COWBOY BUD
We introduced the Lone Star State to a robot cowboy with an attitude.
INTERACTIVE
CHARACTER ANIMATION
LIVE EVENT
The Concept
Every year for their annual meeting, Holt Group strives to create a spectacle that will wow attendees. In 2024, they wanted to have some fun with the idea of artificial intelligence by replacing the human emcee with a cartoon robot capable of interacting with the audience. And because they’re based in Texas, they wanted a cowboy character. Thus, Cowboy Bud was born.
Clockwise from top left: Holt VP Edward Cramer on stage with Cowboy Bud, Bud's costume change, voice actor Chuck Cureau backstage, backstage monitors showing Bud
"People will forget about the meeting data, but they will always remember Cowboy Bud!"
All Projects
Building Bud
During the show, Bud was projected on several monitors on and around the stage. Backstage, an animator and an improv comedian controlled him using a simple laptop setup. The actor watched the show feed so he could interview and banter with presenters and audience members.
Building Bud
Attendees were stunned and delighted when Bud started cracking jokes with them, and even challenged one presenter to a dance-off!
Building Bud
We used Adobe Character Animator to create a digital “puppet” that responded to an actor’s movements and vocalizations in real time. We programmed various hand movements to be controllable with keystrokes.