# 2026-08-19 — NOTHING PASSED. Do not treat the .mp4 files here as review-ready.

Two producer runs, 15 candidate products, 0 passing videos. Nothing hosted, nothing posted.
POSTED-LOG.md untouched. No REVIEW-FLAGS.md / review-gate.json written — no video cleared the
review gate. Video autopost remains paused by `_AUTOPOST-PAUSE.txt` (2026-06-30 Gregory directive);
it was honored and NOT removed.

## The .mp4 files in this folder are ARTIFACTS, not candidates. Do not post them.
- `new_arrivals__Fresh-Take-Color-Block-Top` — QA 82%. Shirt color flips yellow->purple mid-clip;
  a phantom external hand holds the shirt then vanishes; bracelet disappears between frames.
- `outfit_inspiration__Everyday-Lace-Up-Lug-Booties--Khaki` — QA 64%. Boots change style
  slip-on -> lace-up between frames (garment continuity); same pose/framing repeated.
- `best_sellers__A-Line-Midi-Skirt` — QA 73%. Background teleports from a concrete wall to an
  outdoor street scene mid-beat; shoulder bag disappears between frames.

## Run 1 (unrestricted draw) — 4 candidates, 0 builds
All four held at the photo gates before any video was generated: 2x "0/4 photos in real
environments" (pure studio sets), 1x "only 3 distinct real photos", 1x model swap mid-set.

## Run 2 (restricted to the vetted outdoor pool) — 11 candidates, 3 builds, 0 passes
Re-ran with `VB_POOL_FILE=outdoor_pool.json VB_VIDEO_SPARES=10`, the durable fix recommended in
yesterday's note. **It worked as intended**: all 41 pool products still match the current manifest,
and candidates began clearing the real-environment gate ("outdoor garden path", "rocky beach ocean")
instead of dying at 0/4. Three products built complete 4-beat videos with real i2v motion
(veo3 / kling3 / kling26 / runway), stabilized and Topaz-enhanced. The pool restriction is the
right lever and should be the default for this producer.

## Why nothing still passed — two causes, both distinct from the pool problem

1. **Reviewer API degraded again (transient).** 14 HTTP 503s from the Gemini vision reviewer across
   run 2. Four products were held specifically as "usability gate UNRESOLVED — photo(s) unreviewed
   after retry", including one that lost all 4 photos to 503s. The 2026-08-18 fix behaved correctly:
   it labeled these "reviewer API error, not a photo defect" rather than blaming the product. The
   gate was not loosened — an unreviewed photo still never enters a video.

2. **Generation-quality defects (real).** The three built videos failed on genuine continuity
   problems the i2v models introduced: garment identity changing mid-clip (boots, shirt color),
   props appearing/disappearing (bag, bracelet), and one full background teleport within a beat.

## Decisions for Gregory
- **CAPTION LEGIBILITY — now confirmed a third and fourth time.** Both QA'd builds today flagged
  "'VERY BESTY' is too small to be comfortably readable at a glance", after yesterday's two 91%
  builds failed on caption contrast. This is the single most repeated, most fixable defect in the
  pipeline. Recommend enlarging the logo/caption lockup and strengthening the scrim behind it.
- **MAKE THE POOL THE DEFAULT.** `VB_POOL_FILE=outdoor_pool.json` moved the run from 0 builds to 3
  builds. Worth wiring into the scheduled task rather than passing by hand. The pool is from
  2026-07-25 and holds 41 products; refreshing it via `vb_curate_outdoor.py` would widen the draw.
- **MID-BEAT CONTINUITY is the new top QA killer** now that the photo gates are being cleared.
  Garment/prop identity drift across frames is a generation-prompt problem, not a catalogue problem.
- **AUTOPOST STATUS MISMATCH.** The scheduled task description states full-auto posting was flipped
  on 2026-06-28, but `_AUTOPOST-PAUSE.txt` (2026-06-30) supersedes it and says video is
  approval-gated until Gregory re-approves. The pause was honored. The task description should be
  corrected so future runs are not written against a false premise.