Every CD-ROM starts as a single idea and eventually becomes a sophisticated multimedia package with moving graphics, text, sound-effects and music.
Usually the idea for a new CD-ROM comes from a producer, a designer or a programmer. "Sometimes you'll shoot around an idea for a year or so," says Rob Pratt, a producer in California.
"We seldom ask what the customer wants," says Seattle producer Scott Hudson. "Mostly we develop something and then say to the customer 'Do you like this?'"
Producers, designers and programmers hold meetings to toss around story ideas. Once they are happy with an idea, they draw up a rough sketch, or spec, of how they think the product will piece together. "Truthfully, the end product never ends up looking like the spec," says Pratt.
A computer programmer then uses the spec to write a specific program that animators and graphic artists can use to lay out their artwork. Animators do their drawings by hand. Every move a character makes is drawn out in sequence on a separate sheet of paper.
The producer checks on the progress of each animator, gives them direction and helps when they are stuck. "This is when you say 'That character looks too angry' or 'That grin is too big,'" says Hudson.
Writers fine-tune the script. The producer maintains contact with them to make sure they are on track. "Sometimes the language is too harsh or doesn't quite fit and it has to be changed," says Hudson.
At the same time, graphic designers are drawing images on the computer. They also scan images drawn by the animators.
"The producer stands over the designers and says things like 'This button doesn't work' or 'Add this color,'" says Amy Moon, a producer in San Francisco.
Producers aren't always just giving orders, says Hudson. Producing a CD-ROM requires a constant exchange of ideas. Sometimes Hudson even rolls up his sleeves and helps with the drawings.
It's not just the drawings producers have to be thinking about, either. They also have to decide how the CD-ROM is going to sound.
"We go into our sound library to see if we can find the effect we want," says Pratt. "If we can't find it, we hire a sound artist to either make the sound or compose the music we need."
The sound artists, animators, writers and graphic designers either work at the company or are hired as independent contractors to do a specific task. The producer has to decide how many and which people to hire, as well as how to keep all these artists happy.
"You have to know how to make the most of people, how to deal with them," says Moon. "It's hard to say to someone who's been working on an art piece for months that it just isn't working."
Dealing with so many people and doing so many different tasks keeps the job interesting. "It's a good opportunity to use a lot of different skills and to work with a lot of different people," says Moon.
It's sometimes difficult to juggle all these tasks and not forget to do anything. But even the tiniest detail must be accounted for. For instance, producers can't forget something as small -- but important -- as licensing a character. If a producer wants to use an older character in a new story, they have to check with the artist who drew the character or with whoever currently owns the rights to it.
"Take Felix the Cat," Pratt explains. "We have to check with the agent and the owner to make sure that he always looks like Felix and always acts like Felix in our story. The fun part is that, despite what the character has done in the past, the owner might not let you do it again. He might say 'Felix doesn't do that anymore' or 'He does that sometimes, but he can't in your story.'"
Once the animation, writing and graphic designs are complete and the program runs smoothly, it's time to test the CD-ROM. The first testing stage is called the alpha stage.
"That's where we get feedback," says Pratt. "We ask users things like 'Is the game easy, intuitive?'" After this stage, it's back to the animators to fix a drawing or back to the programmer to remove any bugs from the program.
The CD-ROM is then ready for the final test, the beta stage. "That's where we see if it blows up or not," Pratt laughs. The CD-ROM is tested on all kinds of computers, and is sometimes sent to a lab where they test it on more than 50 different types of computers. If the CD-ROM works on all these machines, in all different applications, "the golden master is burned," says Hudson, meaning the final copy is ready for mass production.
You'd think the producer could sit back and breathe a sigh of relief at this point, but the work isn't finished. That's because during the final stages of a CD-ROM's production, the producer is already working on a spec for the next one.
"Plus, the older ones never leave you," says Pratt. "Companies keep coming up with new platforms, and you've got to go back and see if you can make your CD-ROM run better on them. The work never ends."