I don't know what happened to my revised message, so I'll post it again: David,
Finale is avoiding the collision between that last expression and the entry. The dynamics in Finale 2004 are set to "Below Staff Baseline or Entry" vertical positioning in the expression definition dialog. Here's how "Above/Below Staff Baseline or Entry" works. Finale calculates the distance from the expression to the baseline and determines if there is going to be a collision. If there is, it will use the offset from the entry instead. Positioning settings for expressions are found in the definition of the expression itself. This is a huge paradigm shift in Finale 2004. Before, Finale stored all positioning information in the assignment of the expression. When I use the new expression alignments in real work for my clients, I don't have to drag expressions near as often. (Extracting parts is a BREEZE now. I maybe drag 1 expression out of 20 instead of nearly all of them) So, yes, you'd have to adjust positioning settings for each expression. Send in the feature request to change stettings for many expressions at once. Allen [one of the] Codapolitan[s] in Residence www.finalemusic.com ---- Now to address the rest of your message: >>Actually I am using the expression (F for forte, metatool 4) as it is in your default library, which is set to "beneath staff baseline or entry."<< I accidentally sent my email before proofing...see above. >>I thought the whole idea was that we would be able to enter ALL expressions aligned the same. Now I find out that I will have to go through and manually edit EACH and EVERY expression in the new libraries if that is the behavior I want.<< It is. Change 'em to "below staff baseline" (no entry offset) Then when you get a collision, drag the baseline and they all move. Save it as a library and put them in your default fiel. And to be fair, you don't have to change every expression, just the dynamics. >>Either that, or we're back to manually dragging many expressions and visually getting them to line up.<< If you want the old behavior back, load a library from Finale 2003 or edit the 2k4 expressions to use "Horizontal Click Position" >>And we can't edit individual expression placements.<< Not true. Edit the expression definition, or open up the Expression Assignment dialog and enter an offset, or drag the expression. Last two ways to edit individual placements are available in Finale 2003. A real world application of this setting (Above/Below Staff baseline or entry) that I have used is this: I enter my dyamics. One pops in out of line. I adjust the baseline on that system so that ALL dynamics on that system are aligned with that one. (I didn't have to strike a guide and drag each one until it snapped). >>So it seems this is another marketing tool of limited usefulness in the real world.<< Little harsh, don't you think? You entered four quarter notes, saw that Finale avoided a collision for you, and you call it a "marketing tool of limited usefulness". Allen [one of the] Codapolitan[s] in Residence www.finalemusic.com -----Original Message----- From: David H. Bailey [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, August 29, 2003 10:25 AM To: Fisher, Allen Cc: Finale; WinSupport Subject: Re: [Finale] Expression alignment Actually I am using the expression (F for forte, metatool 4) as it is in your default library, which is set to "beneath staff baseline or entry." I thought the whole idea was that we would be able to enter ALL expressions aligned the same. Now I find out that I will have to go through and manually edit EACH and EVERY expression in the new libraries if that is the behavior I want. Either that, or we're back to manually dragging many expressions and visually getting them to line up. And we can't edit individual expression placements. So it seems this is another marketing tool of limited usefulness in the real world. Fisher, Allen wrote: > David, > > I hope I understand this correctly. What you've run into is this. When an > expression is set to "Above Staff Baseline or Entry" in the expression > definition, it calculates the distance from the baseline to the entry and > calculates the distance from the entry and the entry offset. If the > expression will collide with the entry sitting on the baseline, Finale > positions it using the entry offset instead. > > -----Original Message----- > From: David H. Bailey [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Friday, August 29, 2003 5:35 AM > To: Finale; [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [Finale] Expression alignment > > > Finale2004: > > It was with great anticipation I looked at the new expression tool > changes, especially when those alignment triangles appear at the left of > the screen, indicating that it will be possible to align the expressions > with each other. > > However, on my first experiment, with only one measure, it is clear this > isn't much better than the old system. > > I had entered 4 quarter notes, 3 of which were 2-note chords A/D, A/D, > C/E (lower/higher). The fourth beat is a 2-note chord B/G, which makes > Finale extend the stem down to offset the high G. > > I used expression metatool 4, and no matter where I had the cursor on > the first three chords, the expressions all aligned themselves properly > below the staff. When I used metatool 4 to place the same expression > under beat 4, the expression was out of line with the other three, so I > still had to drag it by hand, to have it visually in line with the other > 3 expressions. > > I thought this change was to give us perfectly aligned expressions no > matter what. > > I can see no options for expressions, either in the Expression menu or > in the Document Options, so I can't see any way to change this behavior. > > What am I doing wrong? Or did I misunderstand this feature? > > -- David H. Bailey [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
