Finale Forum

I had someone send me a few Encore files, that she couldn't view. So I thought I would see what could be done...

You could always purchase Encore, but what's the fun in that? So I downloaded the demo. It opened the files, but of course, no save, print, or export functions. But I could - and did - take a screenshot of the page. I ran it through SmartScore, and got a pretty bad result. I'm sure, though, that most of the problem was that the Encore score was very crowded, and loaded with multiple sextuplets in almost every measure. I suspect that with a better starting point, the results would have been much more useable. Then, the XML could easily be taken into Finale.

Anyway, I know that the Encore question has come up a few times, so I thought I'd share my findings.

I maintain active licenses for Encore. Even today, I prefer it for down'n'dirty tasks such as lead sheets, praise band and short choral arrangements. I've never used anything faster.

It's also my first choice for MIDI to notes where I consider it far superior to Finale. I will import MIDI to Encore, edit then export as .xml if Finale is the destination.

Unfortunately, it supports MusicXML 1.1 (W) or 1.3 (M) so cannot export much besides notes, keys and a few expressions. Interestingly, I have never scanned one into SmartScore Pro. Usually, I do an .xml export, open in Finale and re-do lyrics. Since I first got Finale in the '90s, anything over a few pages or requiring more than eight staves is begun in Finale.

Encore's major shortcomings these days are a) no .xml 3 support, b) the Anastasia font is outdated and doesn't look very good, c) the VI functionality (and much else in the manual) doesn't (or never did) work as advertised d) it's way, way too expensive for what you get e) the Mac version no longer installs on the current OS—it still works if installed on an earlier OS that has been upgraded f) the current version will not open files earlier than a certain date—my workaround is to keep 4.5.5 and 5.0.5 on my G4, then move the converted file to my iMac so that I can open it in 5.0.7. The heavy lifting is always done in Finale.

It's under 1mB and installs in seconds. I would gladly pay to see a decent upgrade that could use 3rd party fonts and has MusicXML 3 support. Even if nothing else was fixed, I'd be ok with it.

I have tried MuseScore, Dorico, Notion 6 and Overture 5 in an effort to find something that will replace Encore. Notion and Overture have their strengths (and I bought both) but I might as well use Simple Entry in Finale.

My problem with Simple Entry is too many key strokes or combinations for me to use easily with my handicap—it's doable but Encore is much faster. Dorico and MuseScore escalate that to ridiculous levels.

Just as a follow up, I tried another page from the Encore file that wasn't so crowded. The screenshot was recognized with not much more problem than usual. So I would say, it's definitely a possibility.

Of course, if you own neither Encore nor SmartScore, you would be just as well off simply buying Encore!

Maybe ask someone who has Encore to convert the file for you.

Zuill

Didn't some versions of Finale used to import Encore? Of course, if they are sufficiently old, you might have trouble running them without using old hardware or a Virtual Machine.

Zuill, if it were me, I would. But someone else asked me, and I wouldn't feel comfortable passing it on.

BT, yes. I think pre-2009. But my earliest Finale is 2010.