The plug-in does not affect cross-staff notes, which is likely the reason why the beams in this example look a little too thin. Manual editing of beam thickness does not provide you with the same incremental control as the plug-in does. The way that the upcoming Sternberg application draws beams, highlighted in the article in MJCube's link, is indeed a step up from current applications. I'm really looking forward to this feature.Peter West wrote:Patterson Beams in Finale does a really good job of adjusting the beam thickness (and thus reducing the space) on beams that are steeply angled. I don't like the example here for that reason also (and of course the awful slur, as John pointed out already)
The example I posted has numerous problems, but that doesn't exclude the fact that the opaque beams are a unique and interesting solution to one of the problems engravers face, like it or not. Considering the method currently needed to obtain this effect in Finale, I highly doubt that a plug-in will be able to help with this.
To me, the only reason for not applying this effect, or at least offering it as an option in engraving work, is the amount of additional time spent on each and every beam. Dealing with angles is time consuming enough.