Finale 25.3 Update

[zuill]

Has anyone tried the 25.3 update yet? Just thought I would get a report before updating myself. Mostly interested in Windows. Specifically, Windows 7.

Zuill

[N Grossingink]

Here is the release announcement:

http://www.finalemusic.com/blog/

The variable hairpin openings feature is a bit of a head scratcher for me. What purpose does this serve?

N.

[zuill]

I did read al that. What I meant was I wanted first hand knowledge from someone who has already installed the update on Windows 7 to see if it works as advertised. With all the issues I'm sorting out right now with MM about the JW plugins, I don't want to add another level of "beta testing".

Zuill

[gogreen]

Here's something else that needs to be fixed: Automatically Check for Updates.

[FergusMac]

Appears to work just fine.

[MikeHalloran]

Here's something else that needs to be fixed: Automatically Check for Updates.

Perhaps a Windows issue?

Appears to work just fine.

Yep, same here.

[MikeHalloran]

New in Finale Version 25.3 for Mac

Release highlights

Finder and Spotlight. Metadata has been improved and updated to 64-bit. This allows users to search by Title, Composer, Copyright, Description, Time Signature, Key Signature, Lyricist, Pages, Page Width, Page Height, Content Creator, Duration, Fonts, Default Music Font, Arranger, Subtitle, Staves, Parts, Instruments, and Tempo.
Crescendo and Decrescendo Openings. The opening width of short and long crescendo/decrescendo markings are now independent of each other and can be set in the Smart Shape Options dialog box.
MusicXML Preferences. Restrict MusicXML formatting has been added to the MusicXML Preferences dialog box. This option allows you to import a MusicXML file into a template without overriding formatting options within the Finale file.
Simple Entry Cursor. The Simple Entry cursor color reflects the currently selected layer.
SMuFL Symbols. If a SMuFL font is installed locally, SMuFL symbols are imported when a MusicXML import or export is performed.
Nonstandard Key Signatures. A Symbol button has been added to the Symbol List dialog box. This allows Unicode Musical Symbols to be used as accidentals in nonstandard key signature definitions by selecting them from the Symbol Selection dialog box.
MusicXML Export. MusicXML export supports nonstandard key signatures created with Unicode symbols.
Patterson Beams. Patterson Beams has been updated to respect Keep Octave Transposition in Concert Pitch.
Fixed defects

Characters

All characters display correctly in a file when opened between minor releases and cross platform.
Clef Designer dialog box

The Clef Designer dialog box accurately previews new character selections.
Characters above 127 can now be selected in the Clef Designer dialog box.
Document Options dialog box

When Cancel Outgoing Key Signature is deselected and In C, Display Naturals at Start of Staff System is selected in the Document Options - Key Signatures dialog box, Finale displays a canceled key signature when moving to a keyless section for all transposing and non-transposing instruments.
Fretboard Styles dialog box

Unicode characters can be used in the Fretboard Styles dialog box and are maintained through a MusicXML export and import.
Keyboard Shortcuts

Switching between open windows works automatically when using COMMAND+` (grave accent).
Patterson Plug-ins

Patterson plug-ins correctly close when pressing ESC.
Percussion MIDI Map Editor

Percussion MIDI Map Editor supports unicode in the MIDI map and custom note type names.
Printing

Finale printing can be accessed through Apple Script or by dragging a file to the printing queue.
Printing custom page sizes no longer crashes Finale.
When printing, the scaled size of the printed result adheres to the Scale value set in the Page Setup dialog box.
Rebeam to Time Signature dialog box

The Rebeam to Time Signature dialog box is now fully functional.
ReWire

Finale's playback cursor no longer vanishes when using DAW playhead to reposition in ReWire mode.
Shape Designer dialog box

A Staff Template displays correctly by selecting Shape Designer > Show.
Staff Lists

Unicode characters can now be used for category staff lists, repeat staff lists, and staff assignment lists.
Stems

In Simple Entry, flipping stems in a linked part does not affect the score.
Typo

Typo in the Change Noteheads dialog box has been corrected.

