Hi Randy,

It sounds like you were certainly blindsided with the removal of this feature in Finale. I'm sure that finding this out under the deadline you have was most definitely frustrating for sure. The movie window was actually removed in version 25 and I can't bring this back but I can help with a bit more info on ReWire.

The idea behind this is that use a host, like Sonar, to load Finale as a slave in. That way you can use both the movie window from that application and have it timed with your score in Finale, but also use a unified set of playback controls. While we don't have a dedicated set of instructions specifically for Sonar in our User Manual page here, Cakewalk does have resources on how this works specifically for Sonar here. ReWire is not specific to either the Mac or Windows platform, so the use of the functionality should be pretty much universal.

I hope this helps!

David Cusick - is there any plan to ever put this incredibly useful movie window back? It made life SO much easier. 

I've solved the problem by working in Finale 2014.5 to get my work done. I was using Finale 25 and there were certain very serious issues with not hearing certain things when writing/scrolling etc. (can't remember the details) but it certainly slowed me up too much to consider using it. 

Perhaps things are better in v26, but that runs so much slower on my computer that it really is no improvement on v25. 

I am one of many who regret the removal of the Movie window. Removing an easy to use function and replacing it with a complicated one, which requires the purchase and mastery of another software (DAW) is really not a good idea. Adding functions to Finale is OK (Rewire), but removing the movie window was a very bad idea.

How about consulting your users ? You could make a poll about this, of course only directed to those who do some scoring for movies.

Jonathan Rathbone:  I tried using 2014.5, but I kept running into the old Movie Window bug whereby after loading the video, the movie window expands so large you cannot view any of the window controls.  (I guess because the video is in HD.)  I had even posted a fix for this way back in 2008, but it looks like my fix no longer works.  Therefore, I gave up on the Movie Window, but continued to use 2014.5 just because it seemed more stable with my current environment.  Even then, I kept getting Aria Audio Engine shutdowns and had to continually reboot to get the audio working again.  (Yes -- I have the most current versions of Aria and then Aria Engine.)

https://forum.makemusic.com/default.aspx?f=5&m=239773&p=1

David Crusik:

Thanks for the reply.  My hunch is what I used to be able to do with the old Movie Window is no longer possible with Finale/Sonar/ReWire.

My Scenario:

I have a 5 minute film to score.  The picture is "locked", so I can trust all the timing of the scenes won't change.  I have a 60 second music cue which starts at 1 minute into the film (00:01:00:00).  I will load the entire video into Sonar and then position the "Now Time" to the 00:01:00:00 mark for my music.  In Finale, I only have my 60 second music cue loaded since it's simpler to handle each cue separately knowing once I get the timing right, I can export the audio and the film editors can start it at the frame I indicate and everything will match up.

I was able to connect Sonar to Finale using ReWire.  When the video plays in Sonar, Finale will play the score.  But, they are not in sync.

My Expectations:

-- I should be able to tell Finale that the first measure of my score should be sync'd to the 00:01:00:00 mark in the video.

-- Thus, when if I play the video in Sonar from the 00:00:00:00 mark, Finale shouldn't begin playing the score until the playback reaches the 1 minute mark.

-- If I play the video from the 00:01:00:00 mark, Finale should being playing immediately.

-- If I start the video anywhere between 1 minute and 2 minutes in the film, Finale should continue to sync with the current video frame.

-- And if I start the video after the 2 minute mark, Finale should determine there is no music for that position in the video and not play anything.

The Reality:

-- I don't know how I can tell Finale that the first measure of the score starts at a particular timecode for the movie.  I tried using the Document | Sync and Video Options dialog, but from what I'm reading the SMPTE start frame is when FInale controls other devices.

-- If I start the video at the very beginning (00:00:00:00), Finale immediately start playing the score.  So, at the 00:01:00:00 mark, Finale has finished playing when it should have begun playing.

-- If I start the video at the point in the film where I want the music cue (00:01:00:00), Finale decides the score should have finished playing and doesn't play anything.  The playback pointer in Finale is after the last beat in the last measure of the score.

My Hunch:

I think the issue is when Finale is running with Sonar and ReWire, Sonar wants to be the master and Finale the slave.  However, from what I'm reading online, when Finale uses MTC/SMPTE syncing, FINALE wants to be the master and control other devices.  I'm not reading anywhere that under ReWire, Finale can receive a timecode and sync it's playback to it.  At least, that's how I understand the issue.

Am I missing something?  What is the process the folks at MakeMusic (or their tech consultants) use when trying to sync a score to picture using Finale/Sonar/Rewire?

If you have any questions for me or need more information, please let me know.  Thanks!

randy

Has there been any follow-up or progress on this?  All I need is either the return of the Movie Window or an inexpensive video player that Finale can control (start and stop at any predetermined point in the video) either using ReWire or MTC/SMPTE.  Thanks!

There have been no program updates adding video capabilities to Finale 26.1.

JONATHAN RATHBONE , Did you manage to work with Window movie with an old version of Finale and it worked? Thank you

JACINTHE GRAVEL

I was working on Mac Finale 2014.5 and it worked OK

But to be honest, I've given up on it now. It WAS a wonderful feature and now it's SO complicated as to be useless. Especially to someone like me. I'm not scoring Hollywood Movies - I don't have time to waste on setting all this up. I might give it a go again one day, but for little snippets of music to go with movies - forget it! 

I am finishing a master's degree in film music and all of this delays me enormously. I tried to open with Finale 2010 and the window does not open. But I'm on PC do you know if this is possible only on Mac? I really have to find a solution and I don't know who to do ...

Jacinthe Gravel

Would you explain a little more about what is not working with the Movie Window in Finale?  I run Finale on Windows 10 and I might be able to help if I knew what isn't working for you.  The Movie Window was still in Finale for version 2014.5 which was the last version I used it with.  I think it would have worked, but my video was in HD and the Movie Window expanded to try to accommodate it and expanded off the screen.  It may work better with a lower quality video -- I don't know.  Please let me know if I can help.