Animation director vs animation artist

The differences between animation directors and animation 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 an animation artist. Additionally, an animation artist has an average salary of $80,929, 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 an animation artist are animation, maya, and character animation.

Animation director vs animation artist overview

	Animation Director	Animation Artist
Yearly salary	$71,266	$80,929
Hourly rate	$34.26	$38.91
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	4,968	3,822
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	2	2

Animation director vs animation artist salary

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

	Animation Director	Animation Artist
Average salary	$71,266	$80,929
Salary range	Between $43,000 And $117,000	Between $52,000 And $125,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Las Vegas, NV
Highest paying state	New Hampshire	Nevada
Best paying company	Microsoft	Microsoft
Best paying industry	Technology	Media

Differences between animation director and animation artist education

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

	Animation Director	Animation Artist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Most common major	Animation	Animation
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Animation director vs animation artist demographics

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

	Animation Director	Animation Artist
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 75.1% Female, 24.9%	Male, 76.4% Female, 23.6%
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, 4.4% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 7.7% White, 66.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between animation director and animation 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.

Animation artist example responsibilities.

Edit video, write copy for television, radio, and web-base commercials while managing the scheduling of all studio employees.
Start using CSS for layout.
Produce storyboards and illustrations for film and print projects.
Use of HTML for webmastering and occasionally design ad campaigns.
Streamline workflow from legacy files to new creation in various multimedia softwares.
Work on various TV commercials consisting of animating, compositing, video editing, and VFX.

Animation director vs animation artist skills

Common animation director skills

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

Common animation artist skills

Animation, 29%
Maya, 10%
Character Animation, 8%
Concept Art, 7%
Motion Graphics, 7%
Adobe Photoshop, 5%

Animation Director vs. similar jobs

Animation Director related careers

Animation Director related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Arts, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Industry
Animation Director
Animation Director vs Animation Artist

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse arts, entertainment, sports, and media jobs