Mark D Lew wrote:
On Jul 12, 2005, at 9:18 PM, Richard Smith wrote:
These explanations are very wordy but if you play with it, I think you
will find Sibelius easy to use without a midi.
And without a mouse, too, I hope.
I work quickly on both my desktop and my laptop without midi. Just
give yourself a little time to get adjusted to Sibelius before making
a judgment. Finale methods won't work so you have to build new habits.
Not making a judgment at all. But I'm content where I am right now and
am not looking to pay money for an upgrade OR a cross-grade.
I don't think Finale is easy to use without a mouse, so I'm not sure
where your comment about hoping Sibelius being easy to use without a
mouse comes from.
Any windows/mac program will involve mousing. Perhaps you are asking
about the relative amount of mousing that's required.
I think that speedy entry in Finale, where you can work along without a
mouse once you have clicked to enter the editing frame, and you use only
the computer keyboard without the numeric keypad, isn't quite possible
in Sibelius. I do know that in Sibelius you can access any of the items
on the visible panel of the toolbar which resembles the numeric keypad
simply by pressing the appropriate key on the numeric keypad. But this
becomes a bit harder with a notebook, where you have to use the FN key
to access the numeric keypad. I don't think it's insurmountable but
will take some experimentation to find yourself a manageable workflow.
For some, playing with the Sibelius demo to the point where actual
workflow is accomplished and begins to feel comfortable may be too much
effort to put into a program they aren't likely to purchase. Just as
Sibelius users who may be interested in Finale will find the same level
of learning required to get comfortable enough to get a realistic feel
for the program to be more than they want.
Just remember that you won't have a fair opinion of Sibelius, just as
Sibelius users trying Finale won't have a fair opinion of Finale, and
try to keep an open mind based on the many users each program has and
the output from each program, much of which is ending up in professional
publications.
I know I have been guilty of expressing such poor opinions of Sibelius
(which were undeserved at the time I expressed them, and are becoming
ever less deserved as the program improves significantly with each
release) and I also realize many Sibelius users have been equally guilty
of expressing poor opinions of Finale which were (and remain) undeserved.
They are two different programs which require different approaches to
getting the notation into the computer and onto paper. The best
comparison between the data-entry processes between the two programs is
that they're kinda similar but different. Different enough to require
relearning.
--
David H. Bailey
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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