Hello all,

Flying Logic has made it to version 2: http://flyinglogic.com/

I would like to ask if anyone knows a comparison between Flying Logic and Axon Idea Processor.

Thanks,
Peter.

not the same at all - I find Axon to be cumbersome and in the end hard to use for real work. Flying Toaster is easy to use, has a great layout algorithm and is particularly well suited to Effects Based modeling and t supports Theory of Constraints well. A better comparison for Flying Toaster is SouthBeach Modeler - southbeachinc.com

zman

sorry - I meant Flying Logic not Flying Toaster...

Version 1 is good for plotting out fiction. I wouldn't want to try to use Idea processor for that.

Hello Zman,

thanks for the heads up on Southbeach Modeller, never heard about it before. On first glance, it looks a bit overloaded, but I will have a closer look this weekend...
What kept me from buying Flying Logic up to now is the price tag: $249, Southbeach Modeller is $112. However, what counts is what one can get out of it.

Regards,
Peter.

And the "Flying Toaster" brings me back to the time that I first saw something called 'screensaver' :) It really was a great motif!

Hello Hugh,

thanks for your info. Indeed, Axon seems to be more adequate for people who think 'tech'. I am looking for a software that helps me find a way to make something work; pin the obstacles; be sure that I have not overlooked something important; and grab the interdependencies between items (very important).
Or to say: I have Brain 1.0 :) and look for some support.

Regards,
Peter.

Hi,

Thanks for bringing these up. They both actually look very interesting to me, as I have been considering a strategy/modeler for a while. Southbeach seems to have a lot of features, which Flying Logic looks a bit more polished with constraints.

Could anyone give any opinions who has tried either of these or any others?

Thanks, /Pavi

pereh wrote:

Hello Zman,

thanks for the heads up on Southbeach Modeller, never heard about it
before. On first glance, it looks a bit overloaded, but I will have a closer look this
weekend...
What kept me from buying Flying Logic up to now is the price tag: $249,
Southbeach Modeller is $112. However, what counts is what one can get out of
it.

Regards,
Peter.

And the "Flying Toaster" brings me back to the time that I
first saw something called 'screensaver' :) It really was a great motif!

Pavi wrote:

Hi,

Thanks for bringing these up. They both actually look very interesting to me,
as I have been considering a strategy/modeler for a while. Southbeach seems to have a
lot of features, which Flying Logic looks a bit more polished with
constraints.

Could anyone give any opinions who has tried either of these or any
others?

Thanks, /Pavi

I'm surprised the folks at Sciral didn't let their current user base know about the new version. Hmm. Anyway, I've always been a big fan of Flying Logic and, rather than repeating myself, you can see why here:

http://www.outlinersoftware.com/messages/viewm/2850

I like some of the improvements in the new version, particularly the ability to add a user-defined graphic to an entity. I don't think the improvements are worth the upgrade cost, but I'll probably upgrade just the same as it is a tool that I use ...

I haven't tried Southbeach.

Graham

Hi Pavi,
I have Flying Logic V1. I originally came across it as I was learning about Theory of Constraints.
I've used Flying Logic for mapping out processes for others to follow and clarifying my thoughts on a high level.

The best part of Flying Logic is how easy it is to use. You'll be up and running within minutes.

The worst part of Flying Logic is the flip side of the ease of use.
In V1 (haven't tried V2) ,you can't move the boxes around yourself...
The program decides how to visually organize the boxes for you.
This is both liberating and frustrating (when you are creating bigger files).

Have you tried CMap yet?
It's completely free and has some similar features to Flying Logic.
You may want to check it out if you haven't yet. :)

Graham Rhind wrote:

I'm surprised the folks at
Sciral didn't let their current user base know about the new version. Hmm. Anyway,
I've always been a big fan of Flying Logic and, rather than repeating myself, you can
see why here:

http://www.outlinersoftware.com/messages/viewm/2850

From your link I see that your statement dates from 2007. By this time prices were affordable but then they inflated without substantial additional features.

Bernhard

Southbeach Modeller seems nice. I just downloaded the trial/basic version (2.0 alpha) and it works well. There seem to be some missing features that other visual modeling tools have (e.g., embedding attachments and customizing colors/fonts on drawing objects), but so far I'm impressed. For general mapping, you may also want to try VUE (Visual Understanding Environment) at http://vue.tufts.edu/

By the way, Flying Logic has been significantly updated over the past few months:

http://flyinglogic.com/about/history.html

The version number is still only 2.1.2, but Sciral has added hyperlinking and radial layouts, both of which strike me as powerful tools.