Dolet 3 for Sibelius Release Notes

Version 3.6

June 5, 2008

Installation - Using Dolet for Sibelius - What's New - Translation Limits - Reporting Problems - Thank You!

Installation

To install the plug-in, quit Sibelius and copy the MusicXML folder from this kit into your Sibelius Plug-Ins folder. Note that the location of the Sibelius Plug-Ins folder has changed as of Sibelius 4. The Sibelius site describes the plug-in folder location for different versions of Sibelius in step 3 of their plug-in installation instructions at:

http://www.sibelius.com/download/plugins/index.html?help=install

That's it! The plug-in works on both Windows and Macintosh machines.

Dolet 3 for Sibelius only works with Sibelius 4 and Sibelius 5. To export MusicXML files from Sibelius 2.1 and 3.1, you will need to use the Dolet 1 for Sibelius plug-in.

When you first run Dolet 3 for Sibelius, you will be asked to enter your registration information. This information will be sent to you via e-mail. If you have problems with registration, please contact us at .

Using Dolet for Sibelius

Dolet^® software serves as a translator between music programs. These translations are done using the MusicXML™ file format. Dolet 3 for Sibelius can write MusicXML files, allowing you to exchange music between Sibelius and other programs that can read MusicXML files. Currently this includes Finale 2007 and Notion. You can see a full list at http://www.musicxml.org/xml/software.html. Dolet 3 for Sibelius saves files in the MusicXML 1.1 format, which allows more of the music formatting to be transferred between applications.

To save a Sibelius score as a MusicXML file, go to the Plug-ins menu and select the MusicXML submenu. Then select the "Export MusicXML" item. You will then see a standard save dialog box asking where to save the XML file. By default, this will be the same as your existing Sibelius file name, with ".xml" used instead of ".sib" for the file extension.

You may translate an entire folder of Sibelius files to MusicXML format. This batch routine will overwrite any XML files with the same name that are currently in that directory. Use the "Translate Folder of Scores to MusicXML" menu item to save MusicXML files from your Sibelius files.

For best results, do the following before exporting a score:

Lock the format of your score. This will let all of your system and page breaks be exported.
If you have chord symbols, set the score to be non-transposing so the chord symbols can export correctly.
If you have non-magnetic slurs, convert them to magnetic slurs for the most complete and accurate slur export.

What's New

Version 3.6 fixes problems in exporting triple- and quadruple-dotted whole notes, and in incorrectly exporting some cue notes and backup elements with a duration of 0.

Version 3.5 fixed some translation problems when running the plug-in in German versions of Sibelius.

Version 3.4 added Sibelius 5 support. With Sibelius 5, the types of grace notes (eighth, sixteenth, etc.) are now exported, but MIDI channel and program data for each part are no longer exported.

Changes in previous releases are listed in the Dolet 3 for Sibelius Version History at http://www.recordare.com/sibelius/v3versions.html.

Dolet 3 for Sibelius adds many new features thanks to improvements in the MusicXML 1.1 language and the Sibelius 4 plug-in interface. Dolet 3 for Sibelius now exports the following features that were not exported in version 1:

Built-in articulations
Built-in symbols like coda and segno signs
Rehearsal marks
Glissandos
System and page breaks
Common and cut time symbols
Single-note tremolos
MIDI channels and programs
Text from guitar frames
Document settings for score width, score height, and staff size
Full names and short names for instruments
Note styles
Hidden objects (requires Sibelius 4.1 or later)

Dolet 3 for Sibelius has also improved export of several features from version 1:

Common chord symbols are now exported as chord symbols instead of plain text.
Metronome marks are now exported more accurately.
Dynamic marks are now exported more accurately.
Measure numbering for scores with a pickup bar is now exported.
Notes within an octava line are now exported in the correct octave.
Fingering text is exported as fingerings, rather than arbitrary text.
Slurs starting on grace notes are now exported more accurately.
MusicXML files now include separators between parts and measures for improved readability.

The batch export feature is also new in version 3.

Translation Limits

Any type of translation has limits. Things expressed in one language sometimes cannot be expressed the same way in another language. Sometimes the translator does not yet understand all the idioms and vocabulary in both languages. Dolet and MusicXML provide much greater music notation accuracy than MIDI translations, but both types of limits apply to this software.

In particular, Dolet 3 for Sibelius is limited to the musical information provided in ManuScript. It does not have access to accurate information about stems, beams, or transpositions, so it makes its best guess about beams, but leaves the stems and transpositions out altogether: everything is exported at sounding pitch. Dolet also does not have access to brackets and braces, custom articulations, staff types, contents of guitar frames, whether notes are cue size or regular size, and whether or not elements like accidentals are displayed or hidden in the score.

Reporting Problems

Given all the possibilities available in music notation, you may find problems in how we handle your Sibelius score. Please contact as at if you encounter problems with our software.

If you do find a problem, please give us a description of what Dolet is doing, compared to what you expect it to do. Attaching the Sibelius file that shows the problem will help us to find and fix the problem more quickly.

Thank You!

Thank you very much for your interest in Recordare^® and MusicXML™ software. We greatly appreciate your support of an open, Internet-friendly format for representing musical scores.

Dolet 3 for Sibelius License - Purchase Dolet 3 for Sibelius

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Last updated June 5, 2008.