[Finale] Finale 2011 Review

2010-06-04 Thread Jari Williamsson

Hello!

I've posted a Finale 2011 Review (with a few usage tips as well) on the 
Finale productivity tips site:

http://www.finaletips.nu

Enjoy!

Best regards,

Jari Williamsson
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Re:[Finale] Finale 2011 Review

2010-06-04 Thread Ray Horton

Thanks, Jari!


Excellent review.  Good explanation of staff changes. I'll return to 
your review when Fin2011 arrives. 



Thanks for posting!


Raymond Horton




Jari Williamsson wrote:

Hello!

I've posted a Finale 2011 Review (with a few usage tips as well) on 
the Finale productivity tips site:

http://www.finaletips.nu

Enjoy!

Best regards,

Jari Williamsson
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Re: [Finale] Finale 2011 Review

2010-06-04 Thread Dennis Bathory-Kitsz
On Fri, June 4, 2010 12:02 pm, Jari Williamsson wrote:
 I've posted a Finale 2011 Review (with a few usage tips as well) on the
 Finale productivity tips site:
 http://www.finaletips.nu

Biggest question not answered: Is it worth getting? For new music, that is.

I installed 2010 but only used it once (didn't get my money's worth there,
that's for sure) -- still using 2007.

Dennis


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Re: [Finale] Finale 2011 Review

2010-06-04 Thread David W. Fenton
I find it interesting that the description of the Mult-user feature 
sounds like MakeMusic may have gotten it WRONG.

Vista/Win7 have a major departure for where application-specific data 
(as opposed to user-specific data) is to be stored. To understand 
that, you have to distinguish 3 types of files:

1. application files -- not data, are read-only. Same data used by 
everyone.

2. application configuration files -- data, but for storing data that 
the app uses when it runs. Needs to be stored per user, since 
different users have different app configurations. Read/write for the 
user.

3. user data files -- data that belongs to a user, and is the data 
files for the application. Read/write for the user.

Before Vista/Win7, #1 was stored in C:\Program Files and the other 
two were stored in the user profile. Under the user profile there 
were two filders, Application Data and Local Settings, the purpose of 
which were not always clear, and that were used differently by 
different application developers. To further confuse things, under 
Local Settings, there's an Application Data folder.

These folders were actually original an effort to separate out 
different kinds of data used by the applications, but the guidelines 
for it were never quite clear, and a lot of developers got this 
wrong.

Add to this the fact that way too many standalone Windows users were 
running in an administrative logon, and it was possible to get away 
with putting all the read/write data in the application folder (by 
default, C:\Program Files), which for regular user-level logons is 
read-only (and has been since Windows 2000, released in 1999). In 
fact, major software suppliers like Intuit have been writing their 
flagship applications based on the assumption of write access to 
C:\Program Files such that any user trying to run with user-level 
permissions only will have problems (QuickBooks requires at least 
Power User permissions, for instance).

Vista changed that with User Access Control (UAC).

UAC works kind of like most other OS's by running all apps by default 
with a user-level security token, and asking the user for permission 
when the app wants to do something that requires more than user-level 
permission. Vista's implementation of UAC was very noisy, i.e., it 
asked for way too many approvals and caused many people to turn it 
off (so you'd be running with a security token that was equivalent to 
the highest-level security group the user logon was a member of). 
Win7 has fixed most of that by being much more sensible about what it 
prompts about.

Now, in addition to UAC, MS revised the permissions on the 
application data folders under the user profile. Before Vista, those 
folders were all read/write for users (since they were in the user's 
profile), but with Vista, this was changed so that AppData was read-
only for users. 

Vista/Win7 added another wrinkle by reorganizing data. To quote MS's 
documentation (http://tinyurl.com/yccs3c = 
http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/b/a/3ba6d659-6e39-4cd7-b3a2-
9c96482f5353/Managing%20Roaming%20User%20Data%20Deployment%20Guide.doc
):

 Windows Vista also has changed the Application Data folder
 structure. Previous user profiles did not logically sort data
 stored in the Application Data folder, making it difficult to
 distinguish data that belonged to the machine from data belonging
 to the user. Windows Vista addresses this issue by creating a
 single AppData folder under the user profile. The AppData folder
 contains three subfolders: Roaming, Local, and LocalLow. 

