Pre-Production

Concept & Scripting

“Solar Net Metering (Commercial)” was built to clearly explain how MP2 Energy’s commercial net metering program creates real-time value from solar output—whether that energy is used onsite or sold back to the grid. The scripting focused on one thing: how energy behaves over time. When solar generation exceeds facility load, MP2 sells the surplus at market rates. When the system under-produces, the site draws standard-rate power from the grid. The model is transactional and time-sensitive, so the visuals had to be just as clear—grounded in a real-world setting, but abstracted enough to focus on energy movement and economic logic. That balance came together in a stylized 3D low-poly environment, built with architectural clarity and layered with clean, flowing data metaphors.

From the beginning, we structured the animation around a single commercial building set in a quiet, hilly landscape—designed to feel remote but scalable. This environment let us visualize the full energy cycle in one contained space: solar generation, building consumption, grid interaction, and weather variability. Every line of narration was mapped directly to an environmental or system change—whether that was power direction, shifting cloud cover, or graph behavior—so each message could unfold visually in real time.

Rapid Prototype (RP)

The RP phase established the structural and spatial foundation of the entire animation. We started by sculpting the low-poly terrain directly inside Cinema 4D, using subdivided base geometry shaped with displace deformers to form stylized hills. The scene was laid out with clarity in mind: a single commercial structure centered in the frame, surrounded by open terrain and an even grid of pine trees. We used Cloner objects to populate the landscape, making it easy to fine-tune density and tree placement across varying elevations. That flexibility let us keep visual balance across wide aerial orbits without crowding the frame—critical when pulling back for power flow context.

The sky system was built as a controllable layer using cloners to distribute low-poly clouds with adjustable opacity and spread. This design decision gave us complete control over the scene’s shift from full sun to overcast, tying solar generation visually to environmental conditions. Rather than keyframing global lighting manually, we modulated light levels by changing the density of cloud cover itself. This made it easy to preview ambient transitions during RP and ensured the sun’s occlusion always matched power reduction moments in the narration.

The commercial building was modeled from scratch using clean poly construction. We incorporated real architectural features—repeating vertical windows, HVAC units, and flat roof detailing—to keep it grounded in the commercial scale, even while keeping the style abstract. On the rooftop, we added solar panel arrays with bracket mounts and module framing, giving the array a modular structure that felt engineered and intentional. These panels were animated to route energy through visible transmission lines—each one mapped to specific flow moments in the script.

For electricity flows, we used animated Cloner objects along spline paths to build visual logic around energy behavior. Green cloners represented solar power, yellow stood in for grid-supplied electricity. Using Spline Effectors with offset animation, we created smooth, continuous movement that visibly tracked source, direction, and flow volume. These paths weren’t just decorative—they were narrative. When clouds blocked the sun, the green flow slowed. When solar recovered, the direction reversed. Every beat tied back to the voiceover in real-time.

We also introduced the 3D graph sequence at this stage. Using spline geometry, we modeled a bell curve representing energy production across the day, with key moments—like “$9,000 per megawatt hour”—visualized using vertical lines, value text, and animated overlays. These scenes were timed in rough form to match script cadence, giving us room to design how the data would respond to narration beats.

Everything in the RP phase was built without lighting. We used ambient occlusion passes and flat materials to focus purely on motion, structure, and timing. Camera paths—mostly composed of smooth orbits, light zooms, and lateral pans—were tied to placeholder voiceover to test pacing. Each major scene was rendered as a styleframe and reviewed internally to finalize structure, visual hierarchy, and motion logic before moving into lighting and texture.

Early Visual Styles Explored

During RP, our goal was visual clarity. We applied a consistent low-poly design language across terrain, foliage, and cloud systems—simple geometry, smooth gradients, and no surface noise. This kept the focus on the story being told through movement and contrast, not texture.

Even at this early phase, solar panels were always rendered in color. While the rest of the scene stayed monochromatic, the panels were styled in reflective blue to define their role and focus. Their grid layout and sharp edges stood in contrast to the soft landscape and matte building materials, setting them apart from the start.

Power lines and transmission towers were also modeled in low detail—just enough geometry to establish presence and scale without drawing attention away from the energy flows. These lines worked visually in both wide and close-up shots, maintaining consistency across different viewing distances.

