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Storyboard artist vs animator

The differences between storyboard artists and animators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a storyboard artist and an animator. Additionally, a storyboard artist has an average salary of $90,053, which is higher than the $76,853 average annual salary of an animator.

The top three skills for a storyboard artist include animation, adobe photoshop and fine arts. The most important skills for an animator are animation, motion capture, and storyboards.

Storyboard artist vs animator overview

Storyboard ArtistAnimator
Yearly salary$90,053$76,853
Hourly rate$43.29$36.95
Growth rate5%5%
Number of jobs3,757551
Job satisfaction5-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 80%Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Average age4040
Years of experience22

What does a storyboard artist do?

A storyboard artist specializes in creating and designing storyboards to visualize scripts for film, TV, advertising, and animation production. They utilize their talents in sketching and storytelling to help the production process run smoothly and accurately. A storyboard artist's responsibilities revolve around coordinating with the production team, collaborating with directors and writers, conceptualizing imagery, and conducting revisions and edits as needed. Furthermore, as a storyboard artist, it is essential to adhere to the production's deadlines and goals.

What does an animator do?

The animators are specialized artists who conceptualized ideas from their creative minds with technology applications. Animators cater to different specialties depending on their expertise. They used multiple techniques and tools to create a digital masterpiece. An animator is required to have an excellent time and project management skills to meet deadlines. They should also be detail-oriented and technology savvy to keep up with the latest trend in the digital market. Animators are required to have regular communication with the respective department for the updates or adjustments as needed.

Storyboard artist vs animator salary

Storyboard artists and animators have different pay scales, as shown below.

Storyboard ArtistAnimator
Average salary$90,053$76,853
Salary rangeBetween $56,000 And $144,000Between $52,000 And $112,000
Highest paying CityGreenwich, CTLas Vegas, NV
Highest paying stateNevadaNevada
Best paying companyThe Walt Disney CompanyMeta
Best paying industryFinanceMedia

Differences between storyboard artist and animator education

There are a few differences between a storyboard artist and an animator in terms of educational background:

Storyboard ArtistAnimator
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 80%Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Most common majorAnimationAnimation
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Storyboard artist vs animator demographics

Here are the differences between storyboard artists' and animators' demographics:

Storyboard ArtistAnimator
Average age4040
Gender ratioMale, 69.9% Female, 30.1%Male, 71.9% Female, 28.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 7.7% White, 66.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 5.8% Hispanic or Latino, 13.9% Asian, 7.5% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between storyboard artist and animator duties and responsibilities

Storyboard artist example responsibilities.

  • Lead a team of artists to create the art and animation for motion comics aspects of the show.
  • Introduce electronic publishing in order to bring print production in-house.
  • Proofread and approve completed pages and convert to PDF files for uploading to the printing company FTP site.
  • Page layout for scientific journals using QuarkXPress.
  • Print InDesign ad to PDF for proofing to client.
  • Accumulate knowledge for the deadline filing system and typesetting computers.
  • Show more

Animator example responsibilities.

  • Lead a team of artists to create the art and animation for motion comics aspects of the show.
  • Train & supervise newly appoint employee in achieving realistic looking effects and help integrating the effects in compositing with cg elements.
  • Create many logos for a YouTube sketch.
  • Sketch every seen multiple times utilizing several camera angles and character blocking.
  • Assist in the animation development of learning videos and nursery rhymes for YouTube.
  • Implement uniform display geometry to support texture artist and UV mapping artist, demonstrating advance UV mapping skills.
  • Show more

Storyboard artist vs animator skills

Common storyboard artist skills
  • Animation, 45%
  • Adobe Photoshop, 7%
  • Fine Arts, 7%
  • Feature Film, 5%
  • Storyboard Pro, 4%
  • Sketch, 3%
Common animator skills
  • Animation, 36%
  • Motion Capture, 7%
  • Storyboards, 5%
  • Motion Graphics, 5%
  • AAA, 3%
  • Graphic Design, 3%

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