Finale Slur Settings
Posted: 18 Feb 2016, 00:14
(Repost: I found errors in the settings in the attached files and in the body of this post immediately after posting last night, so please use the settings in this post and attached files:)
After many years of adjusting Finale slurs, I decided recently to try to find settings that would give me good results most of the time without hand adjustment.
First, Smart Shapes>Smart Slur Options needed attention. This represented difficulty because I had little understanding of most of the settings. Online “research” snagged a post at the MM Forum by our own OCTO. I plugged in his first two settings, which immediately gave promising results. Another post by Peter Thomsen humorously recommended “lifted rather than stretched,” which also gave good results. I modified other settings by trial and error. Here is the result:
Next there was Slur Contour. This was easier, because I knew that while I like the general shape of the Finale defaults, they are too bowed for my taste. Eyeballing gave the following settings:
Smart Shapes>Slur Contour>Short Span>Height: .7 spaces, Inset 30%
Smart Shapes>Slur Contour>Medium Span> Height: 1.7 spaces, Inset 25%
Smart Shapes>Slur Contour>Long Span> Height: 3 spaces, Inset 20%
Smart Shapes>Slur Contour>Extra Long Span> Height: 3.25 spaces, Inset 18%
Finally, Smart Slur Placement. This was more confusing, because not all possibilities were accounted for in the list. The crucial omission was the case of two slurred notes of different stem directions. But I adjusted what was there. Here are my settings for the first 13 items in the list. I never use the items 14 and 15, so they are omitted.
Smart Shapes>Smart Shape Placement>Slur> (in spaces)
1 Start Point H: 0 V: 0.5 End Point H: V: -0.5
2 Start Point H: 0 V: -0.5 End Point H: 0 V: -0.5
3 Start Point H: 0.5 V: -1 End Point H: -.5 V: -1
4 Start Point H: 0.5 V: -1 End Point H: -.5 V: -1
5 Start Point H: 0.5 V: 1 End Point H: -0.5 V: 1
6 Start Point H: 1 V: -1
7 Start Point H: 1 V: -1
8 Start Point H: 1 V: 1
9 Start Point H: 0 V: 0.5 End Point H: 0 V: 0.5
10 Start Point H: 0 V: - 0.5 End Point H: 0 V: -0.5
11 Start Point H: 0 V: - 0.125 End Point H: -1 V: -0.125
12 Start Point H: .25 V: - 0.16667 End Point H: -0.5 V: -2
13 Start Point H: .3333 V: 0 End Point H: -.25 V: 2
I tested my settings in the attached file and in some current projects. I found that most slurs were acceptable! But there were cases, shown by comments in the file, that would still need hand adjustment. It did not seem possible to take care of all possibilities with the settings.
My conclusions:
1. Finale has difficulty with slurs placed on the note head side of wide intervals, even with just two notes. It has particular difficulty when a single note juts out in the middle of a pattern over a wide interval.
2. Because of the omission of the case of two slurred notes of opposite stem direction in the Slur Placement settings, one must hand adjust many such cases.
3. Medium slurs of shallow arc conflict with ties. Because I had compromise to avoid such collisions, I feel that my medium slurs are still too bowed. I may yet reduce the bow and hand adjust the collisions, depending on what seems more efficient. This conflict seems irreconcilable.
I am posting this as a follow up to the Line Settings thread. I am hoping that members might experiment with the file and make comments and suggestions that will give better results. Perhaps we could collectively come up with settings that save time for many engravers. I am also including a MusXML file for those who wish to experiment with other notation software.
After many years of adjusting Finale slurs, I decided recently to try to find settings that would give me good results most of the time without hand adjustment.
First, Smart Shapes>Smart Slur Options needed attention. This represented difficulty because I had little understanding of most of the settings. Online “research” snagged a post at the MM Forum by our own OCTO. I plugged in his first two settings, which immediately gave promising results. Another post by Peter Thomsen humorously recommended “lifted rather than stretched,” which also gave good results. I modified other settings by trial and error. Here is the result:
Next there was Slur Contour. This was easier, because I knew that while I like the general shape of the Finale defaults, they are too bowed for my taste. Eyeballing gave the following settings:
Smart Shapes>Slur Contour>Short Span>Height: .7 spaces, Inset 30%
Smart Shapes>Slur Contour>Medium Span> Height: 1.7 spaces, Inset 25%
Smart Shapes>Slur Contour>Long Span> Height: 3 spaces, Inset 20%
Smart Shapes>Slur Contour>Extra Long Span> Height: 3.25 spaces, Inset 18%
Finally, Smart Slur Placement. This was more confusing, because not all possibilities were accounted for in the list. The crucial omission was the case of two slurred notes of different stem directions. But I adjusted what was there. Here are my settings for the first 13 items in the list. I never use the items 14 and 15, so they are omitted.
Smart Shapes>Smart Shape Placement>Slur> (in spaces)
1 Start Point H: 0 V: 0.5 End Point H: V: -0.5
2 Start Point H: 0 V: -0.5 End Point H: 0 V: -0.5
3 Start Point H: 0.5 V: -1 End Point H: -.5 V: -1
4 Start Point H: 0.5 V: -1 End Point H: -.5 V: -1
5 Start Point H: 0.5 V: 1 End Point H: -0.5 V: 1
6 Start Point H: 1 V: -1
7 Start Point H: 1 V: -1
8 Start Point H: 1 V: 1
9 Start Point H: 0 V: 0.5 End Point H: 0 V: 0.5
10 Start Point H: 0 V: - 0.5 End Point H: 0 V: -0.5
11 Start Point H: 0 V: - 0.125 End Point H: -1 V: -0.125
12 Start Point H: .25 V: - 0.16667 End Point H: -0.5 V: -2
13 Start Point H: .3333 V: 0 End Point H: -.25 V: 2
I tested my settings in the attached file and in some current projects. I found that most slurs were acceptable! But there were cases, shown by comments in the file, that would still need hand adjustment. It did not seem possible to take care of all possibilities with the settings.
My conclusions:
1. Finale has difficulty with slurs placed on the note head side of wide intervals, even with just two notes. It has particular difficulty when a single note juts out in the middle of a pattern over a wide interval.
2. Because of the omission of the case of two slurred notes of opposite stem direction in the Slur Placement settings, one must hand adjust many such cases.
3. Medium slurs of shallow arc conflict with ties. Because I had compromise to avoid such collisions, I feel that my medium slurs are still too bowed. I may yet reduce the bow and hand adjust the collisions, depending on what seems more efficient. This conflict seems irreconcilable.
I am posting this as a follow up to the Line Settings thread. I am hoping that members might experiment with the file and make comments and suggestions that will give better results. Perhaps we could collectively come up with settings that save time for many engravers. I am also including a MusXML file for those who wish to experiment with other notation software.