We tested several flow animations using spline-driven loops and color-coded cloners. These early passes helped define how the audience would read solar versus grid power. Green always flowed from the panels toward the building or grid. Yellow reversed that path, flowing inward when solar fell short. That directional clarity was a baseline we locked in early.

Camera speed and framing were tested constantly. Each line of narration needed its own motion rhythm. When the script got more technical, we slowed the camera. When it shifted to outcomes or benefits, we pulled back and let the scene breathe. These pacing tests gave us a solid rhythm before diving into render-intensive production.

We sent key RP styleframes to the client for signoff, along with sample camera motion and color logic for solar vs. grid power. The visuals aligned with brand expectations from the first review—no structural changes were required. The client approved our approach to flow logic, environmental framing, and data presentation, which allowed us to move into production with all the big decisions already locked.

Style Choices and Reasoning

We chose a 3D low-poly style because it did more than look good—it made the subject matter legible. Net metering is an abstract topic. It’s all about timing, surplus, and directional value. We needed a visual system that made those ideas physical. The low-poly approach let us keep the scene clean, modular, and flexible, while still giving it form and scale.

All terrain, vegetation, and structures were built with flat polygons and broad faces. No complex texture maps. This created negative space for flows and overlays. It also made the motion graphics easier to read. Energy, data, and camera motion weren’t layered on top—they were built into the environment itself.

Panels were the focal point. Their reflective blue finish, grid alignment, and consistent placement gave them both narrative and visual weight. They were the only objects in the scene with specular response, catching light during camera sweeps and giving viewers a reason to track them closely.

Color-coded power flows were used like embedded infographics. Green meant solar. Yellow meant grid. These flows didn’t sit in 2D—they followed actual transmission geometry, bending and curving through the landscape. Their movement was tied to story cues. When solar pushed power to the grid, the flow moved outward. When the building pulled power in, it moved inward. The motion told the story.

The cloud system wasn’t just there for style—it drove meaning. More clouds meant less solar. Less solar meant slower green flows and more grid dependence. The whole system was designed to react visibly, not just narratively.

Camera moves were purposeful. Nothing handheld. No whip pans. Just slow, intentional orbits and push-ins that mirrored the flow of the narration. Transitions weren’t cuts—they were spatial reorientations that followed the logic of the content.

The matte material system gave us contrast space for glows, overlays, and lighting effects in post. We built everything to leave room for signal—because when you’re explaining something this complex, clarity isn’t optional. It’s the whole job.

Full Production & Post Production

With environment layout, animation systems, and camera behavior locked in from RP, full production focused on surfacing, lighting, and polish across every scene. Material development started by finalizing the look of the low-poly world. We kept the terrain and building geometry matte and untextured to preserve the visual clarity and schematic feel, but layered in soft directional lighting to create volume and depth. A single directional light functioned as our artificial sun—casting consistent shadows that moved across the landscape during camera orbits and transitions, visually reinforcing time-of-day changes.

Material work centered on the solar panels. We gave them a reflective, grid-patterned shader with enough specular behavior to mimic photovoltaic glass. We introduced slight roughness variations across each panel set, breaking uniformity just enough to create dynamic light play during camera movement. Roof hardware got its own detailing pass—small bracket offsets, tilt variations, and height changes were built in to give the solar installation physical credibility, even within a stylized scene.

The building’s architecture was lit with shadow legibility in mind. Semi-transparent window shaders combined with bounce cards inside the structure added light layering without overcomplicating the render. Flat walls received subtle ambient gradients to avoid complete flatness, adding depth while keeping the look abstract. We dialed in GI settings specifically for the cloudy and overcast conditions, ensuring window glows and interior lighting would read clearly once sunlight dipped or was blocked by cloud systems.

For the weather transition, we leaned on procedural control. The cloner-based cloud system allowed cloud density to animate over time. As coverage increased, light attenuation and color temperature were adjusted in tandem. Sunlight dimmed, shadows softened, and overall ambient contrast dropped. These visual changes were mirrored by slower solar flow in the animation, letting the viewer feel the drop in generation without needing to call it out directly in the script.

