#24: The making of a CD-ROM

Again, apologies for my long 'disappearance'! I've been up to many things that got me almost fully occupied. Of course, the year end holiday mood has made me slow down a bit. ;)

Anyway, on this last day of 2007, I would like to talk about managing a CD-ROM project. I have explained about the format and purpose of a CD-ROM publication in one of my very early posts. Here, I am going to briefly talk about the process of making one.

The example I'm using here is a post-event CD-ROM, which contains:

* An animated introduction that shows element related to product or company, title of the talk or event, and introducing the speaker(s).
* A footage of the presentation, coupled with a presentation slide show synchronized to the speaker's speech.
* A footage on the Q&A session that is broken down to individual clips.
* Additional features: view slides only, print slides, product information in PDF form, etc.

Before the event
* Hire a camera crew - inform them the date, time and duration of the event; remember to get the contact number from at least one of the camera crew! You need to update him of last minute changes, if any.

During the event
* If possible, arrive an hour earlier before the event starts. Make sure the camera crew has all their equipments set up, and all the cables and wires are connected to the right place.
* Don't forget to collect the presentation slides from the speaker.

After the event
* Your job is first to proofread the slides, correcting any spelling errors and inconsistencies.
* A copy of the footage and presentation slides (PowerPoint) will be passed to the designer-programmer for designing and programming.
* Also pass over other relevant materials (e.g. product information, design elements, speaker's photo and CV) that need to be incorporated into the CD.
* Check the synchronization of the presentation and all links and functions in the CD before sending it to your client for review.

The above is just a very simple outline of the work flow for a CD-ROM project. If you want to know more in details, you can always leave your question in the comment box. :)

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I would like to take this opportunity to wish my blog readers a wonderful and fruitful 2008 ahead!

Happy New Year!