The NinSheetMusic Redesign Suggestion Thread: Site features

[BonesEXE]

I've only been on the forums for a very short time so I'm probably not going to have a very powerful say in the matter, but here are my suggestions.

Something that I would be very grateful for is the combined integration of both Finale and Sibelius files for uploading scores. I'm not including free programs like Musescore or Flat.io because they aren't coming from anyone's pocket, whereas Finale and Sibelius are both professional programs that cost a hefty amount. I understand your guys' aim for unanimity with the appearance of your scores but it would be great if you could include the PDF's made from Sibelius files. They don't look all that different from Finale files if you know what you're doing (and if you spend several hundred dollars on Sibelius, you know how to use it). I may be completely oblivious to it, but I genuinely don't see the issue with this; people like me want to share their scores but not being able to because of this barrier of the two programs. I also understand that it isn't hard to ask for someone to convert the files and tidy them up for us but, it makes me feel that I'm not qualified to produce scores myself in an effective manner although I am just as qualified.

In place of the ".mus" option, why not have a ".sib and/or .mus" option instead? It would be super helpful to people like me who have spent hundreds of dollars on Sibelius. Yes, it would mean having to add another button to both the submissions panel and the webpage but it would make it so much more accessible for the population of Sibelius users.

I really want to contribute to the site, and I feel like I have the skills to supply well put together and accurate sheets, but having the barrier of Finale and Sibelius makes is very difficult to maintain your standards.

Please forgive me if I sounded rude or obnoxious, but if I had've known the world would be so displeased with Sibelius users, I never would have purchased it to begin with.

Welp, there goes all my good karma on this site. Forgive me. 

[Latios212]

Please forgive me if I sounded rude or obnoxious, but if I had've known the world would be so displeased with Sibelius users, I never would have purchased it to begin with.

Welp, there goes all my good karma on this site. Forgive me. 

Hey, no worries! It's a legitimate point with merit. That said, this comes up every so often; let me explain:

In addition to the above, here's a practical reason without saying "because it's always been this way": Using a Finale file as a master file allows us to keep everything in sync - that is, generate a .mid and a .pdf file off of the .mus so we know they're all up to date by checking against one file. Trying to incorporate files from other notation software would make our retention of multiple file types asynchronous, meaning that any small change in one would have to be made in the exact same change in the other, which is really bad because it's easily prone to error and causes more work for the arrangers and updaters, who would (and should) rather be checking an arrangement for its content and not having to deal with using multiple notation softwares. It's good practice to consistently offer the same file type for every arrangement, and also simplifies site maintenance for the staff (should anything need to be changed, a quick change to the .mus and a couple of exports is all that is needed).

All that said, there are people around here more than willing to help you iron out the kinks with file conversion. MuseScore arrangers still have potential to be successful here - just read some of the above posts. So don't worry too much.

There's more discussion around this post that refers to MuseScore, but can be similarly adapted to other notation softwares. Basically, there's nothing we have against Sibelius specifically. It's not just the appearance of the scores that we try and keep uniform, it's the way they're stored and maintained.

Of course, we understand people use other notation softwares and we welcome new arrangers regardless (we don't judge, great arrangements are great arrangements!). As such, we'll always be around to help you convert an arrangement into Finale form for submission.

[Trasdegi]

I'm not including free programs like Musescore because they aren't coming from anyone's pocket, whereas Finale and Sibelius are both professional programs that cost a hefty amount

Triggered (I always have trouble understanding the "It's expensive, therefore it's better" logic, be it there or with anything else)

[WaluigiTime64]

(I always have trouble understanding the "It's expensive, therefore it's better" logic, be it there or with anything else)

It's more that people don't want to admit that a free program is on the same level or better than a program they already paid a lot of money for (to validate their purchase).

Admittedly, money blocks do filter out the bad from the good a fair bit though.

[BonesEXE]

Hey, no worries! It's a legitimate point with merit. That said, this comes up every so often; let me explain:
There's more discussion around this post that refers to MuseScore, but can be similarly adapted to other notation softwares. Basically, there's nothing we have against Sibelius specifically. It's not just the appearance of the scores that we try and keep uniform, it's the way they're stored and maintained.

Of course, we understand people use other notation softwares and we welcome new arrangers regardless (we don't judge, great arrangements are great arrangements!). As such, we'll always be around to help you convert an arrangement into Finale form for submission.

Thank you for the info regarding this. I appreciate it a lot! And if that is the case, I need someone to take the .xml file for my arrangement of "Deep Castle" and convert it/fix it to a .mus file.

[BrainyLucario]

I can do that for you.

[LeviR.star]

Bones, you've always got people here willing to convert to Finale format for you; don't forget that. We help each other out.

[HylianHero33]

I was thinking that since K.K. Slider's songs tend to be the same throughout the Animal Crossing series, that we put a new category under Animal Crossing labeled K.K. Slider.
It would separate game-specific songs and K.K.'s songs (which are many). Just a thought; any objections?

[Maelstrom]

Since it's not a game, there's no justification to split them up.

[LeviR.star]

Is there a way that the release year of a new game can be entered by the arrangers themselves when submitting sheets? I'm looking back at all of my on-site sheets (in chronological release date order) and I'm noticing too many inaccuracies that I'd  rather prevent myself. If we can have this feature, updaters can just verify the release date themselves.

[JDMEK5]

^I could see this being helpful in eliminating any ambiguity concerning regional release dates. I always use the earliest personally but I've seen others do otherwise.

[LeviR.star]

I could see this being helpful in eliminating any ambiguity concerning regional release dates.

I mean yes, there's of course that, but also strange cases like mid-nineties GB games coming before the earliest Nintendo arcade titles:

You cannot view this attachment.

Though, I don't know what exactly is encoded wrong, because I can't see what year each game is set to on the site.

[The Deku Trombonist]

Games that don't yet have a release date entered appear at the top before any other game, which is what you can see in the screenshot you posted. The two Mega Man titles didn't have a release date so they appeared first. I added them in so it should look more normal now.

[LeviR.star]

Games that don't yet have a release date entered appear at the top before any other game, which is what you can see in the screenshot you posted. The two Mega Man titles didn't have a release date so they appeared first. I added them in so it should look more normal now.

Ah, ok; thank you, Deku. The only other inaccuracies I see are when on-site remakes/ports are given the release dates of the original, in some cases 5+ years before (Tetris, Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds, and Target: Renegade, to name a few) It's not really a big deal, just something I'd thought I'd point out

[The Deku Trombonist]

Target: Renegade has been fixed.

For Wizardry II, should the Japanese date suffice? https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/nes/587773-wizardry-knight-of-diamonds-the-second-scenario/data

And I'll wait for Latios to get back for Tetris.


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