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The differences between character animators and visual designers 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 visual designer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a visual designer has an average salary of $86,495, which is higher than the $72,126 average annual salary of a character animator.
The top three skills for a character animator include animation, maya and character animation. The most important skills for a visual designer are sketch, visual design, and graphic design.
| Character Animator | Visual Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $72,126 | $86,495 |
| Hourly rate | $34.68 | $41.58 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 416 | 46,815 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| 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 visual designer is someone who creates designs for a variety of platforms such as Internet and intranet sites, games, and wearables. The duties of visual designers depend on the specific project or industry in which they are working. Duties include creating user-centered interaction models, working with information technology and business teams to resolve complex issues, and designing logos, icons, and infographics. The qualifications to become a visual designer include possessing strong problem-solving, communication, and negotiation skills and obtaining a bachelor's degree in design.
Character animators and visual designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Character Animator | Visual Designer | |
| Average salary | $72,126 | $86,495 |
| Salary range | Between $46,000 And $111,000 | Between $51,000 And $143,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Bruno, CA |
| Highest paying state | Nevada | California |
| Best paying company | The Walt Disney Company | ByteDance |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a character animator and a visual designer in terms of educational background:
| Character Animator | Visual Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Most common major | Animation | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between character animators' and visual designers' demographics:
| Character Animator | Visual Designer | |
| Average age | 40 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 74.4% Female, 25.6% | Male, 53.1% Female, 46.9% |
| 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% |