The RDM task group is a group formed from members of the ESTA Control Protocols Working Group (CPWG). ESTA hosts various working groups to define and manage the standards across the entertainment industry. The CPWG meets four times a year, with meetings scheduled to coincide with trade shows and Plugfest events organised to ensure interoperability testing is available to all members. For more information about the ESTA Technical Standards Program (TSP), visit ESTA.
A schedule of future ESTA TSP meetings can be found here.
An application for joining the CPWG can be found here.
Plugfests
The RDM Plugfests are a great way for RDM developers to validate their implementations interoperability with other manufacturers. These free events happen twice a year. Occuring over three days, the informal sessions enable engineers to try their products RDM capabilities and gain peer support from other RDM engineers. Plugfests are typically held in the US and also in Europe. If you are interested in participating, please visit:
- http://estalink.us/plugfest for the US-based Plugfests
- https://www.plasa.org/plugfest/ for EU Plugfests
to register. Plugfest is open to all, but, with its growing popularity, registration is advised in order to make space accommodations.
During the plugfest, developers are welcome to bring prototype products, work on source code and generally test the operation of their products with other RDM devices. Many test tools are provided including PC applications, hand held devices and large numbers of RDM responders to check binary tree responses.
Timelapse video from the January 2012 Plugfest in action!