Commonly used Macintosh and PC based authoring tools such as Macromedia Director or Authorware or Toolbook cannot be used to create CD-i titles. As yet, there is no easy way to convert the output of those tools into a CD-i format disc image.

These personal computer platforms and the CD-i platform differ too much for good cross-platform authoring. When authoring on a PC or a Macintosh, you make use of special features of the personal computer, such as fast video updates, fine image resolution, and fast hard-disk access. On the other hand, when developing for CD-i, you want to make use of the unique features of CD-i, such as DYUV images, two planes, real-time audio play, video effects, Digital MPEG Video etc., which are not available when you are using PC or Macintosh tools.