 Windows uses the Local and LocalLow folders for application data
 that does not roam with the user. Usually this data is either
 machine specific or too large to roam. The AppData\Local folder in
 Windows Vista is the same as the Documents and
 Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data folder in Windows
 XP. 

 Windows uses the Roaming folder for application specific data, such
 as custom dictionaries, which are machine independent and should
 roam with the user profile. The AppData\Roaming folder in Windows
 Vista is the same as the Documents and
 Settings\username\Application Data folder in Windows XP. 

(this explanation also clarifies the distinction between \Application 
Data\ and \Local Settings\Application Data\)

Thus, the fact that Jari reports that Finale has been changed to 
store Finale-specific settings in \Application Data\MakeMusic\ shows 
that either Jari is mistaken, or that MakeMusic has not fully 
absorbed the implications of Vista/Win7.

Of course, it could be that what Jari reports is just shorthand, and 
that's the 
location for the data on WinXP and earlier, and it's stored in the 
appropriate location on Vista/Win7, but I worry that there's no 
apparent distinction between the two types of application-specific 
data (i.e., specific to computer vs. specific to user). This may be 
because Finale 

Re: [Finale] Finale 2011 Review

2010-06-04 Thread Barbara Touburg

Jari Williamsson wrote:

Hello!

I've posted a Finale 2011 Review (with a few usage tips as well) on the 
Finale productivity tips site:

http://www.finaletips.nu

Enjoy!

Best regards,

Jari Williamsson


Thanks for the review, Jari, but isn't there any criticism at all??

Barbara
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Re: [Finale] Finale 2011 Review

2010-06-04 Thread Aaron Sherber

On 6/4/2010 1:14 PM, David W. Fenton wrote:

Thus, the fact that Jari reports that Finale has been changed to
store Finale-specific settings in \Application Data\MakeMusic\ shows
that either Jari is mistaken, or that MakeMusic has not fully
absorbed the implications of Vista/Win7.


Most likely, it shows that Jari is running WinXP, as his screen shots 
indicate.


Aaron.
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Re: [Finale] Digital piano/master controller recommendations?

2010-06-04 Thread Darcy James Argue
For the curious:

I went with this bundle:

http://www.kraftmusic.com/catalog/keyboards/88keykeyboards/index.asp?product=5220

The only difference is that the Tascam VLA4's are discontinued, so they offered 
me an upgrade to the M-Audio BX5a's for an additional $75. (This is a steal -- 
those monitors normally go for $240/pair, and they sound great.)

In my experience, Yamaha digital pianos still have the best action of any 
digital piano. The CP33 doesn't have the wooden keys found on the latest CP 
series instruments, but I've tried the CP3's graded hammer action on other 
keyboards and it's not bad. It's got a bit of heft to it, which I much prefer 
to Roland's excessively light action. Yamaha's expertise making real pianos is 
obviously a huge benefit here.

While it obviously falls short of the big software sample libraries, I'm 
actually reasonably impressed with the built-in piano sounds on the CP33. I'll 
probably make do with the built-in sounds for now, at least until I can afford 
Garritan's Steinway or Synthology's Ivory. And the convenience of being able to 
turn on the keyboard and play immediately, without having to futz around with 
computer software (and without having to worry about latency) is a great 
benefit.

The instrument is still in transit so who knows what my impressions will be 
once I actually get hold of the thing, but this seemed like too good of a deal 
to pass up.

Cheers,

- DJA
-
WEB: http://www.secretsocietymusic.org

On 3 Jun 2010, at 12:21 PM, Darcy James Argue wrote:

 Hey all,
 
 I think it is finally time to replace my Yamaha P300 digital piano, which is 
 almost 16 years old now and is beginning to show its age -- several keys have 
 become unresponsive, and the instrument has suddenly developed a noticeable 
 warble on every patch. (A full factory reset did not solve the problem.) 
 
