GDTF Hub

GDTF Hub - An Independent Resource for GDTF & MVR News, Tools, and Documentation.


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MTC2024: Effective use of GDTF and MVR becoming a reality

This is an archive video of 'Effective use of GDTF and MVR becoming a reality,' which was held on the second day of 'MTC2024'. Okayama Sadaji from Tokyo Stage Lighting Co., Ltd. as moderator, and the panelists, Tamada Kunio from Tama Tech Lab, Inc., Yokoyama Masahiro from Vectorworks Japan Inc., Koshigoe Reiji from Tokyo Stage Lighting Co., Ltd., and Suzuki Masato from Technical Supply Japan Co., Ltd., speak about GDTF and MVR - entertainment equipment formats, efficient work in 3D data formats, and the role of data sharing.

Posted June 9, 2025  ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, MA Lighting, Vectorworks

GDTF Share Report for May 2025

GDTF Share report for the month of May 2025

Posted June 1, 2025  ‐ 1 min read  ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share

Unlock the full potential of MVR With A.J. Pen on the Sublime’s 2024 summer tour

Join A.J. Pen, CEO and designer at Penlight, and witness a real-world application of the designer’s use of MVR files for Sublime’s 2024 summer tour — from collaborating on festival stages to exporting to MA3 using MVR.

Posted May 30, 2025  ‐ 1 min read  ‐ Categories: Vectorworks, MVR, MA Lighting

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GDTF & MVR

GDTF: The General Device Type Format is an open standard for describing devices of the entertainment industry. These devices may be lighting fixtures, trusses, distribution boxes, media servers, lasers or other devices used in the entertainment industry. This documentation describes DIN SPEC 15800:2022-02 also known as GDTF Version 1.2.

MVR: The My Virtual Rig file format is an open standard which allows programs to share data and geometry of a scene for the entertainment industry. A scene is a set of parametric objects such as fixtures, trusses, video screens, and other objects that are used in the entertainment industry. This documentation describes DIN SPEC 15801:2023-12 also known as MVR Version 1.6.



Describing devices of the entertainment industry

DMX Modes

Fixtures can have many modes which change its available capabilities. These are all specified in a single file.

Channel Mappings

Channel mappings available in the fixture are associated with which values produce which responses.

Color & Gobo wheels

Bundled image files provide gobo patterns and color mappings define virtual or physical color wheels.

Fixture Geometry

Bundeled glTF, glb or 3DS files specify the specific geometry of lighting fixtures. Fixture functions are tied to these models.

Color Information

sRGB, ANSI standard, and ProPhoto values can be used to specify the calibrated color space of the light.

Physical properties

Power consumption, weight, operating temperature, and more specify the physical properties of a fixture.


Describing the entertainment scene

Scene description

Scenes are organized into groups, layers and child lists of objects with custom classing, positions, rotations, geometries, addresses and connections.

GDTF Fixture

Using the GDTF Specification, detailed description of lighting fixtures, trusses, distribution boxes, lasers and other devices is possible.

Symbol reuse

Objects can be defined as symbols and inserted into the scene multiple times with instance specific properties.

MVR xchange

MVR-xchange - allows multiple clients within the same network to share MVR files.