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Davidmorehead
Registered Member

Date Joined May 2000
Total Posts : 2048

Posted 6/2/2009 12:35 PM (GMT -5)

I would like to know how many people have upgraded to the full version of TGtools. Is it worth $99 bucks? How much do you use it?

David Morehead

Finale 2006, 2008 & 2009 on a Sony Vaio Laptop

DaveMorehead.com

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RVS Lee
Registered Member

Date Joined Jan 2005
Total Posts : 170

Posted 6/2/2009 12:50 PM (GMT -5)

David -

I use Tobias' spacing plugins regularly, and can't imagine handling vertical justification of a large score without STAFF LIST MANAGER.

Unconditional endorsement.

RVS Lee

(Also he seems to be a genuinely nice guy.)

danpowers
Registered Member

Date Joined May 2000
Total Posts : 1110

Posted 6/2/2009 1:03 PM (GMT -5)

I only use three or four of his tools on anything like a regular basis, but they've become indispensible to me. As far as I'm concerned, they're worth every penny.

Dan Powers

www.danielpowers.info

Saffron
Registered Member

Date Joined Jul 2008
Total Posts : 2687

Posted 6/2/2009 1:09 PM (GMT -5)

I've never really been tempted to buy them - I didn't find Finale's bundled subset particularly consistent or helpful, and have worked out my own ways of doing some of things TG tried to help with.

That's not to say TG Tools is no good - just that I have no use for it, and so will keep my $99.

Brian

Les Preludes
Registered Member

Date Joined Jul 2008
Total Posts : 80

Posted 6/2/2009 1:15 PM (GMT -5)

The full version of TGTools has additional functionality as compared to the versions supplied with Finale. For instance, the "Align Dynamics" plug-in has hotkeys that allow you to align, align and lower, align and raise by pressing the appropriate keys.

It depends on exactly what you need in working on your files. If you have carefully and correctly built your scores, it's likely you might have little use for TGTools many filtering capabilities. But if you're cleaning up other's files, TG might be a real timesaver. The many "Layout" options would be of help to any user in saving time.

I recommend you try the demo and give it a real thorough test drive. Try all the menu items - there are dozens, if not hundreds of different permutations.

Les

Jetcopy
Registered Member

Date Joined Oct 2000
Total Posts : 2755

Posted 6/2/2009 1:59 PM (GMT -5)

I use it everyday and consider it the best "Finale upgrade" ever. Most of my work is for publishing and consider it indispensable, worth every penny.

But in the final analysis, it doesn't matter what I or anyone else thinks about it, just your opinion matters. The demo is fully functional. Use it and make up your own mind. If the demo period expires, you can write Tobias for an extension and he'll send it without question.

G4 Powerbook, OSX 10.4.11, 1.67 GHz, 2 GB ram

Dick Brodfuehrer
Hack Arranger and C.O.G. (Chief Old Geezer)

Date Joined Jul 2000
Total Posts : 4668

Posted 6/2/2009 3:51 PM (GMT -5)

danpowers said...
I only use three or four of his tools on anything like a regular basis, but they've become indispensible to me. As far as I'm concerned, they're worth every penny.

Same here.

Finale 2006

I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it
-- W.C. Fields
24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not.
-- Steven Wright

KennethKen
Registered Member

Date Joined Dec 1998
Total Posts : 1543

Posted 6/2/2009 4:49 PM (GMT -5)

danpowers said...
I only use three or four of his tools on anything like a regular basis, but they've become indispensible to me. As far as I'm concerned, they're worth every penny.

I agree.

Windows XP, Finale 2009a, Pentium 4, 3GHz, 2GB Ram

http://www.AmisMusicalCircle.com

Brass music, Woodwind Music, Concert Band Music, CDs, etc.

Fritz Meissner
Choir Addict

Date Joined Jul 2004
Total Posts : 2646

Posted 6/2/2009 5:40 PM (GMT -5)

As a matter of interest, is it the same three or four tools that everyone uses, and if so, what are they ?

