Visual Effect Salary | Visual Effects Artists Salary | Croner Company

Visual Effects Artists Salary Survey

The Croner Animation and Visual Effects Survey is the benchmark compensation survey of the animation and visual effects industry. The Croner Survey provides up-to-date competitive compensation information about positions in companies that produce animated feature films or develop animation and/or visual effects for feature films, television, and/or software games.

In 2021, 17 companies, representing approximately 5,500 U.S. employees and 87 unique jobs, and 7 companies representing 14 unique jobs in Canada, participated in the Croner Survey. These companies use the survey data to understand current market trends and salary differentials to benchmark compensation, to establish job architecture and rational pay levels and pay structures, and to make informed decisions about bonus plans and equity plans. The results include comprehensive data for animation salaries and visual effects salaries.

View all jobs covered in the Survey:
2021 Croner Animation Position Grids

Click on the tabs below for more information.

 

Participant Companies
 

2021 Participant Companies U.S.:
Digital Domain
Disney General Entertainment Content
Disney Parks, Experiences and Products
Double Negative Canada Productions Ltd. ("DNEG")
Fox Corporation
Illumination
LAIKA, LLC
NBCUniversal Media, LLC
Netflix, Inc.
Riot Games, Inc
Skydance Animation, LLC
Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.
The Walt Disney Studios
ViacomCBS
WarnerMedia, LLC

2021 Participant Companies Canada:
Digital Domain
Double Negative Canada Productions Ltd. ("DNEG")
Mainframe Studios
Netflix, Inc.
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.
The Walt Disney Studios

Position Grids & Job Families Reported
 

To view a PDF of the complete list of positions by family and by level, please click here: 2021 Croner Animation Position Grids

List of Job Families:

Story
TV Animation / Shorts
Production Design / Art Direction
Studio Executives
Character Design
Visual Development
Pre-Visualization
Modeling
Layout
Character Animation
Stop Motion
Fabrication
Character Set-Up / Rigging
3D Environment
Shading / Texture Painting
Character Simulation
Matte
Lighting
Rendering
Pipeline
Technical
Direction
Generalist Technical Direction
On-Set Data Acquisition
Motion Capture
Effects
Virtual Production
Crowds
Compositing
Stereoscopic Imaging
Rotoscope / Digital Paint Art
Match Moving
Motion Graphics
Development
Producing / Production Management
Line Producing
Script
Feature Effects Producing
Post Production
Animated Feature Film Editing
Visual Effects Editing
Special Projects Editing
Recording Engineering
Sound Editing
Transfer Operations
Projection
Production Systems Administration
Production Systems / Tools Software Engineering
Pipeline Software Engineering
Color Scientist
Archive
Digital Resource Management
Business Affairs
Casting
Music
Composing
Production Accounting
Production Finance
Artist Management
Department Management
Training
Talent Development Outreach
Marketing / Promotions

Position Data Collected and Reported
 

To view sample position data, please click here:
Sample Position Information - Standard

The Compensation Data Report reports the following compensation elements for each position:

  • Number of Incumbents Reported
  • Number of Companies with Match
  • Geographic Composition
  • FLSA Status
  • Project Employee / Employment Contract / In Collective Bargaining Unit %
  • STI Eligibility
  • STI Awards Received
  • STI Targets
  • LTI Eligibility
  • LTI Awards Received
  • Base Salary
  • Target Total Cash Compensation
  • Actual Total Cash Compensation
  • Actual Cash Awards as % of Base Salary
  • Annualized NPV of LTI Awards
  • Total Direct Compensation
  • Paired Comparison Postion Match Analysis for Base Salary, Actual Total Cash Compensation and Total Direct Compensation
  • Differentials (of average pay between organization levels by job family category)


Data Cuts Provided Where Applicable:

Industry
Animation
Visual Effects
Software Games

Region
Northern California
Southern California


Custom Cut of Data: For an additional fee of $450, the participant company may select a subset of companies from the full participant list for a custom cut of data. A minimum of five companies is required.

