GDTF
General Device Type Format - GDTF - is meant to provide a single file format to describe devices for the entertainment industry.
Creating a GDTF Lighting Fixture - new YouTube training videos
GDTF & MVR YouTube channel published new training video series about the Creating a GDTF Lighting Fixture.
Posted May 5, 2024 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF
More efficent workflow for grandMA3, Vectorworks and Depence on the AFC Asian Cup Opening Ceremony
Light Sound Journal reports on the opening ceremony of the AFC Asian Cup at the Lusail Stadium in Doha, Qatar in the Full grandMA3 offensive at AFC Asian Cup Opening Ceremony article and mentions how the entire workflow between various pieces of software was being made more efficient by utilizing GDTF and MVR.
Posted May 3, 2024 ‐ Categories: MA Lighting, Vectorworks, MVR, GDTF
GDTF Share Report for April 2024
GDTF Share report for the month of April 2024
Posted May 1, 2024 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
Kaizen GDTF!
Kaizen (Japanese: 改善, 'improvement'). After successful PL&S, and a manufacturers meeting on the GDTF booth, the GDTF group has been continously adding improvements to the GDTF Spec, to keep enhancing the DIN recognized open standards for describing devices of the entertainment industry.
GDTF Builder Maintenance Update April 2024
Updates to the GDTF Builder to improve saving and editing
Posted April 23, 2024 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Builder
GDTF Color import in Eos PSA by Mark LaPierre
Mark Lapierre is being hopeful for one day to be able to import GDTF color configuration data into Eos, but for now, he concludes, here is just a PSA that at the moment this is not implemented by ETC.
Posted April 17, 2024 ‐ Categories: GDTF
GDTF in NEO v4 by Wilson Torres
Wilson Torres has published a video tutorial explaining GDTF and MVR, where he also goes through a complete process of how to work with GDTF files in NEO v4 consoles by Vari-Lite.
Astera Releases GDTF Collection For Their Lighting Devices
Astera has joined the group of nearly 50 manufacturers actively supporting the General Device Type Format (GDTF) and has released official manufacturer-backed GDTF files for its lighting devices. These files are now available on their GDTF Manufacturer page.
Posted April 6, 2024 ‐ Categories: GDTF
GDTF Share Report for March 2024
GDTF Share report for the month of March 2024
Posted April 1, 2024 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
Breaking news: Florida man claims he's created a groundbreaking GDTF
Florida man claims he's created a groundbreaking GDTF file for teleportation devices, but it just leads to an alligator farm. Happy April Fools' Day!
GDTF Unifying the Industry at Prolight and Sound
The GDTF booth at PL&S has been enjoying a great attendance of professionals from various corners of the industry. 🤘
Avolites Titan V17 Adds GDTF Import into Avo Personality Builder
Avolites Titan software release version 17 adds new possibility to import GDTF files and convert them to Avolites Titan d4 personalities. You can see the complete Release notes here.
Posted March 21, 2024 ‐ Categories: GDTF, Robe Lighting
GDTF/MVR Improvements in grandMA3 Version 2.0.0.4
This release of grandMA3 software presents lots of new functionalities and workflow additions for many different applications, and it includes improvements also on GDTF/MVR side of things.
Posted March 16, 2024 ‐ 2 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, MA Lighting
Vectorworks 2024 Update 4 GDTF 2D Symbols Improvements
The newly released fourth update of the Vectorworks 2024, Spotlight adds the ability to import 2D symbols from GDTF files, further improving the GDTF workflow.
Posted March 14, 2024 ‐ Categories: GDTF, Vectorworks
ETC EOS Update v3.2.6 with GDTF Improvements
ETC EOS Update v3.2.6 comes out with improved GDTF import support and with faster initial GDTF processing on fixtures with more than 25 cells.
Posted March 6, 2024 ‐ Categories: GDTF
Martin Companion with GDTF integration released
The Martin Companion 2.0.0 management and firmware upload tool for Martin fixtures seamlessly integrates support for GDTF, allowing to explore and utilize Martin GDTF files.
