The officially standardized GTDF format DIN SPEC 15800

Fellow General Device Type Format (GDTF) founders MA Lighting and Robe lighting, global design and BIM software provider Vectorworks, Inc. are happy that DIN SPEC 15800 officially acknowledge GDTF as an open standard for the entertainment industry worldwide.

“Thanks to this latest recognition of DIN SPEC 15800, GDTF will continue its growth and look for even greater success now that it is part of a standard way of communicating manageable characteristics of lighting fixtures,” explain Vectorworks CEO Dr. Biplab Sarkar. “GDTF has covered a lot of ground in the two short years since inception.

We already count 35 manufacturers engaged to support the open standard and are thankful for their contributions to help create a solid basis for a standardized format that will help the industry move forward in new ways. I am looking for to see more manufacturers, as well as more entertainment professionals taking part to the wide-spread availability of GDTF files and benefiting from it in their workflows.”

DIN, the German Institute for Standardization, is the independent organism for standardization in Germany and worldwide. A DIN SPEC, is a document that specifies requirements for products, services and/or processes, and it’s a reliable strategic instrument for quickly and easily establishing and spreading innovative solutions on the market. DIN’s job is to ensure that a DIN SPEC does not block with any known standards or rules of procedure.
Now, GDTF will be a standard for describing the hierarchical and logical structure and controls of any type of controllable device in the lighting and entertainment industry. GDTF will be employed as a foundation for the exchange of device data between lighting consoles, as well as CAD and 3D pre-visualization applications. The aim of an existing GDTF file is to present the real-world physical components of the devices and to supply control based on this information. A GDTF file gather and is derived from the device’s real-world geometry, attributes and abilities.

“At Robe we are exited by all the new development around GDTF because there are now great possibilities for providing detailed specifications of our moving head fixtures in a format not specific to a particular console manufacturer, but defined by a standard format the new DIN SPEC 15800,” said Josef Valchar, CEO of Robe lighting.
“This format covers DMX desk related use-cases and also includes data for visualization purposes, dedicated portions for media servers and for event-planning workflows. With DIN SPEC 15800 and the GDTF Builder to create the files online, there is absolutely no reason to remain locked to old, manufacturer-specific proprietary formats but rather use open standard fixture definition files.”

“The recognition by DIN that GDTF offers value to manufacturers and practitioners in the live production and events industry is a monumental moment in the maturity of the GDTF file format,” said Gerhard Krude, managing director of MA Lighting Technology.
“This signifies that the industry is ready to embrace the benefits of using it to standardize the definitions of real-world controllable objects, which is just the start for GDTF. Looking ahead, future revisions to the DIN SPEC 15800 will extend the GDTF to all parts of the industry including media servers, rigging systems, laser systems and much more.”

“DIN SPEC 15800 is a good example for what DIN wants to achieve with DIN SPECs: support those who improve the status-quo with an innovative idea,” said Michael Bahr, project manager at DIN. “GDTF can be one of those ideas for the entertainment industry. I’m happy that we could support this project and develop a standard with the GDTF group.
In a short period of time, we were able to develop the document which will build trust in the GDTF format. DIN SPEC 15800 will make the GDTF format available and usable to everyone. That’s what DIN SPEC is made for: ‘Today’s idea. Tomorrow’s standard.’”