Wages in VFX, Animation and Games Spreadsheet

TelekineticFrog · Aug 2010

I saw this on Neogaf Forums and thought it was interesting. Not sure exactly where it generated or that it is even accurate but it has salaries listed for positions at various studios for various jobs broken down by zip code even. It includes Blizzard, EA LA, Pixar, Rhythm & Hues, ILM, and some others. Looks like it is some ongoing database over a few years.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Aou3k7ExaTQjdHZ0S2dKMjhfY0lmN2tmTDRESEhjbHc&hl=en&authkey=CNDxyJwF#gid=0

Intermission · Aug 2010

A "Digital Artist" at Digital Domain can apparently make up to $257,400 a year.... Strange?

Sandro · Aug 2010

I doubt that spreadsheet is legit. Job titles are weird and vague, numbers seem messed up. Lead game designer is cheaper than graphic designer? wtf?

thomasp · Aug 2010

i think it's data from the US government's public H1B visa database. basically companies hiring someone from abroad on a H1B work visa have to disclose starting salary and position.
i don't have the link anymore but it's searchable by company and state. quite interesting, particularly if you work at one of the larger places you might be able to easily figure out by starting date and position who of your international colleagues is making how much (in their first year, anyway).

that should make for nice office chit chat.

this is interesting, too: http://www.vfxwages.com/
hourly rates in film, commercials - and some game places.

jrs100000 · Aug 2010

Apparently this guy made the chart http://vfxsoldier.wordpress.com/2010/08/16/wages-in-the-vfx-animation-and-games-industry/

Looks like he compiled it from a couple of voluntary and anonymous surveys conducted from 02 to 09. That means that the data may be inaccurate and may be mixing numbers that do not match up. Plus, the guy clearly has an agenda. Still interesting tho.

tanka · Aug 2010

I didn't know 3d artists could be on such money. Makes my pay packet seem small, especially since all this is in USD.

I couldn't find any junior positions on the list to compare to though.

PolyHertz · Aug 2010

Jeez looking at those wages I'm in the wrong carri...wait...

Eric Chadwick · Aug 2010

The H1B database is here.
http://www.flcdatacenter.com/CaseH1B.aspx

More here (thanks for the new links!)
http://wiki.polycount.com/CategoryGameIndustry#Salary_Research

thomasp · Aug 2010

a quick comparison between the spreadsheet and the H1B database shows 100% identical entries for blue sky studios for me. that's the only one i checked since it had relatively few entries. :P so there's a chance you are only looking at the salaries for experienced foreign workers...

oh btw. on vfxwages.com you need to register to get to the meat. which at least when i did it meant it was required to have worked at one of the companies already listed on their form.

xvampire · Aug 2010

Years of Experience

Less than 1 year
5%
1-4 years
56%
5-9 years
25%
10-19 years
12%
1%
20 years or more

interesting statistic ........

Wages in VFX, Animation and Games Spreadsheet

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