Animation director vs 3d artist

The differences between animation directors and 3d artists 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 artist. Additionally, a 3d artist has an average salary of $74,721, 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 artist are animation, unity, and zbrush.

Animation director vs 3d artist overview

	Animation Director	3D Artist
Yearly salary	$71,266	$74,721
Hourly rate	$34.26	$35.92
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	4,968	3,978
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	2	2

Animation director vs 3d artist salary

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

	Animation Director	3D Artist
Average salary	$71,266	$74,721
Salary range	Between $43,000 And $117,000	Between $47,000 And $116,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New Hampshire	Nevada
Best paying company	Microsoft	Meta
Best paying industry	Technology	Utilities

Differences between animation director and 3d artist education

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

	Animation Director	3D Artist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Most common major	Animation	Animation
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Animation director vs 3d artist demographics

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

	Animation Director	3D Artist
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 75.1% Female, 24.9%	Male, 83.9% Female, 16.1%
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, 6.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.1% Asian, 7.6% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between animation director and 3d artist 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 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.

Animation director vs 3d artist skills

Common animation director skills

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

Common 3d artist skills

Animation, 13%
Unity, 11%
ZBrush, 6%
Game Engine, 5%
Adobe Photoshop, 4%
Concept Art, 3%

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Animation Director
Animation Director vs 3D Artist

Updated January 8, 2025

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