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3d artist vs freelance designer

The differences between 3d artists and freelance designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a 3d artist, becoming a freelance designer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a 3d artist has an average salary of $74,721, which is higher than the $57,260 average annual salary of a freelance designer.

The top three skills for a 3d artist include animation, unity and zbrush. The most important skills for a freelance designer are sketch, CSS, and HTML.

3d artist vs freelance designer overview

3D ArtistFreelance Designer
Yearly salary$74,721$57,260
Hourly rate$35.92$27.53
Growth rate5%3%
Number of jobs3,97845,914
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 75%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Average age4038
Years of experience212

What does a 3d artist do?

A 3D Artist uses complex software to develop graphics and animations for use in various media, such as video games, television shows, and multimedia presentations. They often work in teams, dividing project workloads in accordance to strengths.

What does a freelance designer do?

Freelance designers are creative, independent contractors who create visual and graphic designs for their clients. They develop text and illustrated versions of brands, messages, and communications with strong visible influence with their clients. Typical activities include networking, seeking projects, and negotiating prices to their customers. They manage client proposals, develop concepts, present solutions, and ensure the timely completion of projects. Freelance visual and graphic designers are creative, self-motivated as well as result and deadline oriented.

3d artist vs freelance designer salary

3d artists and freelance designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

3D ArtistFreelance Designer
Average salary$74,721$57,260
Salary rangeBetween $47,000 And $116,000Between $39,000 And $83,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CA-
Highest paying stateNevada-
Best paying companyMeta-
Best paying industryUtilities-

Differences between 3d artist and freelance designer education

There are a few differences between a 3d artist and a freelance designer in terms of educational background:

3D ArtistFreelance Designer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 75%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Most common majorAnimationGraphic Design
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

3d artist vs freelance designer demographics

Here are the differences between 3d artists' and freelance designers' demographics:

3D ArtistFreelance Designer
Average age4038
Gender ratioMale, 83.9% Female, 16.1%Male, 48.0% Female, 52.0%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 6.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.1% Asian, 7.6% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 10.4% White, 70.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage11%13%

Differences between 3d artist and freelance designer duties and responsibilities

3d artist example responsibilities.

  • Create many MEL scripts to help automate routine daily tasks and improve overall productivity.
  • Write tools in Maxscript, MEL, javascript, python, and vbscript to automate repetitive processes.
  • Create high poly characters, props, and environments using organic and hard surface techniques in Zbrush and Maya.
  • Generate programs for CNC punch press.
  • Help team create nodes for nuke.
  • Contract as a 3D visualization designer & animator.
  • Show more

Freelance designer example responsibilities.

  • Lead the transition from paste-up, typesetting, pasting up page layout to digital ad/page building and web printing.
  • Hand-Code HTML, CSS, JS and PHP for custom design solutions and form processing, validation, and animations.
  • Provide identity and stationery design, web design, HTML / CSS development and WordPress integration (content management system).
  • Image manipulation in platforms such as Photoshop and illustrator as per assign.
  • Develop high-qualityshop drawings for all casework to be build by in-house woodshop.
  • Design websites, landing pages, banner ads, pop-ups, and HTML emails.
  • Show more

3d artist vs freelance designer skills

Common 3d artist skills
  • Animation, 13%
  • Unity, 11%
  • ZBrush, 6%
  • Game Engine, 5%
  • Adobe Photoshop, 4%
  • Concept Art, 3%
Common freelance designer skills
  • Sketch, 11%
  • CSS, 7%
  • HTML, 6%
  • Adobe Photoshop, 6%
  • Adobe Illustrator, 6%
  • Photography, 5%

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