On 7/3/2018 10:47 PM, Craig Parmerlee wrote:
[snip]> Similarly, most of the appearance-related things are controlled
by rules
(aka preferences). They are extraordinarily numerous. I think Dorico
has broken new ground in organizing vast numbers of options. Practically
all of the options are displayed in panels that have useful graphical
representations of what the option does. And here's a key point that
may not immediately be apparent. These preferences windows are
"MODELESS". That is a technical term that simply means you can leave
the options window open while you are editing your score. Let's say you
have two or three monitors. You can open some preferences on your
secondary monitor while the score is open on your primary monitor. You
can make changes in the options and observe how this changes the look of
the score instantly. This is one of those points of elegance that gives
a real feeling of empowerment while using the program.
[snip]
Craig is spot-on in his assessment that Dorico has broken new ground in
the vast number of options it allows the user to set and tweak while in
the middle of doing other things. This gives the user an amazing amount
of control over how the program works and how the output and on-screen
presentation appear.
In fact the vast number of user-adjustable options can be very daunting
to a new user. Fortunately the defaults that Dorico installs with are
very good and for many users they may never need changing. But for the
critical engraver working on projects for publication, sometimes trying
to emulate exactly a printed arrangement, these options give the user
much greater control than either Finale or Sibelius give.
Craig uses the words "elegance" and "empowerment" and they are perfect
descriptions of what Dorico allows the user.
All these options are very nicely helped by daily visits to the Dorico
forum at steinberg.net. There are so many options that it can be hard
for a new user to wrap their head around just what options can be
adjusted and where in the program to find those settings. But reading
questions and answers posted by other users at the forum and by
experimentation with what is being discussed a new user can quickly
learn a lot.
In fact, visiting the forum may be a perfect spot to begin for a person
considering trying Dorico. Read through the questions and answers and
find out what a lot of users are already doing in Dorico and you might
learn things that get you considering to try Dorico or convince you it's
not going to be a good fit for you. And the free trial, coupled with
daily perusing of the forum, can be a perfect way to begin to get a feel
for the program. Remember, though, that just as with Finale and
Sibelius, a mere 30 days (unless you can devote several hours every day
to working with the program) will not be enough to fully learn all that
the program can offer you.
For me, using Dorico and Sibelius and Finale, I still find Sibelius the
best fit.
For many long-time Finale users who have their workflow mastered and who
can do all that they want there is no need to investigate Dorico (or
Sibelius).
Thanks again for starting this discussion, Craig!
One can hope that just as the appearance of Sibelius in the Windows/Mac
music engraving software arena helped jolt Finale out of complacency in
its development and forced it to try to match many of Sibelius's
developments, one can hope that the appearance and apparent early
success of Dorico will help both Sibelius and Finale to work harder on
development for new versions that will offer more value for future upgrades.
--
*****
David H. Bailey
[email protected]
http://www.davidbaileymusicstudio.com
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