Notion 3

[Pädy]

Good lord, that download is slow. Only another 3+ hours to go. Anybody know of a mirror?
And why is there no demo download for Progression? I filled in a form (where you could only choose between USA and Canada ) and then no download link. Somebody should explain them that the internet is international per se.

[Ogg Vorbis]

I've spent the better part of the weekend going though my demo and it's goodbye Sibelius!

I love the keyboard commands...all very predicable and memorable. I can use this thing without clicking too much. Nice mixer too. I think it is ready for prime time.

[marce]

Is the Macrovision copy protection software ok? no problem with it? Im wondering myself before install the demo.

[fandango]

I love the keyboard commands...all very predicable and memorable. I can use this thing without clicking too much. Nice mixer too. I think it is ready for prime time.

One thing I do miss from Overture is the note selection shortcuts.

In Notion it's
W - Whole
H - Half
Q - Quarter
E - Eighth
S - Sixteenth

whereas in Overture, it's based on mathematics (division)
1 - Whole
2 - Half (i.e., 1/2)
4 - Quarter (i.e., 1/4 ... you get the point )
8 - Eighth
6 - Sixteenth (the paradigm breaks at this point, but it's usable)

I find with Notion I have to do 2 stages in my head, think about the name of the note, then the starting letter, rather than just it's beat division size.

Also, Notion seems to have a problem with converting MIDI data to notation at the moment. Someone originally suggested the recording was broken, but this isn't the case. Basically, if you record into a SequencerStaff, it'll play back exactly what you recorded. However, if you convert it to notation, you end up with a ton of gobbledegook. Seems they haven't quantized the recorded MIDI first, so if you're so much as a tick before the measure when playing a note, the whole thing goes screwy. It's been reported on the forums.

[Ogg Vorbis]

Also, Notion seems to have a problem with converting MIDI data to notation at the moment. Someone originally suggested the recording was broken, but this isn't the case. Basically, if you record into a SequencerStaff, it'll play back exactly what you recorded. However, if you convert it to notation, you end up with a ton of gobbledegook. Seems they haven't quantized the recorded MIDI first, so if you're so much as a tick before the measure when playing a note, the whole thing goes screwy. It's been reported on the forums.

I am dealing with the same thing. I was under the mistaken impression that the piano roll was another view of the same data that you could tweak and it would not break the notation, but that's not the case at all.

When you execute the "convert to notation" function it is not even a head start in terms of getting things presentable. And when you finally get the notation back, then your MIDI tweaking is gone.

Hmm...

[headquest]

I've spent the better part of the weekend going though my demo and it's goodbye Sibelius!

I love the keyboard commands...all very predicable and memorable. I can use this thing without clicking too much. Nice mixer too. I think it is ready for prime time.

As a Sibelius user, I would be very keen to have a more detailed comparisson and reasons why you think the switch is a worthwhile investment (considering how much you already paid for Sibelius and how much Notion will now cost).

[Ogg Vorbis]

I've spent the better part of the weekend going though my demo and it's goodbye Sibelius!

I love the keyboard commands...all very predicable and memorable. I can use this thing without clicking too much. Nice mixer too. I think it is ready for prime time.

As a Sibelius user, I would be very keen to have a more detailed comparisson and reasons why you think the switch is a worthwhile investment (considering how much you already paid for Sibelius and how much Notion will now cost).

I am not a Sib owner. I am in the market for a notation package and I d/l'd Sibelius Demo and went through the turorials. I am not a very bright guy and so I was attracted to Notion because it seemed more streamlined and faster time to production.

[headquest]

Okay I see - cheers

[Karmacomposer]

If anyone is interested, I have Notion 2/3 for sale. Notion 3 is unopened and still sealed in the plastic. I also have 2 expansion packs.

Let me know if you guys are interested.

Mike

[Ogg Vorbis]

I've spent the better part of the weekend going though my demo and it's goodbye Sibelius!

I love the keyboard commands...all very predicable and memorable. I can use this thing without clicking too much. Nice mixer too. I think it is ready for prime time.

As a Sibelius user, I would be very keen to have a more detailed comparisson and reasons why you think the switch is a worthwhile investment (considering how much you already paid for Sibelius and how much Notion will now cost).

Here is some points or criteria that caused me to go ahead and pull the trigger on this product today.

For $150 cheaper than Sibelius, N3 has

- Same "continuous" view for scoring
- Same dynamic parts relationship to score functionality
- Same automatic collision avoidance
- Nice mixer with advanced routing features and multi-point panning
- Comes with a nice reverb by IK
- Good VSTi integration
- Rewire capability
- Shorter learning curve (<2 days)
- Easy to set up keyswitching functions for articulations
- Nice assignable continuous controller lanes

It does not have the following features which would be important to me:
- Video support and film scoring features (as a workaround I have to rewire to my DAW for these)
- Version comparison like Sibelius
- Numerous templates
- A big user community
- Idea hub
- Scorch
- Sing your note input
- Stability (N3 can be kind of "crashy" and "fiddly" sometimes, especially dealing with audio)

The biggest downside is that I feel like I'm a "one off" musician now because I don't have one of the big mainstream products.

Why do I put up with the downsides?

Bottom line: I like N3. It helps me feel like a productive composer. Go figure.

[Ogg Vorbis]

I still dislike the product name. Every time some ivy league idiot refers to "this particular notion in our society...." I want to punch a squirrel.

[headquest]

Thanks for the list Ogg Vorbis - an interesting comparisson

[headquest]

Okay, I just read the CM review of Notion 3, and am even more interested.

Maybe I'm truly thick, but I've never worked out how to quantise notes in Sibelius. Can anyone confirm if/how that is possible in Sibelius... and can somebody also comment on whether quantise (of the notation, not the MIDI) can be done in Notion. I wasn't sure if this is actually buggy based on an earlier post in the thread....

Cheers...

[fandango]

and can somebody also comment on whether quantise (of the notation, not the MIDI) can be done in Notion.

Can you please elaborate a bit, I'm finding the question slightly ambiguous?

Do you mean
- Has the MIDI->notation quantise conversion been improved (when recording from a MIDI keyboard)?
- You select a global 8ths/16ths/32nds/etc. setting and the notation changes to display only notes larger than that?

[headquest]

Both. Sorry if this is unclear...

In Sibelius realtime recording is a non-starter in my experience, so I enter notes manually or, more often, record MIDI in Cubase then import into Sibelius just for the final stage of notation creation.

If the MIDI I import/record into Sibelius is not quantised, I get note durations and timing that are unusable. I want to be able, when that happens, to have a command where I can quantise the notation, just as I would a MIDI files in Cubase, and have the note starts and durations snap to 1/8, 1/16, etc.

Can this be done in either Sibelius or Notion?