 I'm thinking of going with a master keyboard controller plus software 
 instrument -- most likely the Pro version of the Garritan Steinway, which 
 sounds head and shoulders above everything else I've heard (based on the 
 available online samples, at least). But I'm open to alternatives if anyone 
 has suggestions.
 
 Where I'm most in need of advice is with regard to the keyboard controller -- 
 I'm looking for a nice, authentically piano-like weighted action. Don't need 
 any onboard sounds. Don't want to break the bank. I'm hoping to get a 
 complete package (including a pair of studio monitors I can place on top of 
 the keyboard) for under $1000 (and the Garritan software is $400).
 
 Cheers,
 
 - DJA
 -
 WEB: http://www.secretsocietymusic.org
 
 
 
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Re: [Finale] Finale 2011 Review

2010-06-04 Thread Florence + Michael
For new music? If you do a lot of music with lyrics, I'd say get it. It is 
much, much easier and faster to get good lyric spacing with the new version. 
For me, the upgrade is worth it for this improvement alone.

Apart from that, the improvements in the way staff spacing is handled are very 
welcome, even if they may not be quite so important for a seasoned user. For 
new users, these changes should make staff spacing easier and more intuitive: 
they will never have to learn the process of optimization. I find it very 
useful that now you see all the music moving in real time with a staff when you 
move it up or down.

Michael


On 4 Jun 2010, at 19:02, Dennis Bathory-Kitsz wrote:

 On Fri, June 4, 2010 12:02 pm, Jari Williamsson wrote:
 I've posted a Finale 2011 Review (with a few usage tips as well) on the
 Finale productivity tips site:
 http://www.finaletips.nu
 
 Biggest question not answered: Is it worth getting? For new music, that is.
 
 I installed 2010 but only used it once (didn't get my money's worth there,
 that's for sure) -- still using 2007.
 
 Dennis
 
 
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Re: [Finale] Finale 2011 Review

2010-06-04 Thread David W. Fenton
On 4 Jun 2010 at 13:35, Aaron Sherber wrote:

 On 6/4/2010 1:14 PM, David W. Fenton wrote:
  Thus, the fact that Jari reports that Finale has been changed to
  store Finale-specific settings in \Application Data\MakeMusic\ shows
  that either Jari is mistaken, or that MakeMusic has not fully
  absorbed the implications of Vista/Win7.
 
 Most likely, it shows that Jari is running WinXP, as his screen shots
 indicate.

But the point is that even then, it's not a fully correct 
implementation, as some of that application-specific data belongs in 
\Local Settings\Application Data\ even on WinXP (and Win2003 Server 
and Win2000).

-- 
David W. Fentonhttp://dfenton.com
David Fenton Associates   http://dfenton.com/DFA/

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RE: [Finale] Finale 2011 Review

2010-06-04 Thread Phillips, Justin
Hi David,

Just to clarify, Finale 2011 stores application specific information to the 
following folder on Win Vista/7:

C:\ProgramData\MakeMusic\Finale 2011

Anything that is user editable, Finale will write to the user's roaming folder:

C:\Users\your user name\AppData\Roaming\MakeMusic\Finale 2011


Justin Phillips
Notation Product Specialist
MakeMusic, Inc.
7615 Golden Triangle Drive, Suite M
Eden Prairie, MN 55344-3848 
Direct: (952) 818-3819
Sales: (800) 843-2066 
Technical Support: (952) 937-9703
Fax: (952) 937-9760


-Original Message-
From: finale-boun...@shsu.edu [mailto:finale-boun...@shsu.edu] On Behalf Of 
David W. Fenton
Sent: Friday, June 04, 2010 12:14 PM
To: finale@shsu.edu
Subject: Re: [Finale] Finale 2011 Review

I find it interesting that the description of the Mult-user feature 
sounds like MakeMusic may have gotten it WRONG.

