3D Artist Overview
Working as a 3D Artist
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a 3d artist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $37.84 an hour? That's $78,699 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 3,000 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a 3D Artist Do
There are certain skills that many 3d artists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed artistic talent, communication skills and computer skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a 3d artist, we found that a lot of resumes listed 11.9% of 3d artists included unity, while 9.8% of resumes included high quality, and 8.0% of resumes included game engine. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the 3d artist job title. But what industry to start with? Most 3d artists actually find jobs in the technology and media industries.
How To Become a 3D Artist
If you're interested in becoming a 3d artist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 70.0% of 3d artists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 12.7% of 3d artists have master's degrees. Even though most 3d artists have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a 3d artist. When we researched the most common majors for a 3d artist, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on 3d artist resumes include associate degree degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a 3d artist. In fact, many 3d artist jobs require experience in a role such as artist. Meanwhile, many 3d artists also have previous career experience in roles such as internship or graphic designer.
What is the right job for my career path?
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3D Artist Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of lead artist you might progress to a role such as art director eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title creative director.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a 3D Artist
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Randstad 3D Artist V 3D Artist V | Randstad Randstad | 01/21/2021 01/21/2021 | $114,78501/21/2021 $114,785 |
Robert Half 3D Artist 3D Artist | Robert Half Robert Half | 01/06/2021 01/06/2021 | $73,04501/06/2021 $73,045 |
Robert Half 3D Artist/Retoucher 3D Artist/Retoucher | Robert Half Robert Half | 06/18/2020 06/18/2020 | $60,52306/18/2020 $60,523 |
Randstad 3D Artist 3D Artist | Randstad Randstad | 04/07/2020 04/07/2020 | $41,74004/07/2020 $41,740 |
Randstad 3D Artist 3 (Technical Artist) 3D Artist 3 (Technical Artist) | Randstad Randstad | 02/11/2020 02/11/2020 | $91,82802/11/2020 $91,828 |
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3D Artist Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a 3D Artist. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a 3D Artist Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless 3D Artist resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for 3D Artists
1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
2. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
3. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
4. New York University
New York, NY • Private
5. Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
6. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
7. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Public
8. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
9. Northeastern University
Boston, MA • Private
10. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Top Skills For a 3D Artist
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 11.9% of 3d artists listed unity on their resume, but soft skills such as artistic talent and communication skills are important as well.
- Unity, 11.9%
- High Quality, 9.8%
- Game Engine, 8.0%
- Zbrush, 6.9%
- Graphic Design, 4.7%
- Other Skills, 58.7% See All 3D Artist Skills
Best States For a 3D Artist
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a 3d artist. The best states for people in this position are Nevada, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Idaho. 3d artists make the most in Nevada with an average salary of $111,145. Whereas in Rhode Island and New Hampshire, they would average $107,879 and $106,835, respectively. While 3d artists would only make an average of $106,381 in Idaho, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Nevada
$111,145
Avg. Salary
2. Washington
$98,485
Avg. Salary
3. Arizona
$95,216
Avg. Salary
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