Policy Data Collected and Reported
 

The Full Report of Results covers Policies and Practices, including:

  • Short Term Incentive Plan Design
  • Equity Plan Design
  • Amenities
  • Salary Adjustment Budgets

Survey Schedule
 

Survey Planning Meeting:
February 10, 2022

Questionnaire Distribution:
April

Data Effective Date:
April 1

Questionnaire Due Date:
May 15

Full Report of Results Published:
Late July

Salary Budgets Survey Supplement:
August

Report of Results Webinar:
September

Participation Fees
 

The 2022 Participation Fee is $10,700.
The Participation Fee includes the Full Report of Results, which includes the Compensation Data Report for the U.S. and Canada and the Policies and Practices Report for the U.S., along with the Interim Salary Budget Supplement.

Canada Core Position Report*
The 2021 Participation Fee for Canada-only data is $5,350. The Canada Core Position Report provides the Compensation Data Report for selected jobs in Canada. See below for the list of positions and level roll-ups included in the 2021 Canada Core Position Report, indicative of positions likely to be reported in 2022.

Custom Cut of Data for Participants
For an additional fee, a participant company may select a subset of companies from the participant list for a custom cut of the data set. A minimum selection of ten companies is required.  A custom cut of the data set for "All Incumbents" is $750. A custom rerun of the data set including all data cuts is $950.

Purchase of the Current Published Report As a Non-participant
It is possible to purchase the 2020 Survey data without having participated, by signing a Participation Agreement for the 2021 Survey and paying a 50% non-refundable deposit up front toward the 2021 participation fee. There are two options to purchase the current data:

Purchase Option #1:
The 2021 Full Report of Results for $19,400

  • The 2021 Full Report is available for purchase for $19,400 plus a non-refundable 50% deposit of $5,350 towards the 2021 participation fee.
  • Total payment required to receive the 2021 Full Report, including the 50% deposit towards 2022 participation, is $24,750.
  • As a committed and signed Participant, your company's survey submission would be due in May 2022, along with the second half participation fee payment of $5,350 due in June 2022. Participation along with the 50% payment entitles your organization to receive the 2022 Full Report.

Purchase Option #2:
10 Positions selected from the 2021 Compensation Data Report for $4,850

  • Compensation data only, for up to ten positions, from the 2021 Compensation Data Report is $4,850, plus a non-refundable deposit of 50% towards the 2022 participation fee.
  • Total payment required to receive 2021 data for ten positions, including the 50% deposit towards 2022 participation, is $10,200.
  • As a committed and signed Participant, your company's survey submission would be due in May 2022, along with the second half participation fee payment of $5,350 due in June 2022. Participation along with the 50% payment entitles your organization to receive the 2022 Full Report.

*Canada Compensation Data – Reported in 2021
This list of reported positions and of level roll-ups provides an indication of the scope and type of positions which may be included in the 2022 Report. Exact positions to be reported will be determined by participation from Canada companies.

By Position:
Senior / Lead Modeler
Layout Supervisor
Layout Artist
Senior / Lead Animator
Animator
Associate Animator
Senior / Lead Character Set-Up / Rigging Technical Director
Senior / Lead Lighting Artist
Lighting Artist
Senior / Lead Effects Artist
Effects Artist
Producer
Production Coordinator
Systems Coordinator

By Level:
Story / Visual Development - Pipeline / Sequence Leadership
Story / Visual Development - Senior / Lead Individual Contributor
Story / Visual Development - Individual Contributor
Technical / Shot Production - Senior / Lead Individual Contributor
Technical / Shot Production - Individual Contributor
Effects / Live Action - Senior Individual Contributor
Effects / Live Action - Individual Contributor
Producing - Senior Production Leadership / Head of Function
Producing - Assistant
Technology Systems and Support - Senior Individual Contributor
Technology Systems and Support - Individual Contributor
Technology Systems and Support - Associate Individual Contributor
Pipeline / Sequence Leadership
Senior / Lead Individual Contributor
Individual Contributor
Associate Individual Contributor

Register to Participate
 

To register your company for participation in this Survey or to ask questions about participation, please email us at info@croner.biz.

Confidentiality
 

The Croner Company conducts this Survey as an independent third party to ensure the confidentiality and consistency of the data provided. All data are held in strict confidence and are reported only in summary form. No attribution is made to any specific data from any participating companies. The Croner Company aggregates data using DOJ "Safe Harbor Guidelines" to ensure full regulatory compliance of the Survey report.

Survey reports are distributed only to participants and all participants are required to sign an agreement that confirms they will abide by our confidentiality standards.