I would like to see a 6th mode option, in addition to Setup, Write, Engrave, etc.
The 6th mode needs to be Annotate Mode. It would extend either the left side or the right side of the page in page view, appearing as an expansion of the page, that shows inline annotations just like we get with manuscript writing software.
The mode needs to have full modern annotation formatting, as well as the ability to customize the annotation style and features, like colors, and the ability to show alternate annotation styles and formats depending on what the annotation concerning or linked to, i.e engraved element, note head, dynamic, ect. Also, please allow the ability to create an invisible hyperlink between the annotation on the annotation page extension mode and a specific note, dynamic, text, bar, ect.
The feature also needs the ability to click a check box on the annotation to resolve and remove the annotation.
This feature will help not only individual composers, but also people who composer together and people who work as notations editors who work closely with composers, and sheet music publishers.
Honestly, I’d rather they work on a robust scripting language with deep hooks into the software so this sort of thing could become a 3rd party plug-in rather something the limited number of developers spend their time on. The same could be said for many of the requests here outside the intended use of the product. I firmly believe this is part of their roadmap–even if they haven’t said it.
I just pulled up an old transcription I did years ago, and all my notes to myself are clearly annotated in the right column. What is different about what you are asking for?
I like the comments feature but it would be better for annotating to have a traditional left or write page extension, that looks like the page it’s self, and to have the ability to customize the style of the annotation to the type of context the annotation is tied to, as well as as an invisible hyperlink that could be set auto zoom into your page in your preferred zoom level, and auto launching write mode. Also, comments aren’t inline.
This feature would also make communications from your composing partner or editor much more clear.
And making it a mode would make getting out of it much easier, and as soon as you click the annotation it immediately puts you in write mode with the notation item it’s linked to selected.
I understand you on the comments feature. It has its place. I like it too. But I would like to see a modernized tradition inline annotations view on the side of the page, with proper text formatting and color. Maybe Steinberg could maybe add too the comments feature to just pick if we want the current comments view, or this proposed annotation mode as a featured option of comments instead of a stand alone mode.
I guess I don’t really see the point of (or want) another mode. The comments feature seems to be awfully close to what you are asking for already. I agree it could certainly be improved with additional color coding options, but you can already click the comments and have the score instantly jump directly to the location. Gif below:
I am really glad to read that, @Angelo-Diablo_Duran! This is definitely a forum space of mutual respect between users and the dev team, and one that’s positively oriented when it comes to critical assessments of the software and room for expansion/enhancement/improvement.
I value how the vast, vast majority of posts stay well clear of the “shouty” quality (“must,” “now,” “needs,” etc.) that characterizes so much of the internet.
Any chance you might edit the title of the topic to something a bit more neutral in tone? You’d probably “catch more flies with honey” here.
I agree some additional color coding would certainly be helpful with annotations. I’m obviously not on the development team, but as far as I know there’s no mechanism for storing multiple passes of music at a time. People have been asking for a loop feature that will record multiple passes at a time (like in a DAW) but that hasn’t materialized as an imagine it would be a major undertaking. Allowing multiple edits/options for the same passage of music could possibly be incorporated as a similar feature, but I doubt we’ll see that for a long time, certainly not “Now!”
There could be some additional workflow elements added to Comments too, like allowing a user to check off a comment once it had been reviewed or something. It is an interesting thought process to think about these could be expanded without completely rewriting how the program works.
I do like this idea, but it would seem to work best on scores where there is some level of collaboration. The example you have here is the one I have worked with on text documents where folks in my department can make their suggestions/edits, and everyone can see the process unfolding. I’m not sure how much this would be utilized in a notation program, but perhaps there is more collaboration going on than I assume (?).
Help me to understand, @Angelo-Diablo_Duran. Are you asking for the type of interactive annotation that we might find in non-musical software, for example, like MS Word where suggestions can be made by multiple users? Would this occur “live” in a networked environment or from the perspective of sending a file back and forth?
I see many possibilities … there could even be an argument made for having a Dorico file reader separate from the full product where annotations could be one of the very limited functions available.
NB. Sorry, @FredGUnn, I did not intend for this to respond to you…oops. Thus the edit to include the OP.
Sounds like massive feature creep to me. Sometimes we should just accept that a software won’t support a certain feature we personally would like to see, if it diverts too far from the original purpose. When I read such feature requests, Adobe Photoshop comes to mind, which became huge bloatware over the years because it wanted to be everything.
I see your point. Collaborative work, however, would seem in line with Dorico’s overall philosophy. So maybe rather than really creating a new annotation feature, the commenting capability could be extending a bit to add an owner to the comments being made. This might be achieved by adding the current username of the computer’s active login. Anything beyond that, like ensuring that usernames can be identifiable, would remain the responsibility of the users.
Well, how about that! I don’t use comments so I never really explored it that in depth. Very good. I suspect that this could suffice for OPs needs for annotations, then.
Collaborative work, however, would seem in line with Dorico’s overall philosophy.
Doesn’t seem so to me. It’s a traditional model where one program instance saves to a file on disk. If you truly wanted collaboration you’d have to re architecture the whole thing into some sort of online system.
Would it not be possible to use a cloud drive to store the project that is accessible to more than one person so that collaboration could occur. Granted, it may not be real time but does it really need to be?
