FWIW, here is a list of suggestions I sent in today to Makemusic. I
post them here purely in the sense of if you think that any of them
would be a good idea, you might like to cut-and-paste them to Makemusic
as well.
Matthew
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Finale 2007 suggestions
Date: Sun, 07 Aug 2005 10:53:27 +1000
From: Matthew Hindson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: MacSupport <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Dear Makemusic support,
In spite of me not owning Finale 2006 yet, I thought it might be good to
make a few suggestions for the next version of the application. These
suggestions I feel would enhance the ease of use of Finale for both
experienced and new users.
(I am a composer with a lot of experience in Finale since 1993 and would
be considered a power user. However I also teach at the University of
Sydney and so have experience in the sorts of issues experienced by new
and inexperienced users).
GENERAL
* Resizeable dialog boxes, especially for articulations and expressions,
I would consider to be very desirable. Especially on the Mac platform
where the number of items displayed is small, and scrolling is almost
always required - quite inefficient and annoying.
* Option/Control copying of musical elements a la Sibelius - how good
would this be for things like hairpin markings, custom smart-shapes and
note-attached expressions!
* Automatic collision avoidance between almost all musical elements is a
very desirable feature. In the vast majority of cases, beautiful score
appearance can be achieved through ensuring that collisions do not
occur. (There are of course certain situations in which such collisions
are necessary). If such a feature was included, it would improve the
ability of new users to achieve a visually pleasing end product.
Such collision avoidance should include the vertical dimension - so that
staves would move up or down to avoid material from adjoining staves.
SMART SHAPES
* There needs to be a box as a smart shape on the palette. Of course
this is currently possible with Shape Expressions but it's such a
commonly used feature these days. Also the ability to have hairpins,
slurs or any other shape as programmable custom Smart Shapes (i.e. not
just lines as is currently the case) would be very helpful in cases such
as a crescendo sign with the word "molto" associated.
* The ability to allocate staff lists to Smart Shapes would be
fantastic. For example, the flexibility of smart shapes is wonderful
with their resizing capabilities for items like |<---10"--->| markings.
But having to copy them into each staff before part production is
tiresome.
* The metatool keystrokes for smart shapes should be placed upon the
individual icon, to help us remember them (and also so that new users
are more aware of them).
* It would be great if a new automated system of piano pedalling could
be implemented: the basic Pedal-Down/Pedal-Up line could be inserted,
and then by something like double-clicking on this line, the ^ marking
could be inserted in this place. This would be a very powerful feature
that would save a lot of time and frustration.
FILE INFO, SETUP WIZARD
* More transparent use of House styles a la Sibelius would be helpful
and useful. It would not only demonstrate the power of Finale, but be a
much more user-friendly and unified way to transform the appearance of a
document.
* More fields in the File Info section, completeable via the Setup
Wizard - this would be very useful when combined with the Text Insert
feature. Also if there were a user-defined "Default Value" for each of
these items, which would help to achieve consistency between documents.
* The facility to add your own default files to the Setup Wizard. Also
if there were a greater range of default files produced - perhaps
equating to a different range of house styles?
* The ability to Copy/Paste Text Blocks between documents, including
their placement and page allocation would be extremely handy. I find it
frustrating that this isn't currently available, and that the whole
process needs to be completed manually.
TIME SIGNATURE TOOL
* Perhaps the time signature tool could be redesigned so it's more like
the dialog boxes for the Expression and Articulation tools - more
consistent across the application. Predefined time sigs like 6/8 would
be correctly set up, avoiding the dreaded beaming-in-quavers from
young/inexperienced users. The existing dialog box could be used for a
"Create" function. (I'm aware that this functionality is currently
available through the right-mouse click, but new users may not think of
this).
* A 'simplify' button in the existing time signature tool which would
automatically rewrite 3+2+2+2/8 as 7/8, without having to do the extra
steps currently required.
* A "zero time signature" option for bars in which the music will
automatically expand or contract, and be spaced correctly, without there
having to be a time signature in there at all. This would be fabulous
for cadenzas.
