studio

Amazon's "Amazon Studios" project has announced the first four TV series it will develop: three animated shows and a mockumentary, all of which were pitched by way of the Amazon Studios Web site.… Read more

The screen-capture video tool Camtasia Studio has long balanced a strong set of features with a friendly interface and graceful learning curve. Version 8 continues the tradition with cool, new features that don't bog down the app with any additional complexity. Camtasia's price--$300--may raise eyebrows, but make no mistake: this screencasting software is serious business. New and advanced users both should be able to learn the software and start producing professionally looking videos in little time.

Robust in-app tutorials introduce Camtasia to users, but experienced editors can wave them aside and dive in. The main interface is … Read more

Bored with Instagram? Tired of Hipstamatic? Then perhaps your iPhone photography hobby should enter its color-splash period. Color splash photography creates arresting images, adding a dash of color to black-and-white photos. There are a number of color-splash apps (such as ColorSplash) for iOS, and MacPhun earlier this month brought its Color Splash Studio app from the Mac to the iPhone. Here's how it works:… Read more

The fate of 38 Studios' video games -- and the company's debt -- may now rest in Rhode Island's hands.

The video game company run by former Red Sox star Curt Schilling filed for bankruptcy, with plans to liquidate, Reuters reported today.

The news comes shortly after 38 Studios laid off nearly all of its staff and lost its funding from Rhode Island. The state's officials, hoping the video game company would bring in more jobs, had given 38 Studios a $75 million loan guarantee.

The company, which released the well-regarded "Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning," … Read more

Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's 38 Studios gaming company is crumbling around him.

As news spread over the past week that the company was hurting for cash, spending $49 million of a $75 million state loan, the Boston Globe reports that the young video game publishing house laid off all of its nearly 400 employees as of today.

"I'm stunned, and I'm heartbroken," Leominster fantasy author and consultant to 38 Studios R.A. Salvatore, told the Boston Globe. "This is one of the best teams I've ever seen assembled. They were doing … Read more

Editors' note: A day after this commentary was published, Curt Schillings' 38 Studios laid off its entire staff of nearly 400 employees.

For retired Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, the Legend of the Bloody Sock is taking a back seat to the tale of bloody dumb loan his videogaming company received from the Rhode Island state government two years ago.

I say this as a diehard Red Sox fan (as you can see from my bio below this post). I say this as someone who popped champagne when the Red Sox won a World Series in 2004. I say this … Read more

In an exciting development and confirmation to long-standing rumors, developer Zenimax Online Studios today announced The Elder Scrolls Online, a new massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set for release in 2013.

Initially revealed by Game Informer, the long-anticipated game offers a massive world "set a millennium before the events of Skyrim as the daedric prince Molag Bal tries to pull all of Tamriel into his demonic realm," according to the magazine. … Read more

The overall movement in technology is to slim things down, make them dainty, make them portable, and create ever smaller versions of hardware. Studio Neat is bucking the trend with the $25 Cosmonaut wide-grip stylus.

The Cosmonaut is proudly low-fidelity. It's meant to feel like a dry erase marker rather than a fine-point pen. It has a rubber grip and will work on just about any capacitive touch-screen device.… Read more

Seeking to boost original content for its Amazon Instant Video service, Amazon Studios today put out the call for pilots for comedies and kids shows.

Since it launched in November 2010, Amazon Studios had focused on films, both full-length features and shorter films. This is its first foray into episodic programming.

"In the course of developing movies, we've heard a lot of interest from content creators who want to develop original series in the comedy and children's genres," Amazon Studios director Roy Price said in a statement.

Amazon Studios works differently than traditional Hollywood production companies. … Read more