I am new to the forum and I had a real quick question. Do I have to use the vdl template in order for everything to sync up properly? Or can I use any template from sibelius 4 or finale 2005??? Any help would be most appreciated.Thanks

Yes, the templates are much more than just the staves.  There are so many sounds assigned to the each line that not using the template would create a huge headache. 

Gabe

You don't have to, but you'll spend a lot of time creating your own so that the music looks readable.

Many people take the templates that we made and configure them for their own style.

More specifically, the important part in the Sibelius template is what they call ";staff types";. These contain the percussion mapping which basically tells Sibelius which notehead to display (and where on the staff to place it) when you enter a midi pitch via your midi keyboard. You can learn more about ";staff types"; by checking the sibelius documentation. You'll see several VDL2 staff types in the ";edit staff types"; window, or at create>other>staff type change (which is where you go to assign a certain staff type to a selected staff).

Thanks for the help