Layer 2 spacing

[dankreider]

Untitled.jpg (6.2 KiB) Viewed 4779 times

Layer 2 is too close to layer 1. Is there a way to adjust settings, rather than manual adjustment of every occurrence?

Thanks!
Dan

[Vaughan]

Sadly, no. This is still one of the things you have to do by hand in Finale. Also sadly, some of these types of edits get changed if you respace, regardless of your Music Spacing Manual Positioning Option settings. You're best to save these kinds of edits for the very end and then make sure you don't respace afterwards (and, in Program Options, make sure Automatic Update Layout is always selected and Automatic Music Spacing always deselected!).

[miker]

A request I've made a couple of times. And the reason I have F13 programmed to the Note Mover tool!

And Vaughan is right on, with his suggestions.

[zuill]

I'm not sure the Note Mover Tool can adjust the horizontal position of a note. Special Tools/Note Position Tool can do it. If you have a lot of them, Jari's JW Change plugin might simplify the process.

Zuill

[motet]

Could Voice 2 help here?

[zuill]

Voices use the same settings as Layers.

Zuill

[Peter Thomsen]

For precise horizontal positioning, use the (very technical) Speedy Entry Tool dialog box Edit Frame.

[miker]

As Zuill said, I meant the note POSITIONING tool, rather than the note mover.

That’s what happens when you work from your recliner and iPad, rather than the computer...

[dankreider]

Bummer. Thanks everyone!

Seems like a significant oversight at this point in Finale's development.

[zuill]

The thing is, different scenarios require slightly different positioning. I think that a universal setting would not work well. For example, if Finale automatically shifts to the right, in places where the note is on the left side, the notes would overlap.

So, manual adjustment is an advantage, in the long run. That's why the JW Change plugin is so useful. You can quickly do adjustments by the numbers, and adjust each location as needed, doing it more efficiently.

Zuill

[Vaughan]

Believe it or not, this is one of the many things Dorico does very wel by default, taking all different scenarios into account. It is, therefore, most certainly possible for software to 'understand' notational needs, no matter how complex or esoteric they may seem. MM still seems to take the attitude 'it's easier for the user to change things manually than for us to try to anticipate all contingencies'. One problem with this attitude is that many users don't bother to take the extra trouble and people get used to notation which is unnecessarily under par. Another is that the users who get used to making the adjustments stop believing that it is possible to create software which makes this unnecessary.
In this particular example, Dorico not only moves layer two to the right so the beams don't coincide, it also expands the first beat slightly so that the spacing looks more natural. Now that's intelligent!

[miker]

Although I have no intentions of learning another program, we can certainly hope that the developers at Finale are aware of these features in the competition, and are working hard to steal them. (Excuse me: independently conceive of, and introduce an app enhancement that does the same thing.)

But on the other hand, who remembers all the hype and switching threats when Sibelius introduced their “magnetic positioning,” or whatever they called it?

[motet]

I, for one, wish Finale did "magnetic positioning"! It would be a huge timesaver, and have no downside as long as things could be further manually tweaked, or in the worst case, turned off.

I don't think it was hype--my impression is that Finale has been steadily losing market share to Sibelius for this very reason.

[Vaughan]

In the industry's back rooms, it was most likely that Avid's abandoning of Sibelius could have been anticipated. MM could have prepared for it and when the moment arrived, MM could have launched not only a special version with attractive features (like an improved UI and something resembling magnetic layout) and bugfixes, it could also have launched a well thought-out ad campaign to win over Sibelius users who felt betrayed. None of this happened. Instead, MM continued quietly, business as usual. Development of Finale was even put on hold at the time by MM's move to another location and its having to find new employees. Talk about missed opportunities!