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3d modeler vs interactive designer

The differences between 3d modelers and interactive 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 modeler, becoming an interactive designer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an interactive designer has an average salary of $97,929, which is higher than the $75,946 average annual salary of a 3d modeler.

The top three skills for a 3d modeler include animation, adobe photoshop and visualization. The most important skills for an interactive designer are sketch, user experience, and UI.

3d modeler vs interactive designer overview

3D ModelerInteractive Designer
Yearly salary$75,946$97,929
Hourly rate$36.51$47.08
Growth rate5%3%
Number of jobs1,24548,136
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Average age4038
Years of experience212

What does a 3d modeler do?

A 3D modeler is responsible for designing project models by utilizing various software applications and computer tools to represent high-quality digital content that would help the team and clients visualize the object. 3D modelers work closely with the design team to evaluate ideas and identify its feasibility scope on an enhanced digital view, giving them the ability to adjust and revise structures as needed. A 3D modeler must have excellent technical and critical-thinking skills to understand the clients' specifications and recommend solutions through graphics analysis.

What does an interactive designer do?

An Interactive Designer takes the business product and transforms it into a product that the user interacts with perfectly. They support engineering efforts to develop designs and get the details right.

3d modeler vs interactive designer salary

3d modelers and interactive designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

3D ModelerInteractive Designer
Average salary$75,946$97,929
Salary rangeBetween $50,000 And $114,000Between $67,000 And $141,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Bruno, CA
Highest paying stateNevadaCalifornia
Best paying companyAppleMeta
Best paying industryTechnologyTechnology

Differences between 3d modeler and interactive designer education

There are a few differences between a 3d modeler and an interactive designer in terms of educational background:

3D ModelerInteractive Designer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Most common majorAnimationGraphic Design
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

3d modeler vs interactive designer demographics

Here are the differences between 3d modelers' and interactive designers' demographics:

3D ModelerInteractive Designer
Average age4038
Gender ratioMale, 81.4% Female, 18.6%Male, 66.8% Female, 33.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% 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 modeler and interactive designer duties and responsibilities

3d modeler example responsibilities.

  • Manage design collaboration and storyboard creations.
  • Partner with clients and a team of engineers to create detail and effective, multimedia training and sales aids.
  • Lead FX artist in creation, development, and implementation of particle flow and rigid body simulations to production pipeline.
  • Establish project direction and concepts, develop character designs and storyboards, and coordinate art assets from the project team.
  • Refine 3d concepts for production and rapid prototyping
  • Sketch technical drawings for architectural drawings and client presentations.
  • Show more

Interactive designer example responsibilities.

  • Manage website properties including design, content and marketing using HTML5, CSS and JavaScript.
  • Create, implement, and manage web content projects (HTML emails, web sites, digitizing audio/video).
  • Use ASP.NET and XML to automate common workflow tasks due to extremely high volume of designs to be create.
  • Develop a custom object-orient prototyping model in the design of a highly dynamic user interface.
  • Work primarily with JQuery to design/develop full screen overlays and dynamic forms.
  • Develop clean, table-less web sites using valid XHTML and CSS according to standards.
  • Show more

3d modeler vs interactive designer skills

Common 3d modeler skills
  • Animation, 10%
  • Adobe Photoshop, 7%
  • Visualization, 7%
  • Texture, 6%
  • UV, 5%
  • Auto CAD, 5%
Common interactive designer skills
  • Sketch, 13%
  • User Experience, 7%
  • UI, 6%
  • Interaction Design, 6%
  • Invision, 4%
  • Visual Design, 4%

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