New in Finale Version 25.3 for Windows

Release highlights

Crescendo and Decrescendo Openings. The opening width of short and long crescendo/decrescendo markings are now independent of each other and can be set in the Smart Shape Options dialog box.
MusicXML Preferences. Restrict MusicXML formatting has been added to the MusicXML Preferences dialog box. This option allows you to import a MusicXML file into a template without overriding formatting options within the Finale file.
Simple Entry Cursor. The Simple Entry cursor color reflects the currently selected layer.
SMuFL Symbols. If a SMuFL font is installed locally, SMuFL symbols are imported when a MusicXML import or export is performed.
Nonstandard Key Signatures. A Symbol button has been added to the Symbol List dialog box. This allows Unicode Musical Symbols to be used as accidentals in nonstandard key signature definitions by selecting them from the Symbol Selection dialog box.
MusicXML Export. MusicXML export supports nonstandard key signatures created with Unicode symbols.
Patterson Beams. Patterson Beams has been updated to respect Keep Octave Transposition in Concert Pitch.
Audio Device Failure. Audio device failure detection has been improved. An Audio Initialization Notification dialog box now appears to allow you to disable the device, quit Finale, and/or wait.
Fixed defects

Characters

All characters display correctly in a file when opened between minor releases and cross platform.
Device Error Log dialog box

The Help button in the Device Error Log dialog box redirects to the correct user manual article.
Document Options dialog box

When Cancel Outgoing Key Signature is deselected and In C, Display Naturals at Start of Staff System is selected in the Document Options - Key Signatures dialog box, Finale displays a canceled key signature when moving to a keyless section for all transposing and non-transposing instruments.
Files

Finale files that previously didn't open on Windows 7 machines, now open successfully.
Finale Authorization

Authorization is successfully maintained on Windows 10 machines.
Fretboard Styles dialog box

Unicode characters can be used in the Fretboard Styles dialog box and are maintained through a MusicXML export and import.
Hanging

Finale does not hang after selecting Play Finale through MIDI while the Score Manager is open.
Percussion MIDI Map Editor

Percussion MIDI Map Editor supports unicode in the MIDI map and custom note type names.
ReWire

Finale's playback cursor no longer vanishes when using DAW playhead to reposition in ReWire mode.
Staff Lists

Unicode characters can now be used for category staff lists, repeat staff lists, and staff assignment lists.
Stems

In Simple Entry, flipping stems in a linked part does not affect the score.

[RMK]

I've been using it on Windows 10. No problems so far, but I don't deal with playback at all.

[gogreen]

No problems so far using 25.3 with Windows 10. Did "automatically check for updates" not work for anyone else?

[zuill]

I usually leave the option to automatically check off, as it is annoying. However, I turned it on to test it, and when I reopened Finale, the pop=up alerted me to the update, so I guess it works. I'm on Windows 7.

By the way, I occasionally manually check for updates, so it's not as if I am not thinking about it. I happened to look over on the MM forum to see if anyone was reporting about the JW plugins bug that MM has been researching, and saw the announcement less than an hour after it had been posted.

Zuill

[Bill Reed]

http://www.sibeliusblog.com/news/finale ... -released/

Ironic that Finale updates are better presented by Phillip...

[BuonTempi]

On the Mac side, the update is welcome, and fixes several annoying bugs -- Rebeam to Time Sig dialog, particularly. It's improved the handling of document windows and some more of the focus issues.
The Spotlight 64-bit importer is great, too. Unlike previous versions, this importer works properly and doesn't constantly spam the system logs: as a result, it provides very useful information that can help in finding or identifying files, or be used in automated workflows.

The Apple Event print feature is still a work in progress, IMO. It seems to print only to US Letter size, squishing or cropping your pages, no matter what the default of your document or your printer. There is also considerably enlarged support for AppleScript in this version, though that too needs some work.

If MM can keep churning out updates every two or three months, then this is all good news for us. They are small steps, but they do go up.

[ttw]

I had no trouble updating. The "automatic update" didn't notify me; I found out from this thread.

[Vaughan]

I installed the 25.3 update on the MacPro (and fortunately not on the laptop) and I'm afraid that now Finale crashes consistently when starting up. Tried everything, including restarting, removing all settings and preferences files, and even reinstalling version 25.2 but nothing has yet helped. Strangely, attempting to install an old version still results in the latest version. I'll try to restore the old version from a TM backup when I get home. I seem to remember having this problem once before but I don't remember the solution.

[MikeHalloran]

I installed the 25.3 update on the MacPro (and fortunately not on the laptop) and I'm afraid that now Finale crashes consistently when starting up. Tried everything, including restarting, removing all settings and preferences files, and even reinstalling version 25.2 but nothing has yet helped. Strangely, attempting to install an old version still results in the latest version. I'll try to restore the old version from a TM backup when I get home. I seem to remember having this problem once before but I don't remember the solution.

I had installation problems with 25 dating back to the beginning. Long story short, an old installation of Finale or SmartScore was causing it.

Try the following (it's reversible if necessary):

Go to /Library/Application Support/MakeMusic

Move all the folders to a different location. Desktop is fine—this is temporary.

Run the 25.3 installer.

Test to see if it opens without crashing. Play with a file etc.

