Working on my first new composition in Dorico, I found some genuine niceties beyond what is immediately mentioned in videos, for example, and coming to this from Finale, these made me wish I had switched earlier (I had my reasons-tons of Finale files, lack of time to learn a new system, etc):
Export audio to .mp3 (and .flac). Huge timesaver that Finale once had (it could export to .mp3) but removed years ago
Insert works in both directions. This was something I tried on a whim and was really glad I did. For example, say you have a ton of music already entered but decide to remove a beamed group of 16th notes in the middle. In Finale, I would then have had to select all the subsequent measures and drag them leftward, which lends itself to placement errors (which is why there is a .lua script to more finely tune note selection). In Dorico, I selected Insert (global), deleted the notes and everything shifted backwards as desired. Even better than selecting all the downstream notes and hitting opt-left arrow.
Hitting R to repeat notes is a great tool
While a little cryptic at times, it’s straightforward to change fonts for various things like clefs (I like the clefs from the Golden Age SMuFL font, but prefer Petaluma for the overall music font), certainly no worse than doing this in Finale’s clef designer, and probably a bit better
Keep in mind that duration before pitch is essentially Speedy Entry with Caps Lock on. Works very well.
Please copy your last sentence into every thread and under every post that someone writes complaining that Speedy Entry doesn’t exist in Dorico. I realise it’s not 100% identical, but it’s close.
Functionally, it is identical to me. And having the option of pitch before duration for other note entry is also Speedy Entry. Folks do need to understand this.
I don’t want to upset any Finale users who are feeling sad and have been presented with a fait accompli, but some of those posting here and elsewhere give me the impression that they don’t want to learn and engage in a new adventure. The frustration runs deep, yes, I understand that, but the fact that Finale is dead won’t change. Negative feelings are unpleasant and they prevent you from moving on. For these reasons, everyone should accept the situation as it is and make the best of it, and not get their head down. That’s why I find your very understandable sentence so important, because it might pick up the grumpy ones, give them a wake-up call, and motivate them to learn Dorico.
To encourage you and others…As a long-time user of Finale, I like what I am finding in Dorico in both Note Entry and Editing.
I also work on Adobe InDesign and recognize similar functionality at times.
The one thing I cannot find is how to take a score in Dorico into Logic Pro X for recording and mixing the sound product, usually an mp3. Can anybody help me with this bit? Thanks! Shannon
Shannon