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“ Just buy a 2011 Macbook Air for $80 on Ebay and install Encore, that is what I am doing,
It runs great on that computer”It is possible to hack the MacOS on a 2011 so that it can run 10.14 Mojave. If you’ve not done this, Google it for any of the videos or web sites that explain how. There are many features that work better but the fact that the Barlines dialog box displays correctly was enough for me.
Encore 5.0.7 runs much, much better over Mojave. All Macs introduced 2012–2018 will run Mojave. 2012 iMacs, Minis and MacBooks are cheap on eBay and Craigslist etc. The only downside is that the mechanical hard drives are often failing but they’re easy to replace (1TB MX500 is $47 on Amazon). I have a couple 2012 MacBook Pros that I just took in and upgraded with SSDs.
If Encore 6 does not arrive before I get my Mac Studio, I will keep one of those 2012s and use it with an MDP cable hooked up to one of my 27” monitors just to run Encore.
“ The learning curve for Sibelius is looking more and more enticing!”
You should download the demo, of course. I also recommend checking out Finale.
The most “Encore like” app is Overture, also written by Don Williams. There’s a demo so have a look. Don has posted over there that Overture 6, when it is ready, will open Encore 5 files.
The last paid upgrade was offered by GVOX in 2008, later called Passport Designs, now out of business. That’s the only “reputation” at stake here and that company is dead.
Although Passport Music bought the IP of Passport Designs last year, they have no customers and won’t till Encore 6 is released (if that happens).
I was able to convert Gary’s Music Time Deluxe 4 file. Loading it on my MacOS Mojave boot drive and double-clicking was all it took and it opened right up in Encore 5.0.7 for Mac. Although .mus file extensions can sometimes confuse a Mac into opening Finale instead, that wasn’t a problem and I did not have to change the extension. From there, I was able to use the Export menu to save as .mid and .xml. As the file was only one page, this took less than a minute. Printing to PDF in Preview, Apple’s bundled PDF app, likewise, took a few seconds.
Because of this, I am confident that Encore 6 should open the same file types without a problem.
What I don’t know is if Encore 5 can open MTD files earlier than v.4. I never had MTD 3 and will have to search my archives to see if I still have any MTD 1 and 2 files. I would have converted them to Encore over 25 years ago but there is the possibility that I may the original files.
“You may not believe this…but not everybody uses your particular set up.”
You apparently don’t believe that this might be a Windows only issue—if it is and not just User Error. Does this not work in Windows? It does on the Mac. Both versions use the same manual. pg 222:
“Encore automatically saves preferences. However, we do understand that sometimes you may want a different preferences set up for different scores. To achieve this, you will need to make templates with the preference set ups you desire, Encore allows an unlimited number of user created templates.”I’ve been very clear that I use 5.0.7 on the Mac where Encore sometimes behaves differently. I can set any of 118 fonts for my Lyric font and Encore 5.0.7 saves it as a new default automatically just as the manual says. I can certainly create and save Templates but probably haven’t done a new one in 15 years, since the paid upgrade to 5 was released in 2008.
Times New Roman is a Microsoft font. It’s not available for Mac until we download and install a Microsoft app or Acrobat Reader. These fonts can be made available to all apps but that’s not what happens when first installed. As I’ve written before, it’s easy to make App Fonts available to all apps but I don’t recall how to do this in Windows.
As for your silly gatekeeper remark, there are none here that I know of except for Don. I’m a user like anyone else and have no Admin privileges. I’m just as frustrated that Encore 6 is late — if it’s ever going to happen at all. I don’t mind answering questions, however. Apparently, I became better acquainted with Encore than many others over the decades.
Gary, email sent.
When my wife threw out my old Mac G4, I lost the ability to convert all MTD files. It will depend what version of MTD created them whether or not I will be successful. I’ll be glad to give it a try.
I hope that does not happen. There’s an old saying: “A camel is a horse designed by committee.” The MuseSore clown car is bad enough, IMO.
A friend contacted me yesterday for a recommendation. She had been running Finale notePad, a free version that was discontinued after 2012. Her new Win computer won’t run it and she has learned how useless MuseScore is for her work.
If Encore 6 existed, I would have steered her there in a heartbeat since it would be perfect for her needs. Instead, I recommended Finale 27 — like recommending a tourniquet for a mosquito bite but it will do what she wants with a workflow she already understands, even if it is waaaaay overkill for her needs as a piano teacher and church accompanist. With academic pricing, I expect the cost to be about the same either way.
Encore 5 will no longer run on my wife’s Mac, of course, so she has begun to explore Finale and has started to figure it out, also. Since I am in house tech support, her learning curve impacts my time.
Gotta move along and get the work done, right?
Overture 5 is Don’s other app. I recommend downloading the demo and reading the User manual. It can do what you want with glissando. There is also an available add-on VI library, Amadeus. You should also check out the Tuplet tool.
I have no idea how much of this will be included in Encore 6 but, since this functionality exists already, we know that it should show up in Overture 6 which is expected to be able to open Encore 5 files.
Although I like Encore for many reasons, I refuse to lose work. Fortunately, 5.0.7 for Mac almost never crashes. Problem is that I must shut down and boot from a different drive or run it from my laptop with a 27” external monitor. Often the time so set it up outweighs the savings I see by using Encore. Then there are the terrible slurs.
I like Encore for the quick charts I need to knock out but I can use Overture/Finale/Dorico if I need to and the layout looks better when I’m done—takes longer, however. I am not a fan of Notion and strongly dislike MuseScore & Sibelius.
Encore has never been a practical choice for heavy lifting or publication. For praise band charts, church choir rehearsal, lead sheets etc. Encore is perfect which is why I want version 6. It’s not the only game in town and I refuse to let it get in my way.
It’s a safe assumption that Encore 6 will open anything that could be opened by Encore 5. This should include the last version of MTD files as these can be opened by E5.
As to older files, it unknown how far back E6 will be able to reach. We won’t know till it ships.
Yea… I’m not holding my breath. I want it when it becomes available but am not letting this keep me from getting my work done.
Encore is a tool. If I must, I’ll use another. If I need to open an old file, there are ways. Everything I’ve ever done has been exported to MIDI, MusicXML and pdf. Nothing will be lost when I get a new Mac; it will just be a bit inconvenient to convert these files to something else.
“Times New Roman is typically a default font for many Windows programs…”
Then change it.
Minion Pro is a popular lyric font because of its readability. You can get it free from Adobe by installing Adobe Reader. Although it saves as an Application font, it’s easy to install as a System Font available to all users. The instructions differ for Mac and Windows but it’s pretty easy to do.
Again, you can be save any available font in a template.
“With the graphic panel I actually don’t use the Lyric tool [L] just the Text tool [T], particularly to have more specific control of text placement.”
Your request makes no sense. Using the Lyric tool, one is able to position words and syllables precisely by dragging horizontally with the mouse. The entire line can be repositioned vertically by dragging the arrow on the left—for each line up to 8. You can also replace, resize and restyle the lyrics for the entire document with a few clicks. If the new placement isn’t to your liking, re-drag as you like.
This is not possible with the Text tool without creating a new field for each word, a task that is cumbersome and time consuming to say the least.
