Is there an efficient way to hide empty staves on a system by system basis?
I’ve found a way to do it via ‘manual staff visibility’, but that seems to involve a certain amount of hiding and resetting.
Can you say a little more about what you’re trying to achieve?
In general, you have two things you can use: Layout Options > Vertical Spacing > Staff Visibility, which sets rules for display of empty systems across the whole layout, and then Manual Staff Visibility, for finer-grained control.
It sounds like you want to use the first option. The title of the thread says “selected empty staves” – you can use Layout Options to hide all empty staves but exclude certain players. But again, this is global to the layout; it may not give you everything you want, but it could be a starting point for more efficient use of Manual Staff Visibility.
As with all things, Dorico offers an automatic method (layout options hiding empty staves), plus a manual method for when you want something different (Manual staff Visibility).
It is possible to copy the Signposts to an additional location, using Alt-click in Write mode, if you need the same configuration again.
But I’d agree: exactly what are you trying to achieve that needs manual work on every system?
Regarding Manual Staff Visibility:
A good habit not to lose control (aka staves) is to work backwards: First insert a Reset All signpost to return to the global setting in Layout Options, then insert the custom Hide/Show one.
I think I’ve more or less got there now. This is my first proper post-Finale project in Dorico: 315 bars, commissioned for two singers, narrator (actor) and piano. Computer playback time 14 mins 57 secs, real performance time (especially allowing for narrations) maybe more like 18 mins. The layout is probably not perfect, and I suspect I did some things in the wrong order, but it ought to be OK for now.
When is it wise to lock the layout? (I haven’t done so yet.)
Why would you need to?