Symphony V5.0 System Release Notes For Mac
Updated at 5:07 pm with comments from Philip Lee of Xenon Labs (developer of Symphony Pro). In an ideal world, I would have an app that could run on my iPad Pro 12.9″, make use of my Apple Pencil to write as I would on paper, and still give me all the control, flexibility, and power of Sibelius, Finale, or Dorico. I know that I am not alone in my quest to find this miracle tool. Imagine being able to write as quickly and as freely as you might on paper, with all the expansive, creative space that comes with it, but yielding performance materials that were the match of anything from a major publisher. Is not that app; but, after spending over a week exploring it, I’m pleased to say that it gets closer than anything I’ve used on iOS until now. I first started looking into Symphony Pro after seeing some questions pop up in the comments to. After reading about it and getting in touch with the developers, I spent a week or two exploring the application on my iPad running iOS 11.
(Disclosure: Xenon Labs, the developers of Symphony Pro 5 sent me a complimentary copy of the app and in-app purchase for handwriting recognition, worth $25 combined.) Getting started From the beginning, Symphony Pro is clean and modern. The welcome interface is almost non-existent. It uses a shelf-like grid of scores that reminds me a bit of the iBooks grid view. Unlike many complex apps, there is no onboarding sequence. I often find these directed tutorials to be tedious and frustrating, preventing me from getting down to work, and I appreciate Symphony Pro’s more direct approach.
Extensive hints like this one help first time users with some of the harder-to-discover features. The tools in Symphony Pro are relatively easy to discover and learn through experimentation. The symbols used are mostly self-explanatory for anyone familiar with music notation, and the layout and design will feel intuitive to any experienced computer user. Once a user begins digging in to the app, plenty of contextual pop-ups will help guide them through new tools and settings as they toggle each for the first time. For confident users, the tips can be turned off, and more forgetful users can reset them all over again. Symphony Pro has extensive documentation online. The manual is viewable in the app, but it’s worth noting that this is just an embedded web view.
The data itself is online and not accessible if you are not connected to the Internet. Users can download a PDF; but, you’ll have to remember to do that ahead of time. It’s worth the time to explore the documentation, or at least long-press all the buttons and toggles in the interface, as the options here run as deep as any iOS notation app. Experienced desktop notation application users will be pleased to see some of the extensive options provided by Symphony Pro, such as the tuplet options (left) and the meter configuration options (right). The meter configurations in particular are a match for just about any desktop tool. My only issue in getting up and running was that there are a couple of gesture controls that are difficult to discover, and from what I could tell, are only accessible through gestures. The primary example of this is the Measure Dialog, accessible by two-finger tap, is the only way I found to change key signatures, meters, and several other “global” parameters in the middle of a score.
It turns out that there are actually two more equally sneaky ways of opening these controls, and I only discovered them from the manual. Handwriting with Apple Pencil Symphony Pro has been through several iterations (a positive sign on its own), and the focus of the current version 5 is handwriting recognition. In the few years since the release of the first iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, fast, accurate handwriting recognition, writing speed, and palm rejection have quickly become table stakes for any music notation app. Symphony Pro 5 joins the surprisingly crowded category of apps that use the. If you haven’t used a MyScript-based application before, you might be surprised at how efficient and accurate this can be.
Unique free kitchen cabinet design software for mac. Symphony Pro behaves much like the other MyScript-powered applications in that it focuses on one measure at a time, only rendering from handwriting to engraving after the user taps away. Using off-the-shelf components means Symphony Pro has to work a little harder to distinguish itself. Symphony Pro’s handwriting recognition hits all the marks one would expect for speed and accuracy. It can read notes, articulations, and more. Best of all, it’s optimized for Apple Pencil. Notably, Symphony Pro cleverly allows the user to switch between finger multitouch for tools and navigation (panning, pinch-zooming, etc.) and Pencil input. Other apps require the user to affirmatively enter a pen-writing mode that limits the ability to interact with most of the other controls, removing the illusion of working on paper; that’s not the case with Symphony Pro.
While this will be great for Apple Pencil users, those who use non-Apple styluses will not see the benefits. Having said that, iPad Pro users without an Apple Pencil are missing the best part of the platform.
Speaking of the paper illusion, one of my favorite little bits of an excellent user interface in Symphony Pro is the full screen toggle, which hides all the tools and allows the closest thing to paper-writing I’ve found in a notation app yet. It also allows the user to use the Pencil for selecting passages for editing and deleting them (like the Lasso tools in Photoshop). This is a really clever idea for a feature and one that the developers tout proudly. Unfortunately, I found it to be very buggy, often switching to nearby staves and dropping my selection if I wasn’t extremely precise in my lasso work. QWERTY and MIDI keyboards Along with the intuitive note entry, Symphony Pro provides a large and welcome array of keyboard shortcuts for those using a hardware QWERTY keyboard. Best of all, the keyboard shortcuts are customizable.