If successful, go back to /Library/Application Support/MakeMusic

Put all of those moved folders back except the one named Finale. If you installed the 64bit JW or TG Tools plugins in 25.2, open the Finale/Plug-ins folder on your desktop and put them into /Library/Application Support/MakeMusic/Finale/Plug-ins

In my case, I had SmartScore 9 and 2010 folders plus 2014. I trashed them. If everything works, trash the Finale folder still on your desktop.

[David Ward]

I was thinking of dowloading and installing F 25 early next week, but reading this thread I'm reconsidering. F 2014.5 seems to work OK for me in Mac OS Sierra, so do I need to bother with F 25? I definitely don't want these kinds of problems.

On the other hand…

[Vaughan]

Thanks, Mike, that worked. I let the installer recreate and repopulate the Finale folders in library/application support/make music and also in users/library/application support/make music, and then gradually moved everything over incrementally, like custom libraries, plugins and third party font annotation files, each time quitting and restarting Finale to check for problems. No crashes. Funny thing is that I'd cleaned out my Finale folder some time ago and gotten rid of all the files from previous versions, so I really have no idea what's different now. I remember that the previous problem had to do with FinaleScript and that removing that helped me the previous time, but that wasn't the case this time. Restoring to a previous Finale version using Time Machine didn't work, either, so it's really a question of something which changed in one of the ~application support/make music folders. BTW, in principle I understand the possible need for two application support folders, but I don't always understand Make Music's implementation of them. Having a users' library folder is logical but why, for example, do there need to be two font annotation folders with some different files and most the same?

@Dave: except for this particular problem, I'm very happy with Finale 25: it starts up, loads files and performs many operations much more quickly than previous versions, including 2014.5 and there are several new features I find particularly useful. I wouldn't let this thread deter you from updating.

[Vaughan]

With a slight amount of trepidation I installed the update on the laptop and, as I'd hoped and expected, it went without a hitch. Go figure...

[David Ward]

OK, thanks, I'll chance installing F 25, probably on Monday or Tuesday this coming week, and on two computers - 2012 Mini, 2015 slim MacBook.

I'll report here how it goes.

[Vaughan]

I'm not going to claim that Finale 25 is without problems, but I'm quite happy with this version, especially since the plugins have been ported to 64 bit.
I opened a support case with MM about the crashes on one of the computers and also gave them Mike's solution (as well as giving him and this forum credit).

[Perotinus]

Just in case no one has responded to Zuill about Windows 7: I've been using this in a limited fashion on that operating system since I installed the update a few days ago. I had a bit of an initial problem, where it would hang after my initial installation. Then I followed MM's advice (which I should have done from the start) and re-installed as administrator and all seems fine for the moment. Jari's plug-ins work, at least the ones I have been using (Change, Music Spacing), and so does the JWLua script that counts measures which Charles Lawrence was so kind to write for us a while back. So for the moment, I am extremely happy with this.

[peerlessnerd]

I’ve upgraded to El Capitan 10.11.6 and Finale 25.3.0.276. My Mac Pro does not support Sierra.

Human playback crashes Finale hard and instantly every time, even in new files created from scratch.

I’ve booted in safe mode, and 25.3 still crashes with human playback enabled.

Trashing preferences is a logical start.

Somebody please describe for us again the exact path to finding the Finale preferences file. Mike Halloran and maybe others reported issues here with various files being invisible. That is the case with me. I simply cannot find the Finale Prefs file anywhere. What is the exact file name of the 25.3 preferences file?

[BuonTempi]

I've been using 25.3 on El Cap without any problems, FWIW.

The Finale pref file for 25 is called "com.makemusic.finale.fprf", in the User Library, in the Preferences subfolder. The user Library may be invisible, but there are many ways of accessing it. You can reset from the Preferences dialog itself, though this has not always been enough.

Assuming it's not one of those crashes caused by particular hardware (like that one about not having any mic input), then it might be a conflict with old ARIA engine/players, or other Audio Units.

[N Grossingink]

Here's the preferences drill for v25:

https://makemusic.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/ ... inale-etc-

N.

[peerlessnerd]

My thanks for this info on trashing preferences. Unfortunately, trashing prefs did not solve the problem. However, it did solve the crashing issues everywhere except for this current project.

This one file is somehow heavily corrupted. It does play back with no human playback, but crashes with any human playback enabled. I will finish the project on schedule for the client, as playback is never particularly critical for me.

This file was created in 25.2. I updated to 25.3 in the midst of writing. Something got corrupted with the file in flux between the two versions. It makes little sense, but I'd suggest users complete all files in the Finale of origin, and proceed to 25.3 for your next project.

For now Finale 25.3 is working as advertised. Elderly Finale files updated to 25.3 appear to translate well. My elderly MacPro is not supported past El Capitan, but is handling 25.3 with the exception of this one file.