(note values) Beyond the Bar Lines

[MowingDevil]

I'm working with a score that has a hidden time sig and no bar lines. Of course Finale is treating the note values to be measured as if there are bar lines. This becomes a practical issue when crossing these hidden bar lines at times. As a simple example, I would like a half note (for a simple clean look) and Finale requires two tied quarter notes. Is there a way I can force Finale to accept the half note? Then I can just hide a quarter note rest on the other side of the bar line.

I'm not worried about playback in this case, just the visual.

[N Grossingink]

Don't think in terms of measures - think systems, actually a single "measure" that spans the width of the page, and set your time signatures accordingly. Just off the top of my head, you can usually fit 5-6 measures of average material on each system. That would be 20/4 or 24/4 time. If you need an extra beat for that half note, make it 21/4 or 25/4. There is a JW plugin that transforms a selection of regular measures into one big measure - JW Meter and Rhythm (Measure Groups > Merge).

[MowingDevil]

That's a great suggestion, thanks - and I'll definitely use that where possible.

Only issue is in this one case, I have a measure below that uses short measures as ticks for a stopwatch. I suppose I could just add those w/ a graphic but since I'm already well into this one I'd prefer to not overhaul the entire piece at this point. Might be an option in certain areas though if there's no other solution.

[N Grossingink]

I don't know what your measure below with the ticks looks like, but you could use regular notation for the ticks. Enter the appropriate note values, change the notehead to some sort of symbol (using a dingbat font?) and hide the stems and any rests.