Fake tricycle ad
 

Before I render the character animation with Mental Ray with hi-res textures, SSS and global illumination, I'd like some advice and critiques on :
- Animation
- Characters
- Composition
- Framing

Feel free to critique anything else as well (1080p fullscreen please)
And someone explains me why it was fun in my head and not on screen ? Maybe I just had a bad idea, but I'm sure I can improve it, though I don't know how.
Thanks a lot

https://youtu.be/9PRXACiA4Rs

update (mental ray render) :

https://youtu.be/ld06Wi_n9ac

Any advice ?
Personnally I would change the music and add some lens flares.

The stylized, snappy animation works with the art direction and I can’t see any issues with it really. However, there is a lot of dead space when zoomed out (especially overhead), which leads to what bugs me. The lighting and background. The sudden change in color aside, the lighting is flat enough to make the appearance of the dark background intrusive, it’s swallowing some of the details on the characters and working against the “product shot” look you had going in the previous setup.

It could also be the elevated camera angle; it’s making the subjects appear less significant. Consider using area lights for softer illumination and maybe boosting your rim light. Regardless of what’s in the background, it shouldn’t cloud out the product. Some softening up in post and some exposure/color tweaks should make this look really nice so keep going!


I had to dig through my imgur because I couldn’t find the thread but I posted a screen shot of a basic studio lighting setup some time ago.

http://i.imgur.com/D9XyqS7.jpg

It’s basically a sphere with just enough of the bottom flattened to provide a floor to rest the product, the curve of the sphere creates a nice gradient background. The spotlight in the back provides a halo effect and set it apart from the back drop, even though the shot is a lot of the same color.

Thanks, that's good advice !
I realized how bad my lighing was right after seeing the release of a new Blender addon for studio lighting (Pro lighting : Studio) and some tutorials that came with it.
For the wider frame, I don't know how to avoid cropping the female characters without getting this wide frame with empty space. Maybe I have to position them differently.
Totally agree for the elevated camera, I didn't think of it.

Update (lens flares version) :

https://youtu.be/j000aiy-RLM

Is it too much ? Does it look like a real lens flare ?