SIP Newsletter #9

Brussels, March 1, 2003



Contents:
- SipXML announcement
- New utility: SipEps01

Dear SIP user,

Just before the Frankfurt Musik Messe of March 2003, there are two major news items for the Score engraving community from your favorite software factory.
MusicXML now being on the way to become the de facto vehicle between music applications, it was decided to develop SipXML - the program that converts MusicXML to Score.
For product planning this means that SipNiff developement has been shelved as NIFF does not seem to have the appeal and potential for producing companies as has MusicXML.
With SipXML you will be able to transform Finale 2000 directly into Score, as well as read the code generated by the SharpEye music scanning program. Other possibilities, as well as a general introduction to MusicXML can be found on the Recordare web site www.recordare.com
First customer delivery of SipXML is planned for September 1, 2003.

SipEps01 - create a white background for fingering crossing lines.

Introduction
This program for Score engravers automatically creates a white background when fingering crosses staff lines or tablature lines. While in tablature a digit points to a position rather than that it indicates a finger, this document considers digits as fingers.

Fingering
In principle, fingers cross staff lines or tablature lines in the middle. However, depending on the used font and size, fingers may become less readable such as the middle hook of a '3', or the horizontal line of a '4'. Fingers are defined as a range such as 0-6 (guitar, including circled strings), 1-5 (piano), or 0-20 (tablature). As is customary, Code10 items are used for numeric fingering, though the program works equally well when fingers are represented by Code16 items, or Code1 Par11=finger items. Provision for non-digits such as for certain types of tablature is foreseen in a next version of the program and depends on public interest.

How the program works
The program works on one or a series of Score EPS files. The EPS files are converted resulting in EPS files which have the staff lines with fingers manipulated such that they are segmented as to not touching the fingering. The resulting EPS files can be copied to a printer (DOS command 'copy *.eps lpt1') or input into a publishing tool. The EPS files are either physically replaced or written to a series of files named EPS00001.EPS and up, depending on the user's choice.

The user has control over a number of things...

Which elements to recognize as fingering:
As shown above, these can be any number range depending on the instrument or notation

The distance between fingers and staff lines:
This depends on the staff size and the font/size of fingers.

The width of the white space:
In fact, the white space consists of two parts: the left part counted from the line to the left end of the finger, and the right part counted from the left end of the finger to the line continuation. You will have to experiment to find the setting which best suits your taste if the default setting is too narrow or too wide.

It should be noted that any horizontal line is subject to the mechanism, even if it is not a staff line. When numbers have a circle or box attribute set, they will still be considered as elements when in the set range. Preferential values are kept in a profile to keep the settings for a particular engraver's method of working.

The analysis phase
Before being able to set up the distances of fingering to the lines they cross, the program helps in analyzing the setup. It will go through the files and report back what the most common distances are. These can then be use for the setup.

Pricing
The product can be obtained for a one-time license fee of US$ 75.-. Delivery is on a CD and world-wide shipping by airmail is included. Alternatively, conversion can be done as an email service for US$ 0.50 per file with a minimum order of 20 files.

Demonstration on your own file!
Send any one EPS file for a free demonstration.

Samples:
Download sample MUS and the generated EPS. Print these at your end to see graphic superiority.
PDF sample page  (Download 1 page)
Original files  (Download the original MUS files and the generated EPS files)
See the update message in Newsletter #14.

Long live SCORE

Jan de Kloe