Fritz

PrintMusic 2004, 2006 and 2007, Windows XP Pro, Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS, P4 2.6 GHz + 1 GB
2nd Tenor Cape Town Male Voice Choir
Use the Finale Knowledgebase first !

danpowers
Registered Member

Date Joined May 2000
Total Posts : 1110

Posted 6/2/2009 5:43 PM (GMT -5)

I use "Fit Measures," "Scale Staff Positions," and "Align/Move Dynamics" fairly often. Also "Insert space in measure" a bit less often. Oh, yes, and "Keyboard Remapping" has been very useful at times.

I've probably used most of them at least once.

Dan Powers

www.danielpowers.info

Post Edited (danpowers) : 6/2/2009 9:42:31 PM (GMT-5)

RVS Lee
Registered Member

Date Joined Jan 2005
Total Posts : 170

Posted 6/2/2009 5:56 PM (GMT -5)

As I said above, I can't live w/out STAFF LIST MANAGER, but I regularly use most of the measure spacing utilities (add/subtract space, measure widths, etc...)

RVS Lee

Gareth Green
Player of fine trumpets

Date Joined Oct 2001
Total Posts : 1532

Posted 6/2/2009 6:28 PM (GMT -5)

"Align/move dynamics/hairpins"; couldn't live without it.

Gareth J. Green

Fin2009b

Core2Duo E8400@3.00GHz; Vista 64-bit; 8Gb RAM; SB X-Fi Extreme Audio, ATI Radeon HD 4650.

Stolichnaya Blue

"Trumpet players have no use for musicianship; it's too much like having a conscience"

"Never take life seriously; no-one gets out alive anyway."

Dick Brodfuehrer
Hack Arranger and C.O.G. (Chief Old Geezer)

Date Joined Jul 2000
Total Posts : 4668

Posted 6/2/2009 6:52 PM (GMT -5)

In addition to some of those mentioned above ---

Music - Fill
Modify - Transfer
Options - Keyboard Remapping

Some of these may be part of the set provided with Finale, but I'm not certain. I dumped the freebee stuff I don't use when I installed the program.

Finale 2006

I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it
-- W.C. Fields
24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not.
-- Steven Wright

KennethKen
Registered Member

Date Joined Dec 1998
Total Posts : 1543

Posted 6/2/2009 8:45 PM (GMT -5)

Align/Move hairpins
Staff list manager
Scale Staff Positions
Make Cues

Windows XP, Finale 2009a, Pentium 4, 3GHz, 2GB Ram

http://www.AmisMusicalCircle.com

Brass music, Woodwind Music, Concert Band Music, CDs, etc.

Motet
ø¤º°”°º¤ø

Date Joined Dec 2002
Total Posts : 3166

Posted 6/3/2009 12:32 AM (GMT -5)

"Combine rests in layers" is handy.

(Finale 2005b on Windows XP)

Mark Wibrow
Registered Member

Date Joined Mar 2005
Total Posts : 243

Posted 6/3/2009 2:21 AM (GMT -5)

The staff list manager is worth the $99 on its own. But the align/move stuff, and the special modifications are also useful.

Mark Wibrow
Finale 2007c. Windows XP Pro all updates.

tim
Registered Member

Date Joined Jan 2000
Total Posts : 478

Posted 6/3/2009 2:36 AM (GMT -5)

For anyone doing big band or orchestrating, smart explosion of multi-part staves is a must.
Move align
Hamonics
Trems
Harp pedals
Transfer layout
Process extracted parts

These are just my fav's I use many more. I would go as far as saying without TG tools and quikeys finale is pretty useless.

Tim

Gareth Green
Player of fine trumpets

Date Joined Oct 2001
Total Posts : 1532

Posted 6/3/2009 4:25 AM (GMT -5)

Motet said...
"Combine rests in layers" is handy.

Yes, I forgot that one; I use it a lot when creating percussion parts in particular.

