Dorico 2 is out

[BuonTempi]

An interesting development: Dorico v2 is out, with an entry-level "Dorico Elements" edition and the full "Pro" app.

Some nice new features, as ever, including Divisi split staves -- mark a divisi split point, and Dorico will automatically supply unison before it from the beginning of the system...!

https://www.scoringnotes.com/reviews/do ... -2-review/

The most interesting sentence in the review is: Dorico tends to go from feature “x” being unavailable to becoming overnight the uncontested leader in the field of feature “x”.

[N Grossingink]

And there is a new Ossia staff feature which undoubtably works just fine. I just downloaded the upgrade and am looking forward to furthering my knowledge of the software.

I've had Dorico for a year now and have really enjoyed learning how to use it. There are lots of things about Dorico that absolutely blow Finale out of the water. I've imported some scores into Dorico via XML. The resulting instrumental parts are almost always very satisfactory, with no or very little tweaking needed. Staves are spaced to fill the page or pages automatically; dynamics are aligned, rehearsal marks, tempo heads and expressions are placed accurately. The chord suffix editor has a large graphical interface, easy to use. There is true collision avoidance between layers for accidentals. Cross staff notes are spaced with stems spaced evenly.

Will I replace Finale with Dorico? That depends on my engraving clients, and that's not going to happen anytime soon, if at all. Most of the large publishing houses here in the US are committed to Finale out of necessity. One of my clients has dozens and dozens of composers, arrangers and various contributors, all of whom use Finale. Any switchover is likely to take a long, long time.

N.

[David Ward]

And maybe Finale will find a way to to compete with & even surpass these developments in Dorico…

FWIW, at 77 I'm not anticipating taking the trouble to learn Dorico, unless it becomes near enough unavoidable (eg if Finale goes out of business).

[MikeHalloran]

With several new features aimed at commercial music, we are excited about accelerating the use of Dorico Pro 2 in composition, arranging and orchestration work for film, TV and games,” commented Daniel Spreadbury, product marketing manager for Dorico, “and the introduction of Dorico Elements provides an inexpensive way for the next generation of composers and arrangers to experience these features in a simpler, more streamlined package.”

Dorico Pro 2 is available through resellers and through the Steinberg Online Shop. The suggested retail price for Dorico Pro 2 is 579 euros, including German VAT. Special educational pricing is available, including for a limited time a further introductory discount: until October 31, 2018, a further 60% off the suggested retail price is on offer when buying five or more Dorico Pro licenses for use in an educational institution. Special crossgrade pricing is also available for users of Sibelius and Finale who want to add Dorico Pro to their toolbox.

An update for existing Dorico 1.x customers is exclusively available through the Steinberg Online Shop.

Customers who have activated Dorico 1 since May 2, 2018, are eligible for a free, downloadable grace period update to the latest version.

Dorico Elements 2 is available through resellers and through the Steinberg Online Shop. The suggested retail price for Dorico Elements 2 is 99.99 euros, including German VAT. Special educational pricing is available.

New features of Dorico Pro 2:

• Play video in sync with your project, add markers, and manipulate tempo to compose to picture
• Edit tempo and MIDI controllers in Play mode with familiar graphical automation control
• Add ossias, handle complex divisi writing for string sections, and change the number of staves used by an instrument with smart new staff management tools
• Quickly write rhythmic slashes and bar repeats for rhythm section parts
• Hollywood-style large time signatures draw attention to meter changes in action-packed film score cues
• Quickly select, insert, and delete material with the new System Track
• Powerful new tools for arrangers, including multi-paste, explode, reduce, and tools to scale existing notes into tuplets of any ratio
• Playback of repeat structures, including repeat barlines and repeat endings
• New popover for adding tremolos and repeat endings
• Edit the appearance of playing techniques and notehead sets, and define new playback behaviors for playing techniques in VST Expression Maps

Key features of Dorico Elements 2:

• Quick to learn — comprehensive video tutorials and on-screen help
• Compose or arrange for ensembles of up to 12 players
• Fully compatible with Dorico Pro
• Best automatic notation and engraving of any software
• Easy note input
• Clear user interface
• Excellent results by default — saves time
• Intelligently adjusts notation as you write
• Any number of movements or pieces in a single project
• Sequencer-style piano roll MIDI editor
• Transfer to and from other programs via MusicXML, MIDI, PDF, etc.
• Supports VST 3 virtual instruments and effects processors (30 included)

So, Dorico is adding a number of features that Finale & Sibelius had many years ago, declaring that the beta was really v.1 and asking those who stuck with it to pay for an "upgrade" to what really should have been the first release version.

I passed on it the first time around because it couldn't perform the simple tasks I need, unlike Finale and Overture. I may look at it again and even purchase but, for now, no thanks.

[BuonTempi]

So, Dorico is adding a number of features that Finale & Sibelius had many years ago

Even if Finale and Sibelius had these features before, Dorico's implementation of any given feature is, by most metrics, easier, faster, better.

Finale has consigned Video syncing to Hell; ossias are crude and have been broken for years. Finale's MIDI editing is a user-interface experiment from the 1980s, while Dorico takes directly from the latest version of Cubase. Dorico's Score Reduction is much more intelligent than Finale's Reduction plug-in.

And Finale and Sibelius have nothing like the Divisi feature, which is just brilliant. Think how much time you might spend Hiding staves, spacing systems, copying Unison measures, just to get an extra staff for a few measures; and then deciding you need to change where the measures/systems fall.

There is plenty more work for Dorico to do, admittedly: but what it does, it does excellently. MM seriously needs to pick up the pace, otherwise Achilles will overtake the tortoise.

[MikeHalloran]

No one hires me for AV anymore and I can’t imagine they will again. Having lost the use of one of my arms due to a stroke, I work too slowly. The lack of this functionality in 25 has no effect on me.

Steinberg sends me demo codes when I ask. I like where Dorico is headed but it’s not where it needs to be for me to spend my money.

Finale lets me do what I want. Dorico doesn’t. It’s that simple.

[miker]

So, Dorico Elements is their answer to PrintMusic? A stripped down version?

Nothing wrong with that. I really think MM is stepping on their own ...shoes by not having an entry-level product.

[MikeHalloran]

So, Dorico Elements is their answer to PrintMusic? A stripped down version?

Nothing wrong with that. I really think MM is stepping on their own ...shoes by not having an entry-level product.

More like Songwriter as far a I can tell. 12 staves? Yikes.

I agree that not having an entry level product is a mistake. Many musicians need nothing more complicated than a lead sheet, choral arrangement with piano or praise band chart.

[motet]

I can't speak to MM's marketing choices, but perhaps with freeware improving that was decreasing the demand for such a thing.

[N Grossingink]

I can't speak to MM's marketing choices, but perhaps with freeware improving that was decreasing the demand for such a thing.

That may be.

I've also gotten the impression that the difficulties they seem to have experienced programming the Macintosh versions also contributed. Probably a lack of time or interest.

For what it's worth, the Mac and Windows versions of Dorico seem to be equally dependable. A few bugs have crept in, but they seem to affect both versions and the Dorico developers deal with many problems in a timely manner.

N.