My only quibble here is that the shortcut map itself does not use the standard iOS UI for displaying shortcuts, nor does it use the system-standard of long-pressing the Command key to review them. This is a very minor concern, and I suspect it may stem from the fact that the shortcuts are user-editable. Symphony Pro is mostly a good “app citizen” on the iOS platform, even going so far as to embrace, allowing users to have a score up side-by-side with another app, like an orchestration reference, sketchpad, or media player. Another pleasant surprise in Symphony Pro is the support for MIDI input.
I’ve now added a Bluetooth stylus, QWERTY keyboard, and a MIDI keyboard to my agile mobile rig. However, the Bluetooth MIDI support is notable here. While many mobile music apps work nicely with MIDI controllers, they tend to be audio synthesizers, not scoring applications. Is often poorly supported in those apps, requiring an external MIDI pairing app.
In Symphony Pro, though, I was able to pair my keyboard (an ) directly from within the app. This feature will be a real boon to those who already have the hardware, but perhaps not worth the purchase for this single use. MIDI input works great both as step-time and synchronous recordings. I didn’t note much lag, even when Symphony Pro was playing back other staves alongside my recording. Symphony Pro’s support for MIDI from other apps (left) and Bluetooth LE MIDI hardware (right) is reliable and a breeze to set up. Fonts The fonts available in Symphony Pro are quite good. Typography connoisseurs will be pleased to discover that text in the score can be changed to access any installed system font, including user-installed fonts.
This is something even many of Apple’s own apps don’t allow. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a way to control fonts globally in the form of paragraph styles or text styles that you might find in desktop applications. If a user wants to apply any kind of house style, there will be lots of tiny taps to change each object individually. Along with good support for text fonts, the music font in Symphony Pro is.
I’m extremely pleased to see Bravura catching on with so many apps, as I’ve never been a big fan of and other free-to-use music fonts. It’s yet another reason to thank the Dorico team for their work and Steinberg for allowing them to release it under a liberal license. However, some of the individual expressions of Bravura symbols are less elegant here than you might expect in other applications.
I saw several examples of too-short stems in particular that looked odd next to more correctly proportioned symbols. These stems in an exported PDF of an individual part are too short. Concerns In general, Symphony Pro’s notation and engraving defaults are very good.
The downside of this is that the ones that are not stick out as downright bizarre in comparison. For example, one of the templates provided is string quartet, which lists instruments as “Violin, Second Violin, Viola, Cello”. I’ve never seen a part marked “Second Violin”, and I’ve certainly never seen a Violin 2 part paired with one only labeled “Violin” rather than Violin 1. On top of that, the second’s abbreviation is “Se. Without seeing the first system with the full name, I’m not sure I would have even been able to figure out what “Se.” stood for. Transposing instrument part names also use a lowercase b instead of the flat sign and show inconsistent capitalization (Trumpet in Bb on the first line and Tpt. In Bb subsequently).
Admittedly, these are somewhat pedantic concerns, but they’re exactly the sort of easy wins that I expect software to take care of on my behalf. Instrument names are user-changeable, but the defaults just look careless. While on the subject of instruments, the array of instruments to include in the score seems to be populated from the General MIDI list, as it includes things like “muted trumpet” and “tremolo strings” which are not the sorts of things one would assign to a separate staff with these labels.
In addition to instrument names, Symphony Pro fails to follow some rather basic rules of music notation. For example, it fills empty bars with rests based on the beat size, rather than using the whole-bar rest (centered whole rest). Filling empty measures with rest is a step that must be taken manually as well.
The upside to this is that you can easily over-fill a measure if you want to. It deals with this by turning the extra rhythms red. However, I found it a bit too easy to over-fill by accident. The user is presented with a warning when this happens; but, I found the warning to be more intrusive than helpful.
More alarmingly in notation, Symphony Pro deals incorrectly with tied accidentals. In the example here, Symphony Pro does not add a sharp symbol before the second note in the measure, even though it is entered in as a C-sharp and plays back as C-sharp. Ideally, the app would show either another sharp or a courtesy accidental. The indicated note would be correctly interpreted C-natural. Symphony Pro reads it as C-sharp. And either way, it should take an accidental.
(Note: The crushed 32nds and 16ths fixed themselves the next time the document reflowed, after I took this screenshot.) Some of Symphony Pro’s engraving choices are also a bit perplexing. Articulations are one of the most obvious categories. Slur and tie arcs are sometimes very odd, to the point of being wrong. In fairness, it took the development teams on Sibelius and Finale decades to get slur arcs to to their current point which require only minimal manual adjustment. But some articulations should be a bit easier to manage. Symphony Pro often places accent marks are inside the staff, even sometimes intersecting staff lines in very unpleasant ways.
This seems like it should be much easier to correct. Output from Symphony Pro presents another set of challenges. Vertical and horizontal scrolling are nice and smooth while navigating the score, and users can choose infinite horizontal scroll, infinite vertical scroll with regularly spaced systems, and print layout. Viewing the print layout is marked “Legacy”, indicating that it will be removed. This is baffling for an application that presents so many print-focused features, such as parts, page size, margins, staff size, and more. Knowing where pages begin and end is crucial to presenting useable materials to performers. While there are some missing controls for print, handling parts at all and offering some page settings both set Symphony Pro apart from its mobile competition.
