New venture brings do-it-yourself approach to computer-based media.

It took a couple of weeks in the hospital after a near-fatal accident to provide Emilie Smith Caruso with the wherewithal to start her own multimedia services company.

With a $250,000 settlement she and her husband received from a hot-air balloon company, Caruso last fall was able to open

For an hourly fee, business users can develop and produce media products like videos and printed materials for advertising and marketing, either on their own or with the help of Communicate staff members. The company uses the latest computer technology to produce the products, which includes making CD-ROMs for business use.

The acronym CD-ROM stands for compact disc-read only memory. The audio-visual disc has almost 400 times the storage capacity of high-density floppy computer discs that are in use in most personal computers. Because of its increased storage capacity and more advanced audio and visual effects, many computer users are adopting CD-ROMs.

A customer, said Caruso, can create a computer-generated presentation using various component materials that are put together using Communicate's high tech equipment.

"Kinko's (the retail document copying chain) does provide some computer services but the difference is that they use more low-end systems while we have more high-end systems that use the latest technology," said Caruso. "With our systems, you can create broadcast-quality audio-visuals right here." After graduating from Simmons College in Boston with a degree in computer science and business management, Caruso became a freelance high tech maven.

She moved to Southern California and eventually went to work full-time at Axiom Management Consulting Co. in Century City. It was there that she met her future husband, Jim, who is now 38 and is a computer programmer.

In June 1992 the two married. On their honeymoon in France, they went hot-air ballooning but the balloon crashed. Jim broke his back and Emilie received various injuries. Emilie and Jim spent about three weeks in the hospital recovering from injuries that Emilie said almost killed both of them.

The couple sued the French company, claiming the balloon should never have taken off that day because of bad weather. The company settled the lawsuit for a $250,000 payment to the Carusos.

They took the money and started planning Communicate.

"Before the accident, I had thought about opening my own business and I got the idea for this particular business from a multimedia seminar put on by IBM," said Caruso.

Last July Emilie quit her six-figure-salary job at Axiom and actively started working on Communicate. Jim Caruso still works at Axiom full time but is also involved in the operations of Communicate.

"He's kind of like the chairman," said Emilie in a recent interview.

On Nov. 1, the Carusos opened Communicate's two-story shop at 3201 Wilshire. Including Emilie, the shop currently has five full-time employees.

Emilie said that Communicate allows businesses to take advantage of the latest computer technology without the investment of actually buying the hardware and software.

"You can put together a television commercial here that is ready to broadcast for about $5,000, which is a lot less than if you have someone do it for you," said Emilie.

Hourly rates range from $25 to $75, depending on the type of equipment that is used and whether the user requires help from a Communicate staff member. There are also six-month rates of between $500 and $10,000 that allow a user access to the company's equipment for an extended period.

With the potential for hundreds of television channels in the near future, programmers and advertisers will be looking for ways to put together broadcast-ready materials without investing in the latest computer hardware.

"That is where we come in. We can make these materials for a lot less than major production studios," said Emilie.

Emilie said she expects that Communicate will start making money in the next three months. But Emilie said she is already starting to think about opening another shop, and then eventually starting a franchise operation.