Musescore 4: Cutaway staves take up full space

• Dec 20, 2022 - 15:22

Hi,
New to MuseScore, even newer to version 4.0 (on Windows 10).
I'm working on a large orchestra score that midway requires a temporary 2nd staff for the 2nd violins.
musescore 1.png
To get rid of it elsewhere, my guess was to use the cutaway stave function (with right-click or from the Instruments palette). But, though the staff is hidden, it still keeps taking as much space as before.
musescore 2.png
Even if I knew how to manually reduce the gap (which at this stage I actually don't...), the instrument's name and the bracket are still left "hanging" absurdly between the 2 staves.
The only way to get what I'm aiming at visually is to put the extra staff to "sleep" in the Instruments palette:
musescore 3.png
But that is obviously throwing out the baby with the bath water...
I haven't found anything like "Optimise layout" in MS4 either. Overseeing something?
Thanks in advance for your attention.

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musescore 3.png 110.72 KB
musescore 1.png 155.53 KB

Comments

Hard to say from just pictures, but I'm guessing you didn't also set the staff to hide when empty. Same Staff/Part properties dialog - set "Hide when empty" to "Always".

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

A while ago I gave up following the layout of the holograph and joined in a single stave the divisi Violin II in that passage. It seemed just too much of a hassle for mere 5 bars in a 328 bar-piece.
Couple of days later I’m quite sure I would have found a solution (yes, probably along the lines you suggest). It’s been quite a steep learning curve and I’m much more confident in MusicScore’s hidden potential!
“Hidden” to me, because the still very meagre handbook for MS4 had rather put me off, I admit. But in truth, you guys have already given so much serious thought to so many aspects, musical, ergonomic! It’s a fantastic project and I’m very happy to be around & witness it develop!
Anyways, thank you for your concern, Marc. The attentive and friendly tone in this forum adds a nice human touch to the whole undertaking!

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