Often, mobile apps assume that users creating scores on tablets will use those same tablets to distribute and perform their work. Exporting Despite some misgivings about the page formatting, export from Symphony Pro is another area where it really shines. Tapping the standard share icon (square with up arrow) brings up a menu which allows the user to select a format—MusicXML, MIDI, m4a audio, a number of PDF configurations — and a destination. Destinations include e-mail and, as well as the catch-all Send To, which allows a user to select any option on the iOS Share Sheet, including any app that can handle XML, MIDI, or PDF files. This could include other music apps that can import MIDI files to drive synths, or PDF apps that might be useful in markup (like ) or performance (like ).
This is a seemingly small concern, but I appreciate iOS apps which take advantage of the tools Apple has provided to allow them to interoperate with other apps. Symphony Pro’s export options menu. I opened an exported MusicXML file from Symphony Pro in both Sibelius and Dorico, and both handled it nicely.
It seems Symphony Pro includes some extra metadata that may need some cleaning up around clef, key signature, and meter changes. Other than that, every symbol from Symphony Pro came over accurately. Thankfully, the engraving issues and most of the notation issues I discussed above will not will not follow a Symphony Pro-created score into a desktop application. Notably, Dorico’s import defaults did a lot of heavy lifting to clean up some of the rhythm notation problems (like whole-bar rests) that Symphony Pro created.
Sibelius, on the other hand, seemed to take the MusicXML data more literally, and it would have required a bit more manual cleanup or fiddling with import settings, but it still does fix most of the shortcomings. In either case, I think that even though Symphony Pro isn’t ready to replace a desktop app in my workflow, it may find a place as a mobile scratchpad. The “Pro” in Symphony Pro I invited to comment on how he positions Symphony Pro in the context of professional users and powerful desktop scoring applications, and only received his comment after publication. Here is some of what he shared: This product and business plan involve different reasons and perspectives: market constraints imposed by the mobile platform prevent from staying competitive given prices typical of software on traditional platforms; in an entirely different view, designing for a touch & stylus interface involves different UX approaches, not to mention software libraries supplied by Apple. Though we really wanted to bring a worthy, differentiated competitor into the desktop ecosystem as to give our pro userbase a full-fledged partner app, constraints definitely kept the company small, and the app limited to iPad/iPad Pro. That isn’t to say that SP may be brought to Mac or other platforms in the near future, to accommodate the many who’ve requested viewing/playback capabilities.
Given the design and polish that amounted over the years, it’s certain to me, with the agreement of my advisor, Daniel Wyman, that professional users are buying the app as a bargain at its current discount price. The layout & behavior of SP’s toolbar, context menus, and gestures for touch were deliberate decisions to allow a good user experience across a variety of user backgrounds in a single product, in breadth and depth. I can’t argue with any of that. Given the thoughtful layout, controls, and hardware compatibility, Symphony Pro 5 with the Apple Pencil support is a steal at $25. Pricing As just mentioned, Symphony Pro’s price is very reasonable; $15 for new users, and $10 for handwriting recognition as an additional in-app purchase. In addition, are available to Symphony 5 Pro users as a free in-app purchase. Regrettably, the user is reminded of this every time a formerly paid feature is used, even when the premium features are unlocked.
A modal dialog that interrupts your work to tell you that a feature “was previously part of the Version 4 Complete Bundle. This IAP is now offered free in Version 5. Write us a good review!” This is notably contrary to Apple’s review guidelines which were originally.
I understand that the App Store is rough and competitive for developers and that good star ratings can make or break all the work that goes into creating good software. That doesn’t excuse the constant interruptions from an application that is so professional that it has “Pro” in its name. Conclusion Admittedly, it is completely unfair to hold a sub-$50 mobile application created by a small startup to the same standards as products created by multi-million-dollar corporate development studios employing teams that represent collective centuries worth of experience. While Symphony Pro 5 makes great strides for power users with uniquely thoughtful Apple Pencil support, keyboard shortcuts, MIDI input, typography, and user interface design, it falls down in some of the same ways as every other scoring app on the platform: it simply can’t make scores that I would be proud to put my name on.
Sadly, I am beginning to think that we won’t see that app until Steinberg, MakeMusic, or Avid decides that it’s worth their investment. Symphony Pro’s namesake professional users will best use the app to augment, rather than replace, any part of their current workflow. These complaints are sometimes nitpicky and thankfully rare, and the things that Symphony Pro 5 does well, it does very well. I would go so far as to say that the things it does well, it does better than any other iOS notation application. However, for an iOS notation app to be a true replacement for one of the major Windows or macOS tools, it needs to support the same level of control over the final output. Symphony Pro is not that application, but I think it has some of the right ideas.
