Love the
RPN.
Truthfully though, after the show is patched, I do everything in my
power to limit my keystrokes for recording cues and running a show.
I recorded 130 cues for Nutcracker last month -- 6 ML's and 140 conventionals. Probably didn't
call up a single
channel via the keypad during the entire programming process. Only
RPN used was to record my groups/palettes and assign them to faders.
Didn't even use
RPN to record the presets -- had my assistant put all of my presets in via the spreadsheet editor, assign
fade times, and label all the cues. Then went actually recorded data into the cues during rehearsal (not even a tech rehearsal -- a full run-through that only paused a couple times to
mark the movers).
My workflow is such that even my students who don't know the
RPN can use the
console.
As far as my workflow is concerned, what I do on a Congo is a lot like what other programmers do on a Hog. I've even been asked by touring LD's to make the screens and faders act like a Hog or to act like an Avo, or to act like a fill-in-the-blank and they've run entire shows without having to know anything about
RPN.
You *can* set the
console in At Mode instead of
RPN, but I wouldn't. The
console is very counter-intuitive to me in At Mode. Use the
RPN for a week and you'll be comfortable with it.
The main thing I'd say about Congo is that it's a
Programmer's
console -- not a
Lighting Designer's
console. A good
programmer can make the
console do anything, but an LD will find it clunky unless they take the time to change how they plan their lighting.
For example, an LD may spend a lot of time coming up with a
light plot that's intricately patched in a way only they can remember (that's not the intention, but it's frequently the
effect). I've told our TD to stop doing weird patches, because after I make my groups, calling channels out individually is [always] unnecessary. It's faster for them to say "2nd
Cyc light from SL" than "Ah...what was that
channel number again...304? Nope -- that's not it..."
Only advantage I've found to non 1:1 patching of dimmers is when the LD knows their patch by heart or already has their show file recorded. Even the slightest lack of memorization and it's faster for me to do it my way than wait for the LD to check their
plot.
Congo can do conventionals like a
conventional desk can, and it'll work, but it works infinitely better when you structure your show files for a
busking environment. Even for recording theatrical-style shows, the first thing I do is set the file up like I'd busk it, then "busk" the rehearsals to record the show.
The value of Congo in schools isn't being able to
send students to college knowing a Congo -- it's sending them to college being masters of programming for a
busking environment.
I recently had to learn a
Light Palette VL, which was a nightmare for me. Not because it's an inherently bad
console, but because I learned from Congo how to streamline the heck out of my workflow in a way the LP can'
t handle. Learning the keystrokes, the way the
console works -- all of that was easy, and that would satisfy most programmers. What was frustrating was knowing all of the ways the features of Congo put the LP to shame.
Eventually my students will go on to learn other consoles, and when they meet those new consoles, they'll know exactly what they want those consoles to be able to do for them by knowing what they loved about Congo.
Congo is scary if you focus on the
RPN, but that's only an issue if you really like typing lots of stuff in. Congo is set up so you really only have to key in as much as you want to, and when you do have to key stuff in, it goes quickly. Once you lose your love for typing things in, everything about the
console begins to make sense.
All of this is pie in the sky if you want to just type stuff in and punch buttons to get a show recorded a couple times a year. You won't use it enough to get past the
RPN and get into the really awesome features. It'd be like buying a GrandMA and using it like an
Express console.
I emphasize programming ML's in my
console training because for two years, I only used Congo like an
Express console cursed with
RPN. I was mostly satisfied and the
RPN I rather liked, but then I learned how to program ML's on the
console. I spent a week in
ETC's marketing lab doing that -- every few hours I'd find some new, amazing feature I just had to text my programmer-friends about.
I see two big beefs about Congo get posted on CB frequently. The first is with
RPN, and the second is about how the
venue doesn't even have ML's so they don't understand why a Congo was purchased.
I've only twice in four years programmed ML's on a Congo. It's great for movers, but just about everything about how it's streamlined for programming movers applies to conventionals too.
I promise anyone this: If you learn how Congo programs movers and apply those same methods to programming conventionals, you'll understand why people like me are walking billboards for Congo consoles. If I was less a resident
programmer/LD, and was more a freelancer, I'd go so far as to buy my own
console.
For now, I'm satisfied knowing my various employers either already own Congo-series consoles or are trying to find ways to justify buying them because I wouldn't stop bragging about how good they are. It's not a
console that sells itself, but a demo with a professional Congo
programmer goes a long way.
The greatest crisis for Congo though is that the vendors selling, speccing, and providing training on them [are not] professional Congo programmers, so when they provide training, they teach you how to use it like an
Express instead of like a Congo, making
RPN the greatest barrier to entry for new programmers.
Even
ETC's training is all about syntax and different options and checkboxes in different menus. The general frustration is "It's great that I now know thirty different ways to set up a single master, but how does that get me any closer to getting this show lit?"
I can look at a
cheat sheet two weeks after a training session if I've forgotten the syntax. What I can't do two weeks after the training session is get a top-to-bottom look at how a professional Congo
programmer would structure their workflow, and the real meat of why I love Congo is all in the workflow.
One man's grievance is another man's bread and butter. People don't like
RPN; I love it. They think Congo is just for moving lights; I can't decide whether to laugh at how mistaken they are or begin to give them a lecture on how my experience exactly contradicts their presumptions.
