Animation director vs 3d animator

The differences between animation directors and 3d animators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an animation director and a 3d animator. Additionally, a 3d animator has an average salary of $73,596, which is higher than the $71,266 average annual salary of an animation director.

The top three skills for an animation director include animation, maya and motion capture. The most important skills for a 3d animator are animation, storyboards, and visualization.

Animation director vs 3d animator overview

	Animation Director	3D Animator
Yearly salary	$71,266	$73,596
Hourly rate	$34.26	$35.38
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	4,968	571
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	2	2

Animation director vs 3d animator salary

Animation directors and 3d animators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Animation Director	3D Animator
Average salary	$71,266	$73,596
Salary range	Between $43,000 And $117,000	Between $50,000 And $108,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New Hampshire	Nevada
Best paying company	Microsoft	NVIDIA
Best paying industry	Technology	Media

Differences between animation director and 3d animator education

There are a few differences between an animation director and a 3d animator in terms of educational background:

	Animation Director	3D Animator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common major	Animation	Animation
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Animation director vs 3d animator demographics

Here are the differences between animation directors' and 3d animators' demographics:

	Animation Director	3D Animator
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 75.1% Female, 24.9%	Male, 83.4% Female, 16.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 7.7% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 7.6% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between animation director and 3d animator duties and responsibilities

Animation director example responsibilities.

Manage animation department, promote to manage video and animation departments.
Lead a team of artists to create the art and animation for motion comics aspects of the show.
Translate storyboards into rough previz animations and work with director adjusting cameras and actions.
Assist with QA of code within Xcode environment.

3d animator example responsibilities.

Manage design collaboration and storyboard creations.
Attend pre-production meetings and film shootings to assist directors in vfx shoot execution.
Animate in-game characters and cinematic sequences for transmedia projects on iOS and PC.
Animate monster truck 3D characters in Maya for a children's programming Youtube channel.
Develop episodes from concept to completion (design, color, cleanup, FX, audio editing).
Create the game animations for the enemies in the game as well as all VFX that appear in game.

Animation director vs 3d animator skills

Common animation director skills

Animation, 37%
Maya, 16%
Motion Capture, 6%
Unity, 5%
Medical Care, 5%
CG, 4%

Common 3d animator skills

Animation, 30%
Storyboards, 5%
Visualization, 5%
Motion Capture, 4%
Motion Graphics, 4%
Game Engine, 4%

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Animation Director
Animation Director vs 3D Animator

Updated January 8, 2025

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