Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: Back up question amid heartbreak (Read 3774 times) previous topic - next topic

Back up question amid heartbreak

Where might back up files be?

Back in May, I moved my Noteworthy Composer files onto an external drive to save room on my computer which was running slowly. I have a lot of MP3s and videos along with my  compositions. It appears that the backup folder is no longer syncing. I made a terrible mistake today and finished a score Then started to create the parts, and I mistakenly saved the part under the full score name, losing the full score in the process. I was hoping there might be a back up  version but it looks like the back up folder stopped getting back ups in May. I am really hoping that there might be some other folder that I don’t know about that might have the finished score in it.

Re: Back up question amid heartbreak

Reply #1 –
Ouch!

The only thing I can suggest is to look at | Tools | Options | Folders and check the locations of:
Backup Files:
and
Auto Save/Recovery:

FWIW my Backup Files location appears to be OK, but the Auto Save/Recovery location is empty...  Not sure I'm very happy about that :(
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.

Re: Back up question amid heartbreak

Reply #2 –
My workflow is obviously different to yours.  The way I do parts is to hide the staves that aren't relevant to the part I want to save, then print that part to a PDF, I do NOT create a separate NWC file for each part.

The staff belonging to the part to be printed is always the TOP staff in the case where there may be related/layered staves.  This way any page system or page breaks can be made to the staff and will only be in effect when that parts staff is at the top.
When working on the whole work I have a top staff on which everything is hidden and it is layered with the next staff.  This way system and page breaks relevant to the conductors/full score can be made and they do not affect parts prints.
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.

Re: Back up question amid heartbreak

Reply #3 –
Quote from: Lawrie Pardy –
FWIW my Backup Files location appears to be OK, but the Auto Save/Recovery location is empty...
So it must be, normally, as far as I know.
Normally it's used only while you're editing.
It's a completely different story from the backup.

Quote
The way I do parts is to hide the staves that aren't relevant to the part I want to save, then print that part to a PDF, I do NOT create a separate NWC file for each part.
So do I.

Re: Back up question amid heartbreak

Reply #4 –
Hello composer comrades

Thank you for engaging with me on this topic. It was indeed an OUCH, caused by rushing to finish the parts before a rehearsal.

I am happy to report that a less panicked search of the back up did find the full score, and it has been re-saved to the appropriate folder. I would like to give thanks to the developer who had the idea of having a back up folder. I have not often had to use it in my 20 years of NWC use, but when I do, it is a really appreciated feature!!!!!! (That reminds me that I should go looking for a different missing score one more time...)

Now, as to the work flow issue, I have tried just using one file, but I find that when I create parts, I often want to make them a little bigger than what I am happy to work with as the conductor and/or accompanist. I like less pages to turn. This means that there is a lot of fiddling back and forth if I just work from the full score and hide staves. Also, making the endings align well isn't always the same for each part.

How do you handle those items (font size changes and spacer inserts for endings)?

Re: Back up question amid heartbreak

Reply #5 –
Hi SEBC,
very happy to hear of your success in recovering your file!

As for how I handle the changes your refer to in the workflow comment, in the rare case I need something quite different between the full score and the parts I have just 2 files.  One is the full score and optimised for that function, and the other is for creating parts., with all the fiddling that entails.

But the real key is the creation of PDFs.  Once the PDF is created for a part, it is almost never necessary to return to the NWC file for that part again, just reprint the PDF as required.  In the event that changes are needed for a part, then you'd be doing all that fiddling again anyway.

As for isolating spacing requirements, system breaks, page breaks etc. I just do that for each part's staff as required.  Considering this staff will never be visible when working on any other part it doesn't have any effect on other parts.  I also have a number of elements that have visibility set to "Top Staff Only".

For all elements that are common between staves I have a staff that gets layered with every part to be printed and it gets the common elements.  Things like lyrics, chord markings*, tempo marks and variances, style changes and so on.  This way I don't have to edit these elements for every part.

* In the case of chord markings I might have several versions of this staff, one for each key of instrument in the mix: Bb, Eb, F, Concert etc.  Though when I'm working with many keys of instrument it is unlikely they'll need either lyrics or chord markings.

It isn't a perfect solution perhaps, but it works for me, and I pretty much never need to mess with multiple files.
 
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.

