Designing and preparing the content as well as the packaging of that content for distribution to the various channels is really ‘where the rubber meets the road’ in cross media. Determining which tools you will need will depend on what your product goals are, as well as what is currently available to meet those requirements.

We have already discussed the tools (CMS) for content management, and the good news is that creating the content uses tools that should be fairly familiar to you. If you recall from an earlier article on File Formats, the primary file types used in cross media production—except for video and some interactive content—use the same design and creation tools currently used in print. That would include text editors like MS Word for text content, illustration tools like Adobe Illustrator for vector images (and perhaps some interactive as well), and image editing software like Photoshop for raster images. And while some of the requirements for each of these file types might be different for each of the different media channels as previously discussed, the skills to create that content probably exist in your current staff.

Interactive and video content creation is one of the holes that you will undoubtedly need to address.  Video capture and content creation is available in different tools with a wide variety of costs and different levels of expertise. HD video capture is available from high priced professional cameras on one end to cell phones on the other, and depending on your requirements, either might work. Video editing tools are available in simple tools like Apple iMovie or MS Movie Maker, or in prosumer and professional applications like Apple Final Cut Studio, or Adobe Premier Pro and its other components as a part of Creative Suite Production Premium or Master Collection. While these tools may not rocket you into the league of Steven Spielberg or John Ford, they do give you the tools you need to create and edit video for an academy award winning film, or more practically, cross-media production.