Dancing Dots
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Where Music Meets Technology for the blind
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Dancing Dots serves blind musicians and their educators through technology and training

Lime Lighter Technical Support and Tips

Preparing Files for the Lime Lighter

In general, preparing files for the Lime Lighter is much like preparing files for GOODFEEL. You may not know anything about GOODFEEL, but the reason we are using it as a starting point is because we have many resources for preparing files for GOODFEEL. We recommend using these resources to help you make a Lime file that looks as close as possible to the music you are starting with, then you should modify your Lime document to help the Lime Lighter user.

Differences between Preparing Files for GOODFEEL and the Lime Lighter

  • With the Lime Lighter, you can use NIFF to transfer music from SharpEye to Lime, but the MusicXML import has had much more attention recently.
  • When preparing files for GOODFEEL we mention that it doesn't matter what the music looks like but we really care what the music looks like for the Lime Lighter. There are a few things that can be done to make the music easier to read.

Transferring Music from SharpEye to the Lime Lighter

To transfer your music from SharpEye to the Lime Lighter using MusicXML, use the following instructions. In SharpEye, select File | MusicXML | Save As... and pay attention to where you are saving your file because you will need to find it in Lime. In Lime, use File | Import | MusicXML..., select your file, and just take the defaults in the dialogs that are displayed (just click on OK).

Helping Your Lime Lighter Reader

Here is a list of suggestions (in the order in which they should be performed) to make your music documents more readable:

  1. In general, keep markings and annotations as close as possible to the staff. Text and dynamics can generally be easily moved with Right-drag and hairpins can be made skinnier.
  2. Break up multiple measure rests because this makes it easier to keep track of which measure you are on.
  3. Try to know what zoom level your music reader needs and set the Zoom level for the piece to this level.
  4. Lime Lighter users should use the ticker tape or auto cue context! Please read the Lime Manual Addendum for information about these contexts.
  5. If, for some reason, you are not using a ticker tape or auto cue context, you may want to consider the following adjustments:
    • Consider separating the systems so that symbols from systems above or below the current system will be off the screen. You can use the Systems dialog (see above) and Staff Drag (see below) for this.
    • If it is very difficult to make all the measures fit with the magnification that is needed, you can change the number of measures per system to 1 (Page | Systems) and change the layout (File | Layout) so that the page width fits the magnification. On the HP TouchSmart 310, a page width of 4.4 is the maximum size that can be used with a zoom level of 5.
  6. The Lime Lighter will split up measures that are too wide to fit on the screen but this should be used only as a last resort. There are a few ways to shorten measures:
    1. Try making the note density or measures per system higher using the Systems dialog (Page menu | Systems...). You can test your new layout to see if any measures are broken up by stepping through the piece with the pedal or with the keyboard equivalents (see below). Note that after using the Systems dialog, the piece may be harder to proofread because the layout will be different from the original.
    2. Experiment with making your page layout more narrow by using the Layout dialog which is accessed from the File menu. You probably want to uncheck Keep Aspect Ratio.
    3. Control+drag notes together to make them fit on one screen. It's probably best to try to make all the measures uniform in width.
    4. There are parameters that can be adjusted to move some other music symbols closer together. These parameters are accessed from the Parameters dialog (see the Symbol menu). Here is a list of some parameters that may help:
      • ACCIDENTALS, KEYS, CHORD SYMBOLS
        • space left between key signature and next object
      • CLEFS AND 8VA
        • space left between clef and next object
      • STAFF LINES, MARGINS, NOTE SPACING
        • low vision rectangle left x: portion of window width
        • low vision rectangle mid y: portion of window height
      • TIME SIGNATURES
        • space left between time signature and next object (make sure your adjustment of this doesn't place the focus rectangle right on the time signature. Making this smaller than 5 makes notes too close to time signatures in the middle of systems).
        • space given for time signature width
  7. If you are using a grand staff you can use Staff Drag to drag the bottom staff closer to the top staff so that there is a smaller field of view. See the Lime manual for help with using Staff Drag. This should be done last because using the Systems dialog will reset all the staff positioning.
  8. If you need more than 10x zoom then you can try making your staff size larger using the Parts and Voices dialog but please do this as a last resort only. In most cases, it will be more practical to acquire a large-screen monitor for viewing with Lime Lighter.

Miscellaneous Tips

  • The Lime Lighter pedal can be simulated using the computer keyboard:
    • End = forward
    • Shift+End = backward
    • Control+End = back to previous forward repeat or top of piece
  • ZoomText
    • Magnification Control (with midsection not NumPad Insert and Delete)
      • Magnification On: Alt+Insert
      • Magnification Off: Alt+Delete
    • Changing Magnification While Using ZoomText's Color Modification
      • ZoomText Magnification Off (1x): Alt+M, O, 1 (use with Music window)
      • ZoomText Magnification On: Alt+M, O, n for magnifying text where n is the magnification level (1 to 8)
    • Color Modification
      • Normal Color Scheme: Alt+M, C, N, Enter
      • Inverted Color Scheme: Alt+M, C, S, Enter (You may need to select Invert Brighness the first time)
  • Windows Magnifier will only run in docked mode with the Lime Lighter and this will limit the pratical Lime Lighter Zoom level for pieces with grand staves. Here are some useful Windows Magnifier shorcuts:
    • Windows Key + U, Alt + G: start Magnifier
    • Windows Key + Plus Sign or Minus Sign: increase or decrease magnification
    • Windows Key + Escape: exit Magnifier
  • See the Lime Lighter FAQ page
  • See the Lime Lighter Guide on your desktop.
  • Click here for help with your AirTurn pedal.
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