Several plays into one showfile

Hi,

As I responded to your other post about LinkToStep, I think the solution is to get rid of the LinkToSteps.

LinkToStep is mainly for compatibility with show files from other consoles where links are used instead of the more flexible free sequence structure of Congo.

The Congo way is to insert the same preset multiple times in your sequence. Then all functions will work as expected. You should then be able to use either a single main sequence or multiple sequences and a play list.

(In both cases, you would need to offset your presets when you import your different show files since the presets will always share the same number series.)

I hope this is a possible solution to your problem.

Anders

Hi -

This type of situation is best handled by recording multiple sequences in ONE play, not recording multiple sequence "1"s in many plays. That way you can keep all the dances in one play file simultaneously and avoid ever having to import. It also allows you to be flexible in the order of playback of the repertoire each show using the Play List feature of Congo. A Play List is a stack of sequences. It would also allow you to use link to step and keep those links working as each sequence is a stand alone object (it would not solve the insert/delete problem though, and I agree with Anders that they should probably be avoided in general.)

Does that help?

Thanks-

Sarah

Hi Sarah and Anders,

and thanks for your thoughts. I now understand that it's not a malfunction but a part of the philosophy not to rely on LinkToStep. ;-) – In this case you would have designed this field as a relative jump or would be using a pointer handled by the OS instead.

Of course it's possible to insert the two Bows and Bows-B/O presets multiple times. Also I was thinking about setting the GoBack-Time to a suitable value and just go forth and back for the bows.

However Sarah's solution won't work for me. When creating a new piece I don't like to use large preset numbers, since it's easier (and faster) to refer to Preset 12 as to Preset xxx.12. It's just to be quicker to start every sequence with preset 1.0 and not use 100's numbers. (Also: not all of the LDs are used to the AVAB philosophy and like to use the numbers THEY want...) This is why I chose to have every choreography in a separate play. – When playing back I don't really care, it's just for the creation...

So for using Playlists it would be helpful to import the Main Seq 1 one-step into Seq x in my actual play. (I guess this is for v7 then...)

Thanks again,

Mario

For Bows, by far the easiest way to do this is with a Master - let the Main Playback fade to black, then bring up the Bows Preset on a Master.
- If you've got moving lights, put the Bows preset at the end of the Sequence as well and play it there the first time to ensure that automarking gets a chance to happen. You can also turn off the "attributes follow fader" option on the Master so attributes snap into place at 1% fader position, but that does mean a very fast move if they're not marked.

With regards to 'assembling' the show from the multiple playfiles you currently have, you can already import the sequences at different numbers, as follows:

• Browser > File > Import From... > (file name)
• From "Import What", pick "Sequence"
  • Not 'Presets from Sequence', just "Sequence"
• From "Start At", pick the Sequence you want
• In "Offset", enter the number to add to the old Sequence Number when importing.
  • To import Sequence 1 as Sequence 2, Offset would be 1
• In "Preset Offset", enter the number to add to every Preset in that Sequence.

Finally, I agree with Sarah that multiple Sequences are by far the easiest and most extensible way to handle these kinds of shows.
Everything 'just works', and you never have to worry about importing the right data between shows or updating Palettes at the right time.

With Preset numbering during recording, most of the time you don't actually need to type a Preset number as Congo will just auto-increment them for you from whatever the last Preset that was recorded.

For example, start a new Sequence (eg 99) at Preset 100:
(Assuming "Build Sequence" is turned on

• 99 [Seq] & [Playback], Modify to confirm
• 100 [Record] (label/options) [Record]
  • Sequence 99 now starts at Preset 100
• [Record]
  • Congo offers you Preset 101

That said, there are indeed places where you need the full Preset number such as updating a different Preset than the one in Live.

If refering to the presets by large numbers is a problem, then use the step numbers for reference instead.  The board can say Step 1, Preset 1 for one sequence, the next sequence will be Step 1, Preset 101, and on and on.  Then you can also reuse Presets, like the bows, and not worry about confusing others.  I do a dance program every year where I record every dance as a seperate sequence, since every night the order changes.  Then I just have to update the playlist every night.  The SM has the step numbers for every dance, thereby just calling "1, 2, 3" for every dance.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Of course, at home I'll use a master (which is auto-assigned) for the bows, but when touring, I only have a Jr without fader wing. (And as long as the Independents are not able to contain Presets, like Masters do, I would be a little bit lost. *Hint!*)

I've tried importing "Sequence" several times on our console and (as I am at home now) re-tried it with the Offline editor. -> I am not sure how this should work: This command only seems to import the first preset of the sequence you try to import. Offsetting both the sequence number and the preset numbers works fine, but I only get the first preset from each sequence imported.

@lidgett:

I would not do this, because if you add or delete cues, the SM needs to update his hole script. I am always referring to preset numbers, even if a preset appears more then once in a play! ;-)