Hello Casiquire, thank you for your reply. That actually answers a lot of questions. In rare occasions, when I need to imitate a real soloist, I will use an electronic wind instrument. I am actually very good on it and have never encountered limitations on it. Nevertheless, I will sometimes need to do 3 of 4 takes and still edit it a bit (keyswitches, etc.). Not to mention the time spent learning the part. So basically, the more I exercise this practice the more I realise it's not a very efficient approach and extremely time consuming. Because of the nature of my work (I must sometimes produce the whole product in a week or less) I cannot afford the time spent in learning and practising every single part in the ensemble.
At the moment I copy my handwritten score into Sibelius (I don't need to do this every time since some clients don't require a score), and there I will try to adjust playback as much as the stupid software lets me. Unfortunately I then have to transfer the MIDI into Cubase for further tweaking (More human and subtle dynamics, pitch bends, etc.) and then convert the whole thing into audio for mixing.... Aaaargh! If I could do the whole MIDI editing in Sibelius and just mix in Vienna Ensemble from the same software, I could do everything in a third of the time. Hence why I fantasise about a VSL notation software: one place for it all!
PS: the parts that are too difficult are usually arrangements of a single line that breaks up into different instruments in a section. For example the bass clarinet begins an ascending line and as it climbs the clarinet and oboe pick it up, then the flutes, the piccolos, etc. All this in the sapce of a beat. Just to give an example. A seasoned player won't struggle with it, especially considering that he/she will be surrounded by the other players doing it. If I have to do it on my own then I have no context except a click... Not the same