Sibelius import

Hi,

New to Dorico, and to Steinberg forums.
Sorry if this is an “old” question…

Having used Sibelius since the Archimedes computers are school, I’ve made the switch to Dorico. I’m only just starting, so two questions:

  • Is there a good set of tutorial videos on the net somewhere that people know about, for me to get started? I could do pretty much anything I needed to in Sibelius, and changing platform is odd!

  • I know you can’t “import” Sibelius files into Dorico, but are there any top tips for the way in which I should export XML and import it into Dorico? I’m new to XML as well, having been on the same notator for 25 years!

Thanks,

Daniel

There are many awesome videos on the Dorico YouTube Channel.
I recommend you the „Getting started with Dorico SE“ playlist, as it covers all the topics and applies as well to Elements and Pro.

Nice to see you here, Daniel - I have a feeling you popped up on something that THJ posted on Facebook the other week.

Do experiment with the XML import options in Dorico Preferences - these only apply before import, nor retrospectively. I typically work with all of these options unticked apart from “Text”, but your mileage may vary. It’s useful to cross-reference Dorico’s import against the Sibelius file or Sib-generated PDF.

There are two basic options for exporting MusicXML from Sibelius. It has a built-in option, or you can get the Dolet plugin from here: Dolet® 6 Plugin for Sibelius 5.1 and later - MusicXML

Both methods have annoying bugs and features, but they have different bugs and features from each other, so choose your poison!

I wouldn’t say it is “useful” to cross check against a PDF or print copy, I would say it is essential. The built-in Sibelius exporter doesn’t even get the pitch of all the notes correct in some circumstances, let alone missing or wrongly interpreting other markings in the score.

as Rob says, there are a few issues whichever export method you choose but it could be worse. Here, for instance, Transferring scores from Sibelius - #7 by dspreadbury - Dorico - Steinberg Forums is a quite recent discussion on some of the things to consider.