*** From the Archives ***
This article is from October 13, 2008, and is no longer current.
I’ve Seen the Future in Flow
Every so often we see something that is just so obviously the future that we sit back in surprise, almost speechless. Now — for the second in our “I’ve seen the future” postings — comes Grid Iron Software’s Flow software.
I first saw Flow back in January at Macworld, and it was pretty amazing as what they called “pre-alpha” software. I just saw a demo presented by Daniel Brown at the createchaos conference and It’s clearly come a long way in 10 months. But what is Flow and why do you want it?
Flow pays attention to your assets and your files. If you place a PDF into InDesign, it knows and can track that — that’s no big trick. But if you copy some text from a MS Word document and paste it into Illustrator, then save that as an .ai file and place it into InDesign, then export that as a PDF and place it into a difference InDesign file… it knows, and it can show you the path. If you later decide you need to make a change to the first PDF file, you can easily track it back to the original InDesign file.
But wait, there’s more. If you delete a PDF (or psd or ai or almost any file format) that is in use by your InDesign document, Flow sees it — even if InDesign isn’t running — and says, “Hey, are you sure you want to delete that, because it’s used in this file.”
You can use Flow to search inside documents, such as “find me the photoshop document in which I named a layer ‘duck’.”
You can track how long you worked on a document, or on a project, and give you time reports.
Flow keeps track of every version of every file in a project (optional, of course). So if you change the color in a file, then save it, then later decide to go back to the original color, it’s just one click away. This version control is incredibly slick, and it’s the way I wish Version Cue would have worked from the start.
Flow is simply amazing. And it hasn’t even shipped yet. A public beta is supposed to be shipping very soon, which means I’d expect to see the final version in early 2009. I can’t wait.
That said, I have to say that I really wish they’d just sell the whole shebang to Adobe — I think more people would end up using it. That said, its true that Flow is useable and useful for print, Web, and video. But it’s also going to be useful for many other people, including legal teams, editorial teams, and virtually anyone who has to keep track of files on disk. Joe Bob says “check it out.”
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When I have submitted to Adobe engineers these series of features, I think it was during the CS pre-release program, many of them replied to my posts by saying that my requests were irrelevant and that Version Cue does everything I need or that my requests only address my personal needs but not the needs of the majority of users.
It was clear that I had a better vision of the future than these engineers.
How many times, in an asset, I want to delete some files that I think are not necessary anymore but does Bridge, does Version Cue warn me that this file is used by an InDesign document ? No.
How many times I would like to batch rename files already imported in an InDesign document but I would like that InDesign updates automatically the links to the files just after renaming the files ? Does Bridge, does Version Cue do that ? No.
I remember back in 2002 when I explained to the engineers that we need a kind of Projet Manager like in GoLive. I create a project where everything is linked. If I change the name of a PSD file (or batch renaming), everything is automatically updated in the InDesign documents part of the project. If I move files within the project, the links are also updated.
Nowadays I have a lot of problem in trying to implement the use of Variables in projects where multiple InDesign documents are necessary : one for the cover, one for the inner pages, one for the CD, one for the leaflets. In this Project Manager à la GoLive I could edit Variables (Name of the Project, Project Manager, Last Proofreading by, Name of Prepress Operator,…) and one click updates the Variables in all the InDesign documents part of the project. Today it’s a big pain to load and reload Variables in many documents.
I have just noticed that many of my ideas have been later developed by various plug-in makers and that the plug-ins are very successful, because they just address the NEEDS. It is so disappointing… I have an InDesign idea per day but sometimes I think that Adobe does not understand how much it could incredibly powerful for users, just because daily I’m deep into assets management and workflows and I know what I’m talking about. And the ideas expressed above would be very welcome by a graphic designer working alone.
Now it feels good… ;-)
Yeah, I’ve been keeping an eye on this for quite a while, I’ve never gotten to grips with version cue, but this (from the videos) look slick. Just hurry up with it!
I used Version Cue when the first CS came out, but having had a few minor network issues (computers didn’t keep their own IP addresses) I ended up with so many duplicate ‘projects’ (each with a few files of its own) that in the end the benefit of versioning wasn’t nearly worth the hassle, especially as I ended up losing half the files.
Maybe VC is good now, but after those first impressions I wouldn’t trust it with a Word document.
I’d never heard of GridIron or Flow, but it sounds like a great trouble saver. I take it it’s not meant as a Bridge replacement, but as an application that runs in the background, keeping track of the files you use?
I use Version Cue with Adobe and non-Adobe files. And we are mostly satisfied. You just need to understand the logic behind it.
There are a few odd things especially in terms of quick network responsivness but most of the time it is easy to fix.
I implement and use daily Version Cue + InCopy + InDesign and Microsoft Office and this environment helps us to reduce the working time of graphic designers up to 90%.
Indeed, Flow will be the bomb!
If you want to read about its unusual interface design (the head designer previously created UIs for action movies such as The Bourne Identity!), check out the article “Going with the Flow” at https://creativepro.com/article/going-with-flow
I signed up way back in the day for a beta copy; they emailed me late last month with news that there’s a private beta out right now for Mac users, and a Windows version is slated for December…so I expect we’ll see a public beta not long after that, and a full release Q2 2009…but this has been a long road to production, and I have a feeling these guys would iron out all the bugs and delay it than push a full version and patch it. Just speculation though.
I agree. We’ve been through some hair-raising experiences with the beta versions so far, but Gridiron is doing a great job of addressing the issues that come up and they’re being refreshingly conservative about releasing anything until the thing is rock solid.
I agree completely with David’s assessment. The concept is brilliant and the potential benefits, even for a small design shop, are terrific.
Thanks, David, and to all that commented.
I wish I could say it is my brilliant, seasoned demo skills that make Flow so intriguing, but the reality is that it “sells itself” once people understand what it is. As an “Evangelist”, I don’t even need to convince people they need it; all I need to do is SHOW them what it does.
As Alan alluded, we’re working frantically to get, first, a public beta out the door so people can “kick the tires” and give us feedback. To do that, we’re counting on (and thankful for) our private beta list giving us frank and honest feedback about what they want.
Once we’re convinced we have a robust, solid, reliable application, then we’ll begin selling Flow.
Daniel Brown
Sr. Evangelist
GridIron Software
I have just downloaded the beta for Mac and I am letting it scan my system now (it’s taking many hours). I am BLOWN AWAY by the demo and I too can see the future if this works as well as promised. I have excitedly tried to explain it to my partner/husband (a linear-minded, unitasking accountant) and he just isn’t feeling the love like I am. Some people just don’t “get” asset management.
So far, I’ve opened one project in Flow– an InDesign file of some letterhead–, and mysteriously, a completely unrelated, yet recently viewed PDF was linked to my InDesign file. And when I told it to show hidden nodes for this file, an image of my now-deceased great-aunt came up. I have no idea what this means.
Despite this setback, I’m going to keep using it during the demo period and see if it indeed helps me to keep up with the hundreds of thousands of files on my system.
Last night (6pm CET) they had some kind of presentation online, but since they had audio running through a US phone number I left after a minute or two ? I’m not made of money and international calls do cost quite a bit. Not long after I got an email saying they were officially selling Flow and until midnight (don’t remember which timezone) it’d be $100 off the regular price.
I might get it some time, but there wasn’t a 64-bit Windows beta available, so I didn’t try it out, and blowing $200 or $300 on software which I’m not even sure will actually come in handy if you don’t share your files and are the only person working on the computer just isn’t my cup o’.