3Lateral

3Lateral is a digital-character creation and performance-animation studio specializing in the digitization of human appearance, motion and facial anatomy for interactive entertainment, visual effects and real-time production. Operating as part of Epic Games, the studio combines capture hardware, computer-vision workflows, character artistry and real-time technology to produce high-fidelity digital humans.

Its work spans the full character-production pipeline, from proprietary 3D and 4D data capture through modeling, texturing and facial or full-body rigging. 3Lateral’s SUNFLOWER scanning framework supports detailed capture of facial performance and appearance, while its FACS-based solving and Rig Logic systems are designed for expressive, production-ready character animation. The team also provides performance-capture processing, audio-driven facial-animation workflows, scene finishing, technical consulting and research-and-development support for Unreal Engine integrations.

Digital-human technology

3Lateral is a core research-and-development contributor to Epic Games’ MetaHuman framework and Unreal Engine character technologies. Its character systems combine PBR-oriented textures, micro-geometry, blood-flow and wrinkle-map data with multi-resolution assets suitable for real-time use. The studio’s work on rigging, deformation and performance processing has contributed to MetaHuman Creator, MetaHuman Animator, Rig Logic and OpenRigLogic.

Production work

The studio has supported character work for games, films and technology demonstrations across games, film and television, virtual production, AI and biometrics, robotics, and automotive or industrial visualization. Selected credits include Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Horizon Forbidden West, Resident Evil Village, Devil May Cry 5, Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption 2, Until Dawn, Crime Boss: Rockay City and Blue Dot.

Founded in 2008 by Vladimir Mastilović, 3Lateral became part of Epic Games in 2019. In 2024, the company brought its character-creation and performance-animation services together under the unified 3Lateral brand, combining its heritage in digital assets and rigging with the performance-animation capabilities developed by the former Cubic Motion team.