Dave Cross Shows “GridIron Flow” (which starts shipping today!))
Jun. 29
1:40 am
My buddy and fellow “Photoshop Guy” Dave Cross did an excellent video clip on the just-released-today way cool “Flow” software (I bought a copy the first time I saw it back when it was still in Beta testing, and I got my serial number emailed to me last night, so I know it’s shipping).
I put the video here (above) so you can check it out (also, Dave unveils something new that wasn’t in the public beta that will be of particular interest to a lot of you). Thanks Dave for putting this together. 
Admittedly it looks like a very useful tool.
But for a Utility, it’s very expensive.
And does it not encourage chaos rather than order.
I think for some it would be a very useful tool. However, those people would have to be disorganized and Flow will “save” them from the chaos. I was lucky enough to have professors and mentors that STRESSED organization. Each project has a it’s place and the files for said project are organized according to their file types. Sure I have some trouble with finding files on a rare time or two but spotlight fixes that right away. I do like the “back in time” feature, especially when one has flattened the image and needs their layers back. But, I could just go to a recent time machine backup and grab the layered document. So, with this in mind I really don’t see a need for it at this moment in time in my workflow, especially for the cost. However, it sounds like it could be the savior to some of the disorganized masses.
For what it does, and if you have the amount of files in use and saved, it is well worth it. If you are just a hobbyist or home user then not so much. If you have a business it would be essential. And it would develop the habit of saving versions, which I don’t do like I should.
I would still keep good document order but sometimes, like Dave said, you only remember a layer name or font or some such and not the file name itself. Then, it would be a life saver.
It’s funny you say that, encouraging chaos! I found that after having Flow for a long time I totally gave up trying to keep my files organized, because Flow provides me a back door. It doesn’t really matter where the files are because I see them, their URL, their online/offline status, I can dbl click them to launch them.. and if that fails, the search is so fast I just use that. I can search for tags, which is handy, because I sort of brainstorm in the tags panel. If you are as disorganized as me, Flow saves your ***. So for me, Flow totally encouraged my chaos.
Hope you guys have fun with the product. We are proud of our Flow and hope if makes your lives easier. Be sure to check out the tutorials and forums on our website.
Keri Matthews
QA Gridiron
Pretty cool software. I was at the HOW Design Conference in Austin last week and the Gridiron guys were there touting this and giving away copies of it in drawings. I didn’t win, unfortunately.
I just don’t get this program—just seems like another thing to have to worry about, I think they’ll have a hard time pushing this product.
I installed the beta and got tired of it showing me every time I deleted something. Also, on my G5 tower between it and Time Machine it was definitely slowing me down. I learned more about how it works watching this and after the lessons come out I might be tempted to look into it again, but only if I upgrade to a newer, faster machine.
This really looks amazing, and the big deal really is that you could go back to a picture after it was flattened and recover the layers. How many of us have flattened an image thinking that we are done working on it, only to find a situation were you have to go back and work on it again! But man, this program is expensive. I think if it was priced at $100, or even $150 it would be a must. At $300 this is really over priced! Even if you bought it on the first day you would still be paying $250 and that is too much for a utility. So as cool as this really is, I think to expect that kind of cash is really ridiculous.
Flow isn’t a program for the casual Photoshop user, and it’s certainly a long way from being a “utility.” It’s a program that works in and with creative software such as InDesign, Final Cut Pro, Premier Pro, After Effects, Photoshop, etc., to speed production and keep track of the myriad files involved in a creative workflow.
The gentleman who maintains his files in apple-pie order hasn’t worked in a typical studio, has clearly never had to take over 20 or 100 projects from someone else, and has a low enough and slow enough volume of work that things are easy to track. But even the best organization starts to fray at the edges once the volume picks up and assets are being used in many scattered projects, often in slightly tweaked versions. Let’s not even talk about what happens when your new client’s previous design team has handed you a few hundred miscellaneous files in no discernable order.
Flow’s search is almost instant: orders of magnitude faster and more useful than Spotlight, Bridge, or Vista/Win7 Search, and its versioning leaves Version Cue gasping for air. To be able to go from an InDesign file straight to the camera raw file from which a 3rd generation PSD became part of the layout, or revert to a previous version of a file in a second or so instead of retrieving it from a backup… those become real important when you do this kind of stuff for a living, at high speed while juggling deadlines. Any time you can turn a five minute file recovery or search into a three second slam dunk, you’ve hit gold.
Flow’s time tracking capability saves your bacon when you need to show a client, clearly and in detail, why the “5 minute fix” they want on a design actually involves several hours of work across a number of different assets. (I speak from experience. Most clients have no clue what goes into a design change.)
Time really is money. Flow is an incredible bargain for the market it is intended for. Like the decision to upgrade to CS4, which paid for itself in under a month, Flow is a no-brainer. (@Tim: The final release version is even lighter than the late betas. You might want to download the trial and give it another whirl. View the tutorial videos and read the Quick Start guide first, though. They will help. Adding some RAM might be the real answer. Sadly, though, the non-Intel Macs are going the way of the 8-track and VHS, so that may not be worth the investment.)
[I don't work for Gridiron. I was in the private beta test program, consisting mostly of graphics and video industry professionals, from about eight months ago until the product launched. I can tell you I couldn't imagine working without Flow, now.]
I bought Flow last week. Found a $100 off code at deke.com (it’s expired now but there’s still a $50 off code, plus John Nack has a $50 off code as well).
Yes, time is money, so this is well worth it for me. I also use Gridiron’s other product Nucleo Pro, and that utility has saved me countless hours rendering in After Effects. I’ve probably paid for that program fifty times over in time saved. While I don’t expect the same return using Flow, just the peace of mind alone will be worth the cost of the software.
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