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getting smart Music App

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 7:28 pm
by DoeieGirl-1
I seem to no longer have Smart Music and I believe that is the only way to import a scan into finale that I am aware of. Is there a way I can download a version online? I have Finale 25.5.0. Thank you. Or is there are service I can pay to convert some PDF's of my music and convert to Finale. I lost a bunch of my own music in a computer crash a few years back. UGH....I have PDF's but not the original Finale files.

Re: getting smart Music App

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 11:15 pm
by miker
Scanning was removed in version 25. If you have, or can find someone who has, 2014 or earlier, you could use that.

There are a number of programs that can scan, and convert to XML to import into Finale. STAY AWAY from anything that promises to simply scan and convert. They work, but the end result is rarely very good. And using one of the full-featured programs, which allow editing before exporting, definitely take time to learn.

How many pieces do you have? How long and complicated are they? What’s your budget and time frame? I might be interested! You can contact me directly at wawoodman at aol dot com.

Re: getting smart Music App

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 3:43 pm
by ewindels
Miker, if I have an existing PDF document, can SmartScore not work with that digitally, rather than me having to physically scan it in to my computer? Or is there another method?

Re: getting smart Music App

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 4:44 pm
by Peter Thomsen
ewindels wrote:
Tue Feb 11, 2020 3:43 pm
Miker, if I have an existing PDF document, can SmartScore not work with that digitally, rather than me having to physically scan it in to my computer? Or is there another method?
If I understand you correctly, your words
“physically scan it in to my computer”
mean
“print the PDF on paper, and then scan the printed paper”
- right?

Generally it can be done “paperless”.

A PDF file can be a bitmap graphic file, or a vector graphic file.

Music OCR programs (like e. g. SmartScore) need a bitmap graphic file.
If the PDF file is a bitmap graphic, you need to convert the PDF to a (bitmap) graphic file format the Music OCR program can use.

If - On The Other Hand - the PDF file is a vector graphic file (such as a PDF created from a music notation program like Finale), then you can use a program like PDFtoMusic Pro convert the vector graphic data (= the page described in mathematical formulas) to music notation.
This is less error prone than using a Music OCR program.
URL:
https://www.myriad-online.com/en/produc ... sicpro.htm

Re: getting smart Music App

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 5:20 pm
by motet
Yes, if you have a PDF created with Finale or the like, PDFtoMusic should work pretty well.

I sprang for SmartScore Pro but have only tried it once, with mixed results. It did some goofy things, like assuming the 4/4 piece had a 7/8 bar in the middle with no key signature, or had an 8/4 bar with no key signature when it missed a barline. Perhaps there's a way to turn that sort of thing off, though. Mike is the expert here.

Re: getting smart Music App

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 6:34 pm
by miker
SmartScore will generally work on any PDF of music. You have to accept that there will be errors in recognition. SmartScore will point out duration errors; it’s your job to fix them. In most cases, that’s easier to do in SS, rather than XMLing the mistakes into Finale, and trying to find and correct them, there. And with the split screen, it’s pretty easy to proofread the notes, and again, make the corrections.

PDF to Music Pro, however, only works if the PDF was created directly from a notation program. It won’t work from a scan. It also has edit functions, but I haven’t worked with the program enough to speak about it.

And Motet, I’m happy to tutor you in SmartScore; just ask! I’m pretty sure that you will find that scanning and correcting is faster than entering a piece into Finale with either Simple or Speedy.

Re: getting smart Music App

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 7:45 pm
by motet
Thanks, Mike! Next project, I'll do that.

Re: getting smart Music App

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2020 6:24 am
by ICBSprod 22-12
Follow mikers solution. His ways are often the best.

What he says about; How many pieces - How long and complicated are they? - Budget - Time frame, is really something to consider.
SmartScore X2 pro is a powerful tool, but in order to take full advantage of it, you really need to sit down and learn how to use it. It is not done in 5 or 10 minutes, so to speak. The result you get before starting to correct the music also dependent of the quality of Your PDF.

When I have a pdf of music I need to put into Finale, I always consider the length of the music and how complicated it is. And then, the method that saves me most time. 1: Play it directly in to Finale with my synth 2: Finales SpeedyEntry 3: Smartscore with some correction work. If I choose to use the last method, I only use SmartScore to transfer notes, time and key signatures and clefs. I can quickly remove everything else, like text, articulation etc. After exporting the music to Finale via xml, I open a new document in Finale with the settings I need for the piece, and copy only the notes from the converted xml document. Then I can quickly put in articulations and so on. When it comes to lyric, work with that in a separate process. Copy/transfer it into ex. Word, set it up like You want it, and put it into Finale.

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