Faculty and Staff

Steve Rittler

Professor • Department of Art

Steve Rittler is an independent designer, animator, illustrator, and educator. Steve graduated from Philadelphia’s University of the Arts (Honors B.F.A., Illustration, 1990; Animation minor) and Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute (M.F.A. with Distinction, Computer Graphics Animation, 2000). He has animated, storyboarded and modeled for many companies in NYC, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, including Disney Interactive. Films featuring his work as an animator/designer have been screened and awarded nationally and internationally, including the Annecy Animated Film Festival in France, and his own animated MFA Thesis film, Nor Gloom of Nyght, has been screened at the International SIGGRAPH Conference, The first Beijing International New Media Arts Exhibition and Symposium and at BUDi 2005 in Seoul, Korea. Steve has served on the NYC ACM SIGGRAPH Local Chapter Board of Directors from 2000 to 2015 and has presented courses on animation production at the 2003 and 2004 International SIGGRAPH Conferences in San Diego and Los Angeles, and at the 2008 SIGGRAPH Asia Conference in Singapore. He served as chair of NYC ACM SIGGRAPH MetroCAF 2006, the New York Metropolitan Area College Computer Animation Festival, was Co-Chair of MetroCAF 2014 and was the principal designer, illustrator and animator for these festivals. He holds an Associate Professorship in Animation at the William Paterson University Department of Art. He has his own company, Muse Machine Productions, is currently in production on two animated films, Monster Box and The Big Headache, and plays bass and sings in a rock band.

Professional Interests

Animation, sequential illustration, VR, game development, architecture, design, music, etc.

Other Interests

Too numerous to list

Japanese 

Degrees

MFA Computer Graphics, Pratt Institute Brooklyn, NY

BFA Illustration, University of the Arts Philadelphia, PA

Specialization

Animation, 3D Animation, Illustration, Drawing, Game Design, Film

140 Ben Shahn Center

Tuesday and Thursday, 12:30 to 2:00pm by appointment, 4:30 to 5:30 In BS 204/5