The making of multimedia

The untidy red brick building in this dreary, industrial area just outside Hollywood yields few clues about the techno-culture experiments going on inside. That is, unless you've got one eye on the parking lot, where saxophonist Scott Page and comedian Charlie Fleischer are cutting up with an ordinarily serious-minded software engineer named Doug Gillespie. They move aside barely enough to let record producer Bob Ezrin and Andrew Sheu of TV's "Melrose Place" emerge from an incoming Jaguar donning baseball caps urging all to Do Something.

Indeed, the are in the midst of doing something--two things, actually. At the moment, they're working on a new CD-ROM program called "The Universe According to Virtual Reality" that brings stuffy scientific principles to life through movielike animation and liberal doses of humor and music. And in the process, they're fortifying a still-rickety bridge between multimedia computer technology and the creative people who propel media like music, television, and film.

They are not alone in this latter pursuit, but in many respects they've got more planks on the bridge than anyone else. All except for Sheu are part of 7th Level, an two-year-old multimedia software company where the much-trumpeted "convergence" between the computer and entertainment worlds is being played out on a daily basis. And as incongruous as it is to watch celebrities drop by this reclaimed warehouse, the industrial park setting is quite fitting. Unlike many in the hype-filled convergence business, cofounder Ezrin and company are checking their egos at the unmarked front door, rolling up their artistic and technical sleeves, and attempting to bring some genuine Hollywood magic to the multimedia experience.

Which is a high-minded way of saying they're making really good CD-ROMs here. And they're not shy about taking on new challenges. The Virgil Reality project is one of the most complex and ambitious CD-ROM efforts to date, charging eagerly into two areas--animation and education--where multimedia software has proven less than fulfilling so far.

Virgil is a kind of company guinea pig, too. Though it's not 7th Level's first title, Virgil Reality will put many of the company's homegrown audio, video, animation, scripting, and "intelligence" technologies to their first full test. And with roughly a million dollars invested in it, Virgil may go a long way...