I hope that the current, highly competitive Cambrian explosion of iOS music applications can push all of them toward that goal. Good eye, Abraham. The clefs and some other glyphs are definitely not Opus. I actually asked the devs at Xenon about this while writing my review, and here’s what they said. We’ve been incorporating Bravura as the standard font across almost all of the basic glyphs for measures, notes, and expressions, though you’d be right that complete coverage isn’t quite there yet! It’s definitely more to work on. I left this out of my review for the sake of simplicity.
And I think some of the non-font choices regarding stem length, slur position, and rhythm spacing are greater concerns. As I wrote, I’d use SP as more of an on-the-go MusicXML editor than anything for final work. The clefs and some other glyphs are definitely not Opus. I certainly don’t want to argue, but the design of many of the symbols shown in the example images are 100% Opus (or at least Opus-lookalike) while others are not. As long as Xenon got permission to use it, I have no qualms. Otherwise, they can potentially run into legal problems with Avid over it.
Of course, just using Bravura would alleviate that, but I have yet to be convinced, even on the Symphony Pro website, that they aren’t using even a derivative of Opus, even though it says they are using Bravura. The images tell a different story. Just saying And I think some of the non-font choices regarding are greater concerns. Perfectly understandable. I was just concerned about a potential breach of copyright for using Opus. If I’ve misunderstood something, please ignore my comments.
In addition to everything mentioned in this review, It should be noted that Symphony pro has utilized the QWERTY keyboard to facilitate a remarkable degree of accessibility for blind and visually impaired users through Apple’s VoiceOver screen reader software which comes with every piece of hardware Apple makes. Imagine the transformative possibilities afforded to blind composers and arrangers who now have a far easier path to sharing their work with their sighted colleagues. Currently, Symphony Pro represents the standard in this area when compared to any apps currently on the market. Thanks for your thorough review, Phillip.
My only quibble is with the inference that a comparatively inexpensive iOS notation app should be capable of replacing rather than augmenting much more expensive computer apps such as Sibelius, Finale or Dorico. I understand that even StaffPad, which is surely the touchstone for “handwritten” notation apps, is usually used in conjunction with a more powerful computer notation program. I think this was even acknowledged as the recommended course by StaffPad’s developer. Having said that, I agree with the current shortcomings you have identified in Symphony Pro and hope they are corrected as time allows. Hi David, I’m reading your review right now.
Curious about reading this comment, “Symphony Pro is, probably the best in its category on iOS.” Even compared to Notion iOS? I think Notion iOS even stands up to Staff Pad. I’ve been using Notion iOS for about two years now in a professional environment and found that’s it’s certainly powerful enough for daily mobile use, especially on an iPad Pro with Apple Pencil, (it also now has full screen hardwriting recognition). Again, thanks for the review. I’m all about iOS apps these days as many have caught up or in some cases surpassed desktop versions due to gesture support.
Symphony V5.0 System Release Notes For Mac Pro
Hi David, Sure I can tell you a few things. Like George said for engraving I go elsewhere. But for composing, Notion iOS is practically identical to Notion for the desktop. And on the desktop Notion is extremely fast at note entry, which makes Notion iOS very fast too. Btw, I can use my iPad Pro like a Wacom tablet using Duet and handwrite notation into Notion on the desktop. But to stick to Notion iOS, with a 12.9” iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil, (I can also connect a midi keyboard and even my midi guitar for note entry), the feature set is very mature.
And the speed of the new iPads are remarkable. Handwriting is very accurate and fast. Really a joy to use that way. But having alternate ways to enter notes makes it that much faster. I compose complete sketches with an orchestral template that I share with Finale and Digital Performer. And the iPad Pro will play it back no problem.
The sample set is very good (same that comes with desktop Notion – maybe not as many velocity layers). Lead sheets, drum line charts, film score cues (full orchestra), classical guitar, fairly complex piano pieces (usually move to Finale at some point for that), I can do all of that just like I can do with Finale and Sibelius (not as much functionality of course, but definitely good enough that I have no problems calling it mature and professional). Except for a couple of minor differences, Notion iOS is almost identical to the desktop version, and to have that much power in my iPad Pro which I carry around like a clipboard, to be able to play any chart back, to be able to print parts or formated charts, I found it quite liberating.
Once I got used to Notion’s layout limitations which aren’t bad, it was actually a bit of a relief because I could just compose and after messing with a few settings Notion ended up doing an adequate job at most layouts – at least good enough for some rehearsals or until I can import it into Finale. The main difference between Notion iOS and all of the other notation apps is that Notion iOS came from Notion. So it brought all the desktop features along and added handwriting for the iPad instead of the other way around. Imagine a Finale for iOS that didn’t have all of the dialog boxes but was fully capable of performing note entry and great playback. That’s what Notion iOS is like. Or how Cubasis is very much like Cubase. That’s a similar comparison too.