Posted March 5, 2024 ‐ Categories: GDTF
GDTF Share Report for February 2024
GDTF Share report for the month of February 2024
Posted March 1, 2024 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
More Then 3000 Unique Devices Available in the GDTF Share
We have informed you in November about the total number of GDTF files in the GDTF Share surpassing 3000. Today, we are happy to share that another milestone has been reached and the GDTF Share now contains more then 3000 unique devices. For anyone interested, we keep publishing information about past seven days updates to the GDTF Share in our New section. With every uploaded device file, there are more happy customers being able to control their devices and more involved manufacturers, who have the updating and publishing process in their hands. Go GDTF! #gogdtf
Posted February 26, 2024 ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
GDTF Builder Maintenance Update February 2024
An update to the GDTF Builder to improve editing experience
Posted February 8, 2024 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Builder
GDTF Group Releases GDTF and MVR libMVRgdtf Library 9.0.6 to the Public
GDTF group has made a public release of the libMVRgdtf library - a software code which allows software authors and companies to implement and utilize GDTF and MVR in their products in a convenient way. libMVRgdtf has previously been available on request but now it has been released to the general public, allowing wider adoption of the GDTF and MVR DIN recognised formats. The MVR-xchange communication protocol is also included in the library. The library has been battle tested and used in other projects and is released with a liberal software licence, allowing usage in commercial, closed source projects. GDTF.eu is publishing documentation for the libMVRgdtf in a searchable, user friendly way here.
Moment Factory releases v1.0 of Omniverse-MVR-GDTF-converter with native OpenUSD FileFormat plugin
Moment Factory (a multimedia studio) has released a version 1.0 of their open-source Omniverse MVR-GDTF plugin. To ensure seamless conversion of MVR and GDTF to OpenUSD, native OpenUSD FileFormat plugin API has been used, allowing non-destructive data availability in any OpenUSD compatible software, including Unreal Engine and Blender.
Custom file browser icon for GDTF files
Configure your desktop to show custom icon for each GDTF file, featuring a thumbnail image of each device in this icon.
Posted February 4, 2024 ‐ 5 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, Robe Lighting
GDTF Share Report for January 2024
GDTF Share report for the month of January 2024
Posted February 1, 2024 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
GDTF Share Report for the Year of 2023
GDTF Share total and yearly report for the year of 2023 with interactive chart.
Posted January 28, 2024 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
GDTF Builder Release January 2024
New update of the GDTF Builder has been released, enhancing yet another part of the GDTF-MVR workflow.
Posted January 20, 2024 ‐ 4 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Builder
Exploring the GDTF Share Public API With Bruno
The GDTF Share has had a Public API available for a while, this Bruno GDTF Share API Collection allows observing the API requests and responses (useful for development), see more details here. If you use Postman, you can import very limited export of this collection from here.
Posted January 14, 2024 ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
GDTF Share Report for December 2023
GDTF Share report for the month of December 2023
Posted January 1, 2024 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
MVR-xchange Protocol Added to BlenderDMX
BlenderDMX addon has adopted the new MVR-xchange protocol for seamless MVR scene updates over network, further enhancing the MVR workflow.
Posted December 22, 2023 ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, BlenderDMX
Production Assist 1.10 with MVR-xchange Support
Production Assist release 1.10 delivers many improvements and additions including implementation of the MVR-xchange protocol.
Posted December 19, 2023 ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, Production Assist
GDTF and MVR at LDI 2023
GDTF and MVR had a successful presence at LDI, showcasing the DIN Spec recognized formats and workflow solutions in a dedicated booth as well as at various events throughout the exhibition. The presentations were well-received by attendees, resulting in increased interest and potential opportunities for future collaborations. This successful showing highlights the continued growth of GDTF and MVR in the industry. See short YouTube videos after the break.
GDTF Share Report for November 2023
GDTF Share report for the month of November 2023
Posted December 1, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
2D Planning View and Faster MVR Import in BlenderDMX v1.0.3
Version 1.0.3 of BlenderDMX addon has been released with faster MVR import, improved 3D models loading and with support for GDTF 2D symbols.
