Jeff Schutté

Biography

Jeff Schutté is an Assistant Professor of Practice in Digital Media and Art at SUNY Oswego. He is a digital artist, educator, and 3D artist with nearly fifteen years of professional experience in commercial art, product development, manufacturing, and marketing. His career evolved toward animation, visual effects, and digital media after discovering the creative and technical potential of tools such as Adobe After Effects and Autodesk Maya.

Jeff earned a BFA in Illustration in 2004, developing a strong foundation in traditional drawing, painting, design, and visual storytelling through a variety of traditional media. He later earned an MFA in Animation and Visual Effects from Lynn University in 2020, where he concentrated on post-production and visual effects. This combination of traditional art training and digital production experience informs his interdisciplinary approach to teaching and creative practice.

Before joining SUNY Oswego, Jeff taught at Miami Dade College, Florida Atlantic University, and Florida International University, where he developed curricula mirroring professional studio pipelines in animation, visual effects, motion graphics, and game development. At Florida International University, he was among the initial faculty members who helped shape the emerging Animation and Game Art curriculum and instructed students in the program's first Game Development and 3D Animation Capstone courses. His teaching emphasizes integrating artistic fundamentals with contemporary production workflows, preparing students for collaborative environments in the entertainment and digital media industries.

Jeff is currently pursuing an MA in Game Art and Development at the Academy of Art University, with an emphasis on hard-surface modeling, environmental design, game-ready asset creation, and real-time production pipelines in Unreal Engine 5. His research interests include the growing role of game engine technology in animation, virtual production, interactive media, and emerging digital storytelling practices.

In addition to his academic work, Jeff serves as a 3D Prop Modeler on The Other Side, an animated short produced through Pixar's Co-Op program by Not My Backyard Films. His professional production experience informs his teaching philosophy, emphasizing industry-standard workflows, collaboration, iteration, and creative problem-solving.

Jeff is committed to connecting classroom learning with professional practice. His students have participated in collaborative projects with industry and community partners, including Univision, Disney Junior, the Bay of Pigs Museum and Library, the Frost Museum of Science, and the Pixar Co-Op production The Other Side. These experiences have provided students with opportunities to work alongside industry professionals, receive mentorship from working artists and designers, and create real-world projects for animation, broadcast media, museum exhibitions, and interactive entertainment.

Passionate about both artistic and technical education, Jeff strives to help students develop the creative, collaborative, and production skills necessary to succeed in animation, visual effects, games, and emerging digital media industries.