Pre-Production

Concept & Scripting

“How Net Metering Works” was developed as a short-form explainer designed to break down MP2 Energy’s residential net metering program in a way that felt structured, easy to grasp, and visually clean. The approach treated the home as a complete, standalone system—something everyday viewers could relate to—while using sharp architectural clarity and simplified power flows to visualize the technical process. From the beginning, the house was locked as the central reference point, and everything else—energy production, economic exchange, lighting shifts—was choreographed around it.

The script was tightly engineered to sync directly with visuals. The opening lines introduce the broader friction of going solar in Texas. From there, the structure escalates cleanly: MP2’s model simplifies the process, net metering allows for banking credits, and fixed-rate backup power fills in the gaps. This narrative rhythm gave the team a solid structure to plan camera transitions, infographics, and spline-based power animations that would progress seamlessly with the voiceover.

Rapid Prototype

All animation was first built out in a comprehensive Rapid Prototype stage inside Cinema 4D. Every camera path, object transition, and movement was roughed in with stripped-down geometry and basic viewport lighting. No render polish. Just function and timing. Isometric and semi-isometric camera orbits were locked in early, paired with slow dolly zooms to maintain spatial logic and keep orientation intact. This choice avoided cinematic stylization in favor of something cleaner, more utility-driven.

We started with the house being constructed using Atom Array and Sweep NURBS to animate its wireframe structure into place—setting the tone for a technical, grounded feel from the first second. That framework then transitioned into a full clay-render model, where every element remained matte and desaturated—except for the solar panels. Those were rendered in color by design, giving them instant visual hierarchy.

Panel installation was animated with a Cloner setup, dropping the panels into alignment with satisfying precision. That placement mirrored the tone of the program itself: efficient, engineered, and low-effort for the homeowner. Placeholder splines traced out the intended logic for energy transfer—starting from panel output, moving into storage credit via a piggy bank, and finally connecting to the utility grid when solar production tapered off. Even though the piggy bank asset was still a flat placeholder, its presence helped block out timing for how and when fill sequences would later occur.

We used the RP to nail transitions—day to night, solar to utility, install to flow—so that by the time we hit full production, we weren’t guessing at pacing. Everything was signed off internally at this stage and ready for lighting, rendering, and final FX work.

Early Visual Styles Explored

From day one, we committed to a clay-render aesthetic. It became the base design system that drove every decision after. The entire environment was built from clean, white geometry with zero texture variation—deliberate restraint that let us communicate visually without visual noise. The only exception: the solar panels. They broke the mold on purpose, rendered in a deep reflective blue to ensure viewers focused where they needed to.

That first wireframe build-out—green lines drawing the house—was evaluated as a possible recurring motif, but we kept it locked to the intro to preserve progression and give that first moment extra weight. It helped create visual hierarchy early on: from structure to form to function.

Lighting during this phase was kept intentionally flat to maintain speed and flexibility. There were no key or fill lights—just neutral ambient settings to make sure nothing was too stylized before final lighting was in place. Even at this early point, the overall visual tone was already falling into place: a cross between architectural visualization and conceptual UI, with clean motion paths, symbolic indicators, and tight control over the palette.

The visual direction reinforced MP2’s brand language from the beginning—clear, modern, and built around simplifying something that’s historically been complex.

Camera paths needed to feel calm and mechanical—clean orbits, slow pullbacks, precise zooms. Nothing flashy. Just motion that felt like part of the system, not part of a show. We tested various pan speeds and turn rates to ensure the viewer never felt disoriented. The motion helped guide understanding, not distract from it.

For the day-to-night transition, we didn’t use actual lights yet—we faked the effect using exposure shifts and color temperature tweaks inside the prototype. That let us pace out lighting changes without slowing the test render pipeline. It also let us stage the moment where MP2’s fixed-rate grid power becomes visible in the story arc.

Every infographic or overlay element planned for After Effects was positioned as a null in 3D space, so we could export those coordinates later and composite with full spatial accuracy. This planning step kept the visual logic tight across tools and platforms.

Style Choices and Reasoning

The overall look of “How Net Metering Works” was intentionally stripped-down and methodical. This wasn’t about flashy production—it was about making something complex feel structured, legible, and true to the MP2 brand. The clay-rendered house sat at the center of every frame as both symbol and system. No textures. No clutter. Just clean geometry that gave the animation the feel of a live diagram rather than a digital short.

Solar panels were the single element allowed to carry color. Deep blue, slightly reflective, and sharply defined, they were the focal point—visually and conceptually. By isolating color to this one object group, we built instant viewer hierarchy without needing extra cues or callouts.

The lighting shift at the halfway mark—from bright to evening—was the only ambient change. Interior lights came on. Exterior shadows deepened. The visual tone moved from solar production to grid dependency in a way that didn’t need labels—it just made sense. Global Illumination in post helped sell that transition and added just enough atmosphere to feel lived-in without breaking the clean, diagrammatic vibe.

Every stylistic choice—from camera logic to spline pathing to color contrast—was made to help the viewer understand. The end result was a visual system that reinforced trust, precision, and clarity. All built around a house that could be anyone’s.

