The General Device Type Format was conceived and jointly developed by the GDTF development group, comprised of Vectorworks, MA Lighting, and Robe lighting. It creates a unified definition for the exchange of data for the operation of intelligent luminaries, such as moving lights, officially recognized as an open standard for the entertainment industry worldwide by DIN SPEC 15800. 

It provides a dependable way to adapt fixtures and devices in the lighting industry and sets a manufacturer-supported, unified standard. Therefore, customers/users of lighting control systems, CAD systems, and pre-visualizers benefit by knowing the tools they use to perform their job will work consistently and dependably. 

The file format is human readable and developed using open source formats. Luminaire manufacturers in the entertainment design, production, and performance industries are welcome to use this open-source technology. 

For more information, the GDTF builder and a database of GDTF fixture-files, please visit the GDTF Share. This database provides all kind of fixtures with all relevant modes and firmware versions and is constantly growing. 

For our fixtures’ GDTF files, we have established a dedicated support email inbox: libraries@robe.cz