Now as much as we love to program CDs and DVDs, we feel the future is in the Internet and that's where most of our research is going. If there is a project you have in mind but can't figure out how to make it happen, give us a shout. Some of the greatest accomplishments in our future may be for your projects.

CD and DVD Authoring and Design

The most common type of CD project we do is for marketing. These projects will usually contain information about the company. And usually contains one or more videos to demonstrate the products or services the company has to offer. CDs were preferred over VHS tape because of the interactivity.

CDs are still common as many companies will hand those out at trade shows and conferences. Since there are no bandwidth challenges with a CD, it is still a great way to put video in front of your clients.

But as with all technology, things change, the DVD is beginning to replace the CD for video. VHS (sadly for some) is well on its way out. And most computers are shipped with DVD players installed. And as with most companies like ours, CGI Group has adapted to author DVDs complete with menu systems and interactivity just like we did the CDs.

 

We are showcasing the Precision Marketing Project because this is a very nonstandard design. They came to us to aid them in designing a marketing CD. They produce television and radio commercials.

They wanted a design style that would enable them to use black and white caricatures of their employees.

So we decided the best route was to go for a black and white look throughout the project. We took the caricatures and cut them out, added a bit of color via a shadow and animated each person's name.

We then used reds, yellows and grays to highlight many of the key points they wanted to make and animated those points for the opening.

We then stayed with the caricature theme and showcased their television, print and radio ads. For a quick look at this CD, click here.

We were approached by a another marketing company to help them with one of their clients, Hartwell. Hartwell is a wholesale clothing distributor that sells in bulk to companies that will embroider company logos etc. on the garment.

The challenge for Hartwell was to supply their clients (distributors) with the photos and catalog item content for use in making their own catalogs. And the program had to be compatible with Microsoft Windows, Macintosh and Unix computers.

Our solution was to program a digital catalog, allowing the text to be copied. And to include a high resolution photo of each item. The photo number is referenced with each content description. And all logos were included.

The program included a search routine by brand, material and many other options.

A little of our early history.

In 1997 the owners of a small family owned archery store approached Rick at CGI Group and asked if he could produce a WhiteTail Deer Hunting Game for them. One of their life goals was to start a company called CyberGraham Interactive and sell deer hunting via the computer. They had contacted several companies and had been turned down.

Since they knew of CGI Group's animation capabilities, the approach seemed natural. With some research and perhaps a little beginner naivety, Debi Hall joined Rick as the programmer and together they produced one of the best selling WhiteTail Deer Hunting Games of its time... WhiteTail Fever. There were over 500,000 copies sold in Wal-Mart, Comp-USA and many other retail stores, which in those days was quite an accomplishment. It was followed two years later with WhiteTail Extreme. CGI was responsible for all aspects of these games, design concept, photography, animation, programming, hunting scenarios... you name it... The creative was all up to us.

We've included this as part of our portfolio because some of you may remember this game. The photography was shot in Harmon Den which is near Haywood County.

And this project will always stay close to us because the Grahams took a chance that we could help them make a dream come true... And we were able to do that for them. What a wonderful feeling... It doesn't get any better than that.

The creative was up to us with ABG (the German paving division of Ingersoll-Rand). They sell pavers to just about every country in the world and wanted an easy and entertaining way for all its future Titan Paver Operators to learn how to run their electronic paver management system. ABG also needed to show their customers what to do when they first got the paver and how to operate the screed, the actual paving mechanism of the paver. And they wanted to do this in seven different languages.

CDs are sent out in advance when pavers are ordered. The result is by the time the operator arrives at ABG for the official training, they have a great idea of how things work. And the hands-on training has a major impact. The three CD-Rom based training project is also used as part of their in-house training process to reiterate certain functions. And the different languages help them all overcome many barriers.