Converting finale xml files with time signature grp to Dorico - ends up looking like spaghetti soup

I have a finale file where I grouped bars as 1/4 + 3/8 +1/4 +1/4, using 9/8 for display; I know it’s non-standard but it’s tons better to use this kind of grouping for this piece of music, to indicate the phrasing.
On exporting from finale to Dorico, the file looks like spaghetti soup – crotchets and quavers and rests have turned into fractions of fractions of fractions of a note.
Anybody got a solution for this?

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This is the original finale file for this

Can you supply any or all of the XML, the Finale file, and the Dorico file?

My first thought is Finale’s Hidden Notes for Human Playback; though it’s an unlikely performance style, I’ll grant you.

What have you selected to bring in, and not bring in, in Dorico’s Preferences > Music XML Import?

It doesn’t look like there’s any abnormal barring (you’d normally see lots of red signposts for the metre on every bar – unless you’ve hidden them?

You could try deleting all the time sigs from the Dorico file and then just adding one metre of [2+3+2+2]/8 at the start.

What about the classic “wait for next break” property being set?

I think not. It looks more like what you get from MIDI import with quantization set wrong.

Yeh it’s not a quantisation issue as it was done completely by putting notes in. But it’s probably some kind of issue to do with using edu’s for note length in the time signature; i.e. 1/quaver = 1/512 edu’s. This results in some sort of quantisation-like error, a rounding error in fact.
Unfortunately this doric forum won’t let me upload xml files


here’s a screenshot of the address

A password is required.

this is blurb
VRS0RTZ1F4#zXFMWn8UXoRU

it should work now if you use prefix with this

copy from image might have transcribed zeros as O or something

I can only see one issue in the fragment you provided: bar 15 seems to have the tiniest fraction less than one quarter note more than it should.

However, this all seems to be rests, so you should be able to deal with by selecting them and deleting, with Insert Mode set to “Global Adjustment of Current Bar”.

Screenshot

Why this is happening, I don’t know. I can’t see any incorrect duration in the Finale file.

However, if I load your XML back into Finale, and re-apply the current time signature at bar 15, all hell breaks loose:

In fact, if I re-apply the time sig from bar 1 in Finale, with “Rebar Music” on, I get this, which looks like what you’re seeing in Dorico:

So I would submit that there is something very wrong with the Finale document.

If I Retranscribe the notes in Finale, then the XML comes in much cleaner into Dorico – but of course you lose all the lyrics when you Retranscribe. (It may be possible to Cut them to the clipboard and then paste them back?)

If you look at bar 25 it’s even worse

Looks fine in finale!

I have thousands of scores like this. If Dorico can’t process them quickly and easily what am I going to do ?

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By the notation displayed, it looks like you’re short a single EDU (1/1024 note) in bar 25. Check the meter for that bar in Finale, and if necessary the Frame Dialog.

In Finale, select all then run the Check Region for Durations plug-in. Fix any incomplete or overfull bars, then re-export the XML and try again in Dorico. If you have errors in your Finale file, then it’s obviously not going to import correctly, regardless of the fact that Finale will allow the metrical errors and it “looks fine in Finale.”

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You can upload .zip files. Just zip it up and post it.

I hate to tell you this - but I’ve already done that. It already filled in the missing rests and cut the extra notes - finale claims it’s fine! Obviously it isn’t……!

FWIW, I opened the XML in MuseScore, and the results were different, but no less in need of cleaning up.

I’d try the Retranscribe route outlined above – that seems to give the most accurate results. Filter the Lyrics and Copy them first, then Paste them back in after. Then XML.

Just confirming you did that to your original Finale file, NOT the XML file. If I take a Finale file with the wrong number of beats, export XML, then reimport into Finale, then Finale will “claim it’s fine” on the imported file, even though it isn’t.

Here’s an example Finale file with the wrong # of beats. If you run Check Region for Durations, it will catch it, but if you export an XML, then import it into Finale, Check Region for Durations will not catch it.
test.zip (12.6 KB)

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Yes I did perform check regions for durations on the original finale file - twice! - to passed perfectly - no apparent problems - the finale function sometimes does not catch the irregular number of beats - furthermore there are sometimes invisible fractional beats of rest in the bars and even invisible quavers on occasion (obviously without ever manually putting such things in) it is something to do with using edu’s in the time signature field I think.
As you can see the problem with retranscribe is that it loses the lyrics and the note divisions which are carefully chosen to make it easy to read, sometimes in 9/8, sometimes in groups of two quavers plus a quaver rest.

I’m not near my desktop computer that has Dorico installed so I’m unable to test these xml outputs after check region durations then retranscribing myself but will be able to later today. (early morning here in Australia right now)

Screenshot 2024-10-14 at 6.22.22 AM
then following suffixes:

xml file after retranscribe only
A9ZPS194N0#fTIzNudqUYj4
xml file after retranscribe then check region for durations
VZ3K8QXMKM#jV0WaVMqncVE

I have literally thousands of orchestral finale files. I simply can’t go through each one and rewrite it (essentially) before sending to mxl and then to Dorico. This is kind of a big disaster if I can’t find a quick effective way to fix this problem, which actually is a Finale problem obviously - but it’s some kind of rounding error I believe when using edu’s for composite time signatures, as in the image below…

I have literally thousands of orchestral finale files. I simply can’t go through each one and rewrite it (essentially) before sending to mxl and then to Dorico. This is kind of a big disaster if I can’t find a quick effective way to fix this problem, which actually is a Finale problem obviously - but it’s some kind of rounding error I believe when using edu’s for composite time signatures, as in the image below…

If it’s only one bar of 2+3+2+2 eighths, you could just make it a plain 9/8 in Finale and fix the meter in Dorico. If that works, at least there’s a path forward …