Jesse O'Brien
Assistant Professor
School of Film and Animation
College of Art and Design
Office Location
Office Mailing Address
71-3160
Jesse O'Brien
Assistant Professor
School of Film and Animation
College of Art and Design
Education
BS, The Art Institute of Pittsburgh; MFA, The Academy of Art University
Bio
Jesse O'Brien is a game developer and animated short filmmaker. He has been teaching at RIT since 2013. Before joining SOFA he was a Senior Lecturer in the School of Interactive Games and Media at RIT. Jesse has taught over one thousand students. After graduation his students have gone on to work for Blizzard, Epic, Rockstar, Velan, Sony, Unity, Activision, Amazon Games and many many other studios.
Jesse has over fifteen years of game development experience. He has worked on eighteen shipped game titles, for companies including Activision, EA, Valve, Hi-Rez, Velan, and Workinman. He is currently working as Art Director on the MAGIC Spell Studios game, That Damn Goat.
Select Scholarship
Invited Keynote/Presentation
O'Brien, Jesse. "The 3D Art Production Pipeline for That Damn Goat." East Coast Game Conference. Triangle Game Initiative. Raleigh, NC. 20 Apr. 2023. Conference Presentation.
Foster, Craig and Jesse O'Brien. "Exploring the Use of VR to Improve Learning Outcomes for Complex Anatomical Subject Matter." AMI Annual Conference. Association of Medical Illustrators. Des Moines, IA. 23 Jul. 2022. Conference Presentation.
O'Brien, Jesse and Craig Foster. "VRm: A Virtual Reality Tool for Anatomical Study." SIGGRAPH 2022. Association for Computing Machinery. Vancouver, Canada. 8 Aug. 2022. Conference Presentation.
O'Brien, Jesse. "Our Favorite Games and Why." Rochester Game Festival. ROC Game Dev. Rochester, NY. 10 Sep. 2022. Guest Lecture.
Peer Reviewed/Juried Poster Presentation or Conference Paper
O'Brien, Jesse. "The Pedagogy of an Introductory University-Level Maya Course." Proceedings of the EDULEARN23. Ed. International Academy of Technology, Education and Development (IATED). Palma de Mallorca, Spain: International Academy of Technology, Education and Development (IATED).
Published Conference Proceedings
O'Brien, Jesse and Craig Foster. "VRm: A Virtual Reality Tool for Anatomical Study." Proceedings of the SIGGRAPH 2022. Ed. ACM Digital Library. Online, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, 2022. Web.
Shows/Exhibits/Installations
O'Brien, Jesse and the That Damn Goat Development Team. Game On! 8 Jan. 2022. The Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester. Exhibit.
O'Brien, Jesse and the That Damn Goat Development Team. Gaming for All: A Women in Games Celebration. 17 Nov. 2022. The Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester. Exhibit.
O'Brien, Jesse and the That Damn Goat Development Team. That Damn Goat. 10 Sep. 2022. Rochester Game Festival, Rochester. Exhibit.
Published Game, Application or Software
O'Brien, Jesse and Velan Studios. Knockout City. Game. Electronic Arts. 2021.
O'Brien, Jesse and DB Creations. Table Trenches. Game. DB Creations. 2019.
O'Brien, Jesse and Hi-Rez Studios. Paladins: Champions of the Realm. Game. Hi-Rez Studios. 2017.
Currently Teaching
SOFA-209
Introduction to 3D Modeling
3 Credits
Students create models for animation in three-dimensional software. Students learn various modeling, texturing, and lighting techniques that apply to animation and digital cinematography. Students' model, texture and light three-dimensional environments.
SOFA-215
3D Animation I
3 Credits
This course is an introduction to three-dimensional computer animation and character rigging. The basic principles of animation will be addressed in relation to three-dimensional animation. Character rigging techniques are presented and will include skeletons and animation controls. Students produce a series of short 3D computer animations and some basic character rigs. Students will become familiar with a variety of 3D computer animation techniques.
SOFA-216
3D Animation II
3 Credits
In this course students will learn the mechanics of motion within characters. Complete character-rigging techniques will be discussed and demonstrated. Students will gain further knowledge of a variety of three-dimensional computer animation techniques and will produce a series of short 3D computer animations using a pre-rigged character.
SOFA-217
Animation Production Workshop I
4 Credits
This course will provide the first practical experience of building a complete animated film from conception to finish. Students will apply their knowledge within the greater context of an animation production pipeline. Weekly workshops are focused on helping students plan, develop, and execute their work with regular milestones and deadlines. Students will practice time-management and build skills to adhere to deadlines, and will present their completed films to the RIT community.
SOFA-599
SOFA Independent Study
1 - 6 Credits
SOFA Independent Study will provide students with the ability to study in a specialized area with an individual faculty member. Students, with the assistance of a faculty adviser, should propose a course of study or project with clearly defined deliverables. Students must obtain permission of an instructor and complete the Independent Study Permission Form to enroll. Student must have a minimum of a 3.0 GPA to apply.
SOFA-615
3D Animation Fundamentals
3 Credits
This course will provide a fundamental understanding of computer-generated three-dimensional imagery and world-building. Using top industry-standard software Autodesk Maya, students will explore the technology and processes of professional world-creation and animation. Students will experience the creation of completed digital animations and display skills in 3D modeling, animation, lighting and rendering.
SOFA-695
Advanced 3D Animation
3 Credits
This course will explore advanced character animation utilizing performance, emotion, and speech. Course content will include facial expressions and scenes with multiple characters interacting. Professional animation software will be used. By the end of the course, students will be able to create advanced biped character animation with dialogue and emotion.
SOFA-790
Research and Thesis I
4 Credits
This is the first of two courses designed to advance a student towards completion of their thesis. Students will work independently on their approved plan of work for their thesis while meeting on a regular basis with their committee chair. They are required to meet at least twice with their full committee during the semester.
SOFA-799
Film and Animation Graduate Independent Study
1 - 4 Credits
Film and Animation Graduate Independent Study will provide students with the ability to study in a specialized area with an individual faculty member. Students, with the assistance of a faculty adviser, should propose a course of study or project with clearly defined deliverables. Students must obtain permission of an instructor and complete the Independent Study Permission Form to enroll. Student must have a minimum of a 3.0 GPA to apply.
SOFA-890
Research and Thesis II
4 Credits
This is the second of two courses designed to advance a student towards completion of their thesis. Students will work independently on their approved plan of work for their thesis while meeting on a regular basis with their committee chair. They are required to meet at least twice with their full committee during the semester as well as present a final screening of their thesis.
In the News
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February 15, 2024
![An overhead view of the MAGIC Spell Studios atrium, where people playlets That Damn Goat.]()
Inside the making of 'That Damn Goat,' RIT's latest video game
Chaos is the only constant in "That Damn Goat," a party, "anti-Covid" video game made by around 60 RIT faculty, students and staff. The project was led by School of Film and Animation faculty Brian Larson (creative director) and Jesse O'Brien (art director).
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November 14, 2022
![a tiger video game character jumping onto a hoverboard.]()
Vote now for RIT’s tiger courier for 'Dota 2' game
RIT is vying to be the first university to develop and have a game character accepted into the wildly popular online game Dota 2. The character, or courier, in the form of a tiger, was developed in MAGIC Spell Studios by a team of former RIT students and a faculty adviser.