Vista/Win7 have a major departure for where application-specific data 
(as opposed to user-specific data) is to be stored. To understand 
that, you have to distinguish 3 types of files:

1. application files -- not data, are read-only. Same data used by 
everyone.

2. application configuration files -- data, but for storing data that 
the app uses when it runs. Needs to be stored per user, since 
different users have different app configurations. Read/write for the 
user.

3. user data files -- data that belongs to a user, and is the data 
files for the application. Read/write for the user.

Before Vista/Win7, #1 was stored in C:\Program Files and the other 
two were stored in the user profile. Under the user profile there 
were two filders, Application Data and Local Settings, the purpose of 
which were not always clear, and that were used differently by 
different application developers. To further confuse things, under 
Local Settings, there's an Application Data folder.

These folders were actually original an effort to separate out 
different kinds of data used by the applications, but the guidelines 
for it were never quite clear, and a lot of developers got this 
wrong.

Add to this the fact that way too many standalone Windows users were 
running in an administrative logon, and it was possible to get away 
with putting all the read/write data in the application folder (by 
default, C:\Program Files), which for regular user-level logons is 
read-only (and has been since Windows 2000, released in 1999). In 
fact, major software suppliers like Intuit have been writing their 
flagship applications based on the assumption of write access to 
C:\Program Files such that any user trying to run with user-level 
permissions only will have problems (QuickBooks requires at least 
Power User permissions, for instance).

Vista changed that with User Access Control (UAC).

UAC works kind of like most other OS's by running all apps by default 
with a user-level security token, and asking the user for permission 
when the app wants to do something that requires more than user-level 
permission. Vista's implementation of UAC was very noisy, i.e., it 
asked for way too many approvals and caused many people to turn it 
off (so you'd be running with a security token that was equivalent to 
the highest-level security group the user logon was a member of). 
Win7 has fixed most of that by being much more sensible about what it 
prompts about.

Now, in addition to UAC, MS revised the permissions on the 
application data folders under the user profile. Before Vista, those 
folders were all read/write for users (since they were in the user's 
profile), but with Vista, this was changed so that AppData was read-
only for users. 

Vista/Win7 added another wrinkle by reorganizing data. To quote MS's 
documentation (http://tinyurl.com/yccs3c = 
http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/b/a/3ba6d659-6e39-4cd7-b3a2-
9c96482f5353/Managing%20Roaming%20User%20Data%20Deployment%20Guide.doc
):

 Windows Vista also has changed the Application Data folder
 structure. Previous user profiles did not logically sort data
 stored in the Application Data folder, making it difficult to
 distinguish data that belonged to the machine from data belonging
 to the user. Windows Vista addresses this issue by creating a
 single AppData folder under the user profile. The AppData folder
 contains three subfolders: Roaming, Local, and LocalLow. 

 Windows uses the Local and LocalLow folders for application data
 that does not roam with the user. Usually this data is either
 machine specific or too large to roam. The AppData\Local folder in
 Windows Vista is the same as the Documents and
 Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data folder in Windows
 XP. 

 Windows uses the Roaming folder for application specific data, such
 as custom dictionaries, which are machine independent and should
 roam with the user profile. The AppData\Roaming folder in Windows
 Vista is the same as the Documents and
 Settings\username\Application 

Re: [Finale] Digital piano/master controller recommendations?

2010-06-04 Thread Bob Morabito

NICE-Good luck with your new setup:)

PS I must be honest.I have NO discernible latency-- but yes turning  
it on is flipping.the controller, and a drive on plus the computer  
software--sequencer or standalone.

On Jun 4, 2010, at 1:49 PM, Darcy James Argue wrote:

And the convenience of being able to turn on the keyboard and play  
immediately, without having to futz around with computer software  
(and without having to worry about latency) is a great benefit.