Posted November 30, 2023 ‐ 2 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, BlenderDMX
Vectorworks 2024 Update 2 Improves GDTF in Vision
Vectorworks announced release of its second update for the Vectorworks 2024 product line, delivering an array of performance improvements aimed at enhancing the overall quality of the product line. For Vision users, this update brings even better support for GDTF files. Now, they can enjoy seamless compatibility with glTF/glb-backed GDTF files, and GDTF-based conventional fixtures can be focused and saved directly within the Vision platform.
Posted November 26, 2023 ‐ Categories: GDTF, Vectorworks
GDTF-MVR Workflow Discussion for Entertaintment Professionals @ LDI
On Monday December 4, 2023 1:30pm - 2:20pm PST, at LDI, there will be a live panel discussion with Sevan Dalkian (Technical Product Designer, Epic Games), Tony Caporale (Production Designer, Infinitus Vox) and Matt Geasy (Tech, Just Networking / Clear All Visuals LLC), moderated by MA's Daniel Kannenberg, about efficient and time-saving workflows using GDTF and MVR.
Reaching a Milestone: GDTF Share Surpasses 3000 Total File Count
The total number of manufacturer- and user-generated GDTF files in the GDTF Share has surpassed 3000, a significant milestone as the entertainment industry moves towards general support for this technology. The report for October, which we have previously shared in this post, highlights another uptake of GDTF devices from multiple lighting fixture manufacturers like ADJ, JBL, and Chauvet. (The monthly report is focused on total count of devices without including their variations or revisions.) In this instance, the lucky file that hit the 3000 mark was one of Robe's GDTFs for older devices, demonstrating manufacturer's commitment to providing GDTF support even for products launched prior to its creation, while still in use in productions.
Posted November 3, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
GDTF Share Report for October 2023
GDTF Share report for the month of October 2023
Posted November 1, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
GrandMA3 MVR Workflow by Tue Knudsen
Tue Knudsen of Event Lighting shares step by step details of his workflow on the grandMA3 console, including a comprehensive description of how MVR allows him to be efficient when reusing his programming.
Posted October 30, 2023 ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, MA Lighting
Recording of the 'Streamline Your Process with GDTF & MVR' webinar
If you did not manage to watch live the Vectorworks organized webinar with Brandon Eckstorm about using GDTF and MVR inside Vectorworks and Vision, organized at the end of September, you can watch the video recording.
Posted October 23, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, Vectorworks
GDTF – What is it? What is it for?
Adam Hall has published a blog post about the GDTF format, explaining the advantages of the universal fixture library and the related MVR and GDTF workflow.
MomentFactory releases Omniverse MVR/GDTF converter source code on GitHub
Moment Factory released a converter which provides support of GDTF (General Device Type Format) and MVR (My Virtual Rig) files in USD for Omniverse. See more details about their work in our earlier news Where GDTF, MVR and OpenUSD meet: Creating Immersive Events with OpenUSD and Digital Twins.
GDTF/MVR Improvements in grandMA3 Version 1.9.7.0
Latest version of the grandMA3 software contains several interesting GDTF and MVR related improvements including changes to the pigtail geometry, new visualized gobo attributes or better graphics rendering.
Posted October 5, 2023 ‐ 2 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, MA Lighting
GDTF Share Report for September 2023
GDTF Share report for the month of September 2023
Posted October 1, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
ETC announces General Device Type Format (GDTF) Fixture Import for Eos Family
ETC announced support for Basic fixture import via General Device Type Format (GDTF) in the Eos v3.2.4. Details given in this dedicated article explain that the initial implementation will only import the DMX definition and for the time being will not import 3D models, gobo images, color definitions nor multicell fixtures, but 'GDTF imports will continue to improve in future releases with planned work and user feedback on the forums'. Eos has previously already been able to import MVR, so the possibility to use GDTFs is another enhancement for the Eos platform and also a great confirmation of success for GDTF and MVR.
