Teacher by nature · builder by experience

I turn complex technology into practical momentum.

For more than three decades, I’ve helped people move from “I’m not sure” to “I can do this”—through hands-on AI training, Autodesk education, and hard-won business guidance.

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Teacher · Designer · Builder

A career built on curiosity—and the confidence to begin again.

30+years teaching technology

38states taught in

12years at Autodesk University

93ds Max courseware releases

The story

The path wasn’t straight.
That’s the point.

Steven’s work has always followed the same thread: learn deeply, make something useful, and help someone else build the confidence to do it too.

011990s

Teacher by nature

A teaching assistant role in a high-school video studio revealed the work Steven loved. Demonstrating 3D Studio DOS with Computer Animators Plus turned that instinct into a career.

021998–2021

Built through experience

As a Kinetix and Autodesk Training Specialist, Steven taught across 38 states, in Mexico City, and for organizations including Disney, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, the U.S. Army, and Sandia National Laboratories.

032007–2023

Entrepreneur in motion

He grew Spectralight Images from a solo practice into a six-person training-production team, later founded Spectra3D, and learned what it means to build, pivot, close, and begin again.

04Today

Practical momentum

Applied Momentum brings Steven back to his roots: hands-on AI and Autodesk training that gives people a repeatable workflow, the confidence to use it, and permission to keep exploring.

A full-circle return

Built here once.
Building here again.

In 2007, Steven entered A-B Tech’s Business Incubator while turning Spectralight Images into a full-time company. He graduated from the program in early 2013. On June 20, 2026, Applied Momentum was accepted into the same program; Steven moved back into the incubator on July 1.

How I can help

Experience made
useful.

No lectures for lecture’s sake. Every engagement starts with the real task, builds a repeatable process, and leaves people able to do the work on their own.

Practical AI training

Workflow-based classes for realtors, small-business owners, departments, entrepreneurs, and independent professionals—built around work people actually need to finish.

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Autodesk training

More than three decades teaching 3ds Max, Fusion, visualization, animation, and related design workflows with clarity, patience, and production experience.

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Business perspective

Guidance shaped by starting, growing, selling, pivoting, closing, and rebuilding companies—not by theory alone.

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Steven Schain teaching The Mechanics of Motion Automation at Autodesk University

Autodesk UniversityTwelve years teaching a global design community.

Beyond the classroom

Teaching has taken me to some unexpected places.

From Autodesk Training Centers across North America to a design school in Mexico City, Steven’s career has connected technical expertise with human curiosity. In 2001, volunteer production work for SIGGRAPH TV even brought him inside NASA’s Orbiter Processing Facility while Atlantis was being prepared for its next flight.

Steven Schain beside the space shuttle Atlantis in NASA’s Orbiter Processing Facility in 2001

NASA · 2001A SIGGRAPH TV production meeting with Atlantis.

Selected work

Explained, captured,
and produced.

For every video below, Steven wrote, narrated, recorded or captured, edited, and produced the complete piece.

01 · Instructional video

Autodesk Fusion: Using the Geometric Pattern Tool

02 · Product demo & informational video

3D Holographic Display, Into the Looking Glass

03 · Autodesk Fusion instructional video

Large Array with Small Holes

Writing & courseware

Knowledge that
travels.

From foundational Autodesk courseware to a deeply personal guide for entrepreneurs, Steven writes to make complex or difficult experiences more navigable.

Book

The Comeback Guide for Entrepreneurs

Five practical steps for turning setbacks into success, developed from Steven’s own experience with business closure and bankruptcy.

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Courseware

3ds Max Fundamentals

Writing-team contributor for nine releases of Autodesk’s fundamentals courseware, spanning releases 3 through 10.

Technical book

Teach Yourself 3D Studio Max 3 in 24 Hours

Contributing writer for the Sams Publishing instructional title.

Courseware

3ds Max 9 Essentials

Co-author of Autodesk Media and Entertainment courseware published in 2006.

Steven Schain with A-B Tech Small Business Center staff Daphne and Duane — Daphne, Steven, and Duane at the AB Tech Small Business Center Incubator

What matters

Be honest. Stay curious. Keep people first.

“If I don’t know something, that’s okay—I can learn it. But I won’t pretend I already know.”

Steven believes business can be a win-win, that cheating is never the answer, and that family comes first. His wife, April—his best friend, steadfast supporter, and inspiration—has been beside him through the hardest chapters and the new beginnings.

Designer at heart · 3D-printing maker · Live theater and music fan · Board-game player · Film, art, and photography enthusiast

Education & credentials

Capability first.
Always learning.

2010

A.S. in Entrepreneurship

A-B Tech

Film & animation

Rochester Institute of Technology

Coursework completed before leaving for personal circumstances; no degree claimed.

Current

Autodesk Certified Instructor

Previously maintained Gold-level certification through 2025.

Community

Incredible Towns

Meeting co-leader for a local business networking group.

Let’s make the next step useful

Bring me the task that feels complicated.

We’ll figure out what matters, build a practical path, and make sure you can use it when the session is over.