# AcademySoftwareFoundation/OpenTimelineIO

Open Source API and interchange format for editorial timeline information.

Repository: https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/OpenTimelineIO
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/opentimelineio
Homepage: http://opentimeline.io
Language: C++
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: editorial, timeline, interchange-format, animation, vfx, cut, film, otio, editing, video-editing, film-editing, interchange, nle
Last push: 2026-08-07T21:08:35+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 83/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 96, release rhythm 56, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3662, "days_push": 26, "days_rel": 297, "gap_med": 2, "n_releases_24m": 2}
- flags: prerelease_only
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1965, forks 342 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:59.780957+00:00)

## What it is
OpenTimelineIO (OTIO) is an open-source API and interchange format for editorial timeline/cut information, with a C++ core library, in-memory data model, and official Python bindings. It represents clip order, timing, and references to external media, but is not a media container format.

## Use cases
- convert edit timelines between NLE applications like Premiere, Avid, and Resolve
- read and write editorial cut lists programmatically in Python
- integrate timeline data into VFX or animation pipelines
- manipulate clip timing and sequence structure in C++
- exchange cut information between game engines and editorial tools

## When to choose
- you need a stable, industry-adopted interchange format for editorial timeline data across film/TV tools
- you want Python or C++ APIs to inspect and transform cut/timing metadata
- you're building pipeline tooling that must move edit decisions between applications

## When to avoid
- you need to store or transcode actual media - OTIO only references media, it is not a container format
- you need a full video editing application rather than a timeline data library
- you need frame-accurate rendering of timelines on its own - OTIO delegates playback/rendering to other tools

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: serialization, sdk, parser
- domain: media, developer-tools, graphics
- platform: cpp, python, cross-platform
- tags: editorial-timeline, interchange-format, vfx, film-editing, nle, opentime, aswf, video

## Member repositories
- AcademySoftwareFoundation/OpenTimelineIO (main) score 83

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:59.780957+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:05:27.842944+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/OpenTimelineIO (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:59.780957+00:00, sha 8f5df0c9ef4b)
  - homepage: http://opentimeline.io (fetched 2026-08-29T10:45:04.339184+00:00, sha 3cacef7f9066)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.