GCD Software

The GCD (Gait Cycle Data) file format is one of a number of related DST (Data Storage and Transfer) file formats that were developed in Europe in the 1980's as a part of a European Community funded program (CAMARC - Computer Aided Movement Analysis in a Rehabilitation Context) intended to help aid the European academic and commercial communities by standardizing the storage and exchange of data.

The DST/GCD format is used by a number of common applications (most notably, GaitLab for Windows, the SIMM Biomechanics Software Suite, and VCM - Vicon Clinical Manager), as it is relatively simple, uses only ASCII text characters, reasonably well documented, and easily extended to support specific laboratory or data requirements by adding "lexicons" such as the GCD format description.

Allthough the DST/GCD files are relatively large, they are easy to read and create - Motion Lab Systems offers a number of free tools for viewing, editing and performing simple operations on DST/GCD files, including averaging data and a complete description of the DST format and various lexicons including GCD.

The MLSviewer displays the contents of any DST, EXP or GCD file in an easy to use, graphical view that instantly shows you the values of any text or scalar variable together with graphs of vector data. GCD data is graphed by % of gait cycle, while other formats (VDO, EXP etc) are displayed by sample.

  • View, graph and print the contents of any C3D file. Browse through the complex C3D parameter structure with ease.
  • The MLSviewer is a 32-bit Windows 98 / NT application that is Y2K compliant and uses long file names. It includes a full context-sensitive, interactive help facility that documents the application as well as providing extensive information on the CAMARC DST, EXP, GCD, PGD, VDO and GCD file formats.
  • A printable manual documenting the CAMAC format is available here in PDF format and is included with the MLSviewer.

A quick note for people finding this page via a "DST" search string - the format described here is not the the DST format used for embroidery machine graphic files - if you came here looking for embroidery file information we suggest that you look at the Buzz Tools web site for the applications that you need.