Should I upgrade to 26?

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Perotinus
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Post by Perotinus » Sat May 25, 2019 10:00 pm

Zuill,
Thanks. Yes. I see that you mentioned the backwards compatibility feature I was talking about in another post in this thread. I couldn't imagine you would unfamiliar with it. When they first announced 26 it seemed that the articulation placement idiosyncrasies connected with saving was going to cause probblems. I rarely use articulations since I transcribe mostly very old music. So I have been very happy with 26 since I finally installed it just a few days ago.
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Michel R E
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Post by Michel R E » Sun May 26, 2019 7:32 pm

After watching a youtube video of NotePerformer3 in action, I'm more and more tempted to install Finale 26.
I don't go back and forth from one version to another with files, I also never collaborate with anyone, and if such were ever the case I still have 2012 , 2014, and 25 installed.

The funny thing is, I rarely stack that many articulations, either. I think the most I've done is an articulation plus a bow up/down marking. And I even try to avoid including those, they're more for my own benefit to keep track of what bowings I intend on using in a piece (I often make them non-printing, or invisible.)
User of Finale since version 3.0 on Windows.
Now using a mix of Finale 2012, Finale 25, and 26.1
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zuill
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Post by zuill » Mon May 27, 2019 12:28 am

Here are 2 pictures. Tremolos out of the box in v26 work much better than v25. Stems even adjust accordingly. However, when you open the file in v25, the tremolos are a disaster. Even Jari's Yada-Yada plugin can't fix this.

So, to say that Finale v26 can be opened in v25 is very misleading. Open, yes. But in what condition? So, upgrade to v26, but then, don't dare go back.

Zuill
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motet
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Post by motet » Mon May 27, 2019 4:32 am

I solved the tremolo positioning many versions ago (except stem lengthening) by simply tweaking the handle offsets in the definitions.

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zuill
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Post by zuill » Mon May 27, 2019 4:57 am

The point I'm making is that the articulations should stay put in opening a v26 file in v25, and they don't. So, what value is there in saying v25 opens v26 files, when the result is total chaos with articulations?

Zuill
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motet
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Post by motet » Mon May 27, 2019 6:06 am

Sorry--I was going off on a tangent.

It sounds like Rothman is implying that if you open an F25 file in F26, and say "don't update articulation positioning" and immediately save it back, all will be as before (the problem coming if you add new articulation in F26, they will by default have the new stack feature and won't be backwardly compatible unless you laboriously change all their definitions). But it sounds like you've discovered two new problems: stacked articulations going F25->F26->F25, and tremolos (others? all?) not working F26->F25.

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Michel R E
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Post by Michel R E » Mon May 27, 2019 6:13 am

I thought there was a promo code to reduce the price of the upgrade from 25 to 26.1?
all I'm seeing right now is $149, which is pretty steep.
User of Finale since version 3.0 on Windows.
Now using a mix of Finale 2012, Finale 25, and 26.1
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XSamples Chamber Ensemble.
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zuill
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Post by zuill » Mon May 27, 2019 1:45 pm

The promo ended on May 20.

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MikeHalloran
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Post by MikeHalloran » Mon May 27, 2019 3:35 pm

Michel R E wrote:I thought there was a promo code to reduce the price of the upgrade from 25 to 26.1?
all I'm seeing right now is $149, which is pretty steep.
It’s $119 through many resellers such as Sweetwater and GuitarCenter/MusiciansFriend.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... n-download

Cross-grades are priced the same.

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Alfred/Fin ... ownload.gc

These are their normal prices. After purchase, you’ll be emailed an upgrade code and a link that takes you to MM where you’ll log in and register your upgrade. Pretty easy. Heads up: This is more involved than a standard download. Firewalls and anti-virus apps can interfere—if so, disable temporarily. I don’t know if the Chrome browser still has problems (no file found when you go to download)—this may have been fixed—but Safari, Firefox and IE work fine.
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bvstudios
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Post by bvstudios » Mon May 27, 2019 4:25 pm

I did it through Chrome and had no issues.... totally forgot about the history of problems.

