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The differences between character animators and production artists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a character animator, becoming a production artist takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a character animator has an average salary of $72,126, which is higher than the $61,870 average annual salary of a production artist.
The top three skills for a character animator include animation, maya and character animation. The most important skills for a production artist are graphic design, adobe photoshop, and adobe creative suite.
| Character Animator | Production Artist | |
| Yearly salary | $72,126 | $61,870 |
| Hourly rate | $34.68 | $29.75 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 416 | 59,103 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 40 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 12 |
A character animator specializes in developing life-like character designs for film, television, advertisements, and video games using special animation software. Their job usually entails understanding project requirements, conducting research, developing drafts and models, adding different effects to enhance designs, presenting designs to lead animators, and performing revisions when necessary. They are also responsible for adhering to deadlines and budgets, producing reports, and solving issues and concerns. Moreover, a character animator usually works in a team setting, which requires an open and transparent line of communication for a successful workflow.
A production artist is responsible for managing digital content, meeting clients' standard specifications and requests for successful project completion. Production artists must have computer proficiency, especially on utilizing various software tools and applications to create illustrations and layouts. They also work closely with the creative team, cooperating in brainstorming sessions to ensure the consistency for each assigned task. A production artist should be keen on details, adjusting outputs as needed to maintain the highest quality for the actual presentation.
Character animators and production artists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Character Animator | Production Artist | |
| Average salary | $72,126 | $61,870 |
| Salary range | Between $46,000 And $111,000 | Between $40,000 And $94,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Nevada | Washington |
| Best paying company | The Walt Disney Company | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Technology | - |
There are a few differences between a character animator and a production artist in terms of educational background:
| Character Animator | Production Artist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Animation | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between character animators' and production artists' demographics:
| Character Animator | Production Artist | |
| Average age | 40 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 74.4% Female, 25.6% | Male, 57.2% Female, 42.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 5.8% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 7.5% White, 67.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 10.4% White, 70.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 13% |