On Hallow's Eve, they say Ol' Scratch Comes to haunt the Pumpkin Patch Gordo is a two-faced pumpkin puppet, with one happy side and one evil side, allowing you to have a character with an age-appropriate tone for all your visitors. Features Our highest-resolution model yet, with smoother animation than previous puppets. Customizable lighting setup. Choose the colors for the ambient light and highlight, and choose the direction the highlight comes from. Choose what color glow burns deep within Gordo's shell. Fade him in and out from behind a scrim for an extra surprise for your guests! Three modes of control: Keyboard, Microphone Input, or Performance Playback. Adjust the microphone input using an easy-to-calibrate onscreen adjuster: The many moods of Gordo: start with his happy, child-friendly side, and when the surly teenagers come along, flip him around to show his evil, corrupted side. Add custom backdrops if desired. Comes with a creepy blue-lit stone wall texture, or you can add your own. Turn floating and blinking on or off. Much better interface than with the original, done through a pop-up console with easy navigation: If you use Gordo at your home haunt this year, be sure to tell us about it and we'll feature it on our "Friends of ImaginEERIEing" page!

Full Version Price: $15 CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE Demo Version Gordo version 1 is the latest fully-functional stable demo version. The only difference between the demo and the full version is a watermark behind the pumpkin, which is removed when you register the full version. Mac Version Windows Version Gordo version 1.1 is the latest test demo version. This version adds a feature where, when in the "keypress" performance playback mode, you can still control Gordo using the keyboard (but not the microphone). Mac Version Windows Version

FAQ's and Recommendations

How do I make Gordo as big as possible onscreen?

Gordo runs at 800x600 resolution, so you should set your screen resolution to be as close to that as possible. You typically do this in your system preferences. (Note that because Gordo is wider than he is tall, there is no need for the Portrait/Landscape modes you see in some of our other puppets.)

Help! I can't record a performance - it stops recording as soon as I start!

Gordo times your performance against a sound file. If you don't provide Gordo with a sound file to record your performance against, you will stop recording as soon as you start. Make sure you give it a standard audio file format, like .mp3 or .wav, that your file really is in that format (and not just named .mp3), that your file's permissions are set so that Gordo can read it, and that you have given Gordo the proper location of the file. If you don't hear your sound file playing when you start recording, then something is preventing Gordo from accessing your sound file.

How do I get the best results out of Gordo?

Your best results will come from having a live puppeteer controlling Gordo as it interacts with your visitors. That interactive element adds a lot for many visitors. It is better to use manual control of the mouth, rather than relying on the microphone, since unintentional noises can open the mouth (like an "mmmmmm" sound), and you may want his mouth to be open when there is silence (such as if he goes slack-jawed from some strange comment).

We also strongly recommend that you build a facade for Gordo and display him behind a "scrim," which hides the fact that he's generated by a computer. It takes a bit of work, but the results are fantastic and sure to please your visitors. For more details on how to build a facade, and more on the history of this great attraction effect, see our Magic Mirror page.

How do I create my own backdrops?

The backdrop feature allows you to load any image and use it as a backdrop. The recommended image size is 512x512 pixels, but any image size can be loaded - it will scale your image to be 512 pixels wide, and then fill the rest of the 512x512 with black if necessary. Gordo will then scale the image to be as wide as the screen. To load it up, select "Backdrop" from the "Appearance" menu in the console, and select the "Custom File" option. You'll be prompted to locate the image you want to use.

Can I save a performance as a QuickTime movie?

Gordo by itself does not support this feature. However, you should be able to use Snapz Pro X on Mac or a similar utility on Windows to capture the screen video for later use in a video editing application.

I'm using Windows, and I get script error messages.

This is probably due to the way you extracted the ZIP file. In order to run properly, there needs to be a folder called "Xtras" in the same location as the Gordo application. The asFFT.x32 file needs to be in the Xtras folder. If the asFFT.x32 file is not in the Xtras folder, or the Xtras folder is not in the same folder as the application, or if permissions are set so that Gordo cannot read out of the Xtras folder, then Gordo will fail to run.

I'm broke! How can I do this on a budget of less than $15?

The original digital puppet we created is free. It's a floating mask like a Magic Mirror. You can download it here.

Version History

v0.1

Initial beta release