Not to worry, the dl (and all the subsequent ones detailed elsewhere) went smoothly.

The install- well....
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Anders Hedelin
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Post by Anders Hedelin » Mon May 27, 2019 6:07 pm

zuill wrote:Here are 2 pictures. Tremolos out of the box in v26 work much better than v25. Stems even adjust accordingly. However, when you open the file in v25, the tremolos are a disaster. Even Jari's Yada-Yada plugin can't fix this.

So, to say that Finale v26 can be opened in v25 is very misleading. Open, yes. But in what condition? So, upgrade to v26, but then, don't dare go back.

Zuill
I don't want to dissuade anyone from getting v26, but here is what happens with simple staccatos. The first example which looked good in v26 I got from a client. When I opened it in v25 it was useless, and at least I didn't manage to correct it, with any tool or resetting. All the same, I have uninstalled v25 (because there's not enough memory in my PC) and now use only v26. In the hope (certainty?) that those who I collaborate with will have done the same.
Staccati v26.JPG
Staccati v26-25.jpg
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motet
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Post by motet » Mon May 27, 2019 6:46 pm

What's startling is that apparently this situation didn't occur to anyone at MakeMusic. And I'm unclear on why you would need to mess with a single articulation. The new feature is about stacking them automatically, but lone staccati have worked just fine for 30 years or whatever it's been, so why the change?

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Post by Anders Hedelin » Mon May 27, 2019 7:50 pm

Well, not to make things worse, but to clarify, here are two more examples of what can happen opening v26 files in v25. I myself have made the decision to move on to v26 as I have explained, but maybe there are others who would have to think about this. (I apologize for the second example, it's obviously not right, but I couldn't remove it.)
Last edited by Anders Hedelin on Mon May 27, 2019 8:03 pm, edited 8 times in total.
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David Ward
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Post by David Ward » Mon May 27, 2019 7:52 pm

Having bought and downloaded F 26, at some stage I should be as well to install it.

Can someone please remind me (for Mac):
1) What do I need to do to ensure that (for now) I continue to have ready access to F 25 as well as to the newly installed F 26?
2) How do I ensure that if I open a file in 26 which has previously been saved in 2014.5 or in 25 that articulations will look OK in 26? I understand that if I then save in 26 they may not from then on show correctly if the file is opened in the earlier versions, tant pis.
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Michel R E
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Post by Michel R E » Mon May 27, 2019 8:38 pm

David Ward wrote:Having bought and downloaded F 26, at some stage I should be as well to install it.

Can someone please remind me (for Mac):
1) What do I need to do to ensure that (for now) I continue to have ready access to F 25 as well as to the newly installed F 26?
2) How do I ensure that if I open a file in 26 which has previously been saved in 2014.5 or in 25 that articulations will look OK in 26? I understand that if I then save in 26 they may not from then on show correctly if the file is opened in the earlier versions, tant pis.
During the intallation process, you will be asked whether to delete Finale 25 or not. You can choose not to (this is what I did). However, you DO have to pay attention and not just click "accept" every time you see it.

Imported files' articulations will automatically be updated for Finale 26. At least, this is my understanding of what has happened so far to me. Although I did have some confusion with an up-bow articulation showing up below other articulations. I have to learn what order to place these things in in Finale 26.
User of Finale since version 3.0 on Windows.
Now using a mix of Finale 2012, Finale 25, and 26.1
GPO, Garritan Solo Stradivari violin, Gofriller Solo Cello.
XSamples Chamber Ensemble.
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zuill
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Post by zuill » Mon May 27, 2019 10:09 pm

I'm hoping they didn't plan v26 for people just doing lead sheets without articulations. Or maybe they designed it for those who have little knowledge of notation and need automatic features for that. If so, the future of Finale seems in jeopardy.

I bought and installed v26 because, as a working professional, it is imperative to keep up with things for the sake of my clients.

