Finale 2008?

[Peter S.]

I have an offer to upgrade my Finale from 2004 to 2007 for EUR 80.- (German version). But I think of waiting with the upgrade until the German version of Finale 2008 is released.
Do you have any - positive or negative - experiences with Finale 2008 yet? Is it better, worse, more buggy, less buggy? Are there new features you really like?

Thanks for your reply.
Peter

[galdrusa]

I have tried recently Finale 2008 and I think that is not very different than Finale 2007, at least for what I do.

Finale 2008 has a feature that I like: you can select and copy-paste just with the mouse, by clicking and using drag & drop, what is very simple and quick. Another curious thing is the audio tracks support, but I don't think that it is a very useful feature in a notation software.

However, I can't found the "copy measures" function (Control + Shift + Click when you have selected some measures in previous versions), what is very important for me because of many times I have to work with tablatures.

Regards

[Peter Thomsen]

...However, I can't found the "copy measures" function (Control + Shift + Click) when you have selected some measures in previous versions), what is very important for me because of many times I have to work with tablatures...

I suppose that you mean the equivalent of drag-copying?
Just omit the Shift key from the keystroke, and you're there.
It's been "without Shift" since Finale 2006.

Peter

[Peter Thomsen]

I have an offer to upgrade my Finale from 2004 to 2007 for EUR 80.- (German version). But I think of waiting with the upgrade until the German version of Finale 2008 is released.
Do you have any - positive or negative - experiences with Finale 2008 yet? Is it better, worse, more buggy, less buggy? Are there new features you really like?...

Like always, the new version introduces some new features, and some new bugs.

I personally have found good use for the expanded "File Info" options and ability to enter multiple lines of text there - with more Text Insert field options, and allowing for more characters.
An example:
In older versions of Finale you are limited to 31 characters in the "Composer" field. So there isn't room for typing 32 characters, like in
"Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina".
In Finale 2008 you can get the full name.

Also, the new Selection Tool (which combines Mass Edit Tool and Selection Tool) makes me work faster - with less tool switching.

Depending of your patience, you could consider waiting a month or two - for the maintenance release.

Here's an overview (whether it affects you, depends of your work style):

Bugs Introduced
"Clear Items" wipes measure expressions also.
Staff lists are duplicated when copy/paste.
EPS export problems with ending barline(s).
Problems with Delete & Clear keys, especially when using Staff Styles and Repeat Tool.
Problems creating audio files if certain characters are in the file name.
Playback erases the music display on screen when multiple pages are shown.
Chord Root changes to tonic if using "Manual Input" of chord symbols ("Type Into Score" works OK).
Disappearing Special Tools handles.

Bugs Not Fixed
With Multiple Page View, page goes blank when editing.
Lyrics Tool hyphen problems.
Enharmonic flip issues.
Explode Parts bug (related to enharmonic bug).

Poor Implementation (My own personal opinions, others may disagree)
Movement of several tools/menu items. Example: "Automatic Update Layout" and "Automatic Music Spacing" have been moved to Program Options > Edit.
Moveable clef issues.
Articulation handles always appear and cover the articulations.
Change of format for manual (now .htm which is viewed in a web browser).
Linked parts issues.

Peter

[Peter S.]

Thanx Peter for your reply.

I will probably upgrade to Fin2008 when the German release is out, the possibility of combining two or more files to a score seems to be worth the money. Does it work correctly?

Peter

[Peter Thomsen]

ScoreMerger is a wonderful tool.
I can't understand why I forgot to mention it in my posting.

There have been reports about problems with ScoreMerger, but it seems that ScoreMerger isn't the culprit, rather it's a more general problem that affects ScoreMerger as well as many other operations in Finale 2008:

By copy/pasting a lot you may inadvertently also copy a lot of Tempo Tool tempo changes, so that your file suddenly may contain thousands of tempo changes.
That "tempo change bloating" can slow Finale down, and even make Finale crash when you are working on a big score.
The problem is fixed by clearing all those redundant Tempo Tool tempo changes.

A related issue (but not the same issue!) occurs when you have inadvertently copied a lot of expressions with playback effect "Tempo".
Again the fix is to clear all those expressions.

