Spec sheet · per platform · format matrix · shortcuts

The part you actually check.

Every claim on this site traces to the shipping build. If a format is not on this page, MPT does not read it — and where a capability is experimental, opt-in or platform-specific, it says so.

Under the hood

Native C++20 on Qt RHI — the same colour and display code compiled for Direct3D 11, Metal and OpenGL. One codebase, one feature set, three GPU stacks; Windows and macOS are feature peers, and Linux is a full peer except HDR on glass.

OpenUSDOpenEXROpenColorIOOpenVDBOpenImageIOMaterialXAlembicOpenAPVEmbreeOpen Image DenoiseLibRawFFmpeg
Several are Academy Software Foundation projects. FFmpeg is LGPL, dynamically linked, on every platform — the build refuses a GPL or non-free FFmpeg.
Version 0.7.8 (beta) — every package is build-id stamped and expires 30 days after it was built
Language C++20 on Qt RHI — one colour and display implementation compiled for Direct3D 11, Metal and OpenGL / Vulkan
Same on all three The colour pipeline, scopes, OCIO / LUT / CDL, session files and audio carry zero platform guards — identical code on Windows, macOS and Linux
Colour Fully GPU, scene-linear working space, OCIO 2.5 with ACES 2.0 built in on every platform; the default stays pinned to ACES 1.3
Core deps Qt 6.9+ · FFmpeg (LGPL, dynamically linked) · OpenColorIO 2.5 · OpenEXR/Imath · OpenUSD 26.x + Hydra · OpenVDB 13 · OpenImageIO (not in the Linux AppImage) · LibRaw · Alembic · MaterialX · Embree · OIDN · OpenCV (DIS optical flow)
Vendor SDKs RED R3D, Blackmagic RAW and NVIDIA OptiX are runtime dependencies that ship with the driver or under their own terms — see the third-party notices
Startup About 612 ms. Every package is gated on a launch-and-open-media smoke test; macOS and Linux packages also pass hard licence gates that fail the build rather than warn
Per platform · what differs

Three packages. Two with HDR on glass.

The colour pipeline, scopes, OCIO, sessions and audio are identical code on all three. What differs is the GPU stack underneath — and this table is where it differs.

WindowsmacOSLinux
OS Windows 11 macOS 26 · Apple silicon glibc 2.35+ (Ubuntu 22.04 / 24.04, Arch) · OpenGL 4.5 · Wayland or X11
Package Installer .exe + portable .zip Drag-install .dmg (ad-hoc signed) Portable AppImage, x86_64
Graphics (Qt RHI) Direct3D 11 Metal OpenGL · Vulkan (owned window, opt-in)
HDR on glass Yes — owned scRGB FP16 swapchain Yes — CAMetalLayer EDR; HDR10 / HLG / Dolby Vision P8 verified Not yet — SDR presentation, correctly tone-mapped; HDR exports work
HW video decode D3D11VA, zero-copy VideoToolbox → Metal VAAPI or NVDEC; NVDEC → GL zero-copy opt-in
REDCODE CUDA / OpenCL, zero-copy Metal (REDMetal), bit-identical to CPU CUDA / OpenCL
Blackmagic RAW CUDA → D3D11 zero-copy SDK Metal pipeline, zero-copy CPU / CUDA
3D rasteriser Hydra Storm (HgiGL), off-thread, flip present Hydra Storm (HgiMetal) Hydra Storm (HgiGL)
GPU ray tracer hdRt on OptiX (NVIDIA RTX) hdRt on Metal RT — all Apple silicon; hardware RT on M3 and later hdRt on OptiX (NVIDIA RTX)
CPU ray tracer Embree + OIDN Embree + OIDN Embree + OIDN
H.264 export Media Foundation, 8-bit VideoToolbox, 8-bit NVENC, 8- or 10-bit
Crash / hang reports Minidump + readable report · hang watchdog Symbolised backtrace Symbolised backtrace · hang watchdog
hdRt needs an NVIDIA RTX GPU on Windows and Linux, or any Apple silicon Mac; AMD and Intel GPUs get Storm and Embree. The macOS package floor is macOS 26 on Apple silicon; it is ad-hoc signed, so Gatekeeper needs a right-click ▸ Open. Every 0.7.8 package is a 30-day beta build.
Everything MPT reads

The format matrix.

