Creating shape for tempo alteration

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michael graubart
Posts: 73
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 10:43 pm

Post by michael graubart » Mon Mar 24, 2014 9:16 pm

Finale 2012 c.r.13
Mac OSX 10.8.5 (Mountain Lion)

I tried to create a rallentando marking using a shape, but when, having clicked 'Playback', I got to the page where I should be able to select a link that would take me to the shape designer, I only saw 'Execute Shape — (a small pane for typing) — Select', and I could get no further. In the end I found a way of creating a rallentando with a small table of values, but not with a shape.

Is this a limitation in Finale 2012? Is the User Manual that one reaches through 'Help' meant for a different version of Finale? Or am I misunderstanding it?

I should be grateful for informationand/or help.
Michael Graubart.


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Peter Thomsen
Posts: 6601
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 6:47 pm
Finale Version: Finale v27.4
Operating System: Mac

Post by Peter Thomsen » Mon Mar 24, 2014 10:57 pm

Michael Graubart wrote:…I got to the page where I should be able to select a link that would take me to the shape designer, I only saw 'Execute Shape — (a small pane for typing) — Select', and I could get no further…
Perhaps there is something wrong with your copy of Finale 2012.

In my own copy of 2012 I get to the dialog box Executable Shape Designer…
where there is the button "Shape ID…"
ExecutableShapeDesigner.jpg
ExecutableShapeDesigner.jpg (32.84 KiB) Viewed 3226 times
which leads to the Shape Selection dialog box…
where I can click the button "Create…".
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996

michael graubart
Posts: 73
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 10:43 pm

Post by michael graubart » Tue Mar 25, 2014 7:47 pm

Yes, I can get there, too. But if I click 'Create' in the shape selection page, I get to the page for drawing lines (and curves, etc.) and not to the one with a grid for note values and degrees of alteration.
Michael Graubart.

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Peter Thomsen
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Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 6:47 pm
Finale Version: Finale v27.4
Operating System: Mac

Post by Peter Thomsen » Tue Mar 25, 2014 8:07 pm

Oops, I apologize.
Michael Graubart wrote:…I got to the page where I should be able to select a link that would take me to the shape designer…
When I read this, I thought that you could not at all get to the Shape Designer (= the page for drawing lines and curves &c.).
Michael Graubart wrote:Yes, I can get there, too. But if I click 'Create' in the shape selection page, I get to the page for drawing lines (and curves, etc.) and not to the one with a grid for note values and degrees of alteration.
Pardon my ignorance.
I am not familiar with "the one with a grid for note values and degrees of alteration".

In the executable shapes I have been using, I have only seen the "normal" Shape Designer (= without a grid).
Could you attach a screen shot of "the one with a grid for note values and degrees of alteration"?
What is its name?
Is it called Shape Designer, too?

Could you provide a path to the place in the online manual where it is described/explained/shown?
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996

michael graubart
Posts: 73
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 10:43 pm

Post by michael graubart » Tue Mar 25, 2014 8:30 pm

No need to apologize — I wasn't very clear.

Open Finale, go to 'Help' and choose 'User Manual'. Type rall. into the search box and then choose 'Define rall.marking for playback'. A bit of the way down the resulting page of instructions, there is a picture and explanation of the grid.

As far as I can see, a sloping line drawn in the Shape Designer without such a grid in order to define amount of tempo alteration and time elapsed cannot define a rallentando because the scale (in terms of, say, eight-notes per minute) is not defined.
Michael Graubart.

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Peter Thomsen
Posts: 6601
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 6:47 pm
Finale Version: Finale v27.4
Operating System: Mac

Post by Peter Thomsen » Wed Mar 26, 2014 6:41 am

Now I understand.

1) I could be wrong here, but in my experience a "sloping line drawn in the Shape Designer without such a grid in order to define amount of tempo alteration and time elapsed" can define a rallentando.
The actual scale is defined via the dialog box Executable Shape Designer.
The grid only makes the job easier, by giving a visual clue while drawing the graph.

2) I have never used that grid myself, but it can be toggled on via the Shape Designer menu.
Quoting the manual:
Choose Shape Designer menu > Rulers and Grid. The Rulers and Grid dialog box appears.
Click Eighth Notes, type 1, and click OK.
Choose Shape Designer menu > Show > Grid. The grid appears; each imaginary vertical gridline represents an eighth note’s duration; each horizontal line represents a tempo change of one beat per minute.
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996

michael graubart
Posts: 73
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 10:43 pm

Post by michael graubart » Thu Mar 27, 2014 11:51 pm

Thank you, Peter Thomson. I read that page in the User Manual and tried the instructions countless times before I posted my question. And each time I missed the 'Show> Grid' instruction. All's well now, and I am sorry I wasted your time.

I used Finale 2004 for years, and earlier versions before that, back to about 1995, but for some reason I still find Finale 2012 (which I have now had for a year or thereabouts) rather bewildering.
Michael Graubart.

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