Ottavina font... is there an update?

[Michel R E]

I love the Ottavina font for its correct use of 8ba rather than the unsightly 8vb, and also because it correctly aligns the abbreviation at the bottom rather than at the top.

however, with Finale 25.5, for some odd reason, I'm getting only a very heavy bold type for these symbols. I try selecting the "medium" choice, but it keeps returning to the Bold font the minute you close the SmartShape dialogue.

Does anyone know of a way to get this to work correctly?
Or know if there is an updated version of this very useful font available?

[zuill]

There was a workaround I discovered years ago (even MM recognized my discovery) that might work here. Type the complete name in the font slot, rather than checking the usual boxes. I would suggest the name you need but I am not sure how it should be. You can experiment. Maybe Ottavina Regular?

Worth a try.

Zuill

[Michel R E]

I'll try that.

I even tested it in a word processor to make sure the symbols actually were appearing (they are).

[Michel R E]

Hmm, nothing seems to work.
There does not appear to be a separate" Ottavina regular" (or anything other than simply "Ottavina").
The font itself contains multiple versions of the symbols (the font is actually only made up of a few letters and numbers, the rest being variations on the different 8va, 8ba, etc... symbols.

When I select the font to be "medium" (which is the lightest and non italic version), I get Bold, no matter what I do.
When I select the "medium oblique" (its version of "medium Italic"), I get Bold Italic, no matter what.

The Bold version of this font is FAR too "bold", it looks like it was written with a thick black marker.
The Regular Oblique version is gorgeous, and matches the Maestro version of the same symbol.

I can't find any website for the font at all. I was hoping someone might know who created it.

[zuill]

In the font slot, did you try typing "Ottavina medium" ? If I had that font, I would test it for you.

Zuill

[Michel R E]

yeah, I tried that, and it gives the same result: Bold.

in the font type pull down (after selecting the actual font - Ottavina) I see four choices: medium, medium oblique, bold, and bold oblique.
Selecting either of the non-bold choices gives the bold equivalent. So, selecting "medium" gives plain old Bold, while selecting "medium oblique" gives "bold oblique".

I KNOW the symbols are available in non-bold versions, I tried it out in my word processor.
Somehow, I can't get it to recognize the correct version of the font in Finale.

[zuill]

I think I need to be clear, as I thionk I may not have explained my approach. Please forgive me if I seem to be belaboring the point.

The three slots are:

Font: Typeface: Size:

I'm guessing you are typing Ottavina in the Font slot and Medium in the Typeface slot.

The workaround is to type both words in the Font slot: Ottavina Medium.

Sometimes I don't give enough detail. I just want to be sure that my workaround is tried correctly.

Zuill

P.S.: I discovered this with Maestro Wide. If I chose Wide in the Typeface column, it would not stick and would go back to Regular. I experimented by typing Maestro Wide in the Font slot and now it stuck. I reported this to MakeMusic, and they put this in the Knowledge Base. I don't know if it is still there. Here's a link to a thread on the old forum: https://forum.makemusic.com/default.aspx?f=5&m=401649

[Michel R E]

Hehehe, I had actually understood the first time. So your explanation was spot on.
But it didn't seem to work anyways.
I'll try again.

I was able to cheat my way around it by making a SmartShape, applying the correct symbol, then having to go in and manually un-check the "bold" checkbox.

That said, I WILL try again your way and see if I can get this to work.

One of the reasons I was hoping the font's creator was still around was to ask if there were any way of lightening that bold effect, it's so heavy that it obscures detail of the symbol.

[David_]

I 'think' Ottavina came from https://www.musegraph.com but I might be wrong. Their new website is completely different and doesn't list it but there is a contact email you might try - musegraph [at] gmail.com

[elbsound]

Ottavina can be downloaded here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20161007020 ... vina-free/

The "Medium" font weight is a known problem in Finale.
See https://elbsound.studio/font-names-in-f ... ontweights
The workarounds are also described there.

BTW, how do you use the Ottavina font in Finale25?
On my Finale 25/Windows it works fine if I use it as an expression.

Jan

[Michel R E]

In this case I made a SmartShape of the 8ba symbol, with the dashed line aligned at the bottom, and an upward hook at the end.

I can't seem to get FontForge to install. When I click on the windows installer at the link specified in your post, it simply does nothing. Any suggestions?

[elbsound]

Hm, the link works for me.
You can try this direct link:
http://fontforge.github.io/en-US/downloads/windows-dl/

[Michel R E]

Ok, I got it to work... but honestly, this is WAY beyond my abilities. It's all Geek to me.