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Re: [Finale] Finale 2011 Review

2010-06-04 Thread David W. Fenton
On 4 Jun 2010 at 13:04, Phillips, Justin wrote:

 Just to clarify, Finale 2011 stores application specific information
 to the following folder on Win Vista/7:
 
 C:\ProgramData\MakeMusic\Finale 2011
 
 Anything that is user editable, Finale will write to the user's
 roaming folder:
 
 C:\Users\your user name\AppData\Roaming\MakeMusic\Finale 2011

If that is actually correct, then it's not 100% correct.

However, I'm not clear on your terminology, as you aren't maintaining 
the same distinctions between read-only application files, user-
specific application configuration data, PC-specific application 
configuration data, and user data. The only thing that should be in 
the Roaming folder is the user-specific application configuration 
data.

Have you checked the other folders under AppData (Local and 
LocalLow)?

-- 
David W. Fentonhttp://dfenton.com
David Fenton Associates   http://dfenton.com/DFA/

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Re: [Finale] Finale 2011 Review

2010-06-04 Thread Christopher Smith

Jari,

Fantastic! You did a great job, as usual.

I left a comment on the site, the gist of it being that a list of bug  
fixes would be appreciated, being very important to some of us.  
MakeMusic doesn't even publicise complete lists (they leave off many  
important ones), which I don't understand since they would be such  
obvious selling points. That's my only negative; everything else is  
great!


Christopher


On Fri Jun 4, at FridayJun 4 12:02 PM, Jari Williamsson wrote:


Hello!

I've posted a Finale 2011 Review (with a few usage tips as well) on  
the Finale productivity tips site:

http://www.finaletips.nu

Enjoy!

Best regards,

Jari Williamsson
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RE: [Finale] Finale 2011 Review

2010-06-04 Thread Phillips, Justin
Hi David,

Here is the link to the 2011 manual's listing of file locations:

http://www.finalemusic.com/UserManuals/Finale2011Win/Content/Finale/FinaleInstallationDetails.htm

Justin Phillips
Notation Product Specialist
MakeMusic, Inc.
7615 Golden Triangle Drive, Suite M
Eden Prairie, MN 55344-3848 
Direct: (952) 818-3819
Sales: (800) 843-2066 
Technical Support: (952) 937-9703
Fax: (952) 937-9760


-Original Message-
From: finale-boun...@shsu.edu [mailto:finale-boun...@shsu.edu] On Behalf Of 
David W. Fenton
Sent: Friday, June 04, 2010 1:27 PM
To: finale@shsu.edu
Subject: Re: [Finale] Finale 2011 Review

On 4 Jun 2010 at 13:04, Phillips, Justin wrote:

 Just to clarify, Finale 2011 stores application specific information
 to the following folder on Win Vista/7:
 
 C:\ProgramData\MakeMusic\Finale 2011
 
 Anything that is user editable, Finale will write to the user's
 roaming folder:
 
 C:\Users\your user name\AppData\Roaming\MakeMusic\Finale 2011

If that is actually correct, then it's not 100% correct.

However, I'm not clear on your terminology, as you aren't maintaining 
the same distinctions between read-only application files, user-
specific application configuration data, PC-specific application 
configuration data, and user data. The only thing that should be in 
the Roaming folder is the user-specific application configuration 
data.

Have you checked the other folders under AppData (Local and 
LocalLow)?

-- 
David W. Fentonhttp://dfenton.com
David Fenton Associates   http://dfenton.com/DFA/

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Re: [Finale] Finale 2011 Review

2010-06-04 Thread David W. Fenton
On 4 Jun 2010 at 13:39, Phillips, Justin wrote:

 Here is the link to the 2011 manual's listing of file locations:
 
 http://www.finalemusic.com/UserManuals/Finale2011Win/Content/Finale/Fi
 naleInstallationDetails.htm

All appears to be correctly implemented, though it doesn't account 
for the distinction between roaming and non-roaming data, it seems. I 
assume that's because there's an assumption that Finale is not likely 
to be installed in an environment with roaming profiles?

