Musescore the answer?

[Harpsi]

Regarding XML import --

Generally I have had reasonable results importing XML files generated by Finale into Dorico.

However, sometimes I have had better results first importing into Musescore, then exporting from Musescore, and then importing into Dorico.

There will always be problematic situations though, when you have to import bit by bit; for instance a work with independent time signatures comes to mind.

[ebiggs1]

There have been a variety of issues over the years of things shaking loose when opened in newer versions, or printing problems. Having XML on hand is a good idea ...

Finale 27.3 brought in all my older scores without issue even from as far back as 2000. Musescoe 4.1's ability to import an XML made by Finale is a disaster. You may as well start over from the PDF

[ebiggs1]

I did this on a recent not-terribly-complicated duet I just completed, and it is acceptable, really. I could move forward with it if that were all I had.

That's good. The several I tried using Musescore 4.1 were typical concert band scores. They were a complete mess.
I assume if you became proficient with Musescore you could make a nice looking score. But it would look like what Musescore wants it to look like and there is very little to nothing you can do to change it. That's the problem with these programs that try to make everything nice and print ready before you get done. Making it print ready should be the last task applied. IMHO, as always.

[miker]

One of my big issues with Musescore was with how it fills the measure with constantly changing rests, as you enter your notes. Thank you, but I know how many beats I’m using. I don’t need the help. And I couldn’t find a way to turn it off.

[BuonTempi]

One of my big issues with Musescore was with how it fills the measure with constantly changing rests, as you enter your notes. Thank you, but I know how many beats I’m using. I don’t need the help. And I couldn’t find a way to turn it off.

Even Finale will fill the bar with the correct rests automatically -- when you leave the bar, if not as you go along. In Dorico, too, every note you enter will repopulate the rests for the remainder of the bar. In fact, you don't have to enter rests at all -- they are the 'gaps between notes'. If you 'skip over' a beat, moving the caret forward with the arrow keys, and then enter another note, it will create the 'missing' beat's rest automatically.

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When I drive an automatic car, I keep having flashes of panic that there's something else I ought to be doing. I suspect the biggest problem for many Finale users in other apps will be 'letting go' -- trusting the software to do tasks that they previously had to do themselves. There are of course countless options for you to define how Dorico should do things, and you can always 'override' them for any given instance.

But the amount of stuff I don't have to do is an absolute Godsend, IMO.

[dtoub]

Definitely nicer than having to hit shift-I in Speedy Entry to add a rest before a previously-entered note.

No doubt were it not for my lack of time at this point to learn a new (and complicated, like all full-featured applications) notation program, I'd absolutely go for Dorico. I'm questioning the nature of my reality with Finale-it has so many things that are old, inefficient, don't work, etc. and is in bad need of an entire code rewriting and rethinking of how some things are done. Lots that is worthy of preservation/updating, but some things need to be rebuilt and rethought from the ground up.

I looked at their updated site (MM's); it made me sad. Entry-level stuff like SmartMusic (or rather "Finale Cloud" or whatever it's called) is the dominant feature. People like many/all of us who do serious stuff, and have serious needs, are no longer the priority or focus. At least I'm not feeling it.

[motet]

Definitely nicer than having to hit shift-I in Speedy Entry to add a rest before a previously-entered note.

On Windows there's a key to toggle between Insert and Replace mode in Speedy entry--in Insert mode it will automatically insert before the cursor. Does the Mac have that?

It seems like what's being described for Dorico requires you to move the cursor around with the arrow keys to enter a rest (or skip over one automatically entered, I guess). How is that easier than just inserting the rest yourself (and using the setting to fill with rests when you leave the measure)?

I have no complaint with Finale's UI, but it took me a long time to learn it. My main wish now is that they fix the bugs, though I agree to make the program continue to be viable for new users they need an easier-to-understand UI.

Since I'm dealing with big pieces, I've put a lot of time into customizing it for efficiency. With the aid of a third-party program called Bome's MIDI translator, I'm able to enter most everything note-wise without moving my hands from the MIDI keyboard. The lowest octave is for rhythm and a few other things like ties and augmentation dotes, the rest of the keyboard for notes. I can press down a note and enter various rhythms by playing those keys in the low octave (useful in a percussion part, for example, which is very cumbersome with Sibelius), or I hold down the eighth-note key, for example, and play a string of different pitches. So I can enter music very quickly, I'm sure much faster than the other programs provide. (Having to take hands off the keyboard to enter a rest the Dorico way would be slamming on the brakes.) It's to Finale's credit that this is even possible.

[RMK]

(Having to take hands off the keyboard to enter a rest the Dorico way would be slamming on the brakes.) It's to Finale's credit that this is even possible.

This is incorrect. No need to take your hands off the keyboard at all.

And Dorico's recent enhancement regarding dotted notes (you just press the rhythm key twice) is a real game changer in this respect.

[dtoub]

I probably don't understand, but how is Dorico's dotted note approach better than just hitting the . key?

[motet]

I meant take your hands off the MIDI keyboard.

[BuonTempi]

Since I'm dealing with big pieces, I've put a lot of time into customizing it for efficiency. With the aid of a third-party program called Bome's MIDI translator, I'm able to enter most everything note-wise without moving my hands from the MIDI keyboard. The lowest octave is for rhythm and a few other things like ties and augmentation dotes, the rest of the keyboard for notes. I can press down a note and enter various rhythms by playing those keys in the low octave (useful in a percussion part, for example, which is very cumbersome with Sibelius), or I hold down the eighth-note key, for example, and play a string of different pitches. So I can enter music very quickly, I'm sure much faster than the other programs provide. (Having to take hands off the keyboard to enter a rest the Dorico way would be slamming on the brakes.) It's to Finale's credit that this is even possible.

That does sound very fast. Most people will have one hand on QWERTY and one on MIDI, so pressing the numpad or number row, arrows, and other keys with one hand isn't a hardship. Of course, you've still got to enter the dynamics, slurs, lyrics?, articulations, and everything else. (You can enter most things in Dorico as part of Note Entry -- and tuplets are much easier!)

You can assign key shortcuts -- or MIDI signals -- to any command in Dorico, so customisation for maximum speed is possible.

I probably don't understand, but how is Dorico's dotted note approach better than just hitting the . key?

You can double tap the duration number to switch dotted notes on or off. People seem to find it useful. (Not everyone has a numpad, for instance.)

If people would be interested, I might make a "Dorico for Finale users" video, showcasing some of the features and differences. (There are lots of in-house tutorial videos by the mellifluous Anthony Hughes.)

[Harpsi]

(Having to take hands off the keyboard to enter a rest the Dorico way would be slamming on the brakes.) It's to Finale's credit that this is even possible.

You have a key in Dorico to advance the cursor the selected note duration, so in practice that will function the same as entering rests in Simple Entry.