Visual artist vs animation director

The differences between visual artists and animation directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a visual artist and an animation director. Additionally, a visual artist has an average salary of $81,873, which is higher than the $71,266 average annual salary of an animation director.

The top three skills for a visual artist include animation, maya and visual development. The most important skills for an animation director are animation, maya, and motion capture.

Visual artist vs animation director overview

	Visual Artist	Animation Director
Yearly salary	$81,873	$71,266
Hourly rate	$39.36	$34.26
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	7,209	4,968
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 70%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	2	2

Visual artist vs animation director salary

Visual artists and animation directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Visual Artist	Animation Director
Average salary	$81,873	$71,266
Salary range	Between $52,000 And $127,000	Between $43,000 And $117,000
Highest paying City	Sparks, NV	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Nevada	New Hampshire
Best paying company	NVIDIA	Microsoft
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between visual artist and animation director education

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

	Visual Artist	Animation Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 70%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common major	Fine Arts	Animation
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Visual artist vs animation director demographics

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

	Visual Artist	Animation Director
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 59.5% Female, 40.5%	Male, 75.1% Female, 24.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 7.8% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	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%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between visual artist and animation director duties and responsibilities

Visual artist example responsibilities.

Edit video, write copy for television, radio, and web-base commercials while managing the scheduling of all studio employees.
Design creative materials, including advertisements, media kits, logo and promotional materials for several collaborative projects.
Model, texture and integrate 3D mesh FX with 3DSMax
Modele and shade 3D facial replacements and simulate smoke effects in Maya.
Design texture sheets and unique materials and shaders for particles and mesh FX.
Used Maya and Photoshop to create matte paintings and landscape environment using modeling and camera projection techniques.

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.

Visual artist vs animation director skills

Common visual artist skills

Animation, 15%
Maya, 11%
Visual Development, 9%
Visual Effects, 7%
VFX, 6%
Motion Graphics, 5%

Common animation director skills

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

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Visual Artist vs Animation Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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