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GOODFEEL 3 Tutorial (SharpEye, Lime and GOODFEEL)

These instructions describe how to transcribe print music into braille music using GOODFEEL, Lime and SharpEye. These instructions were written mainly for sighted people. For instructions for blind users click here.

Transcribing with Scanning

  1. SharpEye
  2. Lime
  3. GOODFEEL

Transcribing without Scanning

If the sheet music is hand written or very dirty you may not be able to scan the music. In this case you will not use SharpEye at all and instead do all notation editing in Lime.
  1. Lime
  2. GOODFEEL

SharpEye

  1. Configuration
  2. Scanning and Recognition
  3. Editing VERY IMPORTANT!!!
  4. Handling Multiple Pages
  5. Sending Music to Lime
    Some things are incredibly easier to fix in SharpEye than in Lime. First make sure that you are done in SharpEye because you will lose all of your Lime editing if you need to go back to SharpEye. Use the menu item File | NIFF | Save and open temp file. When Lime opens, accept the defaults in the Import NIFF dialog.
    Lime information

SharpEye: Configuration

This section describes steps that don't always need to be performed.
  • NIFF Options
    Go to the menu item Options | NIFF Options... and check Musical.
  • Window Positions
    If you want to save the positions and sizes of your music and image windows and the zoom level of your image window (see View | Zoom Image) then use the menu item Options | Save window positions. You might want to start working in SharpEye before adjusting your window positions so that you can see how the windows are filled with data.
  • Text Recognition Options
    From the menu item Options | Text Recognition Options check or uncheck Read Lyrics depending on your music and what you want from your scan. If a piece does not have lyrics SharpEye might mistakenly identify an annotation as a lyric and having just one lyric may confuse GOODFEEL. On the other hand, missing lyrics if you want them can be easily avoided. This option needs to be set properly before the recognition step (Read | Read). If the text characters in your music are not indicated in the Text Recognition dialog you should uncheck Read Lyrics and Read other text.
  • Sending Music to Lime
    Lime needs to run once before you can go easily from SharpEye to Lime so be sure to run Lime once before using SharpEye. This is only necessary once after a version of Lime has been installed.
  • Selecting a Scanner (seldom needed)
    If you have more than one scanner or scanner driver you may need to go to the menu item File | Select TWAIN Source and select the correct scanner.

SharpEye: Scanning and Recognition

  1. Get the image: File | Acquire
    Your scanner's interface will be opened. Check out Using Scanning Interfaces for specific directions for some scanners.
    We can't give any details for this step because it depends on your scanner. Set the image type to grayscale (the next best thing is black & white). Set DPI to 300. If the interface displays the file size, check that it is about 8MB (1MB for black and white).
  2. Save the image: File | Save Image As...
  3. Convert the image into music: Read | Read
    If SharpEye displays the message "Nothing in image" then click in the image window, press the delete key and try Read | Read again. To learn more about zones, look for Zones in Reading in the index of SharpEye's Help.
  4. Save the Music: File | Save Music As...

SharpEye: Editing

We highly recommend reading about SharpEye's editor in SharpEye's help file. See Music Editor in the index. Here is a brief summary:

  • Left-click is used for selection and modification.
  • Right-click is used to bring up the insertion toolpane and for inserting music symbols on a staff.
  • Undo is under the Edit Music menu.
  • There is a "Go to next rhythm warning" button below the menu.

Notes

  • What to Edit
    While it is imperative that some items be correct before moving on to Lime we recommend that you fix as many mistakes and omissions as possible in SharpEye because the image of the music is on the screen and it is much easier to look somewhere else on the screen than it is to look off the screen onto a piece of paper. On the other hand, there are some things that SharpEye can't do that must be done in Lime. In addition, we feel that it is easier to add lyrics in Lime than SharpEye.
  • Items that MUST be correct before moving on to Lime:
    • Clefs (The menu item Edit Music | Copy clef to is sometimes useful.)
    • Rhythms on the parts that you are concerned with.
    • Time signatures (Add one even if one does not exist in the print.)
    • Key signatures (The menu item Edit Music | Copy key sig to is sometimes useful.)
  • Multiple Rests
    SharpEye does not recognize or allow the user to enter multiple rests so we recommend placing a single whole measure rest at the location of the multiple rest and adding the other measures in Lime. It is also possible to insert multiple individual measures with whole measure rests (and bar lines) to account for the multiple rest.
  • Musical Features that SharpEye Supports
    SharpEye only supports the music symbols that are in the toolpanes. Everything else must be added in Lime. There are some situations that call for simplifying the music in SharpEye so that measures have the correct amount of time.

SharpEye: Handling Multiple Pages

It is vastly easier to join pages in SharpEye than in Lime. (See Multi-page scores in SharpEye's help index.)
  1. For each page perform the Scanning and Recognition and Editing steps. After each page use the menu item File | Save Music As... and use a name that indicates the page number.
  2. Use the menu item File | Open Music... to open the first page and click on Replace if you are presented with the Replace or append music dialog.
  3. For each of the remaining pages use the menu item File | Open Music... but click on Append in the Replace or append music dialog.

Finishing in Lime from SharpEye

This section lists specific actions that should or can be performed in Lime after creating a piece of music in SharpEye.
  • If you see red rests in Lime you should review the measure(s) in SharpEye. After fixing problems in SharpEye close your Lime file and use NIFF | Save and open temp file again from SharpEye.
  • Always add a title (Very Important!).
  • Always name your parts (Very Important!).
  • Fix anything that could not be entered completely in SharpEye.
  • See the Lime 8 Quick Reference
  • See the Lime manual which is available from Lime's Start menu entry.
  • You can start GOODFEEL right from Lime by using the menu item File | Launch GOODFEEL
  • GOODFEEL info

GOODFEEL

GOODFEEL: Configuration

Embosser Configuration

  1. Add a Generic/Text Only printer in Windows if one does not exist.
  2. Start GOODFEEL from the Start menu and go to the menu item Options | Embosser Setup...
  3. Choose an Embosser Device.
  4. Click on Save these values as defaults so that GOODFEEL will use the settings the next time that it is started.
  5. For more help read Braille Setup, Embosser Setup in the index of GOODFEEL's help file.
  6. If you are having problems, please check our GOODFEEL 3 support area .

GOODFEEL: Transcription Options

GOODFEEL offers many transcription options to its users including the option to use or not to use grade 2 translations. Transcription options can be accessed by starting GOODFEEL from the Start menu and then using the menu item Options | Transcription Options. It is especially important for these options to be checked by users who live in locales outside of North America and Europe.

GOODFEEL: Processing

  1. The Intermediate Dialog
    When a file is loaded into GOODFEEL, it is screened for some common mistakes and if any are found GOODFEEL will list them in the Report tab of the Intermediate dialog. Help on any item in the list can be obtained by double-clicking the list item. This dialog also allows a user to simply produce braille automatically or to customize the braille output. The Process button (bottom left) will properly produce braille most of the time.
  2. Braille Destination Dialog
    After GOODFEEL converts your music into braille you are presented with the Braille Destination dialog which allows you to:
    • Emboss your braille with the Embosser button
    • Edit or view your braille with the Braille Editor button. (If you'd like to use a different braille editor, read Changing Your Braille Editor .
    • Go to GOODFEEL's main screen where you can perform other tasks with GOODFEEL.

In Conclusion

Please send us feedback on the usefulness of these instructions.

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