Steve Schow wrote:
let me just say that if you or someone like you wrote a book on how to become a Finale power user
There already is a book, called Finale Power!, by Mark Johnson. It includes information about plugins, although it is not up to date. The problem with any computer book is that it is out of date in 1 year. But Johnson's book might be a good starting point. (I haven't actually read it myself, but I gave permission for him to distribute a trial version of my plugins with it.)
Furthermore, I can't say I even know the most efficient ways to use Finale these days. For a new user, Simple Note is probably the way to go, but I'm still using trusty old Speedy because it is the devil I know. Tom Carrathers demo'd some pretty cool UI features of Simple that I had no idea were there.
The way to become more productive is to constantly address the most repetitive, tedious task you perform. Are you scrolling your mouse too much? Create a keyboard macro to replace the mouse movement. Are you constantly performing the same edits over and over? Look for a plugin that automatically performs those edits. Are you strapped for screen real estate? Get a bigger monitor. Are you still strapped for real estate? Hook up two (or more). Is there an aggravating bug or missing feature? Nag MM until they address it. (Even now if your nag happens at precisely the right moment to the right person, you can sometimes get results, but it is a matter of mostly luck.) My level of productivity did not happen overnight. It happened iteratively as I addressed the next most acute pain point over and over. And I am in no mood to start over with a different program, no matter how frustrated I become with MM and Finale.
-- Robert Patterson http://RobertGPatterson.com _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
