Today we’d like to introduce you to Benjamin Lucas.
Benjamin, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I am a native Charlestonian who can trace my family roots back to the 1700s. Over the course of my life, I was lucky enough to live all over the country, including Montana, Missouri, Virginia, and upstate South Carolina. But in the early 2000s, I found myself drawn back to Charleston. The city always felt more like home than anywhere else ever did.
Once I returned, I enrolled at Trident Technical College and earned an Associate’s degree in General Science—mostly because I wasn’t quite sure which direction I wanted to go. Around that time, I played guitar, piano, and sang in a few small music projects. I was also working in restaurants and had gotten really into craft beer brewing. I pursued both musical and brewing passions seriously, but neither one ever took off the way I hoped.
By my thirties, I started thinking about how to build a more sustainable future. I wanted work that was meaningful and manageable—something that would allow me to have a family, protect my time, and still leave room for weekends with future kids and a wife. My girlfriend (now wife) and I decided to go back to school together and reimagine our lives. I took a year off and completed a two-year Computer Programming degree at Trident. That opened the door to a new career and gave me the flexibility to earn my Bachelor’s from Western Governors University in my spare time.
As we married and had children, I switched jobs to keep up with rising costs. Eventually, I landed in a role that where I was introduced to ComfyUI by my boss. I was immediately hooked by the visual coding and the ability to bring the ideas in my head to life using just words. I built a ComfyUI server at home to learn more, and as I practiced, I started experimenting with animation. What began as a curiosity quickly became a passion.
I launched an Instagram account (@ShiftingDimensionsAI) that now has over 6,000 followers from around the world. A lot of the early art and animation I posted reflected my thoughts on philosophy, psychology, and mythology. As my skills and audience grew, I started getting questions about the tools I was using and how my animations were made. That led me to begin posting educational content and animation examples, web app comparisons, and tool walkthroughs—while continuing to share more personal, creative posts with positive messages.
Today, I’ve expanded to YouTube, LinkedIn, and a few Discord communities. I’ve started offering UX/UI feedback to new websites testing their platforms and growing that work into a side consulting hustle. So far, I’ve helped Luma, Runway, To.Video, Freebeat.AI, and Eve AI improve their artist experience and empower creators through more intuitive design.
One major milestone for me was joining AI Film Academy on the Skool platform, where I was paid for the first time to create AI animations. Since then, I’ve become a Creative Partner with Runway and Freebeats.AI and now have sponsored accounts to help them promote their tools. I’m continuing to grow in ways I never expected, using all the skills I’ve picked up along the way. I’ve recently started exploring VFX projects and am excited to see where this journey leads. I’m extremely grateful for all the opportunities—and all the growth—that have come from the effort I’ve put in over the past two years.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I see a lot of fear and negativity surrounding these tools, but the truth is—AI can’t fake genuine artistic creativity. The originality of an artist’s ideas and concepts can’t be replicated. What AI does is empower artists by removing the barrier of high upfront costs and countless hours spent testing a design. It allows us to explore, prototype, and experiment in ways that were previously out of reach.
AI models work by generating approximations and patterns—they can remix, but they can’t truly innovate. New styles, new ideas, and new narratives still come from the human mind. I do my best to create concepts and animations that are entirely my own, blending visual elements with my words as a reflection of my inner world and personal experience.
At times, it’s frustrating when the technology can’t keep up with what I imagine. But the pace of progress is incredible—new tools and techniques are emerging almost every month. With each update, artists gain more control, more options, and more freedom to bring their visions to life in ways that simply weren’t possible before.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
In my day job, I’m a full-time software developer with over seven years of experience working in both the public and private sectors. Along the way, I’ve learned object-oriented programming in several languages, built multiple databases from scratch, earned several certifications, and contributed to the creation and maintenance of complex software systems.
As an artist, I enjoy creating visually compelling images and animations, often pairing them with text and music that reflect the tone or message behind the visuals. Life growing up wasn’t always easy, and I found myself in some dark places. Those experiences have shaped me and led me to focus more deeply on gratitude, kindness, and patience. My visual work often reflects this duality—ranging from light, vibrant, and hopeful scenes to darker but still visually captivating environments.
Most of the time, my creative process begins with a concept—an image idea that I want to bring to life. From there, I animate it, trying to breathe motion and emotion into the piece. When it’s ready to share, I usually select a song from Instagram’s music library that best fits the mood and movement of the animation. At that point, I take a step back, reflect on how it all works together, and try to pair it with something meaningful: a life lesson, a personal struggle, or something I’m currently learning or working through.
The rest of my content tends to be more experimental—either me having fun with the tools or showing others how I use them, whether it’s to demonstrate a process, compare different apps, or just explore something new.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Favorite Books: The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Atomic Habit, Sand talks
Favorite Apps: Right now the best tools I use are ComfyUI, Runway and Kling AI for creation
Favorite Podcasts: The Emerald, The History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps, Philosphize This and Bhagavad Gita | The Essence of Vedanta
Pricing:
- Content Creation – Animations – starts at $50 for 20 seconds
- UX/UI Consulting Hourly: $50–$75/hr
- UX/UI Consulting Project-based: $1,000–$2,500 for small audits, depending on complexity
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shiftingdimensionsai/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559306465452
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-lucas-1169095b/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ShiftingDimensionsAI