When Staff Pad came out I was unsure if Notion iOS would stay relevant, but they added handwriting recognition in a strip at the bottom of the screen, then they made it full screen, kept improving it and although I haven’t spent time on Staff Pad, from the videos I’ve seen, they seem about the same. Notion for the desktop has a bit of a reputation for being a second class citizen. Imo, it’s the simplicity and the features that stay out of your way on the desktop version that allowed Notion iOS to translate to the iPad Pro so well. If you get a chance to get your hands on a new 12.9” iPad Pro, try Notion iOS for a couple of weeks. I no longer use a MacBook. Just my Mac Pros at the studio and the iPad Pro as my mobile device.
And my workflow has increased dramatically. Maybe it’s just me but Notion iOS and the 12.9” iPad Pro is like pencil and paper, but as a computer. And I love that freedom. Sorry for the long post. Hope that helped explain a few things. I do have Notate Me but I only use it for Photoscore although I don’t always need it because I’m fast with Notion iOS.
I tried Komp but didn’t like the subscription method. And Notion iOS is ahead of Komp too (although Komp is on the right path I think). I would be happy to make a “Notion iOS vs Symphony Pro and other iOS notation apps” video for my YouTube channel if anyone is interested. I was thinking of doing it anyway. Actually I already started. I’ve been comparing Notion iOS and Symphony Pro a lot lately.
I’m keeping notes, composing with both, sending MusicXML back and forth and so on. So far I’m impressed by both. I may have underestimated Symphony Pro a bit in my first comment, but I still really like Notion iOS. Symphony Pro just released an update that added some nice new features. Seems like they’re moving fast.
But I have discovered a couple of important differences. I’ll post back here when I’ve uploaded my YouTube review if that’s ok.
Steve Steele.
. What versions of Avid Software take advantage of the new Avid Software Licensing Feature? Starting with Avid Media Composer v3.5, Newscutter v7.5, and Symphony v3.5 as well as the new v5.0/v8.0 now take advantage of the new Avid Software Licensing Feature. These versions include any hardware components that are attached to the system (Ex. Adrenaline, DX, Mojo SDI, Mojo). Why is Avid changing from dongle based security to software licensing?
Avid is changing to a software based licensing scheme based on customer feedback and reports of dissatisfaction with the dongle based system. Dongles have proven to be unreliable and customers are demanding a system that provides more stability for their business.
In addition, dongles in certain environments that have many users, can become lost or stolen, therefore require costly dongle replacement charges. I have noticed that there is now a trial mode selection on my Avid Media Composer v5.0 software. What does this mean?
With the introduction of Avid Media Composer v3.5 and now v4.0/5.0, we have introduced a trial version of the editor that will activate at no charge. After the trial period expires (v3.5 = 14 days, v4.0, 5.0 = 30 days ), a user may purchase the complete Avid Media Composer product from Avid as a software download only or a physical shipping kit with manuals and 3rd party applications or they can uninstall the software. The trial can be downloaded. Why am I unable to run the editor software on more than one system at a time? Avid systems are sold with a single user license. You can move the license from one computer to another but just like when using a dongle, only one license is allowed to be used at a time per activation code.
Do I have to have internet access in order to use the new software licensing feature? No, you do not need Internet access. You can activate the software by phone or by using another computer's Internet connection. Will I have the option to continue to use my dongle if I upgrade to the new version? Avid allows two options when upgrading your software. If you already own a system with a dongle, then you can choose to continue using your dongle, or use our new software activation key. If you chose to use the software activation key, your dongle will be deactivated and can not be used moving forward.
New units only have the software activation option. I thought you were eliminating the dongle, but when I launched my software, there is still an option to continue to use my dongle. Avid allows two options when upgrading your software if you own an existing system with a dongle.
You can choose to continue using your dongle, or use our new software activation key. If you chose to use the software activation key, your dongle will be deactivated and can not be used moving forward. Upgrading to a Different Editing Application Dongle - If you are performing an upgrade from a different Avid editing application, for example, Avid Xpress DV to Avid Media Composer, Avid Xpress Pro to Avid Media Composer or Avid Media Composer to Avid Symphony, you must update the dongle first. Then you can choose to use the Software Application Activation, but it is not necessary to update to the Software Application Activation.
Upgrading to a New Version of the Same Editing application If you are performing an upgrade from the same Avid product, for example, Avid Media Composer to Avid Media Composer, Avid NewsCutter to Avid NewsCutter, or Avid Symphony to Avid Symphony, you can choose to continue using your existing dongle, or use the Software Application Activation process. If you choose the Software Application Activation process, it is not necessary to update your dongle first. What if I choose to continue using my dongle, then decide that I'd rather use Software Licensing?
Please see the following for step by step instructions. Can I purchase another activation code at a lower cost instead of purchasing another copy of the software? No, you must purchase another copy of the software. Users purchase a single user license and that license can only be used on one system at one time. Do I need to purchase an Avid Support Contract in order to activate my system by phone? Anyone with a valid copy of an Avid editing application can activate his or her license over the telephone. Please see the contact instructions in the following answer.
