At 4:34 PM -0700 7/24/05, Mark D Lew wrote:
It doesn't seem like it'd be that hard to fix. As I understand it, slurs are current drawn as a Bezier curve (actually, the space enclosed by two almost-parallel Bezier curves) and the slur tool gives the user access to the control points. Why not just introduce one more value that calls for x distance of straight line inserted in the middle of the slur? The midpoint and slope of the curve(s) is easily calculated. The program could just calculate the curve as if the control points are all displaced by a distance of x/2 inward toward the midpoint, split the curve in half, draw each with the actual endpoints, and then fill in the middle with a straight line -- pretty much the same thing that pre-digital engravers with their curve templates did for long slurs for decades.
Keeping in mind that there was an awful lot that Mosaic couldn't and still can't do, and that MOTU has stopped development, they had this feature from the very beginning. Every slur has not 3 but 4 adjustment points and is almost infinitely adjustable. I also discovered that you could grab the slur at any point to adjust it, not just on those 4 points. Just like linked scores and parts, these were in the program at least as early as 1992. Were Mosaic's programmers smarter than Finale's or were they just pursuing different goals? Or maybe working with better consulting musicians at that time? Really good looking defaults (except for note spacing, like everybody else), linked score and parts, adjustable slurs. 1992. What can I tell you!?
John -- John & Susie Howell Virginia Tech Department of Music Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
