Scanning Into Finale

[tbn.al]

I probably overstated my case a bit. I have no expeience with SmartScore. The experience I have had with Photoscore leads me to believe that the recognition is much better with the pro than the lite. Hats off for the techies at Finale. Sounds like they are more concerned with you having a good experience than they are for what's in your wallet. That's hard to find anywhere nowadays.

[Dan Schultz]

I probably overstated my case a bit. I have no expeience with SmartScore. The experience I have had with Photoscore leads me to believe that the recognition is much better with the pro than the lite. Hats off for the techies at Finale. Sounds like they are more concerned with you having a good experience than they are for what's in your wallet. That's hard to find anywhere nowadays.

Yeah.... I could have chased my tail and spent hundreds of bucks to find out the problem was my scanner all the time.

The understanding I have of the SmartScore upgrade is that the 'Pro' version recognizes more stuff... like dynamics and other notes. I'm guessing the recognition of notes, time signature, key, & clef info is very close if not the same as the 'Lite' version.

[Dan Schultz]

WHOA! I just made a nice discovery! I've been messing with a demo of SmartScore 'Pro'. SmartScore 'Pro' will convert a file from .pdf to .tiff and recognize it near perfectly even though the .pdf file appeared dithered and sort of 'ratty' looking. Once the .pdf file is converted to .tiff... the characters are nice and crisp.

[Rick F]

Dan,

That's good to hear. You may know this already, but as a licensed Finale users you can get "SmartScore Pro" at a reduced price.

http://www.finalemusic.com/finale/addit ... SMARTSCORE

[Dan Schultz]

Dan,

That's good to hear. You may know this already, but as a licensed Finale users you can get "SmartScore Pro" at a reduced price.

http://www.finalemusic.com/finale/addit ... SMARTSCORE

Yes. That's basically why I've been going through this exercise to get my scanning capabilities straightened out. Finale also offer 'bundles' that include various forms of Finale, SmartScore, AND scanners at reduced prices.

Now that I've made a few 'discoveries' I'm sure I'll upgrade to 'SmartScore Pro'. I especially like the split-screen interface and fact that it also picks up dynamics and such.

Actually... I've just made an even better 'discovery'!... if all a person wants to do is scan and make transpositions of single parts... the 'Piano' edition should do that for only $79. There you go, tuba players.... Finale 'PrintMusic' and 'SmartScore Pro Piano Edition' for under $200 TOTAL.

[ralphbsz]

In my (not at all humble) opinion: the user interface of Finale *** S U C K S ***. Understood, this is a matter of personal taste. But I find it completely non-intuitive. The help files aren't worth the paper they're printed on, and they aren't even printed on paper.

But then, Sibelius is expensive. I guess with more practice, I'll get over my current allergic reaction to Finale.

[PMeuph]

In my (not at all humble) opinion: the user interface of Finale *** S U C K S ***. Understood, this is a matter of personal taste. But I find it completely non-intuitive. The help files aren't worth the paper they're printed on, and they aren't even printed on paper.

But then, Sibelius is expensive. I guess with more practice, I'll get over my current allergic reaction to Finale.

Aren't Sibelius and Finale pretty much the same price?

[ralphbsz]

Sibelius seems to exist only in one version, $600 (unless you are a church or educational institution, and I'm neither). Adding the serious OCR software (PhotoScore ultimate) brings it up to $750.

Finale has the advantage that they sell a restricted version, called PrintMusic. It's good enough for simple scores (right now, all I need is tuba solo for my son, tuba & piano, scanning and transposing, and maybe in the near future small brass ensembles like a quintet). That version is only $120. Add the serious OCR software (by upgrading SmartScore to the pro version) makes it $320 (or $220 if I'm OK with never OCR'ing more than 3 staves, which is barely enough for tuba & piano duo; the first ossia stave would mess it up).

For $430 difference, I'll endure lots of crappy user interface.

[PMeuph]

Sibelius seems to exist only in one version, $600 (unless you are a church or educational institution, and I'm neither). Adding the serious OCR software (PhotoScore ultimate) brings it up to $750.

Finale has the advantage that they sell a restricted version, called PrintMusic. It's good enough for simple scores (right now, all I need is tuba solo for my son, tuba & piano, scanning and transposing, and maybe in the near future small brass ensembles like a quintet). That version is only $120. Add the serious OCR software (by upgrading SmartScore to the pro version) makes it $320 (or $220 if I'm OK with never OCR'ing more than 3 staves, which is barely enough for tuba & piano duo; the first ossia stave would mess it up).

For $430 difference, I'll endure lots of crappy user interface.

There is Sibelius First for $120. Never used it so I don't know how it compares. Photoscore lite comes with it.

[ralphbsz]

There is Sibelius First for $120.

That's new. Didn't know about it. Looks interesting. I'll have to study the comparison table to know whether it contains enough good stuff to be useful. And it would have to be combined with PhotoScore ultimate (since one of my main points is to be able to scan and transpose music).