INDEPENDENT CHARACTER STUDIO VANCOUVER BC, CANADA / WORKING WORLDWIDE

CHARACTERS
FOR VFX & VIDEO GAMES

High-fidelity facial blendshapes. FACS-based expression systems. Realistic skin deformation.

CONTACT
CHARACTERS CREATURES DIGITAL HUMANS 3D ASSETS
Gears of War: E-Day poster
GEARS OF WAR: E-DAYGAME
Lioness Season 3 poster
LIONESS — SEASON 3EPISODIC
Marathon poster
MARATHONGAME
TRON: Ares poster
TRON: ARESFEATURE FILM

SELECTED
PRODUCTION WORK.

These are among the studio’s most relevant projects, representing high-end work across video games and feature-film visual effects.

SENIOR EXPERIENCE.
DIRECT INVOLVEMENT.

Marco Menco, founder and Art Director of Shelter Creative Studio
MARCO MENCO · FOUNDER / ART DIRECTOR

Shelter Creative Studio is led by Marco Menco, an Art Director and facial-modeling specialist with over 20 years of experience across high-end VFX, AAA games and cinematic production.

Marco’s background includes facial-modeling leadership at Digital Domain, lead and senior facial work for PlayStation, senior facial modeling at The Mill, and art direction and blendshape production through Mighty Canvas. Shelter brings that experience directly into every brief.

Marco was part of the character team nominated by the Visual Effects Society for Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature for Edvard/Adam in The Thing.

FACIAL MODELING LEADDIGITAL DOMAIN
LEAD / SENIOR FACIAL MODELERPLAYSTATION
SENIOR FACIAL MODELERTHE MILL
ART DIRECTOR / BLENDSHAPE ARTISTMIGHTY CANVAS

THE PEOPLE
BEHIND THE WORK.

A spotlight on some of the talented artists on the team, each bringing specialized experience to the needs of the production.

Marco Menco, founder and Art Director of Shelter Creative Studio
FOUNDER / ART DIRECTOR

MARCO MENCO

Marco is an Art Director and character and facial specialist with over 20 years of experience across feature-film VFX, AAA games and cinematic production. With a foundation in fine arts, theatre and concept design, his work spans digital doubles, creatures, facial modeling and FACS-based blendshape systems.

He has held lead and senior roles at Digital Domain, PlayStation, The Mill, Image Engine and DNEG, and now leads character and facial work through Shelter Creative Studio and Mighty Canvas. His credits include Logan, Morbius, Spider-Man: No Way Home and The Thing.

SPECIALIZED FOR
HIGH-FIDELITY WORK.

  1. CHARACTERS & CREATURES

    Design translation, sculpting, anatomy, topology and production-ready character assets.

  2. DIGITAL HUMANS, FACS & BLENDSHAPES

    Facial anatomy, likeness, FACS-based expression libraries, high-fidelity blendshapes and realistic skin deformation.

  3. TEXTURE, GROOM & LOOKDEV

    Skin, materials, hair and final presentation developed as one cohesive character.

  4. REAL-TIME & VFX ASSETS

    Production-ready characters and props built for modern real-time engines and visual-effects pipelines.

  5. COLLECTIBLES & DIGITAL SCULPTURES

    Premium sculptural work designed for physical production, digital presentation and close inspection.

A FOCUSED STUDIO.
A WIDER NETWORK.

Shelter Creative collaborates actively with Mighty Canvas and its wide network of talent, assembling the right senior specialists for each production and working as a direct extension of internal teams.

Mighty Canvas The Coalition Framestore PlayStation Digital Domain The Mill EA Distillery Visual Effects VeVe

CONTACT

For project inquiries, production support or collaboration.

info@sheltercreativestudio.com