-- 
David W. Fentonhttp://dfenton.com
David Fenton Associates   http://dfenton.com/DFA/

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Re: [Finale] Finale 2011 Review

2010-06-04 Thread Mark D Lew
Glancing through Jari's review, what catches my attention is the modification 
of the Staff Usage dialog box, since I use that dialog routinely (which I 
gather most users don't).

Showing the staff label instead of just the number is nice. I also can see why 
they've altered the input so that you enter the difference between the staff's 
position and the previous staff's position. That way if you need to add space 
between the top two staves, it automatically bumps the rest down by the same 
amount. Most of my music is piano-vocal, so I've only got three staves anyway, 
but I can see how it would save even more time in a full score.

What I very much DON'T like, if I'm reading the dialog box illustration on 
Jari's page correctly, is that the distance from the top staff now is not 
displayed at all. Even if the input is for distance between systems, can't they 
still display the total distance somewhere in the window so I still have it as 
reference? This is a downgrade for me because I use that number. As I've 
mentioned, I edit Staff Usage for pretty much every system in every piece I do 
(and if I don't edit, it's because I've made a conscious decision to leave it 
where it is, in which case I still know the position). Seeing the distance of 
the bottom staff in each system tells me how much vertical space I'm using up 
within the systems, so I know how much space I have remaining to fill in 
between systems. Without that number, I've got to add the two staff-to-staff 
numbers. My standard work is piano-vocal with four systems on a page, so that's 
the difference between four numbers and eight numbers, which is pretty much the 
difference between keeping track in my head or breaking out the calculator for 
every page.

This is one more in a long line of changes that make the program more 
user-friendly for most users but less convenient for detail-oriented 
control-freaks like me.  In the larger scheme of things it’s pretty minor, but 
it seems so unnecessary. For one thing, if anything ought to be tailored to 
users like me, surely it’s this dialog box. I use it all the time, but when it 
came up on the list a few weeks ago I got the impression many users didn’t even 
know it exists. I figure the rest of you just drag your staves around anyway, 
right? More important, I’m not even objecting to the basic UI changes. I think 
those are fine. I’m just mad that they have removed useful information. Why 
can’t they update the UI and leave the information still there for those of us 
who make use of it? Is it really that important to make the window look less 
cluttered for everyone else?

I don’t expect to upgrade to v2001 anyway, but I’m curious. Where else do you 
go when you want to see exactly how tall a system is?  I’m used to finding this 
in Staff Usage for the bottom staff because that's a familiar dialog box for 
me. Is it displayed somewhere else that I’m not thinking of?

mdl

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Re: [Finale] Finale 2011 Review

2010-06-04 Thread David W. Fenton
On 4 Jun 2010 at 12:23, Mark D Lew wrote:

 This is one more in a long line of changes that make the program more
 user-friendly for most users but less convenient for detail-oriented
 control-freaks like me.

For me, personally, that change is a huge help. I NEVER need to know 
the distance from the top staff (though the way you describe your 
usage of it, I might well have been better off paying attention to 
it).

I don't drag staves -- I manually calculate the distance from the top 
staff for each stave. Well, to be more specific, I drag to a general 
location, then fix the spacing by calculating. For instance, I 
started a new score last night, 2 sopranos, 5 viols, and a 2-staff 
basso continuo. I actually started this one by copying an existing 
score, but if I were creating it from scratch, I'd set things by eye, 
then use manual calculations to figure the proper distance between 
the viol staves (which should all be equal). To do that, I'd set the 
top staff by eye, then the bottom staff by eye, then figure out what 
the distance should be between the intervening staves.

Even the new system doesn't really change this, it just makes the 
calculations easier.

There really ought to be a feature where you select a number of 
contiguous staves and tell Finale to space them evenly vertically. Or 
maybe a setting for a staff group, where you could set the inter-
group spacing, so you could change that one number and change the 
whole group at once.

These are the things that I think would make things a lot easier, 
whereas the change you are complaining about is really quite 
incremental. It makes the older task somewhat easier for most of us, 
but it's still the WRONG task!