Clearing the Performance Data can also help.

Generally Finale shouldn't slow down, even if you are working on a big score.
Clearing redundant playback data from the document is often the cure when Finale seems slow.

Peter

[michelp]

Another curious thing is the audio tracks support, but I don't think that it is a very useful feature in a notation software.

Well, several users of 2008 will disagree, as they found many helpful uses for this new feature (in notation or playback). Here are a few examples :

- score an arrangement on top of a basic audio track. Arrangers will appreciate...
- write pedagogic material, and illustrate it with the related audio.
- transcription : import an audio track and transcribe it right underneath into notation.
- add an audio instrumental or vocal track to a written score to make it sound more realistic

Briefly said, with some imagination, this can become a very helpful tool, with lots of benefits to the notation side of Finale.

[galdrusa]

I suppose that you mean the equivalent of drag-copying?
Just omit the Shift key from the keystroke, and you're there.
It's been "without Shift" since Finale 2006.

I tried that, but when you are working with tablatures, the numbers in the frets don't be copied. Now, it seems that the "copy measure" feature is the same than copying and pasting with Ctrl-C - Ctrl-V.

Well, several users of 2008 will disagree, as they found many helpful uses for this new feature (in notation or playback). Here are a few examples :

- score an arrangement on top of a basic audio track. Arrangers will appreciate...
- write pedagogic material, and illustrate it with the related audio.
- transcription : import an audio track and transcribe it right underneath into notation.
- add an audio instrumental or vocal track to a written score to make it sound more realistic

Briefly said, with some imagination, this can become a very helpful tool, with lots of benefits to the notation side of Finale.

Yes, you are right. Since that point of view, it is true that in some cases the audio tracks support can be useful.

[Peter Thomsen]

I suppose that you mean the equivalent of drag-copying?
Just omit the Shift key from the keystroke, and you're there.
It's been "without Shift" since Finale 2006.

I tried that, but when you are working with tablatures, the numbers in the frets don't be copied. Now, it seems that the "copy measure" feature is the same than copying and pasting with Ctrl-C - Ctrl-V...

When I copy TAB, I get the dialog box "Lowest Fret", where I can specify that the lowest fret should be e. g. 7.
Are you saying that when you copy TAB, you don't get the dialog box "Lowest Fret"?

Peter

[galdrusa]

I get the dialog box "Lowest Fret" when I use Ctrl-Click, and also get the same dialog box if I copy a TAB measure using Ctrl-C Ctrl-V in Finale 2008.

What I mean is that in previous versions of Finale I could copy a TAB measure using Ctrl-Click, and all the fret numbers were copied exactly to the new measure. At the moment, I haven't been able to find that feature in this version of Finale.

However, I'm sure that this operation can be done. We just need know how to do it...

[Peter Thomsen]

galdrusa,

I think that you've found a bug.

When you use "Filter" in Finale 2008, you can choose to select only "Notehead, Accidental and Tablature String Alterations".

As Far As I Can Tell, Finale copies Notehead Alterations and Accidental Alterations all right, but not Tablature String Alterations.

Peter

[Peter Thomsen]

galdrusa,

I think that I have found a solution/workaround that works in Finale 2008:

Instead of copying the TAB, mirror it, using the Mirror Tool.
A mirror isn't a copy, but rather the source measure data displayed again in the mirror measure.
Any edits - including Tablature String Alterations - in the source measure will automatically be updated in the mirror measure.
However, you will have to Update Layout before you will see the mirror measure updated with the edits in the source measure.

Peter

[galdrusa]

Yes, this could be a solution, and I didn't know it, thanks

Anyway, I still think that it must be able to copy a TAB measure as it could be done in previous versions of Finale, so I will carry on with the search for this feature in Finale 2008.

[galdrusa]

galdrusa,

I think that you've found a bug.

Now, I definitely agree with you, it must be a bug. I hope that it will be fixed soon...

[Peter Thomsen]

For Your Information:

MakeMusic's Tech Support has confirmed that it's a bug.
Hopefully it will be fixed in the 2008a maintenance release, which perhaps will be released in december.

Peter