* A "Calculate Time Signature" function, wherein we could just input the
music, and the time signature changes would be automatically calculated
and inserted (much like Jari Williamsson's previously existing plugin).
* An easier way to create non-standard time signatures, such as Orff
style, or time signatures such as 5/12 or 4/10. Perhaps the bottom
number could be a graphic or the like? Or the "Create a Different Time
Signature for Display" would be able to accept anything that is typed in.
BARS, REHEARSAL SYMBOLS
* Sometimes it is necessary to have a bar at a certain width and the
material within it manually adjusted. It would be good to be able to
"lock" this bar width, so that it cannot be (inadvertently) respaced
without unlocking it first.
* Intelligent, automatically-updating rehearsal symbols, perhaps set up
via the Measure Tool. This would be very handy after material has been
edited, if the rehearsal letters could be automatically correctly in the
same way as bar numbers.
EXPRESSIONS
* Text styles, such as currently found in Word, Pagemaker, Indesign etc.
This could ensure a greater level of consistency between documents.
It could have the functionality of the different text styles in Sibelius
without their constricting nature of placement etc.
* Perhaps there could also be Expression Placement Styles as well. e.g.
have a drop down list with for example, "Centred Under Staff", which
would automatically complete the relevant settings. Much like the way
that Staff Lists currently work.
* Note values and dynamics as text inserts, rather than having to go in
and change the font and size etc. Sibelius does this incredibly well.
It's a hassle having to go through the rigamarole as is currently the
case. The "Text Insert" feature of course is currently in the text
menu, so why not expand it?
* A simple clickable option for Opaque Background when designing Text
Expressions, rather than having to go into the Enclosure section and
muck around there, would be a more straightforward way of achieving this
visually pleasing effect (for example, avoiding a collision between a
word and a between-staff barline).
* It would be nice if there were a greater range of text expressions
loaded into the document, perhaps linked to the instrument selection
from the Setup Wizard. For example, if there are string instruments in
the document, then a library including markings such as pizz., arco, col
legno, sul pont, con sord., sul A, etc. etc. could be loaded. It would
just save having to create them all manually, and would be much easier
and less time-consuming for inexperienced users.
MASS MOVER
* The ability to select non-continguous portions of the score for a Mass
Mover operation would be great for such actions as applying
transpositions to different parts of the score.
* A "Repeat Last Action" command would also help with this: rather than
having to go to the Mass Edit menu again and enter the same details etc.
* More transposition metatools for the Mass Edit tool would expand upon
this excellent feature. Perhaps the metatools could be initially mapped
to the equivalent keystrokes in the Simple Entry tool?
STAFF TOOL
* Staves should default to being "optimized", i.e. movable via the
bottom handle, rather than having to go in and do it all manually.
Staves should be able to be individually hidden via right clicking the
bottom handle in the Staff Tool. Currently it's a bit more of a
complicated process having to explain how to just move one staff than is
perhaps necessary.
* Optimization should be placed into the Staff tool rather than (as well
as?) the Page Layout Tool, as it affects individual staves, and it's
annoying to have to change between tools to do this.
* Automatic vertical justification of staves, i.e. having the option of
having staves respaced within a system to automatically fill a page,
taking any existing distances into account.
MISCELLANEOUS
* Automatically updated parts from a score would be an extremely good
feature to have.
* The Non-Standard Key Signature dialog box remains as inscrutable as
ever - perhaps this could be better integrated into the Key Signature
dialog box? Also, perhaps if it could just be a process of dragging the
relevant accidentals to where they are required, and letting the
application itself work out the relevant numerical settings, it would be
much easier to use.
* A more automatic installation of different pagesizes.txt file
depending on where you are. Non-US/Canada users should have the
standard Page Size in the Setup Wizard default to A4, not US Letter, as
we don't have that page size here. This will solve a common problem of
new/inexperienced users trying to work out why the bottom of their pages
have been cut off when printing, and should be integrated into Notepad
as well. (I know you can edit pagesizes.txt yourself, but new users
won't want or know to do this).
Thanks for taking the time to consider these suggestions,
Matthew Hindson
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