Posted September 29, 2023 ‐ Categories: GDTF
Development of plugins for import and preview of GDTF-based virtual fixtures in Unreal Engine - a bachelor degree theses by Luca Sorace
Luca Sorace of Sapienza Università di Roma has published a bachelor degree thesis on the development of a plugin for import and preview of a GDTF based fixtures in the Unreal Engine. Part of the theses is a discussion on implementation of various parts of a typical moving head fixture with calculations and sample code. The repository with the thesis is here and the thesis paper in Italian in pdf is here.
Posted September 25, 2023 ‐ Categories: GDTF, Unreal Engine
Vectorworks: Streamline Your Process with GDTF & MVR
In this free webinar on Wednesday, September 27, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM ET, Brandon Eckstorm, lighting and production designer, will show you how GDTF & MVR is changing the game in the entertainment industry. You’ll also learn how to use GDTF and MVR with your favorite design and visualization software: Vectorworks Spotlight and Vision. You can register here.
Posted September 23, 2023 ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, Vectorworks
BlenderDMX Releases 1.0.1 with Featurfull MVR Import
Version 1.0.1 of BlenderDMX addon has been released with much improved MVR import. This is not (yet) the big 2.0 rework, but rather a massive improvement to the 1.0 branch.
Posted September 20, 2023 ‐ 2 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, BlenderDMX
Where GDTF, MVR and OpenUSD meet: Creating Immersive Events with OpenUSD and Digital Twins
NVIDIA is featuring a story about the amazing work of Moment Factory, who has been combining the power of the OpenUSD with Omniverse together with MVR and GDTF, forming a digital twin of a real-world environment. Read on for details on how they utilize Epic Games Unreal Engine, Blender, Adobe Photoshop and Vectorworks for the immersive simulation in the Omniverse.
Posted September 12, 2023 ‐ Categories: Vectorworks, MVR, GDTF, OpenUSD
GDTF Share Report for August 2023
GDTF Share report for the month of August 2023
Posted September 1, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
Production Assist 1.9 Offers MVR 1.6 Implementation
Latest version 1.9 of Production Assist features many new improvements and additions, including implementation of the MVR 1.6 (draft). The MVR-xchange protocol is supposed to be coming up in future Production Assist version.
Posted August 31, 2023 ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, Production Assist
Seemles MVR Workflow With Open Source Tools
Following Industry Leaders, Open Source Tools Also Embrace MVR Workflow: Streamlining Efficiency in BlinderKitten and BlenderDMX Integration
Posted August 29, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, BlenderDMX, BlinderKitten
BlinderKitten: Illuminating the Future of Open Source Live Event Lighting
BlinderKitten is a modern, fast, multiplatform lighting software with remote controllability via OSC and MIDI, supporting GDTF and MVR, all made accessible under the GPL license.
Posted August 25, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, BlinderKitten
GDTF Share Report for July 2023
GDTF Share report for the month of July 2023
Posted August 1, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
GDTF Share Fixture Library Added to the GDTF Bench Online Tool
The comparing and benchmarking GDTF Bench tool has been updated to be able to load GDTF Files directly from the GDTF Share, allowing fast and easy device and device file comparison.
Posted July 26, 2023 ‐ 2 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
GDTF training: new YouTube videos explaining the GDTF Builder
GDTF & MVR YouTube channel published new training video series about the GDTF Builder.
Posted July 21, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF
GDTF Builder Release Summer 2023 Improvements
New features, bug fixes and improvements to the GDTF Builder
Posted July 10, 2023 ‐ 5 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Builder
Capture: MVR Workflows
Capture has released a couple of webcasts focusing on MVR workflows.
Posted July 5, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, Capture
GDTF Share Report for June 2023
GDTF Share report for the month of June 2023
Posted July 1, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
Sebastian Burgis: On Building Fixtures in GDTF
Prolight + Sound published a talk by Sebastian Burgis of MA Lighting on Building Fixtures in GDTF, given at Prolight + Sound 2022.
