What Fat Pencil Studio does

Fat Pencil Studio is a privately held, Portland-based design firm that produces visual evidence for litigation. Founded in 2004, the company pivoted into legal services in 2009 and now focuses exclusively on attorneys handling personal injury, criminal defense, construction defect, civil rights, and corporate litigation cases, primarily in the Pacific Northwest. Core deliverables include 3D scene reconstructions, photogrammetry from surveillance and other video footage, timeline animations, data-visualization interfaces, and immersive VR walkthroughs built on The Wild / Oculus Quest.

The underlying technology stack combines consumer and prosumer visualization tools—SketchUp-based 3D modeling, photogrammetry pipelines, NearMap aerial imagery, iNPUT-ACE video-investigation software, and The Wild VR for remote collaboration—assembled into a proprietary workflow the firm brands as SceneViz. Custom data interfaces, including a Scrubjay Works-built cell tower mapping tool, extend the offering into large-dataset interrogation for criminal defense work. The team is intentionally interdisciplinary, pulling in architecture-trained designers, animation/VFX specialists, documentary filmmakers, and researchers rather than generalist graphic designers.

Revenue is generated through project-based professional services with custom, quote-based pricing per case. Go-to-market is sales-led and relationship-driven: the firm prospects through the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA), Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (OCDLA), the Oregon Paralegal Association, and CLE workshops, then expands via referrals and repeat law-firm engagements. Fat Pencil has no disclosed outside investors, is founder/principal-owned, and has remained operationally profitable across more than two decades without external funding.

Name

Fat Pencil Studio

Legal name

Fat Pencil Studio

Website

https://fatpencilstudio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Fat Pencil Studio is a Portland-based design firm that creates 3D reconstructions, animations, photogrammetry, and VR evidence presentations for law firms handling personal injury, criminal defense, construction, civil rights, and corporate litigation cases.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Visualization Services

NAICS

Postproduction Services and Other Motion Picture and Video Industries (51219), Graphic Design Services (541430)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)

akta.pro primary industry

Virtual Art Department (VAD) & Environment/Digital Matte Painting (MPADAHAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

CG Asset Creation (Modeling, Texturing, Lookdev, Rigging) (MPAHABAE), 2D/3D Rigging & Character Setup (MPAHACAE)

Keywords

• Legal visualization services
• Forensic animation
• Crime scene reconstruction
• Litigation graphics
• Trial presentation services

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Legal Visualization Services: Project-based professional services creating visual evidence and presentations for law firms. Services include 3D reconstructions, animations, diagrams, video analysis, and VR experiences for litigation support.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Fat Pencil Studio provides project-based legal visualization and visual storytelling services to attorneys and law firms. Its core offerings are Visual Stories (narrative-driven still and moving images built for jury communication) and Visual Strategy (3D modeling, mapping, data visualization, video editing, and animation applied to evidence analysis, theory testing, and case theme development). Specialized work includes SceneViz crime scene and accident reconstruction, VR-based courtroom walkthroughs, and custom data interfaces for cellular records.

Product overview

Fat Pencil Studio is a legal services design firm that provides visual storytelling and visual strategy services to legal professionals. The company's core offerings consist of Visual Stories (narrative visualizations using still and moving images) and Visual Strategy (techniques including 3D modeling, mapping, data visualization, video editing, and animation). Their specialized SceneViz technique is used for crime scene and accident reconstruction in legal cases.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Visual Stories Project-based visual storytelling service that uses still and moving images to make case narratives more understandable, meaningful, and memorable for judges, juries, and other litigation audiences. Targeted at attorneys needing to communicate complex factual scenarios in personal injury, criminal defense, construction, civil rights, and corporate litigation cases.
• Visual Strategy Engagement that applies 3D modeling, mapping, data visualization, video editing, and animation to evaluate evidence, test theories, and enhance forensic analysis, combined with early design thinking to develop case themes and facilitate attorney collaboration.
• SceneViz Specialized reconstruction service that produces real-time 3D visualizations of crime scenes, vehicle crashes, and other accident sites for litigation purposes, combining photogrammetry-derived models from video footage and security cameras with laser scan and point cloud data.

Quantifiable outcome

• $4M settlement in TriMet case - animation described as 'hugely convincing' with focus group members sitting stunned
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The WildcoreTechnology or Integration · 12 August 2019Uses The Wild VR platform for immersive crime scene visualization. Enables remote collaboration where team members in different locations can interact with 3D models in real-time using Oculus Quest headsets.
• Scrubjay Works (Paul Souders)coreTechnology or Integration · 8 May 2018Collaborated with Paul Souders of Scrubjay Works to develop custom data interface for cell phone location records visualization. This partnership enabled the creation of an interactive web-based tool for analyzing thousands of cell tower records for criminal defense case.
• FORTEminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 January 2017Non-verbal communication training organization. Jannine Hanczarek participated as mock jury member at opening statements workshop. FORTE focuses on presentation skills training for trial attorneys.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Epiq Global: Major provider of legal services including eDiscovery, managed services, and TrialGraphix trial visualization. Represents the scaled, capitalized end of the legal visualization market that Fat Pencil competes against as a specialized, regional alternative.
• TrialGraphix (Epiq): Litigation graphics and animation arm of Epiq Global, one of the largest legal support services companies. Competes with Fat Pencil on 3D accident reconstruction and trial presentation services, but at much greater scale and with broader service offerings.
• S-E-A (Scientific & Engineering Assistance): Engineering and forensic consulting firm that provides accident reconstruction and visual evidence for litigation. Comparable in technical depth on 3D/engineering visualizations for law firms, though it serves a broader industrial and transportation client mix.
• Veritext: Large court reporting and legal technology services company that has expanded into deposition videography and trial support. Tangentially comparable as a legal support vendor serving the same attorney customer base, with growing exposure to visual evidence services.
• Magna Legal Services: Full-service legal support provider with visualization, court reporting, and trial services. Overlaps with Fat Pencil's courtroom-focused visual services but operates as a one-stop legal support shop with much broader scale.
• Kroll: Global advisory firm with a litigation support and forensic visualization practice. Provides 3D reconstructions, data visualization, and expert services to legal clients comparable to Fat Pencil's offerings, but as part of a much larger advisory portfolio.

Direct peers

• Percipient: Visual litigation support and trial graphics provider serving plaintiff and defense attorneys. Directly comparable to Fat Pencil in courtroom demonstrative evidence, animations, and 3D reconstructions for similar legal practice areas.
• DecisionQuest: National litigation graphics, jury research, and trial consulting firm. Directly comparable in providing courtroom-focused visual storytelling and demonstrative evidence for law firms across practice areas similar to Fat Pencil's.
• Explico: Forensic visualization firm specializing in 3D accident reconstruction, animation, and expert visualization for litigation. Closely comparable to Fat Pencil's SceneViz and accident reconstruction work in both technology stack and customer base.

Others

• ForensisGroup: Expert witness and litigation support network that connects attorneys with technical and forensic experts. Adjacent to Fat Pencil's role in supporting cases with visual evidence, though its core offering is expert sourcing rather than in-house production.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fatpencilstudio

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Fat Pencil Studio