USITT is offering a full day of hands-on programming of the ETC Ion board as a Professional Development Workshop before the start of the 2008 Annual Conference & Stage Expo. A full day of Congo training is also being offered.

by Luis Ramirez
Lighting Commission

Want to keep up with "next generation" lighting control technology? Do you want a high-speed console that controls all fixtures and devices, including moving lights, conventionals, media servers and special effects? The Lighting Commission will offer two, all-day, hands-on training workshops in Houston on ETC's recent award-winning consoles -- the Congo and Eos.

ETC Controls Product Manager Sarah Clausen will lead a full day of instruction on Congo and Congo Jr. This is a hands-on session with two people per console for the eight-hour session. Participants will learn basic operation of the console and simple techniques such as patch, channel control, moving light functions, cueing, and playback functions. Console syntax, display options, and navigation also will be explored.

The Congo Professional Development Workshop will take place 1 to 9 p.m. on Monday, March 17 from 1:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Room 360C. Participants can download operating manuals, datasheets, online tutorials and other information for Congo and Congo Jr. from ETC at www.etcconnect.com/products.controls.asp. ETC Eos Product Manager Anne Valentino will lead participants in an eight-hour session of instruction on Eos.

Eos is a "Complete Control" system that, like Congo, can manage conventionals, moving lights, LEDs, effects equipment and media servers. Unlike Congo, Eos is unmistakably ETC, with familiar programming syntax and operating technique. It is fully networked for both ETCNet2 and the new Net3T protocol (ACN).

Like Congo, Eos is available in two models: Eos 8K (with 8,000 outputs) and Eos 4K (with 4,000 outputs). System capacity includes 10,000 cues, 99 cue lists, 30 fader pages, 1000 x 4 palettes for intensity, focus, color and beam. Eos supports three VGA or DVI monitors, and has USB ports for convenient backups.

What makes Eos unique is "partitioned control," an ETC feature that supports simultaneous work on various layers of production work by multiple programmers. Designers can work from their laptop or remote workstation connected to the Eos network, while electricians patch and focus with an RFU at the same time. An instruction in the main cue list will synchronize all work to the "Go" button for one operator. Eos imports show files from many other consoles, as well as Lightwright patch data.

LD Mike Baldassari used the Eos system on the musical 13 at the Mark Taper Forum. "That's the ultimate testing ground," said Mr. Baldassari. "A musical — especially one like 13 — requires a set of parameters that will stretch any console." Eos appeared on Broadway in the musical 110 in the Shade. LD Chris Akerlind created a complex lighting rig that required a comprehensive control console. "From a creative standpoint, one of the things that was terrific on the Eos console was the color tracking," he said.

The Professional Development Workshop for Eos programming will be 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Room 360C. The operating manual, datasheets and other information for Eos are available for download from ETC at www.etcconnect.com/products.controls.asp.

Participants may register for the Congo and Eos workshops online at www.usitt.org. Seating is limited to 18 for each workshop, so early registration is advised.

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