Who do I call if I’m having difficulty with the software but I don’t have an Avid Support Contract? Do I need to buy a per-incident? For software licensing help – including missing serial numbers or system IDs, unsuccessful activations, deactivation issues (forgetting to deactivate, unsuccessful deactivations, etc.), questions regarding the upgrade or activation process, or any other question regarding software licensing – you do not need to purchase Avid Support.
Avid Support is available to you via the same phone numbers used to activate your software over the phone. If you are calling from within the Americas - Dial. 1-800-800-AVID (2843) If you are calling outside of the Americas - Dial. United Kingdom: +44 1753 658 645 France: +33 141 494 010 Germany: +49 895 0206 250 Spain: +34 917 628 610 Italy: +39 02385 91 448 For any other issues regarding your upgrade, including software installation, failing hardware, malfunctioning features, or any other troubleshooting needs, you must purchase some form of Avid Support, either in the form of a one-time Service Access Code, or a year Avid Support Contract.
Symphony V5.0 System Release Notes For Mac Download
To purchase a one-time Service Access Code, please visit our online store: store.avid.com To purchase a Support Contract, please contact your local sales office: www.avid.com/company/offices I have decided to use the software activation system. What happens to my original dongle system ID and serial number? When you upgrade using a software license, you receive a serial number with your upgrade kit (affixed to the yellow card/ label in your installation guide). Your original dongle system ID remains the same for your upgrade.
Will you retain this system information in Avid’s database? Avid keeps track of all system IDs and the serial numbers for licensed copies of Avid editing software. Can I use an activation code more than once?
You can only use an activation code once per active system. However, you should keep a record of your activation code in case you need to restore a system following a hardware failure. Call Avid Customer Support if you need to restore your system. The activate and deactivate options allow you to install your activation code only once on one system at a time. If you wish to use your activation code on another system you must deactivate the software you are using and activate it on another system. It is acceptable to keep multiple installs of Avid Media Composer Software on multiple systems, but you may only have one active system running at a time.
Who do I contact if I need help with my Avid Web Store purchase? If you purchase a software download or a physical shipping kit from the web store and have a question pertaining to your order, please check Webstore help for answers to some of the most common questions concerning webstore orders: How do I upgrade my software if I am an Avid Support customer? The upgrade process hasn’t changed for valid Support customers, except that you now have the option of moving to a software license when you upgrade rather than using a dongle license. See the following for complete instructions if you have an active support contract and are upgrading your system. How do I upgrade from Avid Xpress Pro to Avid Media Composer v5.0? Because your system needs to have a dongle attached to upgrade, we have provided these steps to upgrade from Avid Xpress DV or Xpress Pro Pro to Avid Media Composer:.
1. Go to store.avid.com and purchase the upgrade Avid Xpress DV or Xpress Pro to Avid Media Composer software v5.0 (Download only). You will receive an Authorization Code and link to the Order Details on the order confirmation page and also receive this information via email. Go to Order Details page and enter the Authorization Code. This page will show the following information (this will also be sent via email).
A link to download page for the Media Composer 5.0 Installer (Mac or PC). An upgrade Key (to get the dongle updater from Avid Xpress DV or Xpress Pro to Media Composer 5.0).
A serial number (to upgrade the dongle to Media Composer 5.0 software). Instructions to perform the upgrade. Download Media Composer 5.0 (either Mac or PC), and install the software. Go to avid.com/upgrade and use the product key/upgrade key located on the order confirmation to get a dongle updater (Avid Xpress DV or Xpress Pro to Media Composer 5.0).
Upgrade the dongle using the DongleManager. If you have questions on this procedure, please go to. Launch Media Composer v5.0 and enter the serial number (the system ID from the dongle will be pre-filled in the dialog). Click OK to deactivate the dongle. Run Media Composer v5.0 with the software license. If you are using Xpress DV with a software license (the System ID would be similar to ID##-####-####), follow the instructions on this page: I’ve used the trial for 30 days and wish to purchase Media Composer v5.0.
What can I do? You can choose from two purchase options. Option 1: You can choose to purchase Media Composer as a download from the online store.
This is a full version of Media Composer without the third-party bundle. You can choose to purchase the third-party bundle as a separate item. However, the bundle is only available as a physical shipment. Option 2: You can choose to purchase a full, physical shipping version of Media Composer. This version is also available in the online store. What happens if I upgrade but need to go back to an earlier version? Can I reactivate my dongle?
Once you have activated your software license, your dongle no longer runs your Avid editing application. If you need to roll back your license to a dongle version of the software, you must contact Avid Customer Support. What do I do with my dongle after it has been deactivated? Once you’ve activated your software license, your dongle cannot be used to run your Avid editing application. However, if you have third-party software or plug-ins that require a dongle, you should keep it attached to your system so those applications can function properly.
How do I get software licensing support 24x7? Customers with a valid 24x7 Support Contract should use the same support phone numbers they normally use to reach Support. Customers without a 24x7 Support Contract should visit the Avid Knowledgebase, where the answers to many licensing questions can be found. Will major releases moving forward require new Serial Numbers/Activation codes? Avid will release new activation codes with major releases. This is very similar to the dongle needing to be upgraded when going from one major version to another.
