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Review: GridIron Software Flow

Jul 6, 2009 12:00 PM, By Jan Ozer

Workflow program maps project file relationships across multiple computers and professional software apps.

Computer 2 owns the Premiere Pro project and would set up a Share Map on a fourth computer that's accessible to all three creation stations. The only requirement is that this machine doesn't have Flow installed. The scriptwriter on Computer 1 drags the Word document into the shared Premiere Pro Map, which associates the time spent on that project with the Map. The audio editor on computer 3 saves the final audio file, then copies it to computer 2 for inclusion in the project. The time spent editing the audio is added to the project automatically. And if you try to delete the Word file on computer 1 or the audio file on computer 3, Flow will warn you that both are included in a project, and it will give you the option to recover the file.

Note that this workgroup feature wasn't in the public beta but only in the early release candidates of the software, which is why you might not have heard about it in other reviews. But it's a totally killer feature that reflects how some individuals produce different types of content on different workstations and how workgroups function. The $399 pricing for the three-pack really seals the deal.

Going with the flow

Flow proved very useful in just a short time. For example, during my trial, I was writing an article with Word and edited out some sections that I later decided to add back in. I had saved the file in the interim, so the deleted work would have been lost. Flow saved every version of every article file, so I was able to recover the work.

When working with InDesign, finding source files after archiving projects is a constant problem. I'm sure there's a best practice that would prevent this, but Flow warns me when I delete or move a source file. This is easier and highlights the point that you really don't have to change the way you work to reap Flow's benefits.

It's also hard to overstate the value of knowing how much time you actually spend on a project. For one recent mixed video/screencam project, I suspected that I had underbid the project. Flow confirmed this by telling me that I spent 8.5 hours solely on narration and editing. It was also interesting to learn that I had invested more than 5 hours of editing to produce two screencam videos for my website that I was supposedly producing in my spare time.

My major frustrations with the software relate to programs that Flow doesn't yet support, such as Audition and TechSmith Camtasia. GridIron plans to incorporate at least the former in future versions of Flow. Also notable among the missing is Apple DVD Studio Pro. However, if you drink the Adobe CS3 or CS4 Kool-Aid, you're totally covered, as you would be if you were using most key apps in the Microsoft Office suite.

What are the caveats? Flow is a very ambitious project that operates on a very low level. If you scan the user boards of the long and extensive beta, you'll see some complaints about CPU use and disk space requirements. In these regards, note that Flow lets you decide how much CPU and disk space to allocate to Flow-specific activities.

In my cross-platform tests, however, CPU drag never got ominous and program operation was generally stable. As with all new programs, I would recommend that you check out the 30-day trial before you buy. But I'm predicting that once you install Flow on your computer, you'll be very glad that you did.

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bottomline

Company: GridIron Software
www.gridironsoftware.com
Product: Flow
Assets: Monitors total time spent on a project across multiple programs and computers; maintains copies of previous versions of files; warns user when moving or deleting a source file.
Caveats: Lacks support for some programs (Adobe Audition and TechSmith Camtasia among others).
Price: $299 (single license), $399 (three licenses)

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