Tracking vs. Cue Only on Congo?

Ah, I'm having a bad technology day! (Tried to answer this once before and the Internet ate the post - let's try again, shall we? :-) )

Congo, like Express/ion and Smart consoles, is a Preset style system. We can make adjustments on the software side to fix issues of how other systems store ASCII data, but it usually works best with a sample show file and a willing user with whom we can collaborate to make sure our show read is making the right assumptions. I'm intrigued by bringing in a show from an MA console - would you be that willing user to help us do that better? If so, please send a copy of the ASCII file to me at sarah DOT clausen AT etcconnect DOT com... :-)

Regarding fixing the tracks in your current file, we may be able to do that easier on our end than you can directly on the console. However, if you want to give it a try, I would recommend the Track List rather than the Channel Editor Wizard. In the Track List you can see all the moves and if you know how far they're supposed to track in you can make the needed adjustments there, although this may be quite tedious if you have a lot of channels or a long show.

Regarding track editing, UPDATE & @ LEVEL does what you're looking for for intensity information. UPDATE & ATTRIB does the non-intensity side of your channels. If you're starting from scratch, I highly recommend using the Record if Active option for attribute recording, since this gives you the ability to use track editing functions like the two mentioned above, and the normal UPDATE and RECORD then behave like cue-only.

I hope this helps some-

Thanks -

Sarah

The Import from the GrandMA is completely dependent on the data in the GrandMA output. Congo makes the basic assumption that every ASCII file follows the USITT ASCII format for channel intensities, as that's the only published document that says how channel levels should be stored in ASCII format.

USITT ASCII is a pretty limited format, so many consoles have made custom extensions - we've added in many of these custom extensions from some manufacturers, but not all of them. If you have example show files that import badly we can have a look at them to see if there are improvements that could be made.

With regards to Tracked updates in Congo:

Congo isn't a tracking console. It's a Preset-based console, which is the other main concept of lighting control.
- I think we've got a white paper somewhere about the differences between Tracking and Preset-based lighting control concepts.

So:

When you're Recording new cues, just continue from the previous cue. Unless you change levels, they'll stay where they were.
- Remember that Congo does not have a Programmer at all - you're essentially always working Live (or Blind), recording as you go.

When editing existing Presets:

• [Update] & [@Level] does a Tracked update into the Main Playback.
  • You can select whether to track Forward, Backward or Both directions.
  • This uses the Block flag and changes to Intensity to determine how far.

There is also the Track List - hit [Track]

• This shows the levels of the selected channels throughout the sequence in Main Playback and offers instant spreadsheet editing.
• Really useful for determining if and how a particular channel is used, or for making a lot of tweaks 'Blind'
• Note that changes are immediate - there's no confirmation!