Finale update

Recommendations concerning notation and publishing software in a non-partisan environment.
benwiggy
Posts: 834
Joined: 11 Apr 2016, 19:42

Re: Finale update

Post by benwiggy »

As for the upgrade itself: increased speed and improvements in automatic placement and avoidance is to be welcomed. But there is still so much for MM to address.

So many long-standing bugs and limitations in notation and positioning -- colliding notes; beam over barlines is still a 'work around'; tuplet bugs, 12/8 rests, etc.
The frame limit of a document. For large projects, which are much more likely on today's powerful hardware, this is a major barrier.
The lack of any vertical spacing or collision avoidance.
Finale's 'blindness' to notation: e.g. Fermata's still can't be put on whole bar rests; and must be applied manually to every staff.
The clunky interface.

It may be impossible for Finale to make significant advances without changing the app so much that it upsets people who have become so used to its ways, or who still need to open legacy files with accuracy.

Most of all, I just can't shake the idea that Finale is held together by string and brown paper, and that if it coughs too hard it might rupture itself.
Perhaps I'd be prepared to put up with all of its faults, as I have done for so many years, if there weren't alternatives that show how it can be done.
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John Ruggero
Posts: 2453
Joined: 05 Oct 2015, 14:25
Location: Raleigh, NC USA

Re: Finale update

Post by John Ruggero »

MM seems to have concluded that it can't compete with Dorico in the long run and will hold on for as a long as possible by making a few less costly improvements from time to time. Unfortunately, Dorico doesn't have everything I need at this point, so I will have to put up with Finale for a while longer. Hopefully not too long.
Last edited by John Ruggero on 21 Oct 2018, 13:02, edited 1 time in total.
M1 Mac mini (OS 12.4), Dorico, Finale 25.5, GPO 4, Affinity Publisher 2, SmartScore 64 Pro, JW Plug-ins, TG Tools, Keyboard maestro

http://www.cantilenapress.com
Florian
Posts: 86
Joined: 31 Dec 2016, 15:34

Re: Finale update

Post by Florian »

John Ruggero wrote: 20 Oct 2018, 11:31 MM seems to have concluded that it can't compete with Dorico in the long run and will hold for as a long as possible by making a few less costly improvements from time to time.
That would be most unfortunate!
I don't see the Dorico developers stopping development anytime soon, but I can imagine that the management at Steinberg (or Yamaha) cuts down their investment when there's no real competition anymore.

I've thought about upgrading just to support MM, but then again, if that's all they can achieve in 2 years... For most of my work Dorico is already sufficient now, and seeing how easy, straightforward and efficient this software is, it just doesn't make sense anymore to use Finale unless I really need its flexibility.
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