Single automatic accents positioning advice needed

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Hector Pascal
Posts: 432
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2016 11:43 pm
Finale Version: Finale 26
Operating System: Mac

Post by Hector Pascal » Mon Aug 17, 2020 6:49 am

Hi all,
Some of my accents are positioned well automatically by Finale, but there are several other automatically-positioned accents which are simply too far away from a slur, etc., in my opinion.

What is the best approach to moving each of the single ill-positioned accents, one at a time ? (When I drag them, they leap about like a gazelle). I looked in the articulation menu and edit articulation definition etc, but... I don't want to inadvertently upset any of the automatically-well-positioned accents when I go finger-poking in there...

Thanks:)
Hector Pascal.


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zuill
Posts: 4418
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Finale Version: Finale 2011-v26.3.1
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Post by zuill » Mon Aug 17, 2020 2:11 pm

Since v26 changed how articulations are handled, I have to ask: was this a file created in an earlier version of Finale? In any event, seeing a sample file would help us troubleshoot.

Zuill
Windows 10, Finale 2011-v26.3.1
"When all is said and done, more is said than done."

Hector Pascal
Posts: 432
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2016 11:43 pm
Finale Version: Finale 26
Operating System: Mac

Post by Hector Pascal » Tue Aug 18, 2020 6:39 am

Hi zuill :)
Yes, I recently created the document in the latest version. Actually, I have worked it out (i think) after reading this in the manual...

==========
To unstack a single articulation
Most articulations stack on entry (see Articulation Selection dialog box). Use these steps if you would like to unstack an articulation or reorder a single articulation in a stack.

Choose the Articulation tool icon.
Click the handle of the articulation that you would like to reposition.
Choose Articulation > Stack > Never or right-click the handle and choose Stack > Never. The stack of articulations adjusts to compensate for the no longer stacking articulation.
If you would like to change the order of a single articulation stack without affecting the entire document, you can now click and drag the handle of the unstacked articulation to a new position.
=========

Thanks and cheers,
HP.

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motet
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Finale Version: 2014.5,2011,2005,27
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Post by motet » Tue Aug 18, 2020 4:22 pm

I wonder if someone has written a JW Lua script to unstack all articulations.

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zuill
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Post by zuill » Tue Aug 18, 2020 4:54 pm

For many situations, the automatic stacking is good. If you have specific places to make adjustments, right click the handle and choose to ignore the automatic stacking.

Zuill
Windows 10, Finale 2011-v26.3.1
"When all is said and done, more is said than done."

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motet
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Post by motet » Tue Aug 18, 2020 5:00 pm

I thinking about when you want to import an older file and perhaps work on it.

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zuill
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Post by zuill » Tue Aug 18, 2020 5:17 pm

I believe when you choose to leave articulations as is with older files, the definition itself is updated to the new paradigm, as the db is different. However, all the occurrences have the Never selected as far as stacking. However, if you save the file, then open it in an earlier version of Finale, things can be messed with. So, it all depends on what you are wanting to accomplish.

Zuill
Windows 10, Finale 2011-v26.3.1
"When all is said and done, more is said than done."

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motet
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Post by motet » Tue Aug 18, 2020 5:22 pm

For what I do, stacking is rare--maybe a fermata over a note with an accent occasionally, or an accented timpani roll ("tremolo"), which doesn't need stacking--so I'm not interested in the feature and ideally I'd like to turn it off altogether and leave accent placement in the old files alone.

Graeme Gilmore
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Finale Version: Finale 25.2
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Post by Graeme Gilmore » Tue Aug 18, 2020 11:19 pm

Another element in trying to customize the placement of a single articulation in Finale 26 is that, even after making it "never stack" you cannot place it just anywhere. You cannot overlap the articulation with a slur. That means that there is a minimum distance between the accent and the slur that you cannot reduce further -- even after unchecking all "Avoid Collisions" in the Music Spacing options of the Document Options.

Usually this is not a problem, but I have had occasions where the accent looked too far away from a slur but could not be moved closer because of the minimum slur-articulation distance. I don't know if the accent-slur minimum distance is longtime Finale behavior or not.
Graeme Gilmore


Finale 27.2, Windows 10 64-bit Home Premium, GPO, TGTools, Patterson Plug-Ins, Copyist's Helper, JW Plug-Ins

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motet
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Post by motet » Tue Aug 18, 2020 11:35 pm

Ugh. Didn't accent/slur avoidance come with stacked articulations? I've been using TGTools for that.

Hector Pascal
Posts: 432
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Post by Hector Pascal » Tue Aug 18, 2020 11:46 pm

Thanks everyone. I ended up not being able to make the slur avoidance distance work, so in the end I tried "ignore" slur collision in the accent's articulation definition box, which caused most of the accents to move to an unhelpful position. However the silver lining is that I can at least now manually move them all precisely to within a bee's knee of where I wish to have them. I am now busily, but happily, positioning all accents in my score which should only take me half an hour I think.

Cheerio,
Hector.

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zuill
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Post by zuill » Wed Aug 19, 2020 3:44 pm

As far as Automatic Stacking, I created a Library with the same articulations as the Maestro Default file, with all of them having the stacking option unchecked. I can import it into another file. Of course, the metatools would have to be reassigned.

Zuill
Windows 10, Finale 2011-v26.3.1
"When all is said and done, more is said than done."

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