fix: audit game-pipeline arc heroes and stage vse-cut-list presentation

[TMHSDigital]

Summary

Rigorous visual + editorial audit of the three game-asset-arc examples (PRs #75–#77) plus vse-cut-list. Verdicts were recorded against every criterion before any fix; three examples had real defects, one was certified unchanged, and vse-cut-list got a deliberate presentation resolution. All fixes at the source, re-rendered and re-verified on both local binaries.

Group contact sheet (7 cells: 4 audited heroes + pinned set): game-pipeline-audit-contact-sheet.webp

Mean luminance (sRGB luma, 0–255) — calibration set: armature-bend 139.4, damped-track-aim 100.1, bmesh-gear 143.4:

Hero	Luminance	In range?
gltf-export-roundtrip	130.8	✓
lod-decimate-chain	139.4	✓
vertex-weight-limit	105.7	✓
vse-cut-list (resolved)	127.5	✓

Audit table

gltf-export-roundtrip

Criterion	Verdict	Action
Composition/framing	Twins pixel-comparable (mirrored perspective — the point) ✓; labels fail thumbnail (ROUND-TRIP vanished at 320×180)	Plaque → diffuse light-grey, size 0.24→0.30; re-render; labels now legible at thumbnail
Lighting/materials	Pass (no clipping, saturated glow)	—
Asset modeling	Pass (rivets, latches, corner armor, pips — designed prop)	—
Editorial	All numbers verified vs check output (7,560 loops, 624 cage, 109/20 RNA props, bit-exact) ✓	—
Arc coherence	No cross-references	Added "Pipeline arc" line

lod-decimate-chain — certified, no render change

Criterion	Verdict
Composition/framing	Pass — LOD0/1/2 plaques legible at card crop; progression reads at thumbnail via facet crunch (LOD2 nose, hexagonal porthole)
Lighting/materials	Pass
Asset modeling	Pass (retro silhouette, swept fins, nozzle, porthole)
Editorial	Numbers verified (1,147 v / 2,260 t; 0.00% and 0.44% dev; bbox 7.7e-6; nose-tip 0.0206) ✓
Arc coherence	Cross-reference added (only change)

vertex-weight-limit

Criterion	Verdict	Action
Composition/framing	Pass	—
Lighting/materials	Glow disconnected from contract — teal ring sat on forearm armor while the pruned zones (flex boots) stayed unmarked	Boots now carry the teal accent (soft emissive 0.38); the bright ring moved to seal the elbow boot (primary 5-influence zone)
Asset modeling	Pass (pedestal, pauldron, bellows, claw — mechanical-plausible)	—
Editorial	Values re-verified against final probes (lbs 3.0e-07, sums 1.438e-02, pose 3.0e-03) ✓	—
Arc coherence	Cross-reference added	✓

vse-cut-list — hero resolution: editing-bay presentation

Criterion	Verdict	Action
Hero treatment	Raw broadcast frame was the odd one out	Two-pass render: the authentic sequencer frame (evidence, untouched) presented on a reference monitor in a dark-studio editing bay (presentation). Precedent: image-pixels-testcard's mounted test card.
Editorial	Caption spans verified against closed forms (A 001-032 = (1,33), B 025-056 = (25,57), CROSS 025-032 = (25,33) clamped, @ F29) ✓	README render section + module docstring updated

Resolution rationale: the raw frame is the API evidence — replacing it with staged geometry would break render-as-proof. But evidence can be presented: the monitor mounting keeps the asserted pixels genuine (the --check-pixels witness and the check path are byte-unchanged) while the hero joins the house look. Found and fixed during the change: the flat screen quad's Generated coordinates are constant in V, so the first pass sampled a single strip of the frame — the screen uses explicit UVs now.

Verification (all live runs, local)

Binaries: .scratch/blender-5.1.2-windows-x64/blender.exe (Blender 5.1.2, hash ec6e62d40fa9) and .scratch/blender-4.5.11-windows-x64/blender.exe (Blender 4.5.11 LTS, hash 4db51e9d1e1e).

• gltf: check exit 0 on both binaries, measured values unchanged (pos_err=0, nrm_err=6.35e-05). Plaque change is render-path only — no closed forms touched, no re-falsification required.
• vertex: check exit 0 on both, values byte-identical (verts=1984 pre=5 post=4 limited=128, sum 1.68e-08, pose 2.99e-03, lbs 2.98e-07). Remodel kept all closed forms; re-falsified: probe A exit 4 (5 groups), probe B exit 6 (sums 1.438e-02), probe C exit 8 (LBS dev 1.834). No tolerance loosened.
• vse: check exit 0 on both (correct version-gated paths each side: "strips only" on 5.1.2, ".sequences bridged" on 4.5.11); --check-pixels --engine cycles exit 0 on both with identical values (BR blend (0.341, 0.349, 0.463)); --output render exit 0 on both. Check logic untouched (original falsification evidence stands).
• lod: certified; check not re-run by the audit commit (README-only change) — smoke jobs below re-prove it.
• Gallery regenerated; detail-page HTML re-read (arc links resolve to GitHub paths; vse render paragraph full). Renders iterated on actual pixels at full size / card / thumbnail.

Inspection only: nothing claims otherwise.

Test plan

• Validate, validate-manifest, validate-counts (26 examples)
• Blender 5.1 smoke + Blender 4.5 smoke (all 26 example steps incl. vse --check-pixels)
• Ecosystem drift; Socket Security
• Commits: 4 per-example commits (3 fix: + 1 docs:) on audit/game-pipeline-heroes, explicit-path staging, DCO sign-offs

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