A
multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradi ...
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
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...
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
A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping.
Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...
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, softwa ...
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 soun ...
or
video editor
A video editor is involved in video production and the post-production of film making. The video editor's responsibilities involve decisions about the selection and combining of shots into sequences, as well as the addition of accompanying s ...
s, but can also be used to build
videoconferencing
Videotelephony, also known as videoconferencing and video teleconferencing, is the two-way or multipoint reception and transmission of audio and video signals by people in different locations for real time communication.McGraw-Hill Concise Encyc ...
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 ...
.
See also
*
AVFoundation, Apple QuickTime multimedia framework replacement
*
DirectShow
DirectShow (sometimes abbreviated as DS or DShow), codename Quartz, is a multimedia framework and API produced by Microsoft for software developers to perform various operations with media files or streams. It is the replacement for Microsoft's e ...
, a multimedia framework and API produced by Microsoft for software developers to perform various operations with media files or streams.
*
FFmpeg
FFmpeg is a free and open-source software project consisting of a suite of libraries and programs for handling video, audio, and other multimedia files and streams. At its core is the command-line ffmpeg tool itself, designed for processing of ...
, a cross-platform multimedia framework to decode, encode, transcode, mux, demux, stream, filter and play media.
*
GStreamer
GStreamer is a pipeline-based multimedia framework that links together a wide variety of media processing systems to complete complex workflows. For instance, GStreamer can be used to build a system that reads files in one format, processes the ...
, a cross-platform pipeline-based multimedia framework
Multimedia software
*
Media Foundation
Media Foundation (MF) is a COM-based multimedia framework pipeline and infrastructure platform for digital media in Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and Windows 11. It is the intended replacement for Microsoft Direc ...
, a COM-based multimedia framework pipeline and infrastructure platform provided by Microsoft for digital media in Windows Vista & Windows 7.
*
Media Lovin' Toolkit, an open-source multimedia framework for television editing.
*
Phonon
In physics, a phonon is a collective excitation in a periodic, elastic arrangement of atoms or molecules in condensed matter, specifically in solids and some liquids. A type of quasiparticle, a phonon is an excited state in the quantum mechanical ...
, 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 a ...
, a multimedia framework provided by Apple for
Mac OS
Two major famlies of Mac operating systems were developed by Apple Inc.
In 1984, Apple debuted the operating system that is now known as the "Classic" Mac OS with its release of the original Macintosh System Software. The system, rebranded " ...
and
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...
*
VLC Media Player
VLC media player (previously the VideoLAN Client and commonly known as simply VLC) is a free and open-source, portable, cross-platform media player software and streaming media server developed by the VideoLAN project. VLC is available for d ...
, a media player and a multimedia framework by the
VideoLAN
VideoLAN is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit organization which software development, develops software for playing video and other media formats. It originally developed two computer program, programs for media streaming media, streaming, ...
project.
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