I'm not saying that v26 is a total wash. In v26, you do have options with articulations that were not available before, especially when it comes to 2 layers on the same staff. I haven't checked articulations with cross-staff notation yet. That has always been an issue with Finale. Also, out-of-the box, tremolos in v26 behave much better than before.

My concern is that, if they tout that v26 files can be opened in v25, they better give a big warning to use at one's own risk. I know I came late to this party. However, even with v26.1, which implies improvements on v26, this seems an unacceptable situation. I would recommend they add a conversion feature for articulations when the goal is to have a file opened in v25.

Zuill
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"When all is said and done, more is said than done."

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Michel R E
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Post by Michel R E » Mon May 27, 2019 11:01 pm

Zuill,
How often do we get asked on this forum whether Finale can do things like "create counterpoint for me", or "orchestrate a piano piece for me", or "write in the correct harmony for me"?

Obviously, the state of musical education is such that a bunch of people who don't even know the basics are somehow being fooled into thinking the are "musicians", or "arrangers", or worse yet, "composers".
User of Finale since version 3.0 on Windows.
Now using a mix of Finale 2012, Finale 25, and 26.1
GPO, Garritan Solo Stradivari violin, Gofriller Solo Cello.
XSamples Chamber Ensemble.
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motet
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Post by motet » Mon May 27, 2019 11:35 pm

It interesting that in Anders's example, the stacked articulations are OK but the single ones are not. I wonder if they forgot to test it on the latter.

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zuill
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Post by zuill » Tue May 28, 2019 12:31 am

The staccatos were easier to clean up than the tremolos, for me. Just clearing the position of the ones imported from v26 set them back to the usual position. Entering new staccatos appeared proper as well. With the tremolos, the converted file failed to respond properly after conversion. However, wouldn't it be much better if this wasn't happening? That would save hours of work on a long score.

Zuill
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David Ward
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Post by David Ward » Tue May 28, 2019 7:11 am

Michel R E wrote:During the intallation process, you will be asked whether to delete Finale 25 or not. … … … … I have to learn what order to place these things in in Finale 26.
Thank you, Michel, this is information is very helpful.
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BuonTempi
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Post by BuonTempi » Wed May 29, 2019 12:41 pm

Mac users should note that Finale 26 does not contain a QuickLook preview generator, so if you want to view Finale documents in the Finder, you'll need 25 installed as well.

You could conceivably retain that component separately, and still remove the rest of Finale 25. Though, of course, the QL generator in F25 is 32-bit, so won't run on the next MacOS version in September. :lol:

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MikeHalloran
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Post by MikeHalloran » Wed May 29, 2019 11:44 pm

BuonTempi wrote:Mac users should note that Finale 26 does not contain a QuickLook preview generator, so if you want to view Finale documents in the Finder, you'll need 25 installed as well.

You could conceivably retain that component separately, and still remove the rest of Finale 25. Though, of course, the QL generator in F25 is 32-bit, so won't run on the next MacOS version in September. :lol:
Really?

I always figured that it used Apple's quicklookd.app or Quick Look Simulator.app, both of which are 64 bit. I know that quicklookd32.app is still installed and that is not.

Hmmmm...
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David Ward
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Post by David Ward » Thu May 30, 2019 4:06 pm

wessmusic wrote:… … …However, there are several inconveniences I've found in Mac version – non of my shortcuts stored in System preferences (with assigned "Opt" key + letter) do not work with 26.1, but I solved it by purchasing KeyboardMaestro.… … … …
Yes, I had to re-set all my System Preferences shortcuts for them to work in F 26, which was annoying but easy enough once I'd worked out how to view the old ones while typing the new ones.

I've now installed F 26.1 on one computer, while retaining F 25.5 on two.
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BuonTempi
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Post by BuonTempi » Fri May 31, 2019 11:28 am

MikeHalloran wrote: Really?.
Well, Finale 25's QuickLook generator is listed in System Information > Legacy Applications, which is a guide to what won't work in September. Also, I get the "Finale 25 is not optimized...." message the first time I preview a .musx file in the Finder.

Either way, it's still been removed from 26.

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