Seth Olson is a motion graphic designer and VFX supervisor at Camp Lucky, which provides live-action production, editorial, design, animation, visual effects, color and audio for film, TV and advertising. “We help clients bring stories to audiences on any screen or proverbial campfire. Our goal is to make a lasting impression with hard work and a lot of fun,” he says.

Kia

As lead designer of Camp Lucky’s animation and design team, Olson has contributed to commercials for Ram, Yeti, Kia, Frito-Lay, Toyota and JCPenney as well as short films including The Unlikely Fan, directed by his Camp Lucky colleague Sai Selvarajan. Originally from Colorado, Olson studied fine arts at Texas A&M. He worked at the Center for Brain Health in visual development for projects including user interfaces, VR environments and Virtual Gemini, a video game that helps autistic children and adults negotiate complicated social situations and experiences.

Let’s find out more from Dallas-based Olson…

Talk about what being a designer and VFX supervisor entails?
When we tackle graphic needs, whether it is motion designing logos or creating convincing VFX, my job starts with figuring out what our clients want most.  I work to deliver a variety of skillsets to meet as many needs as possible, whether it’s supervising visual effects on-set or designing and animating visuals and graphics for commercials and film.

TGI Fridays

What would surprise people about what falls under that title? 
I handle a lot of tasks that are important but might never be seen, such as removing/adding elements in a scene, rotoscoping, compositing and painting out imperfections. A lot of people outside of the industry assume there are a lot more CG explosions in daily work.

How long have you been working in VFX, and in what kind of roles? 
I’ve been working in VFX and motion graphics for about 15 years. I started out in an apprenticeship, where I learned a ton from Danny DelPurgatorio, Nader Husseini, Justin Harder, Brandon Oldenburg, Limbert Fabian and many more. Every step was a learning experience, and they are still some of my favorite people in the industry.

I’ve dabbled in web development, but I always come back to motion and animation. I’ve been with Lucky since 2011, and it’s been a wonderful environment. I’ve jumped into each role shy of being a producer. Producers are amazing at what they do, and I appreciate their contributions every day. I’ve done compositing, 2D and 3D animation, 3D modeling, lighting, texturing, illustration, photography and typography. I have provided supervision off- and on-set for VFX.

Snapple

How has the VFX industry changed in the time you’ve been working? 
The biggest changes have all been technology-based. Faster computers and internet, software advancements and now AI. I’ve seen various companies try to branch out to VR, video games, 3D animated films and more. It’s been beautiful to see all the various steps of evolution.

There have been stylistic changes too, with the most recent being a “social grunge,” if you will, with minimal polish and lightning speed edits.

How has the VFX industry been affected by COVID? 
“Remote” has become the present and, I predict, the future as well. I don’t think your audience would be surprised by this answer. Why limit your talent’s residence to one city? Why a single state? This is a global, collaborative opportunity to meet your needs instantly across time and space. New demand for the internet has only accelerated the development of tools and technologies that enable collaboration. I have seen economic attrition drag down some companies, but from their ashes arise new and innovative people and solutions. Lucky has strived and thrived on that very kind of change.

Dallas Independent Film Festival

Why do you like being on-set for shots? What are the benefits? And how has that changed during COVID? 
Being on-set has always helped put a specialist where their talents can quickly and efficiently make contributions. For some of the shoots during COVID, it was effective for me to be online watching the shoot live so I could make suggestions/recommendations without risking exposure. COVID has required communication to be amplified and backup plans built into every shooting experience.

What I mean is that there is no such thing as too much communication now. You can draw on the screen, make expressions in real time on your camera, record temp VO and email it during a cutting session. You can send PDFs, videos, soundtracks and inspirational links. With all these options, we can and should use them to achieve the desired, beautiful deliverable.

Did a particular film inspire you along this path in entertainment? 
Video games were really my first inspiration as a career, but I fell in love with inspirational work from Psyop along the way. I loved drawing and making digital paintings as a kid, so it was an exciting transition to put my work in motion through After Effects, Maya and Cinema 4D.

TXU: Water is Awesome

My colleagues are bringing their inspirations and toolsets to the table as well, like with SideFX Houdini. Once in the industry, working closely with creative directors and designers alike has truly been an exciting experience that continues to drive me.

What’s your favorite part of the job? 
My favorite part is helping people. There are other perks, like fresh work every day, but I am lucky to experience a variety of clients and help them tackle whatever’s going on in their world. I get to help people, and that is really meaningful to me.

If you didn’t have this job, what would you be doing instead? 
I considered a variety of idealistic roles when I was in high school, ranging from pastor to park ranger. I have taught at my alma mater a few times, teaching After Effects and Cinema 4D. It is an idealistic itch that I’m trying to scratch. That part of my personality still exists, and I would lean toward something like a counselor or professor if I needed to leave the industry.

Can you name some recent work? 
Dodge Ram, Intel, Tazo, TGI Fridays, Kingsford  and Firehouse Subs

You’ve mentioned tools already, but what do you use day to day? 
It’s mostly Adobe Creative Cloud and Maxon One subscriptions. There are so many powerful tools out these days, with more on their way. But with these two packages, I have 90% of what I need daily.

Hardware-wise, I use a beefy PC that I remote into from home. I have a Canon 5D Mark IV that I bring to set for documenting and sampling light sources.

Where do you find inspiration now? 
Social media is here to stay, but I don’t like feeding that beast more than needed. I try to fill my feeds with various tool and style-related content. My deepest inspiration comes from talking with inspiring people. My brother, Luke Olson, and our social group are extremely creative people. They are avid gamers and digital creators. They participate in maker spaces, play with AI for fun and build bots to beat each other at card games. I am definitely not the smartest in the group, but it’s fantastic to pick up what I can from them and give back. Put me with people who want to create things and we will make magic.

What do you do to de-stress from it all? 
Video games, photography and painting help me relax. Then I sprinkle in some reading and exercise. Vacations to mountainous areas are my favorite. A gin martini is always a plus. I like listening to open-minded folks talk about the what-ifs and the hows of life.