ETC congo

[Joe Bleasdale]

hi all,

I have decided to my training courses on the ETC congo. However I wanted to know a few bits of info before I do it.

 

1) Can I use zero 88 light converse in conjunction with it?

2) Do you have opinions/dislikes about it?

3) Does it support touch screens?

 

thanks

joe

 

P.S. mods, I dont know whether this should be in training and qualifications or lighting, so feel free to move. :** laughs out loud **:

[weatherhead]

A couple of years ago, my old school group did a show in an outside theatre and called me in to LD/operate for them. The theatre's air conditioning had just leaked all over their old strand 500 series, so they'd had to replace it. They replaced it with an ETC congo, and we were the first people to use it on a show in anger. I had never seen one before, so was going on what I'd read from the manual on the internet a couple of days before. The guys at the venue hadn't yet got up to speed with it either, and the intelligents they had weren't properly patched into it. Didn't have time to work out exactly what was happening but I think it was an HTP issue, it resulted in during quite a few fades the scrollers rattling through all their colours and back again.

Programming that show was an absolute nightmare... this may have coloured my opinions of the desk somewhat. All I can say is, I'd take a fat frog over it anyday.... I know that I've had much more experience on the frog, and it isn't aimed at the same market, but everything I was trying to do the desk seemed to be just fighting against me. It seemed very powerful though, for all that, and I'm sure with a while spent fiddling with all its functions and just getting to know it it may be a great desk.

 

Also, I absolutely hate windows XP embedded, and windows in general. Case in point, during the two days of that show, the desk crashed. Twice.

 

Anyway, I am presenting a biased opinion here. However, the ETC Congo did not play well with me.

[mr_towers]

Balancing post :** laughs out loud **:

 

I've used both Congo and Congo jr. (more junior though). And it worked fine for me. I took the usual getting used to new desk time, but had no major show stopping disasters (unlike a certain amphibian desk). The desk also failed to crash, probably as I used one recently after a lot of updates had been released. But that's the way with all desks - you need playing time and all the updates!

 

I've used it primarily for theatre, with a mainly generic rig and it was easy to work with. I managed to do some minor softpatching on it, and the usual saving/loading shows malarkey, as well as basic operation of movers. My background is in Strand desks.

 

Right, questions from OP.

 

1) Probably. Light converse agrees with most things IIRC.

 

2) See above. It pretty much talks strand so I'm happy.

 

3) I'm pretty sure it does. Never used it with touchscreens but I remember an ETC rep trying to sell me one with them. It's got USB ports on it so it should do.

 

I personally hate frogs, can't be doing with all that fader per channel rubbish! The Congo is easy to use, and if you've used Strand styley boards or other ETCs then you'll be right at home.

 

There's plenty of ETC people on here, so my knowledge will certainly be overshadowed, but hopefully my experience helps!

 

Edited for muppetry

[Joe Bleasdale]

well I am able to progam strand 520 and 550 so its a relief that they are similar!

 

thanks so far guys

joe :** laughs out loud **:

 

 

 

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

 

If I was to program my show on light converse before being infront of the congo, how would I connect it to the console? Would I be able to have the visulizer on the third console screen?

 

thanks

joe

[AndrewR]

Well unless Congo has changed substantially since I last used one... (which was admittedly a year ago). Is not very much like strand! or ETC from what I gather from friends...

 

Its not an impossible change though. Its little things, for example... Strand x00: CUE xx REC... vs Congo: xx CUE REC

 

Most commands are entered in that format; the number then, what it is you are modifying, then what you actually want to do. It takes a little while to adjust to that change.

Also, if you are used to using Strand x00 in crossfading mode... Congo is fully tracking.. and there is no auto-move when dark. The alternative (GoInB) is quite different and need thinking about when used.

 

 

Oh, and I found one way to really make Congo unstable is to keep using the same showfile for weeks on end... for some reason if the showfile has been used lots (as opposed to going back to a base file) the desk gets steadily less stable...

 

And I like XP... never had a problem with it... Embedded XP is another story! (Ask ETC why there isnt a UPS in Congo any more!)

[weatherhead]

And I like XP... never had a problem with it... Embedded XP is another story! (Ask ETC why there isnt a UPS in Congo any more!)

 

:** laughs out loud **: The house tech at the venue I was on about said he had great difficulty the first time it crashed and he had had to try and reset it :** laughs out loud **:

[DeeMAGE]

Can I use zero 88 light converse in conjunction with it

- yes you can. LightConverse will work with ETC congo by ArtNet and sACN ethernet protocols.

 

how would I connect it to the console? Would I be able to have the visulizer on the third console screen?

- no, you should use other pc with a good 3D video card for LightConverse running. Console emulator may be used in one pc with LightConverse, no problem.

:** laughs out loud **:

[Joe Bleasdale]

So I can connect a computer and have light converse running the visulizer in real time? Whats on the stage will be represented in 3D on my computer screen?

[DeeMAGE]

So I can connect a computer and have light converse running the visulizer in real time? Whats on the stage will be represented in 3D on my computer screen?

- exactly

[Tomo]

On reliability of Congo:

It is true that Congo has had several software issues discovered by various users.

The initial releases of any complex software will almost always have some issues, as it's impossible to fully test such software

 

However, ETC do listen to such reports, and do their best to fix them!

Since AndrewR last used the console, there have been roughly 4-6 software releases, each adding new features and fixing bugs.

 

The next version is due to be released within the next couple of months, again adding several extremely powerful features and fixing bugs that some users have spotted.

 

On usability:

Congo is a very powerful lighting console, fully capable of multiple operation styles and controlling moving lights and media servers with the same panache as simple generics.

 

This kind of power does come at a price - if you've never used a console with a keypad, you can't expect to sit down at a console of this calibre with zero training and immediately take advantage of its features.

 

All operators need some training before they can take full advantage of the features offered in such powerful consoles.

- In common with most console manufacturers, ETC offer regular free training courses.

 

With regards to the relative 'difficulty' of the Congo - at PLASA last year I taught the basics of this console to a ten year old in under 15 minutes.

 

Anyway, in answer to the OP's questions:

 

1) Yes, Light Converse can listen to both Streaming ACN and ArtNet. Congo can output both of these protocols, so you can choose whichever better suits your purpose.

 

2) It's a very powerful moving-light and generics console, aimed at both live events (busking) and theatre. It's also under active development, so you can expect ETC to listen to your concerns and suggestions and act upon them.

- Congo version 5 is expected to be released in the next couple of months, adding a variety of new features, including the best effects engine I have ever seen. (Seriously!)

 

If you want a direct-action console using short, quick commands and having spreadsheets and wizards available for editing shows, you'll almost certainly enjoy using Congo.

If you're more of a command-line person, it's likely that you'll enjoy an Eos or Ion more.

 

3) Congo doesn't yet officially support touchscreens.

- However, this will change soon! A few models are currently under test, and the drivers for these will be included in the v5 software.

- All that said, several users have installed 3rd party touchscreens and drivers onto their Congos and found them to be very useful, especially when coupled with channel layouts.