transitions, handling titles and subtitles, and supporting a range of media formats and workflows. The framework’s modules provide functions such as color conversion, image processing, audio mixing, hardware-accelerated scaling, and integration with OpenFX plugins. Developers can use MLT as a foundation for building multimedia software, while users can explore the framework through applications such as Shotcut, which the project recommends as an accessible way to try it. MLT publishes its source code and ongoing releases through GitHub, alongside documentation, downloads, support resources, and project information.