Re: Back up question amid heartbreak

Reply #6 –
I make separate files for each part, but - here's the trick - each part also contains the full score, with all other staves hidden. NWC files take up so little room that this practice doesn't eat disk space. If I accidentally save the full score as if it were a part, it's easy enough to reconstruct just by un-hiding all the hidden parts and playing around (if necessary) with page and system breaks.

Re: Back up question amid heartbreak

Reply #7 –
After struggling with parts for some years, I wrote the PrintConfiguration.hmm object; and now use it always for parts handling. In the attachment is a recent score which shows 5(!) print configurations:
  • complete score
  • voices on 4 pages (was too small)
  • voices on 5 pages (somewhat cramped)
  • voices on 7 pages (many pages ...)
  • piano and solo voice
After making some (smaller) change in the score, it's usually 5 minutes to create all 5 PDFs anew ...
And yes, I typically use an invisible, single line "top control staff" for a print configuration, so that I can control system breaks and PageTxt objects for each print separately (but not always ... see piano+solo print configuration in the example, where I just use the solo voice staff as control staff; out of laziness).

H.M.

 

Re: Back up question amid heartbreak

Reply #8 –
Thank you Bill and Harald for sharing your work flow process. I need to rethink how I have been doing things so that I never ever face the situation of potentially losing so much work through carelessness.

Harald, I tried to download the print configuration object, but was told "attachment not found". I had missed your post on it earlier this year. I'm in the middle of a PhD so don't get to read the forum posts as often as I would like.

Re: Back up question amid heartbreak

Reply #9 –
Quote from: SEBC –
Harald, I tried to download the print configuration object, but was told "attachment not found". I had missed your post on it earlier this year. I'm in the middle of a PhD so don't get to read the forum posts as often as I would like.
Mhm - maybe you tried just in the few seconds when I replaced version 0.4 with 0.5 - I just tried it, it worked. All the best with PhD-ing!

H.M.

Re: Back up question amid heartbreak

Reply #10 –
Yes, I have it now. Thanks.

Re: Back up question amid heartbreak

Reply #11 –
Sorry to be late to the party. 
Quote
Now, as to the work flow issue, I have tried just using one file,
I almost always print to PDF.  I do an awful lot of transposing and sometimes the members want things changed; for instance transposing a bari sax part for bass sax can end up with altissimo notes.  The saxist may ask for them to be taken down an octave.  Or may want the page break to be moved to make page turns easier. Or wants a larger font size.  

Whatever the change, I can do it all in a new staff in the original NWC file.  Copy the original, no longer wanted, staff to the new file and make the changes there, then print the new staff to a PDF with a modified file name. It's probably a good idea to add a few comments in the Information window so I'll remember what I did and why the next time I work with the file.

When I try to rearrange or reorchestrate something, I may change my mind as I go along.  It's probably wisest to save the file with slightly different file names as the work progresses.   MyfavouritesongDraft1.nwc, then MyfavouritesongDraft2.nwc,, MyfavouritesongDraft3.nwc,   MyfavouritesongFinal.nwc,

Quote
but I find that when I create parts, I often want to make them a little bigger than what I am happy to work with as the conductor and/or accompanist. I like less pages to turn. This means that there is a lot of fiddling back and forth if I just work from the full score and hide staves. Also, making the endings align well isn't always the same for each part.How do you handle those items (font size changes and spacer inserts for endings)?

I add a section close bar at the end of each system, set to force a system break.  This makes each part end at the right margin.  Beyond that, I don't worry about the same alignment for each part.  If the part is more than a single page, I use Force a New System/Start a New Page as necessary within each staff for optimum page turns.   The

The Section Close and the Start a New Page commands will often distort the appearance of some systems on the page.  I use Forced System Break bar lines to adjust the length of serveral systems, working from the end of the chart toward the top.

There's a certain amount of trial and error, but there's no reason each part should occupy the same amount of paper or have system breaks at the same bar number.  Some instruments play a lot of black notes; others have mostly half or whole notes and don't need as much paper.

I sometimes change the staff metrics to accommodate those with vision issues.  Since I'm usually working from a score, I don't need to reprint it.  If I needed to, I think I'd simply save the same file under two names:  MyBestEffort-Parts.nwc and MyBestEffort-Score.nwc.  That way I could change the staff metrics in the parts file without affecting the staff metrics for the score.