Example: Media Composer 3.5 to 5.0. Minor releases will not require a new serial number/activation code. Example: Media Composer 5.0 to 4.0.2.
Can I use an activation code in one location (NYC, for example) then deactivate and have someone in another location (LA) use the same codes to run their system? The activate and deactivate process works well in this situation. However, you must remember to deactivate one system before activating another. What if I need to run the trial for longer than 30 days? Or if my trial runs out before I am done evaluating the software?
The free trial has a 30-day limit. After the 30 days expire, you must purchase a copy of the software in order to run your Avid application.
The trial version cannot be reset. Can I work on a project in the full version that was created in the trial version? Yes but only in the current shipping version. While the trial version is fully functional bins will not open in older versions of the editor.
Example: Bins created in v5.0 will not open in v3.0/7.0 or v3.5/7.5. What will happen to my license if my motherboard dies?
If you were unable to deactivate your license before a motherboard failure, please contact Avid Customer Support so Avid can manually deactivate the system. Once this is done, you can use the original system ID and Serial number – not activation code – to reactivate. What will happen to my license if I disable my Network Interface Controller (NIC)? If you did not deactivate your license before changing the NIC configuration on your system, your software will not start successfully. Enable the NIC configuration used when you first activated your license. Then, deactivate your copy of the software, disable your NIC card, and reactivate your license. Is there anything I should know if activating on a laptop?
Activations for laptops work the same way as they do for desktops, with the same options available. It is recommended, however, that you utilize your onboard NIC rather than a USB card etc.
To Activate, as the application requires the NIC that was used for activation to be enabled when launching the software. That means that if you have an Aircard and use that to connect to the internet during activation, the Aircard will need to be connected and enabled every time you want to launch the software.
For further information on how to properly configure a laptop for software activation, please see this knowledgebase article: What will happen to my license if my hard drive crashes, and I replace it? If you were unable to deactivate your license before a hard drive failure, you can use your original activation code, along with the system ID and serial number, to restore your system.
If you have problems reactivating your Avid software following a hardware failure, please contact Avid Customer Support. What happens if I don’t upgrade my Avid DVD or Avid FX to versions that don’t require the dongle?
How will the software know I have these installed or will I need to use the DVD and FX dongles? If you upgrade your Avid editing application and use software licensing to activate it, but do not upgrade the dongle license of Avid DVD by Sonic or other dongle-based applications or plug-ins, you must continue to use the dongle for those products. If I am experiencing problems with software activation, can I use the trial version? Yes, but only if the trial version has not been activated. Once the trial version is activated, it will expire in 30 consecutive days and cannot be reset. If I activate on a system, then have a problem with it, could I use a new serial number/system ID on that system and activate it? Yes, but it depends on the specific cause of the problem you’re experiencing.
If you are having trouble activating your license, contact Avid Customer Support. What happens if I forget to deactivate my system due to swapping hard drives, cloning systems, moving to another system, or swapping operating systems in a dual boot environment?
The Avid editing application will not start on the new system. Replace the original drive, deactivate the license, then swap drives and reactivate the software. The cloned system will not be able to start the software until the original license is deactivated.
If you’re moving from a system where the license remains active to a second system that runs the same copy of the software, go back to the first system and deactivate the license, and then reactivate it on the second one. Reboot to the original operating system, deactivate your license, then reboot to the new OS and activate the software. Only one version of the software license can be run at a time.
Swapping hard drives back and forth (example: government site). Cloning systems. Moving to another system. Swapping operating systems in a dual boot environment. How do I activate my new software if my system is connected to the internet?. to download the 'License Installation Guide'. Navigate to the left hand menu of the document and click the section titled 'Installation Guide for Avid Editing Applications'.
Click the '+' icon to expand the guide's contents. Click the 'Activating the Software' section of the document and follow the steps for Activating the Avid editing application automatically.
How do I activate my new software if my system is not connected to the internet?. to download the 'License Installation Guide'. Navigate to the left hand menu of the document and click the section titled 'Installation Guide for Avid Editing Applications'. Click the '+' icon to expand the guide's contents.
Click the 'Activating the Software' section of the document and follow the steps for Activating the Avid editing application manually. I am currently running with a software license. How do I upgrade it to the latest version of software?.
to download the 'License Installation Guide'. Navigate to the left hand menu of the document and click the section titled 'Installation Guide for Avid Editing Applications'. Click the '+' icon to expand the guide's contents.
Click the 'Upgrading the Software' section of the document and follow the steps for Upgrading your Avid editing application automatically from an existing software license. What are my activation options if I have an active support contract covering my system? The upgrade process hasn’t changed for valid Support customers, except that you now have the option of moving to a software license when you upgrade rather than using a dongle license. If you would like to use the software activation feature, please see this for detailed instructions. Note that this process also applies to existing 4.0 software license upgrading to a v5.0 software license. To upgrade your dongle, please see this for instructions.