Gareth J. Green

Fin2009b

Core2Duo E8400@3.00GHz; Vista 64-bit; 8Gb RAM; SB X-Fi Extreme Audio, ATI Radeon HD 4650.

Stolichnaya Blue

"Trumpet players have no use for musicianship; it's too much like having a conscience"

"Never take life seriously; no-one gets out alive anyway."

Danb1937
R.B.D (composer, arranger, retired band director)

Date Joined Oct 2003
Total Posts : 112

Posted 6/3/2009 6:17 AM (GMT -5)

I can't function without my TG Tools.

Dan

Play what's written, not what's rotten.
=========================
F2K9b, F2K8, TG Tools, Patterson, Windows XP Pro, 4 GB RAM

cbass
Registered Member

Date Joined Jul 2005
Total Posts : 10

Posted 6/3/2009 12:20 PM (GMT -5)

I have used the full version of TGTools for a few years and for me, it was/is worth the money. Before buying any kind of a program you must analyze your needs in order to make a determination as to whether or not it could be of value.

Jeremy Levy
Registered Member

Date Joined Oct 2005
Total Posts : 482

Posted 6/3/2009 1:56 PM (GMT -5)

I agree that TGTools is an absolute requirement, but it amazes me that a lot of the stuff isn't built into Finale. Modify|Transfer really should be built into Finale. It is a major feature lacking from the program. Makemusic needs to pony up and buy out Tobias and put in the core TGTools features.

Jeremy Levy
Trombonist, Orchestrator, Composer/Arranger, Copyist
Glendale, CA
www.jlevymusic.com
Finale 2007, 2008, 2009

Zuill
"The Troll"

Date Joined Oct 2003
Total Posts : 11859

Posted 6/3/2009 4:04 PM (GMT -5)

But there is a danger the quality may drop, isn't there? An independent provider has control over fixing bugs and issuing fix releases in a way we might never see otherwise.

Zuill

"When all is said and done, more is said than done."

Finale 2002b, 2003a, 2004b, 2005b, Win 2000 or XP

Favorite Forum quote: "Please, everybody, IGNORE THE TROLL!"

Davidmorehead
Registered Member

Date Joined May 2000
Total Posts : 2048

Posted 6/3/2009 5:55 PM (GMT -5)

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I love being able to copy the layout of one part and apply it to another part. That will come in very handy. I am sure, after looking around a bit more, I will find other time saving features that are useful to the kind of work I do. I think it is great that Tobias will extend your trial period if you need more time. That is very nice of him.

Now, back to figuring out how expressions work in 2009.

David Morehead

Finale 2006, 2008 & 2009 on a Sony Vaio Laptop

DaveMorehead.com

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Ron Wasserman
Registered Member

Date Joined Feb 2003
Total Posts : 537

Posted 6/4/2009 5:24 PM (GMT -5)

I use most of the above, plus the beam breaker. Alt GUB.

Ron Wasserman
F2007, F2009 user since 2000
Desktop: Athlon 64X2, 1918 mb ram, XP Media Center keyboard midi to edirol to usb
Laptop: Celeron, 480 mb ram, XP home keyboard direct to usb. (not enough memory for 2009)

". . . I love music, and anything that interrupts music, I hate."
Astor Piazzolla, Central Park Concert

"Music: incredibly easy to understand on a basic level, but profoundly difficult to speak with any fluency."
Ron Wasserman

LloydP
Registered Member

Date Joined Nov 2008
Total Posts : 191

Posted 6/5/2009 3:06 PM (GMT -5)

I see the different versions at the site. Are the limitations just in the size of scores as implied, or are there other things missing. IOW, are all the tools there to use, just size limitations on say the Lite version.

I ask because at $50 for the lite version, it makes sense for me to buy it as I'm a home user mostly just fiddling around with Finale. At $99 (or $69) is takes more thinking.

thanks

Lloyd

20" iMac & Mac Mini, Leopard 10.5.x, Finale 2009

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