Posted June 21, 2023 ‐ Categories: GDTF, MA Lighting
GDTF Share Report for May 2023
GDTF Share report for the month of May 2023
Posted June 1, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
Robe Lighting: Spiider GDTF inside gMA3 visualizer
Robe Lighting has published a guide on how to effectively use GDTF files for their Spiider fixtures on the gMA3 platform.
Posted May 19, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, Robe Lighting, MA Lighting
Importing MVR into Eos 3.2 by Mark LaPierre
Save tons of time and reduce mistakes by importing MVR into Eos, writes Mark LaPierre in his article about the new MVR Import features of Eos 3.2.
Recording of the Unreal Engine & Vectorworks for Live Events Webinar
If you did not manage to watch live the Vectorworks organized webinar with Patrick Wambold of EPIC Games about using Unreal Engine for live events, you can watch the video recording.
Posted May 10, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, Unreal Engine, Vectorworks
GDTF Share Uploads Success Around Prolight Exhibition
Growth of uploads to the GDTF Share has been constant, with a major jump around PL&S.
Posted May 1, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
GDTF Share Report for April 2023
GDTF Share report for the month of April 2023
Posted May 1, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
Unreal Engine & Vectorworks for Live Events - Webinar
Webinar with Patrick Wambold, Senior Solution Architect at Epic Games. Wednesday, April 19, 2:00pm ET. Register here.
Posted April 18, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, Unreal Engine, Vectorworks
GDTF Share Report for March 2023
GDTF Share report for the month of March 2023
Posted April 1, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
A Look into GDTF Files Provided by GDTF Service
A commercial service for device manufacturers now offers to create GDTF files on behalf of manufacturers. Let's take a look at these files.
Posted March 24, 2023 ‐ 7 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF
Capture 2023 MVR Improvements
MVR improvements in Capture 2023
Posted March 14, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, Capture
BlenderDMX release 1.0.0 Vanilla
Release of BlenderDMX.
Posted March 4, 2023 ‐ 2 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, BlenderDMX
GDTF Share Report for February 2023
GDTF Share report for the month of February 2023
Posted March 1, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
Importing MVR into BlenderDMX
The open source GDTF visualizing tooling based on Blender gains support for MVR import.
Posted February 8, 2023 ‐ 2 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, BlenderDMX, Production Assist
GDTF Share Report for January 2023
GDTF Share report for the month of January 2023
Posted February 6, 2023 ‐ 1 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF, GDTF Share
Robe Lighting: Taking Robe GDTF files to the next level
Robe Lighting has published a news article about the progress and status of their GDTF files.
Posted January 17, 2023 ‐ Categories: GDTF, Robe Lighting
Chat GPT, please generate a GDTF file
Lets ask Chat GPT to do the work for us... Can you show me an example of the xml file from GDTF?
Posted January 14, 2023 ‐ 5 min read ‐ Categories: GDTF
TPI Magazine: GDTF and MVR: Unlocking the potential of data driven design
TPI Magazine interview with the GDTF group about GDTF and MVR.
Unreal Engine Announces Support of GDTF and MVR
Unreal Engine Announces Support of GDTF and MVR
Posted December 10, 2022 ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, Unreal Engine
Vectorworks: Your Guide to Getting Started with GDTF and MVR for Lighting Design
Vectorworks has published a blog post about getting started with GDTF and MVR.
Posted December 1, 2022 ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, Vectorworks
GDTF Support in Vari-Lite Luminaires and Consoles
USITT posted that Vari-Lite Brings Industry-standard GDTF Support to Full Luminaire, Console Product Line
Posted October 1, 2022 ‐ Categories: GDTF
MVR Import/Export experience by Mark LaPierre
Mark LaPierre Lighting writes about his (amazing) MVR Import/Export experience between Vectorworks and Capture.
Matt Geasey Speeds Workflow with GDTF & MVR
Vectorworks and Matthew Geasey of Clear All Visuals have published an article on how GDTF and MVR has changed their approach to creative work and how they manage to utilize GDTF and MVR for a fast, fluid collaborative workflow with both offline and online participants.
Posted August 1, 2022 ‐ Categories: GDTF, MVR, Vectorworks