Spacebar-Click scrolling playback on Mac

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Aaron Campbell Edited June 28, 2019 15:35

Between work and home, I go between using a PC and Mac.

At home on the PC, Spacebar-Click allows for me to instantaneously hear a section of music with scrolling playback bar so in case the music goes beyond the window, it refreshes to what is currently being heard.

At work on the Mac, I can do the same function, but the screen does not scroll/refresh to synchronize with the music that is being played. Currently, when the Spacebar-Click playback goes beyond the window, I have to stop the music, manually scroll over, then restart to see what is being played.

I am aware that on the Mac, I can bring up the playback controls and enter a measure number to start, which is not efficient. Or I can start at the left most measure, but that may not be the measure I want to start at. Or I can scrub through the music, but that is not as accurate as playback, and I'd still have to manually scroll if the music goes beyond the visible window. (And no, I do not mind that it ignores human playback.)

Will there ever be an option added on the Mac where Spacebar-Click yields a scrolling playback as it does on the PC?

8 comments

Date Votes

Ted Astor Posted June 10, 2020 12:16

I have the same issue! Same workflow.

It is completely frustrating and seems like a simple thing for them to fix.

J ADRIAN VERKOUTEREN Posted June 10, 2020 15:48

This is what produces scrolling playback on my Mac.

Aaron Campbell Posted June 10, 2020 16:53

@ J ADRIAN VERKOUTEREN I am aware of this option, but this is not what I am talking about. Spacebar-Click option is for when you are not using the Playback Controls. On Mac, Spacebar-Click doesn't work with the Playback Controls window open. Here's what I am talking about:

On Mac, if you spacebar-click on any measure when the Playback Controls window is closed, it will play but if the music goes beyond what's currently on the screen, it will not scroll. It just stays on the current screen while you are listening to the music that you can no longer see.

On Windows, you can spacebar-click on any measure without the Playback Controls and it will start playing from that measure, similar to the Mac version. But in the Windows version, the scroll bar will show up and even update the screen as the music plays on. I don't have to set or type in the measure I want to start at. I don't have to hit the rewind/forward button. I don't have to choose start at leftmost measure. I don't have to deal with the Playback Controls window at all because I can literally start anywhere I want, and if it goes beyond the scope of the screen it will update.

So as an example: I have measures 1-8 on the screen and I want to hear and see measures 5-18. In Windows, I can just Spacebar-Click on measure 5 and the screen will update when it goes beyond measure 8. With Mac, I'd have to input to start at measure 5 either by putting in the number or fast-forward to the measure or make measure 5 the leftmost measure before I play. And then, if measure 18 is beyond the scope of the screen, it won't update to show it like Windows would. It seems so extra when the Windows version is literally one step.

JEFF TROXEL Posted May 20, 2021 01:34

I'd be happy if there was a way to do the spacebar-click playback on the Mac at all. I loved that feature on a PC, but on the Mac I have to enter a measure number if I want to start in the middle of a piece, which is a big PITA. Is this going to be addressed in the new version of Finale?

J ADRIAN VERKOUTEREN Posted May 20, 2021 15:41

-1

In the absence of SPACEBAR+Click, you might check to see if the Mac version has the Start From Leftmost Measure playback option. I'd be surprised if it did not.

JEFF TROXEL Posted May 20, 2021 16:01

Yes, it does have that feature. But I often work in page view and it's not convenient to switch views to check a measure or two. Why can't Finale make the space-bar click option work for a Mac?

Aaron Campbell Edited May 20, 2021 16:03

So to clear up, Mac does have Spacebar+Click; that's not the issue. The difference between the Mac and Windows is this:

On the Mac, you are REQUIRED to use the Playback Controls to get the scroll on playback. If you use Spacebar+Click on Mac, it doesn't scroll; the music will play, but the screen won't update. This means I always have to use the Playback Controls and Start From Leftmost Measure, or input a measure if I want it to scroll.

On the PC, you can just Spacebar+Click at any place, and it will scroll on playback without EVER having to use the Playback Controls. Now you'll miss out on some things like Human Playback features, but I don't always need that.

JEFF TROXEL Posted May 20, 2021 16:33

Sure enough, space bar-click is working. I swear it didn't work for me for years on this Mac. I don't know why it is now. Cool. But I get what you're saying about the scrolling. That's something they should fix.

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