Animators were asked by producers for every scene they made to create something that would be a "back of the box" picture (essentially something that could be cover art).
The beginning scene of Saavedro linking in behind the Stranger as they were looking at Atrus was meant to look like a single shot and took 2 months to composite 4 separate videos, special effects and fire together.
Producers felt it was an amazing honor getting the contract to do Myst III and equated it to working in the film industry and having George Lucas ask you to make the next Star Wars movie.
Edanna was referred to as the "Life Age" in production. The creators tried to gather as much life and enrichment as possible and put into one area.