And I will certainly not. Besides the ridiculous problems with music XML, the playback volume is still way too low. Who knows why. And the program crashes every time you close it. This for something that retails $579.99? … but wait, actually it does not. Look at that, it is now at 50% discount. And this few days after Dorico/Makemusic advertised the special price of $149 for people coming from Finale … incredible. Now I am getting annoyed.
You’re getting blinded by your anger I think.
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I did post a Dorico Diagnostics.zip file to someone here - but no response. Not sure how to generate that - how do I do a Help>Create Diagnostic Report if Dorico will not launch?
That’s a shame.
The XML problems are just that - problems with XML - you can’t really blame either Finale or Dorico. Players on both sides have been instrumental in defining and promoting the standard.
Your volume problems are probably related to your hardware setup. Personally I’ve never had a volume problem (and my PC is modest).
Personally I don’t get crashes every time I close it. Crashes for me are rare, and I suspect I am in the majority. Post your Diagnostics and the Dev Team will diagnose…
Clearly you price your time very high and have your own priorities. That’s fine. If you want to come back, we will be here to help you.
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How do I upload the zip file here for someone on the Dev team to help?
Use this icon…
You can upload zip files, graphic files or .dorico files
Have you ever, but ever considered that the problem with music XML is that Finale just doesn’t do it well enough? Or that it’s simply a problem with XML files no matter what? Dorico’s interpretation of it isn’t perfect either, but so neither is on any other program.
Ranting and cowarding away because some problems arise along the way that aren’t always controlled doesn’t do anything.
To all other Finale users that take the time of their lives and effort to get things straight, welcome. Even if you don’t find Dorico appealing or not worth your money. Musescore really looks like the best choice.
Maybe you don’t have the option yet because you’re a newer member, I think.
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You should create a new thread for your Problem, because there you can discuss the Problem with the Dev Team, in this Long thread it might not be seen anymore.
How to Upload showed @Janus in His Post.
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8 year user here, since v1, after many years on both Finale and Sibelius.
When I started, there was no manual, there were some kinks to work out, there were features I needed that weren’t ready, and I’ve had to spend the occasional day ironing out some issue with my personal setup. XML conversions took some time to clean up.
My experience from versions 3-5 have been consistently excellent, frankly a dream come true after dealing with the other two dinosaurs. Every hiccup is made up by hours and hours of engraving work saved by Dorico’s brilliant, deeply customizable engine-based formatting.
Finale will still work for some time, use it for deadline work. Giving up on Dorico over some initial hiccups and disappointment over the limitations of XML would be like quitting a new job at a better law firm because there hiccups in your onboarding process and you had to do a little extra work each time you brought in an old client to the new firm. I’d invest in the many coming years, not just your week.
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Dorico Diagnostics.zip (164.5 KB)
In the ‘for what it’s worth’ category … I’ve been with Finale since 1.0. Low 3 digit serial number. This move is scary. But I am sharing my early Dorico experiences over the last day or so to help balance the discussion a bit. I opted to use the generous trial offer provided for the Pro version.
I had a couple of minor issues with download, and then I reread the instructions and did things in the right order. Viola! Easy. Downloaded all components as suggested bc well, why give the software anything to complain about. It crashed once while trying to add a group instrument, but otherwise setting up a template went as smoothly as I’d expect for learning a new language.
I’m involved in the Musical Theatre industry, so I’m interested to see how Dorico handles doubling in the reeds, brass and percussion while outputting print work, but I’m almost giddy about the options considering how the template is created. I started with a template since it seemed that the experienced folks were suggesting that it might help when importing xml files. And that xml 4.0 is vastly better than previous versions.
Lastly, I just recently ported all of my production work to Cubase, and am finding these user forums to be extremely helpful, kind, and welcoming. Thanks to all of the Dorico vets here who are earnestly doing their best to help us out in a time of real challenge. I’m certainly nervous (I just searched through 35 years of scores!), but am encouraged by the future. Thanks so much for the insights and patience with our upended community.
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Instead of telling people that they are ranting, read my post with some attention. Dorico for some bizarre reason does what it does. Musescore does not. The problem in this case is Dorico, not Finale. Yes the mighty can err, it is not a tragedy.
As far as Finale users are concerned, Musescore (that all my students use), is unfortunately far from Finale standards, and misses all the functionalities of plug-ins, especially the exceptional JW. (From what I read Dorico does not have JW functionalities either.)
But luckily the solution is simple. Keep your current MacOs on a separate disc . Boot from that, and you’ll be able to keep Finale running for many many many years. Only problem might be new sound libraries, one might get stuck what what is available now … which is not too bad.
I am not angry at all. I am kind of amused. The conversion of “Poco più veloce” is such a great example of what can go wrong with smart software. (Because, yes, of course there is no semantic understanding by the software.)
And you have to admit that to advertise a $579.99 to $149 discount for Finale users only to drop the original price 50% three days later is similarly amusing. Bit of a bite and switch, isn’t it.
This thread has partially moved away from what it’s supposed to be: a welcome post.
I understand that some people here are frustrated when things don’t work as they should, but to go berserk about it is completely out of line. For some, I even have the impression that they haven’t even been near the manual to get an explanation of, for example, how to install Steinberg software and in what order. Perhaps frustration is fuelled not only by the occurrence of errors and bugs, but also simply by the news that development of Finale has been discontinued: People, stay calm and don’t go blind from the anger you feel! If you remain calm and level-headed, you will be able to objectively describe what is going on and also recognise and understand the help of others. Some of the angry ones seem to have got so carried away that they either didn’t even realise that someone was giving them help or they didn’t read the details properly, which is why their problems persist.
Anyway, in the spirit of the thread, I’d like to welcome all new Dorico users coming from Finale and express my condolences!
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I think it just an unfortunate coincidence that the MakeMusic demise happened at the same time as Steinberg’s 40yr anniversary sale (which covers all Steinberg products, not just Dorico).
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One of the bad things about forums is that they allow unsubstantiated assertions that exhibit bias. One of the good things about forums is that they allow refutation.
I’m an ex-Finale, ex-Sibelius user and now active Dorico user. I have never used notation software that has the huge amount of good-humoured, encouraging support given directly by members of the Dorico team.
You can get near-immediate support from the Product Manager (Daniel), Audio Specialist (Ulf), lead documentation writer (Lillie), Software Architect (Paul) and many others. I’ve worked in software dev for over 40 years and never seen support like this. Then you get John and Anthony doing their super videos. I never saw anything like this amount of support in my Finale days.
I understand you may be cross and feeling disenfranchised but please take your anger out on MakeMusic management, not the Dorico team. There is nothing making you switch to Dorico - please find software that matches your needs and prejudices. When you find it, do let us know…
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Let’s return to the topic of this thread. Other matters can be discussed in other threads.
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Cross-link to @arco’s thread that discusses some great tools that could be very helpful to our new Finale friends:
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Thanks for the reminder, Silver_Mica. Positive presuppositions are always the best strategy, especially in stressful situations.
Best regards,
Amy
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As recommended by a few others, I’m sharing these recent videos about my journey between Finale and Dorico that detail some tips. Hopefully this helps with the process.
More Updates on the Transition from Finale to Dorico
How to Batch Export Finale Files to MusicXML
#My Journey from Finale to Dorico
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