Through an invitation from Krass Kontent, I had the opportunity to contribute to the creation of visual content for the 2025 season of X Factor Hungary, producing background visuals for the live shows.
In this role, I led a four-person visual team responsible for creating the full set of background visuals for each week's performances. After consulting with the show's Creative Director, we developed visual concepts for all productions appearing in the live broadcast.
The team consisted of 3D artists and motion designers, many of whom had not previously created animation specifically designed for large-scale LED stage backgrounds. One of my key contributions was helping them adapt their workflows and visual thinking to this format—guiding them in understanding the stylistic requirements of broadcast visuals, as well as identifying the most efficient production methods for delivering high-quality results under tight deadlines.
The creative concepts were delivered to us week by week, but since the progression of the competition could only be determined after each live show, we were only able to move forward once the results were announced. Every week, the creative director, mentors, and contestants finalized their production concepts and approached us with detailed mood boards. Our task was to transform these ideas into finished visuals at the highest possible quality within an extremely short timeframe.
Each week followed a strict schedule:
My responsibilities included direct communication with the creative director, continuous coordination with the commissioning production company, and task allocation and supervision within the team. I was responsible for distributing projects, coordinating workflows, and supporting team members throughout the production process.
One of the biggest challenges of the role was balancing leadership with active production work. Depending on the weekly workload, I often had to contribute to multiple projects myself while simultaneously supervising others, assisting teammates, and ensuring the overall progress of the production. This required constant availability, rapid decision-making, and efficient coordination under intense time pressure.
Throughout the six-week live show period, we produced 12–16 timecode-synchronized video visuals for each episode, adapting continuously to contestant eliminations and changes in the show's structure.
At the beginning of each week, we held a creative meeting with the RTL creative director and production team, where we reviewed the upcoming show structure and discussed their visual requirements. In some cases, certain contestants did not yet have finalized creative concepts, so these visuals had to be developed later during the week.
After the meeting, my role was to assess the strengths and specialties of each team member and assign tasks accordingly to maximize efficiency. In many cases, multiple artists collaborated on a single visual, allowing each contributor to focus on the techniques and workflows that suited them best.
For me personally, the responsibility of working on a production of this scale was a huge source of motivation. It pushed us to create the strongest visuals possible, combining 3D, motion graphics, and AI-assisted techniques to expand the creative possibilities of the show.
One project that was particularly meaningful to me involved creating a lyrics overlay visual for a rap duo performing in the competition.
Previously, the duo had often received feedback from both the judges and the audience that their lyrics were difficult to understand due to the fast tempo of their performances. The creative director proposed an idea: instead of displaying visuals only on the LED stage screen, we could create an animated lyric overlay that would also appear directly in the television broadcast.
After coordinating with the broadcast visual director, I developed a time-accurate lyrics animation based on the show's shot list. The challenge was to create graphics that would synchronize perfectly with the live camera footage while visually blending with the broadcast image. The final animation was composited live by the technical team directly onto the television feed.
During the live show, the judges themselves highlighted the technical innovation and thanked the visual team for implementing it. For me, this was an especially rewarding moment, as it demonstrated how visual design can not only enhance aesthetics but also improve the audience's understanding of a performance.
The feedback from both RTL's production team and the commissioning company was extremely positive. Our visuals were considered highly successful, and we are planning further collaborations in the future. Equally important, the project allowed us to build a strong professional relationship within the team, creating a collaborative environment that significantly contributed to the quality of the final work.