Camera work was re-timed at this stage for tighter narrative alignment. Each orbit, zoom, or pan was synced precisely to voiceover cues. Easing curves were adjusted to keep motion smooth and intentional—supporting the narration rather than distracting from it. The final scenes were rendered in Cinema 4D using the Standard Renderer, with ambient occlusion and multi-pass outputs to give us full flexibility in post.

Technical Details

Electricity flows were animated with Cloner objects driven along splines using Spline Effectors. Each flow followed power line geometry, with color keyed between yellow and green to represent grid or solar. Custom mask setups controlled directionality—power flowed into the building or out to the grid depending on system state. The routing logic followed real-world load priority: solar generation first, grid fallback second.

The animated graph sequence was modeled and rendered fully in 3D. We built extruded spline curves for the bell curve, then separated each graph component into layers for flexibility in compositing. Key annotations—like the glowing $9,000 callout—were linked to null objects exported from Cinema 4D, giving us exact tracking when compositing text, icons, or motion overlays in After Effects.

Compositing, Color & Iconography

All compositing and post were completed in After Effects. Color grading was handled scene-by-scene, with warm golden tones applied to full-sun environments, and cooler blue-grays brought in during cloud coverage. Selective color correction was applied to electricity flows to ensure green and yellow paths stood out sharply against the environment, regardless of lighting conditions.

Lens flares were composited onto the sun icon during wide shots and subtly flicked across the MP2 logo during the open and close. These flares acted as visual cues—punctuating energy moments without crowding the frame. Icon glows were handled with soft additive layers using blurred masks and color dodge blending—adding subtle pulses to solar indicators, transmission nodes, and the sun within the graph arc.

Text and callout layers were composited using 3D tracking data from Cinema 4D. This ensured phrases like “Solar Net Metering” and the data markers locked perfectly into camera movement and spatial depth. Typography was given minimal treatment—light glows or directional drop shadows—to maintain legibility while staying true to the stylized, clean environment. Every text layer was aligned to on-screen visual context: graph overlays, power flows, or building elements.

For the graph's dollar drop sequence, we used CC Particle World to emit $ symbols mapped to energy production over time. These icons began falling immediately after the voiceover noted energy sales into the grid, reinforcing the link between solar surplus and real economic value.

We also updated and reused a 3D MP2 logo intro from a prior campaign. The timing was adjusted to match the current voiceover pacing, and we added a lighting pass for the outro that pushed a subtle shine across the logo—mirroring the solar theme visually and closing the video on a polished brand beat.

Final Delivery

Final export was delivered in 1080p ProRes, with compression tuned for optimal playback across digital channels. The animation was packaged with all text, visuals, and graphical elements baked into the final render. No alternate versions or captioning formats were required for this delivery, keeping the output streamlined for MP2’s distribution needs.

Transcript:

MP2 Energy offers our solar customers net metering to help make sure they receive value for all of their solar generation. What this means is:

When your solar is producing and you’ve got enough electrical load at your facility to consume it, then MP2 will provide you full retail credit for the solar generation. This also means that when you suddenly have excess solar generation because your load reduced, then MP2 will sell it back to the grid and then pass that money along to you.

But what if your system is producing less than you are consuming? Or even on a cloudy day? You just receive the rest of your power from MP2 based on your rate – it is that simple.

And then when the sun comes back out from behind the clouds and you’re back to full solar production with no major load at your facility, your solar is generating excess energy.

At this time, you switch receiving your power from MP2 and now receive 100% of your power from solar. MP2 will sell any excess solar generation to the grid at the real-time pricing.

Think about it: solar produces energy during the hottest, sunniest hours which are also some of the most expensive hours of the day to purchase energy—it can go as high as $9,000 per megawatt hour! So, not only are you avoiding buying expensive power from the grid when prices go high, but if you have excess generation that you can sell into (vocal emphasis) the grid, then you can make money during those high price periods.

The bottom line: by giving you full retail value for anything your solar generation facility consumes and then selling any excess generation into the market, MP2 ensures that you earn the full value of your resource.

Call or email to sign up. (pause) Solar Net Metering from MP2 Energy. The Power Market is complex. We’re good at this stuff.