Animation director vs concept artist

The differences between animation directors and concept 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 concept artist. Additionally, a concept artist has an average salary of $85,713, 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 concept artist are storyboards, maya, and animation.

Animation director vs concept artist overview

	Animation Director	Concept Artist
Yearly salary	$71,266	$85,713
Hourly rate	$34.26	$41.21
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	4,968	3,596
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 concept artist salary

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

	Animation Director	Concept Artist
Average salary	$71,266	$85,713
Salary range	Between $43,000 And $117,000	Between $56,000 And $130,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Novato, CA
Highest paying state	New Hampshire	Nevada
Best paying company	Microsoft	Meta
Best paying industry	Technology	Technology

Differences between animation director and concept artist education

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

	Animation Director	Concept Artist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Most common major	Animation	Graphic Design
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Animation director vs concept artist demographics

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

	Animation Director	Concept Artist
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 75.1% Female, 24.9%	Male, 74.3% Female, 25.7%
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, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 7.7% White, 67.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between animation director and concept 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.

Concept artist example responsibilities.

Create many MEL scripts to help automate routine daily tasks and improve overall productivity.
Rig character for animation in Maya.
Create pitches for new and old IP.
Sketch concept art for an online game
Design & animate VFX for mobile games!
Prepare 3D models for production using Maya 3d.

Animation director vs concept artist skills

Common animation director skills

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

Common concept artist skills

Storyboards, 8%
Maya, 8%
Animation, 7%
Sketch, 6%
Art Direction, 6%
Graphic Design, 5%

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Animation Director
Animation Director vs Concept Artist

Updated January 8, 2025

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