Your fixture works, your DMX interface works, and then you go looking for the GDTF file and there isn’t one. It is one of the most common walls people hit in lighting software, and it happens most with budget and no-name fixtures that no manufacturer ever wrote a file for.
Simple DMX Controller solves it in the software itself. SDC has two GDTF Makers built in. One reads your fixture’s PDF manual and generates the file automatically. The other lets you enter the channels from the manual yourself, in a few minutes. Both are included, and both produce a normal .gdtf file you can use anywhere.
Manual To GDTF
Almost every fixture ships with a PDF manual, and buried in that manual is a channel table that lists exactly what SDC needs to know. Manual To GDTF reads it for you. From a single PDF it pulls out:
• The DMX modes your fixture offers, so you can pick the one it is set to
• Every channel and what it does, straight from the channel table
• Color wheel slots and their colors, so palettes show the true output color
• Gobo wheel slots.
The time difference is the point. Typing a 14 channel fixture in by hand, getting every value range right is an evening’s work. Manual To GDTF turns that into a couple of minutes, and you end up with named channels and automatic palettes instead of a list of numbered faders.
Simple GDTF Maker
Sometimes you simply want to do it yourself. That is what the Simple GDTF Maker is for. You work through four steps:
1. Set your channel layout and how many channels the fixture uses
2. Name each channel with its real function
3. Define your color and gobo wheels
4. Save the finished .gdtf file
What you get out
Both Makers write a standard GDTF file. That matters more than it sounds, because the file is not locked to SDC. It follows the same open format every GDTF capable console and lighting program reads, so the work travels with you.
Inside SDC, a fixture added from your new file behaves like any other GDTF fixture:
• Every fader is labeled with its real function instead of only a channel number
• Color palettes show the true output color of each wheel slot
• Gobo palettes show the actual shape you will get
• Ready to use palettes are created automatically the moment the fixture is patched
If your fixture model is missing from the public library, you can also upload the file you made to GDTF-Share, so the next person searching for the same model finds it waiting.
What it costs
• Simple GDTF Maker – free and unlimited. It runs locally, so there is nothing to meter.
• Manual To GDTF – works on tokens. Every user gets two free tokens, enough to run it on your own fixtures and judge the result for yourself. Extra tokens can be bought from inside SDC.
Finding the Makers in SDC
Both Makers open from the Add Fixture screen, right next to where you would normally load a GDTF file. Simple DMX Controller is free to use in 2 hour sessions, so you can install it and make your first fixture file without paying anything.
FAQ
Can I really create a GDTF file from a PDF manual?
Yes. Manual To GDTF reads the channel tables, DMX modes and wheel data out of the manual and writes the GDTF file for you.
Do I need an account?
No. The Simple GDTF Maker runs entirely on your PC. Manual To GDTF is an online service with two free tokens included.
Can I use the file in other software?
Yes. Both Makers save a standard .gdtf file, an open format read by other consoles and lighting software, not something proprietary to SDC.
What if my manual is a scan or a photo?
Manual To GDTF works from the text in the PDF, so a picture of a page will not give it much to read. In that case use the Simple GDTF Maker and enter the channels yourself.
Is this the same as the GDTF Builder on GDTF-Share?
The GDTF Builder is a free online tool for writing a file by hand, and it is worth using if you want to contribute to the public library. SDC’s Makers sit inside the software you are already using, and Manual To GDTF is the only one of the three that generates the file from a manual.
Make your first GDTF file
Download Simple DMX Controller, open Add Fixture, and point Manual To GDTF at a manual for a fixture you own. Free in 2 hour sessions, unlimited use is $29.99/year.