Camera raw & cinema
Debayered on the GPU — CUDA, OpenCL or Metal — delivered in ACES AP0.
.r3d (REDCODE).braw (Blackmagic RAW).nev (Nikon N-RAW)CinemaDNG.cr2 .cr3 .crw.nef .nrw.arw .srf .sr2.raf.rw2.orf.pef.srw.dng .rwl.3fr.iiq.erf.mrw.mos.dcr .kdc.x3f
Video
FFmpeg with no artificial allow-list; hardware decode on every platform.
.mov .mp4 .m4v.mkv .webm.mxf.m2ts .mts .ts .m2t.mpg .mpeg .m2v .vob.avi .wmv .flv .ogv.3gp .3g2.apv (OpenAPV).h264 .hevc .av1 .y4mH.264 · HEVCProRes 422 / 4444 + alphaAV1 · VP9DNxHD/HRMPEG-2/4HLS .m3u8 · http(s) URLs
Stills & sequences
Numbered runs auto-play as clips from a RAM cache; gaps are shown, never skipped.
.exr (multi-part, AOVs, Cryptomatte).dpx (SMPTE 268M).tif .tiff.hdr (Radiance).tga.png .jpg .bmp.ppm .pgm .pbm+ OpenImageIO fallback
3D scenes & geometry
One viewport: Hydra Storm, the Embree CPU tracer, and hdRt on the GPU.
.usd .usda .usdc .usdz.abc (Alembic).fbx .obj .dae .3ds .x3d .lwo .blend.gltf .glb .ply .stl.bgeo .bgeo.sc .geo (Houdini, no install).bvh (mocap).mtlx (MaterialX)
Volumes & splats
Look-dev panel; splats are experimental, and ray traced under both tracers.
.vdb (fog / pyro / level-set).vdb sequencesvolumes in .bgeo3DGS .ply.splatsplats in .bgeoUSD splat primanimated splat sequences
Subtitles, sessions & sidecars
State lives beside the media — atomic saves, portable sessions, .bak backups.
.srt .vttSubRip · ASS/SSA · mov_text · WebVTTPGS · DVD · DVB · VobSub.m3u .m3u8 .otio.mpts session.mpta annotations.mptdev develop.mptcolor colour.mptpeak measured peak.mptprefs preferences
Any still or HDR format auto-plays as a clip when numbered name.####.ext; missing frames are shown as gaps, never skipped. OpenImageIO catches stills the native readers don't claim — not in the Linux AppImage, where exotic DPX variants report the native reader's error. WebP is not supported.
A DPX test pattern opened natively in MPT at full bit depth.
DPX · SMPTE 268M · 8/10/12/16-bit, both byte orders, transfer fields read for automatic colour assignment
Tested on all three, every push

What the build proves before it ships.

Windows
  • Full app build + ctest, two legs
  • GPU golden suites on D3D11 — HDR, scopes, Post FX, scaler, OCIO video input, P3, export tap, motion blur
  • Ray-tracer seam test on OptiX
macOS
  • Full app build + ctest, two legs
  • GPU golden suites on Metal
  • Ray-tracer seam test on Metal RT
  • Splat relighting golden matrix — Storm, RT and Embree
Linux
  • Full app build + ctest, three legs including the only Debug leg
  • GPU golden suites on OpenGL
  • Ray-tracer seam test on OptiX

Self-hosted runners on each OS. Every shipped package is gated on a launch-and-open-media smoke test that requires a responding window — not merely a live process.

For the facility
Settings that behave

Eleven preference pages with search and per-row reset, each row badged with when it takes effect — live, next file, next scene, next export, restart. Every setting resolves env var → stored value → default, and an env-pinned row greys out and names the variable. .mptprefs export/import pushes one house default to many workstations; one Graphics setting pins every GPU consumer — viewer, raw debayer, 3D, compute, denoise.

For the pipeline
A real CLI, portable state

Open a path or URL from the command line, --on-top, --version with the build id, --list-settings for support tickets, headless export hooks. Sessions store paths relative to a session root, so a folder can be moved, zipped or shared and still resolve. File associations on Windows; document types on macOS at alternate rank, so MPT offers itself without hijacking anything.

For the long day
Built not to lose your work

Crash reports on every platform — a minidump plus readable report on Windows, a symbolised backtrace on macOS and Linux — and a GUI-thread hang watchdog on Windows and Linux that files its own freeze report. Every sidecar save is atomic with generational .bak backups, and a file written by a newer MPT is refused cleanly, naming both versions, instead of loading garbage.

Driven from the keyboard.

Every check is one keystroke away, and almost every action is remappable from a Customise Shortcuts dialog with conflict detection. The in-app F1 sheet is generated from the live keymap, so it can never drift. On macOS, Ctrl here is ⌘.

Space / K Play · pause
Shift+Space Reverse playback
I / O Loop in · out
Ctrl+drag Drag the nearer loop point on the ruler
L Scopes drawer
Shift+F False-colour validation
N Pixel inspector
[ / ] Cycle EXR layer / AOV
Alt+click Pick a Cryptomatte object
Ctrl+Shift+I Toggle IPP2 colour on a REDCODE clip
C A/B compare
Shift+A Annotate — pen, arrow, text
Ctrl+E Export a frame range
Ctrl+C Copy colour-managed frame
F Frame selection (3D)
F1 The full sheet, from the live keymap

Checked the matrix? Bring the file.