Full Production & Post-Production

Look Development

After prototyping, we moved into full production with a locked visual direction and clear technical path. The clay render aesthetic from the RP phase remained the visual core, but this time we dialed in lighting, refined materials, and polished the overall scene composition. Directional lighting was brought in to simulate daylight across the roofline and yard. Soft shadows and ambient contrast gave each shot shape without breaking the minimalist tone. For night scenes, Global Illumination (GI) was enabled—letting the house glow naturally from within and allowing light to spill softly onto surrounding surfaces. This added not just realism but narrative clarity, visually reinforcing the shift from solar independence to grid reliance.

Solar panels received a dedicated texture pass. Deep blue reflectivity made them feel active and distinct against the matte white geometry of the house. Their specular values were carefully tuned to catch highlights during zooms and camera orbits, reinforcing their visual priority in each shot. We kept the material palette tight and consistent: monochromatic across architecture, with color reserved only for panels, energy flows, and UI indicators.

Design & Animation

With all shot timing locked from the RP phase, our focus shifted to refining motion and tightening sync between visuals and voiceover. The wireframe reveal that opened the piece was executed with Atom Array and Sweep NURBS, drawing the home into existence with clean architectural logic. This intro grounded the entire scene in a precise, engineered visual tone.

Solar panel installation used Cloner setups to deliver fast, clean placement. The timing was retuned for punch and clarity—each panel dropping into place on beat with the narration, emphasizing technical simplicity. To animate the transition from day to night, we adjusted light intensity and swapped material overrides. Emissive materials lit the windows and porch at night, and GI pushed the ambient light naturally into surrounding geometry, letting the visual story shift without needing a hard cut.

Power flows were handled through a mix of spline animation in Cinema 4D and stylized post-processing in After Effects. We visualized electricity moving from the panels into the house and then out to the piggy bank using animated Vegas effects, layered over tracked spline data. Green pulses represented solar production and savings. Blue pulses showed fallback power from MP2. These flows changed direction and color in sync with the script, clearly showing when the system switches from solar use to credit drawdown to retail grid supply.

The piggy bank, modeled and extruded in Element 3D inside After Effects, was placed next to the house as a physical stand-in for energy credit storage. Its fill behavior was handled using matte masks and reveal animations, growing in volume as energy was saved, then draining as usage required. Camera work stayed calm and schematic—slow orbits and zooms always returned to center on the house, ensuring the viewer never lost their frame of reference.

Every shot was built in Cinema 4D and rendered using the Standard Renderer. Directional lighting carried daylight scenes, and GI managed ambient tone during night transitions. Cloners managed panel sequencing and token placements. Spline objects were the backbone for energy pathing, and animation flow was augmented in After Effects with glows, pulses, and directional blur.

Final Compositing & Color Grading

After Effects handled all compositing and grading. Daylight scenes held a clean, neutral white balance that emphasized contrast without oversaturation. For night, the tone warmed slightly—giving the interior lighting a comfortable, lived-in glow. These shifts supported the narrative arc of independence during the day and reliable fallback at night.

Lens flares were added strategically. Solar panel glints and sun icons received minimal flare treatments to catch attention without breaking clarity. All UI overlays and titles were tracked in 3D, placed directly into scene depth. Phrases like “No Upfront Charge” and “12 or 24-Month Fixed Rates” were physically tied to their subjects—never floating, never disconnected.

Power flow animation was reinforced with glow passes and motion blur in post, giving pulses real momentum and visual weight. During the day-to-night transition, we animated exposure shifts and saturation drops in After Effects to enhance mood and reinforce the energy source shift visually without needing text to explain it.

Infographics, UI Overlays & Data Visualization

While the overall design leaned heavily on realism, the animation’s true function was infographics in motion. The piggy bank wasn’t just metaphor—it acted as a bar graph for accumulated energy credit. The solar-to-house-to-grid loop became a live data visualization. Every flow was spatially grounded: no flat HUDs or overlaid charts. Instead, the energy logic was baked into the structure of the world.

Directional pulses made the flow of energy intuitive. Dollar icons and MP2 tokens were introduced minimally and placed precisely, helping track value exchange without cluttering the space. The scene’s layout made it easy to see what was coming from where, and why—reinforcing the logic of net metering from a single, persistent point of view.

Brand Consistency

From lighting setups to color palette, every element was aligned with MP2’s brand standards. MP2’s blue was locked in for solar panels and digital interface moments. Green was used for solar generation and credit savings. Blue signaled supplemental power from MP2’s retail plan. Typography stayed clean, legible, and modern—no gradients, no drop shadows, no distractions.

We built a visual hierarchy around simplicity and function. Every decision—motion timing, camera angles, color discipline—supported the message that MP2 makes solar straightforward and reliable. The final MP2 logo locked into view with clean lighting, matching the tone of the entire video.

Delivery

The full animation was delivered in 1080p H.264 format, cleanly mastered to match the final voiceover pacing. Runtime was aligned with client specs, and optimized for smooth playback online—lightweight enough for streaming, but sharp enough for full-screen presentation. Motion, contrast, and UI legibility were tested across multiple viewing environments to ensure consistency everywhere the piece would live.

Transcript:

Let's be honest, it's been difficult to go solar in Texas until now. MP2 Energy Solar Homes Net Metering program is the solution, and it's simple. Period.

Let's say, for example, you lease solar panels on your rooftop from the installer and you pay them for the power the panels generate. When they produce more power than you need. You bank credits with MP2.

Your credits roll forward to cover your use when the sun's not producing enough power. If that still isn't enough, MP2 just supplies your remaining power at a fixed retail price. Simple.

Call or go to MP2Energy.com/SolarHomes today.