Animation director vs lead artist

The differences between animation directors and lead 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 lead artist. Additionally, a lead artist has an average salary of $83,041, 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 lead artist are maya, animation, and portfolio.

Animation director vs lead artist overview

	Animation Director	Lead Artist
Yearly salary	$71,266	$83,041
Hourly rate	$34.26	$39.92
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	4,968	4,799
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	2	2

Animation director vs lead artist salary

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

	Animation Director	Lead Artist
Average salary	$71,266	$83,041
Salary range	Between $43,000 And $117,000	Between $53,000 And $128,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New Hampshire	Nevada
Best paying company	Microsoft	Meta
Best paying industry	Technology	Technology

Differences between animation director and lead artist education

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

	Animation Director	Lead Artist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Most common major	Animation	Graphic Design
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Animation director vs lead artist demographics

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

	Animation Director	Lead Artist
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 75.1% Female, 24.9%	Male, 69.5% Female, 30.5%
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, 5.8% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 7.6% White, 67.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between animation director and lead 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.

Lead artist example responsibilities.

Edit video, write copy for television, radio, and web-base commercials while managing the scheduling of all studio employees.
Model, texture, light, and render with Maya and proprietary tools.
Establish a standard level of quality for asset creation while enforcing efficiency of polygon and texture usage.
Create various assets for a number of PC titles.
Model, texture and direct outsourcing efforts for 3d environmental assets.
Color guides with lights/shadows, perspective, and composition help visually engage the audience in the final animation.

Animation director vs lead artist skills

Common animation director skills

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

Common lead artist skills

Maya, 13%
Animation, 10%
Portfolio, 9%
ZBrush, 6%
UI, 6%
Texture, 5%

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Animation Director
Animation Director vs Lead Artist

Updated January 8, 2025

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