File sharing

[ebiggs1]

I don't know about the rest of the Finale family of users but I really can't think of a new feature that I would use less than file sharing. It seems MM has file sharing on the brain and full speed ahead. It all ties into the Smart Music and getting music into SM side of the business.

I am thankful there is software like Smart Music which has worked well during the COVID debacle but the last time we tried it we quit after a year or two. The kids and parents didn't like it. They didn't like paying (subscription) for it or they forgot to. We will see how it fares this time around.

I have not had any problem sharing a file or music with the Finale I already have. Perhaps some of you have but I haven't.

It sure seems like resources could be put to better use than file sharing, IMHO, as always.

[motet]

I guess it remains to be revealed what they mean by file sharing. One can already share files, of course. Collaboration? It's seldom that more than one composer works on a piece, but I guess it's possible. Or, a way for teachers to mark up a student's work and give it back for revisions? Maybe that would be useful for someone.

Or maybe some suit at the holding company that owns Finale said, "Hey, I heard this "cloud" thing is the wave of the future, where the money is. Let's get Finale into the cloud!"

[ebiggs1]

a way for teachers to mark up a student's work and give it back for revisions?

Already in Smart Music.

[miker]

Hyping file sharing in Finale is just another case of selling sizzle instead of steak. Where are our bug fixes and needed improvements?

[ebiggs1]

... selling sizzle instead of steak.

A solution to a problem we didn't have, IMHO, while the issues we do have go wanting. And, it supports my theory that MM can't or doesn't know how to fix them.

[Michel R E]

file sharing is the last thing I would use... come to think of it, even then I wouldn't use it.
I don't share score files that can be altered.
this is why god invented PDF

MakeMusic are really going all-in on the educational side of the software, but appear to be forgetting the actual professional composers among its users.

[miker]

MakeMusic are really going all-in on the educational side of the software, but appear to be forgetting the actual professional composers among its users.

With all due respect, there are way more students and wannabes than there are actual working, professional composers. But your point is absolutely correct. Composers, arrangers, and copyists certainly need other correctly operating features than what we are getting.

[ebiggs1]

I agree that most of MM effort was on Smart Music but there is a lot of education features us teachers have ask for that go ignored. Finale used to be the education preferred product. Not so much any more

[Michel R E]

MakeMusic are really going all-in on the educational side of the software, but appear to be forgetting the actual professional composers among its users.

With all due respect, there are way more students and wannabes than there are actual working, professional composers. But your point is absolutely correct. Composers, arrangers, and copyists certainly need other correctly operating features than what we are getting.

I didn't say there were more composers, did I?
But I'd probably be very close to the truth if I said that the majority of the long-time users of Finale are composers/arrangers/engravers.
The whole "educational" thing didn't come into existence until quite a few years after I got my first copy of Finale (3.0).

[motet]

I don't know how long Finale can hand on, but when you look at the enthusiasm over Dorico from both users and developers, it's hard not to conclude that that's the way of the future.

I've made my peace with Finale and actually like it, so I will only jump ship when it becomes necessary, but it's perhaps prudent to anticipate that time.

[Michel R E]

I've wanted to try Dorico, but it's such an alien way of working, when compared to Finale. I think, at least in my case, it will be a very steep learning curve.

If I recall it also required Windows 10? that's not going to happen until I really can't help it and my computers die from old age.

[motet]

It requires a 64-bit operating system, at any rate.

I hear you about the learning curve. It took me a LONG time to get used to Finale.

[Michel R E]

hehe, yeah, the program I was using before Finale (an old Dos program called Musicator) was so ridiculously intuitive. But now it's been so many years with Finale, that I only have trouble when I'm really trying to do something unusual, or when a new version comes out and they moved stuff around for no reason.

[dankreider]

I've wanted to try Dorico, but it's such an alien way of working, when compared to Finale. I think, at least in my case, it will be a very steep learning curve.

If I recall it also required Windows 10? that's not going to happen until I really can't help it and my computers die from old age.

I had used Finale for 20 years and switched to Dorico in 2018. It took about two weeks to feel quite comfortable and another couple weeks to get equally fast on note input. I did have to fully switch over in my brain, and allow myself to “start over.” Wasn’t easy at first. I’ve never regretted it.

[motet]

You sound like you have a fair amount of experience with Dorico. What can Finale do that Dorico can't yet? One of Finale's strengths is that you can customize just about anything if you don't like the defaults. Does Dorico take that philosophy as well? Finally, can users write scripts and/or plug-ins?

[BuonTempi]

What can Finale do that Dorico can't yet?

Dorico still lacks a few things -- aleatoric boxes, and cutaway scores, most notably. But with each new version, these limitations are addressed in very sophisticated features.

Dorico has thousands of settings, all of which can be set as your default. They cover everything from beaming to cautionary accidentals, distances between everything, Paragraph Styles, symbols used, Page Layout.

There is Lua scripting: it's somewhat basic as you can't query the status of objects. Again, this is expected to be revised.

But another question is "what can Dorico do that Finale can't?" (or perhaps 'what can it do much more easily?')

Finale can do everything, of course, but it's how much work is involved. Compare futzing around using Chord Symbols or Lyrics to Dorico's dedicated Figured Bass tool.

The Condensed Score feature is noteworthy - e.g. get two (or more) horns onto one staff in the score, while preserving them as independent parts. You can do this in Finale with Layers, and Creating parts from each layer - but Dorico handles all the 'a 2' instructions and stem directions, at the flick of a switch.

Flows, of course, are something that Dorico can do that Finale can't. Separate 'chunks' of music, each of which can have a title above it. For any multi-part work - musical theatre, opera, concert masses, etc, it's a huge help -- you can get instrumental parts with "Et incarnatus est - Tacet" in the right place automatically.

The general idea is "tell Dorico how you want everything; let it do it; then make as few manual adjustments as possible, where needed". ... which perhaps makes it the 'anti-Finale'.

[David Ward]

If I were 20, even 10, years younger I would have gone to Dorico by now. However, I'm 80, so probably won't.

If Finale packs up completely, I'll most likely just use manuscript. I'm fluent, quick and instinctive (and legible!) writing in pencil, plus I have a huge supply of A3 paper with 14, 18, 24 & 28 staves. This supply even has alternate margins suitable for LH or RH. I'd then let others deal with the ‘engraving’, parts, vocal scores and all the rest (should what I scribble still be thought worth the effort).

[miker]

If I were 20, even 10, years younger I would have gone to Dorico by now. However, I'm 80, so probably won't.

At 72, I won’t, either! Leave that sort of thing to the young ‘uns.

[dankreider]

What can Finale do that Dorico can't yet? One of Finale's strengths is that you can customize just about anything if you don't like the defaults. Does Dorico take that philosophy as well? Finally, can users write scripts and/or plug-ins?

BuonTempi listed the main ones. I’ll add another: custom staff styles. Probably the biggest omission for me. But that’s coming soon.

I also miss a little more control over lyrics, like setting global alignment and justification, and modifying font styles on a fine-grained level. OTOH, Dorico handles OpenType features much more elegantly, it’s just a matter of waiting until this new functionality gets added.

These aside, customization of engraving settings in Dorico is more comprehensive overall.

Scripts aren’t officially supported yet, mostly because the development pace hasn’t slowed down. But scripts do work. Plug-ins, no.