How do I activate my software upgrade if I want to continue using my dongle? Note: An Internet connection is not necessary for this option, but you will have to follow traditional steps of updating the dongle using Dongle manager. Please see for dongle update instructions.
to download the 'License Installation Guide'. Navigate to the left hand menu of the document and click the section titled 'Installation Guide for Avid Editing Applications'. Click the '+' icon to expand the guide's contents. Click the 'Upgrading the Software' section of the document and follow the steps for Upgrading the Avid editing application with a dongle.
How do I deactivate my software license on one computer so I can activate the software on a separate computer?. to download the 'License Installation Guide'. Navigate to the left hand menu of the document and click the section titled 'Installation Guide for Avid Editing Applications'.
Click the '+' icon to expand the guide's contents. Click the 'Deactivating the Software' section and follow the steps for Deactivating your Avid Application What if I don't have an internet connection and I want to deactivate my software license on one computer so I can activate the software on a separate computer?
Deactivation requires an Internet connection. If your site does not provide a connection, please contact Avid Customer Support for assistance in deactivating system. What should I do to prepare for a reinstallation or upgrade of my Avid editing software?
Please see the following for best practices to uninstall and reinstall Avid editor software with software licensing. Why do I receive the error message 'Failed to Get Activation Code Attributes' after reinstalling or upgrading to a new version of the editor?
Please see the following for detailed instructions to resolve the error. Why do I receive a KCAV Failed to get Activation Code Attributes?
Please see the following for detailed instructions to resolve the error. What happens if I lose my System ID and/or Serial number? Avid now provides a tool that allows you to obtain your System ID and Serial Number. The new “Get License Info” tool is located in the Avid Utilities folder. Clicking on this tool will display your System ID and Serial Number as well as your Adapter and Mac address used to generate the Machine ID. Why is my Serial Number displayed with the last 5 digit’s “XXXXX” in the Get License Info tool?
These digit’s are not displayed as part of our security feature to protect your serial number. Displaying the full number would open your system to theft.
If you need the full serial number, Avid has a database that contains this information and will provide it to you when requested. Where can I view the system ID and Serial number information on my system? Avid provides a tool that allows you to obtain your System ID and Serial Number.
The Get License Info tool is located in the Avid Utilities folder. Clicking on this tool will display your System ID and Serial Number.
How do I deactivate a system that is not connected to the internet (ex. Government or Educational Sites)? Deactivation requires an Internet connection. If your site does not provide a connection, please contact Avid Customer Support. Can I run my older software versions with my 5.0 or 9.0 software license? A software license will only run one version of software. You can not install Media Composer 4.0 and Activate it with a 5.0 license; you must use your original 3.5 license.
What happens if I don’t deactivate my previous software license before upgrading to the latest version of software? Media Composer 5.0, Symphony 5.0, and Newscutter 9.0 introduce a feature that will deactivate the software license during the upgrade process if you forgot to deactivate it before upgrading.
During the Activation process, you will see the following dialog: 'As part of the upgrade process, we will deactivate your older version of Avid media Composer. Please continue to upgrade or cancel to exit upgrade process.' This is normal.
Simply click Continue to proceed with the upgrade process. Please note: Media Composer 3.5, Symphony 3.5, and Newscutter 7.5 do not have this feature. If you chose to back rev for any reason from the latest version to the these versions, you must deactivate your software license before uninstalling. If you do not, the Activation of the older software license will fail. What if I chose to continue using my dongle, then decide that I'd rather use Software Licensing? Please see the following for step by step instructions. My motherboard has died, how to I reactivate my license?
If you were unable to deactivate your license before a motherboard failure, please contact Avid Customer Support so Avid can manually deactivate the system. Once this is done, you can use the original system ID and serial number – not activation code – not activation code – to reactivate. My Network Interface Controller (NIC) card has died, how do I reactivate my license?
If you did not deactivate your license before changing the NIC configuration on your system, your software will not start successfully. Enable the NIC configuration used when you first activated your license. Then, deactivate your copy of the software, disable your NIC, and reactivate your license. My hard drive has crashed and I've replaced it, how do I reactivate my license? If you were able to deactivate your license before a hard drive failure, you can use your original activation code, along with the system ID and serial number, to restore your system. If you have problems reactivating your Avid software following a hardware failure, please contact Avid Customer Support.
I forgot to deactivate my system after swapping hard drives, cloning systems, moving to another system, or swapping operating systems in a dual boot environment? What should I do? The Avid editing application will not start on the new system. Replace the original drive, deactivate the license, then swap drives and reactivate the software. The cloned system will not be able to start the software until the original license is deactivated. If you’re moving from a system where the license remains active to a second system that runs the same copy of the software, go back to the first system and deactivate the license, and then reactivate it on the second one.
Reboot to the original operating system, deactivate your license, then reboot to the new OS and activate the software. Only one version of the software license can be run at a time. Swapping hard drives back and forth (example: government site). Cloning systems.
Moving to another system. Swapping operating systems in a dual boot environment.