I also don't see why one shouldn't have the option to display either 
the between-staff distance or the distance from the top staff. It 
could default to the new setting. Being able to flip back and forth 
between the two measurements would be quite useful, I'd think.

-- 
David W. Fentonhttp://dfenton.com
David Fenton Associates   http://dfenton.com/DFA/

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Re: [Finale] Finale 2011 Review

2010-06-04 Thread Jari Williamsson

Barbara Touburg wrote:


Thanks for the review, Jari, but isn't there any criticism at all??


The points I make in the review are:
* The distances that displays at staff dragging doesn't go the full way 
implementation-wise.


* To not be able to get mid-system brackets easily seems wrong and 
illogical to me with the new design.


* The auto-capo implementation doesn't go deep enough for some needs.


Best regards,

Jari Williamsson
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Re: [Finale] Finale 2011 Review

2010-06-04 Thread Mark D Lew
David W. Fenton wrote:

I also don't see why one shouldn't have the option to display either 
the between-staff distance or the distance from the top staff. It 
could default to the new setting. Being able to flip back and forth 
between the two measurements would be quite useful, I'd think.

I don't mind *entering* the distance between staves. That actually makes sense 
to me.  I just want the distance from the top to still appear.  So for example 
if I'm in a piano vocal score and my RH staff is at -72pts and my LH staff is 
at -132pts (I'm used to points as my default unit, which are actually 75% 
points because of system reduction) and say I want to add two spaces of room 
between piano staves. I would select the LH staff, it would show 60pts as the 
distance that I can change, and -132 would appear somewhere as distance from 
top. I can enter 72 in place of the 60 and the -132 would update to -144. I 
would be completely happy with that.

There really ought to be a feature where you select a number of 
contiguous staves and tell Finale to space them evenly vertically.

I was under the impression that this function exists. Perhaps it was introduced 
since your latest upgrade? Or maybe I'm just remembering wrong. Most of my work 
is piano-vocal so I haven't had need for it since my own upgrade.

mdl
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Re: [Finale] Finale 2011 Review

2010-06-04 Thread Jari Williamsson

Mark D Lew wrote:


What I very much DON'T like, if I'm reading the
dialog box illustration on Jari's page correctly, is
that the distance from the top staff now is not displayed at all. 
Even if the input is for distance between systems, can't they 
still display the total distance somewhere in the window so

 I still have it as reference?

I suggest you contact MakeMusic (even if you don't upgrade to Fin2011) 
and ask that they should keep the old way as well. Or display the 
distance as text as you suggested.


They might expand the dialog box in a maintenance release, since staff 
layout is one of the focuses on Finale 2011. After all, it's just a 
dialog box change and it doesn't affect the file format.



Best regards,

Jari Williamsson
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Re: [Finale] Finale 2011 Review

2010-06-04 Thread Mark D Lew
I suggest you contact MakeMusic (even if you don't upgrade to Fin2011) 
and ask that they should keep the old way as well. Or display the 
distance as text as you suggested.

Yeah, I'll add it to my list.

For so many years I was so far behind on upgrading it seemed almost meaningless 
to make feature requests. Now that I'm in v2010 I'm at least pretty close, so 
I'm hoping to compile a list to send in.

I have other much higher priorities than this one, of course, but if it's an 
easy fix then that's great.

mdl
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Re: [Finale] Finale 2011 Review

2010-06-04 Thread John Howell

At 4:01 PM -0400 6/4/10, David W. Fenton wrote:

There really ought to be a feature where you select a number of
contiguous staves and tell Finale to space them evenly vertically.


Composer's Mosaic had this capability back in about 1992, so it can't 
be that difficult to program.  And it helped made page layout, which 
was NOT automatic, quick and easy.  Of course there was a lot that 
Mosaic did NOT have, too.


John


--
John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music
Virginia Tech Department of Music
College of Liberal Arts  Human Sciences
Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240
Vox (540) 231-8411  Fax (540) 231-5034
(mailto:john.how...@vt.edu)
http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html

We never play anything the same way once.  Shelly Manne's definition
of jazz musicians.
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