Vectorworks, Inc., MA Lighting and Robe Lighting Announce DIN SPEC 15801 Recognition for MVR

With fellow General Device Type Format (GDTF) and My Virtual Rig (MVR) founders MA Lighting and Robe Lighting, global design and BIM software provider Vectorworks, Inc. announces that DIN SPEC 15801 officially recognizes MVR as an open standard for the entertainment industry worldwide. This development unlocks a new world of limitless opportunities for entertainment industry professionals to collaborate and efficiently bring their creative visions to life, the company says.

"The accomplishment of DIN SPEC 15801 marks a significant milestone in the continuous evolution of GDTF and MVR, as well as the overall advancement of the entertainment industry," says Vectorworks CEO Dr. Biplab Sarkar. "Since its inception, MVR has made remarkable progress in meeting the needs of manufacturers and designers through a standardized approach to data and 3D model exchange. This latest recognition further proves our unwavering commitment to unifying the entertainment industry and equipping professionals with the necessary tools for success."

Developed to facilitate interoperability and data exchange to unify the entertainment industry, MVR has several advantages that deliver critical benefits to both manufacturers and end users. MVR supports full scene description, so for manufacturers, information is all in one easy-to-share, easy-to-maintain file, and users don't need to worry about losing information between different departments. Because MVR is based on GDTF, the file format has its advantages built-in, including an extensive database with information that can be shared between other applications.

With the ability to communicate directly on local area networks, MVR provides manufacturers hassle-free communication between various applications across all genres and enables efficient collaboration between end users. Allowing the exchange of full environments, MVR lets manufacturers share the same venue or stage between audio, lighting, and video planning. At the same time, users can streamline their workflows, creating basic information once to use it multiple times. Plus, MVR maintains kinematic chains, ensuring accurate sub-fixture handling and seamless object correspondence.

"Step by step, we are shaping an industry standard, always with an open ear to the people we are trying to serve. We get a lot of feedback from people who are supportive of the project but also from those who are more concerned with the many small and large things that are not yet perfect," says Gerhard Krude, managing director of MA Lighting Technology. "We all have enough to do in our day-to-day jobs, but to see an idea grow from its logical origins into something that many people are now working with daily is enough positive feedback to keep this open project moving forward. From our point of view, it is very satisfying to be part of this movement."

Now, MVR will be a standard foundation for exchanging extended device and environmental data between lighting consoles, CAD and 3D pre-visualization applications, reflecting the real-world physical components of a show setup and the logical patch information of the devices. Like the truck that takes gear to a venue, MVR is the container file that holds all the information about a scene or stage, including GDTF data, patch information, location of objects and other crucial information.

"Since its original release when accompanying the GDTF publication, the My Virtual Rig format has become an industry standard for exchanging stage data between planning tools, visualizers, and consoles, allowing designers and show artists to move fast between ideas, drawings and live stages," says Josef Valchar, CEO of Robe Lighting. "With the many months-long work on the DIN specification, industry-wide input was carefully considered. While ensuring that the standard follows best industry practices, the feedback was incorporated into the MVR interchange format and communication protocol, now released with the official DIN recognition."

DIN, the German Institute for Standardization, is the independent platform for standardization in Germany and worldwide. A DIN SPEC is a document specifying requirements for products, services and/or processes, and it's a trusted strategic instrument for quickly and easily establishing and disseminating innovative solutions that do not conflict with existing standards or rules of procedure.

In 2020, DIN officially recognized GDTF as a specification, DIN SPEC 15800, becoming the standard for describing any controllable device's hierarchical and logical structure in the lighting and entertainment industry. While it solved the issue of unifying the descriptions of devices and enabled applications to exchange planning data based on GDTF files, the new MVR specification unifies the information exchange of all this data within the context of a 3D modeled environment.

"We are very happy about this further cooperation with the GDTF group. After DIN SPEC 15800, this is the next step to make GDTF and MVR's great opportunities available as freely accessible standards for the entertainment industry," says Michael Bahr, senior project manager at DIN. "We are very thankful that the group once again acknowledged the importance of standards and set trust in the development of DIN SPEC 15801. With MVR and GDTF described as DIN SPEC, they can be used widely as trusted and transparent developed documents."

To learn more about GDTF and MVR, visit gdtf-share.com, and if you are at LDI 2023, stop by Booth 1653 or attend the free learning sessions on GDTF & MVR. You can also view and download DIN SPEC 15801, published by Beuth Verlag, here and read it in its entirety at github.com/mvrdevelopment.