Animation director vs artist assistant

The differences between animation directors and artist assistants 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 artist assistant. Additionally, an artist assistant has an average salary of $71,274, 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 artist assistant are adobe photoshop, video shoots, and photography.

Animation director vs artist assistant overview

	Animation Director	Artist Assistant
Yearly salary	$71,266	$71,274
Hourly rate	$34.26	$34.27
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	4,968	4,205
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	2	2

Animation director vs artist assistant salary

Animation directors and artist assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Animation Director	Artist Assistant
Average salary	$71,266	$71,274
Salary range	Between $43,000 And $117,000	Between $43,000 And $115,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	-
Highest paying state	New Hampshire	-
Best paying company	Microsoft	-
Best paying industry	Technology	-

Differences between animation director and artist assistant education

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

	Animation Director	Artist Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Most common major	Animation	Fine Arts
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Animation director vs artist assistant demographics

Here are the differences between animation directors' and artist assistants' demographics:

	Animation Director	Artist Assistant
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 75.1% Female, 24.9%	Male, 35.7% Female, 64.3%
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, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 7.8% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between animation director and artist assistant 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.

Artist assistant example responsibilities.

Demonstrate effective communication skills, well-execute and expedient application of makeup to achieve the look guests desires.
Re-Modele the website using HTML, AJAX, XHTML and CSS.
Design and implement after-school arts clubs for Pre-K to 2nd grade students.
Design, fabrication, and sales of products and art ranging from furniture to printmaking.
Paint and market fine art.-Produce original watercolor artwork-Coordinate with galleries-Work with publishers for reproduction contracts-Teach watercolor workshops-Wrote watercolor instruction book
Create original artwork using pen & ink, charcoal, and acrylic paints.

Animation director vs artist assistant skills

Common animation director skills

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

Common artist assistant skills

Adobe Photoshop, 17%
Video Shoots, 13%
Photography, 9%
Sculpture, 8%
Graphic Design, 5%
Art Projects, 4%

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Animation Director
Animation Director vs Artist Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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