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william zeitler
Registered Member

Date Joined Jun 2005
Total Posts : 70

Posted 10/4/2016 2:24 PM (GMT -6)

I've been a Windows Finale user since windows 3.1 days, and the accelerator keys are deeply programmed into my reptile brane, e.g. ALT-T selects 'tools' on the menu, then K selects the 'key signature' option.

There does not appear to be the equivalent on Mac.

Is there a way to replicate these accelerator keys on the Mac? What's my least painful migration path?

THANX!!

William Zeitler
Composer :: Glass Armonica :: Organist :: Author
Master: Win 7/64 | Cubase | Vienna Symphonic Lib & other sample libraries
Slave: Win 7/64 | Finale 2014 | Vegas Pro
www.WilliamZeitler.com
www.GlassArmonica.com

David Ward
Registered Member

Date Joined Aug 2009
Total Posts : 2834

Posted 10/4/2016 2:34 PM (GMT -6)

One possibility is to set up shortcuts in System Preferences>Keyboard>Shortcuts>Application Shortcuts. The screenshot shows some I've set up for myself.

There are also other ways of going about this, which I expect others on the forum will describe.

David Ward
www.composers-uk.com/davidward

Finale 2014d & 2014.5 with Mac 10.9.5 & 10.11.6
Finale 2010b with Mac 10.6.8
full TGTools

Since 2001 have used F 2001, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2014

“We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.” JFK

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Peter Thomsen
Registered Member

Date Joined Jun 2000
Total Posts : 8331

Posted 10/4/2016 2:36 PM (GMT -6)

william zeitler,

Disclaimer:
I am not a Windows user, and I do not know those “accelerator keys” you mention.
The following may not be what you need.

1) In the Mac Finale you can program 8 tool metatools = shortcuts to tools.
NB:
These tool metatools are document specific, meaning that you can have different tool metatools in different documents.

For details, use the online manual, and do a search for the words
Master Tool Palette dialog box

2) The Mac OS X control panel Keyboard lets you program keyboard shortcuts to menu items.
NB:
These shortcuts are program specific.

3) If you are willing to spend money, you can buy a third party macro program, and get advanced shortcuts that combine multiple tasks.

Peter

Mac Finale, 2012c, 2014d & 2014.5, Dolet 6.6 plug-in, Mac OS X 10.11.6, iMac Intel Core i7, 2.93 GHz, 16 GB RAM

william zeitler
Registered Member

Date Joined Jun 2005
Total Posts : 70

Posted 10/4/2016 2:44 PM (GMT -6)

Accelerator keys are a way for Windows users to select menu options without the mouse. Generally they are the first letter of each word across the top of the menu (although sometimes more than one menu item begins with the same letter, so it might be the SECOND letter), and the first letter of the drop down options, etc. That's the convention, at least, and mileage varies for generally obvious reasons. They are set by the programmers writing the program.

Generally you can see what they are by holding down the ALT key. They are a great accessibility feature -- in that sense power users benefit from a feature implemented for accessibility challenged users.

william zeitler
Registered Member

Date Joined Jun 2005
Total Posts : 70

Posted 10/4/2016 2:45 PM (GMT -6)

I find that my efficiency is at least PI times faster (3.14...) when I don't have to use the mouse.

william zeitler
Registered Member

Date Joined Jun 2005
Total Posts : 70

Posted 10/4/2016 2:47 PM (GMT -6)

David Ward: I suspect this is what I'll end up having to do. I'm hoping for a solution that requires less programming of my Mac and less re-programming of my reptile brane...

Dr. Wiggy
Early music: modern methods

Date Joined Jun 2006
Total Posts : 12628

Posted 10/4/2016 3:39 PM (GMT -6)

william zeitler said...
David Ward: I suspect this is what I'll end up having to do. I'm hoping for a solution that requires less programming of my Mac and less re-programming of my reptile brane...

If you really want, you can press CTRL F2, and then select menus and menu items using their starting letters. However, your brane is infinitely more programmable than a computer.

Finale v.25, 2012 MacMini; 2012 MacBook Pro (10.11.6)
Edirol FA-66; Roland A-49, HP Laserjet 5200 DTN
Ancient Groove Music www.ancientgroove.co.uk

michelp
Registered Member

Date Joined Aug 2003
Total Posts : 2232

Posted 10/5/2016 5:16 AM (GMT -6)

And if you check the menus, you'll see that most of them have a keyboard shortcut indicated on their right.
For the menu items which don't have one, use David Ward's method.
P.S. : Third party software : Quickeys, Keyboard Maestro, iKey

Michel
Finale 2014.5, 2012c (main), MacOsX 10.11.6, Mac Mini Intel Core i7 2,7 Ghz, 16 Go Ram, French azerty kb, Dolet 6. Full TGTools. MOTU Audio Express, 3 monitors.

william zeitler
Registered Member

Date Joined Jun 2005
Total Posts : 70

Posted 11/17/2016 9:05 AM (GMT -6)

It so happened that I needed to run some other Windows software on my Mac. So I installed a Virtual Machine (VMWare: http://www.vmware.com/) and installed Windows on that. Hey -- I can install Windows Finale on my Windows Virtual Machine, and automagically have all my accelerator keys back!

It is working wonderfully. I also have a Linux box (Centos 7.2) onto which I have installed VMWare, and created a Windows 7 VM on that, so I am happily running Finale on Linux.

The VM costs you I'd say something like 5% of the throughput you'd get on bare iron. Midi connected to my Linux/Windows VM via USB works fine. The built-in Finale synths also work, but I have not installed or tested Garritan -- not of interest to me as I use Vienna Symphonic Lib instead (on native Mac). All I use Finale for is notation (never playback), so I have memory on its VM turned down to 2 gigs and it's working great.

Just an alternative for some folks to consider. It's a way to have the stability/sanity of Mac and still run the few Windows programs you might need to.

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