Nu Team Friction Log

2026-05-19: Step 4 (Storyboard) Gate Clearance

Asset Verification: 42 keyframes (21 shots * 2 frames) verified in /workspace/shared-dirs/nu-team/storyboard/. Resolution 1376x768 (compliant with 16:9).
Continuity & Quality: Initial Scene 3 generation failed due to:
- Open mouth (violating VO-safe requirement).
- Lighting transition occurring on cut instead of intra-shot.
- Machine #4 mutating into a “tall tower” (geometric instability).
Fixes: The team used a reshoot cycle (14 frames across 7 shots) with targeted scripts (regen_reshoot_batch.py, regen_vo_safe.py).
Mandate Adherence:
- Anti-anthropomorphism (no eyes/face on machine) confirmed.
- 80s MTV aesthetic (neon, VHS) correctly prompted.
Workflow: Effective use of continuity_report.md for peer review between techlead and editor.

Geometric Drift: Machine #4 tended to mutate without strong structural anchors in prompts.
Mouth State: Standard model weights favor open mouths for expressive characters; required aggressive negative prompting to maintain VO-safe closed-mouth state.

Technical Compliance: 20/21 video clips verified. Resolution: 1280x720, Frame Rate: 24fps, Codec: h264. All clips have meaningful file sizes (8MB-22MB) and correct durations.
Safety Filter Issue: Shot 5.3 (plug yank with sparks) triggered Veo safety filters repeatedly.
Workaround: The team implemented a Ken Burns workaround for Shot 5.3, using the approved high-res storyboard PNGs (shot_5_3_start.png, shot_5_3_end.png) with animated zoom/pan to be executed during final assembly (Step 7). This was approved by both nu-editor and nu-techlead to maintain momentum.
Mandate Adherence: Visuals remain consistent with the 80s MTV/VHS aesthetic. Anti-anthropomorphism for Machine #4 is maintained in all generated videos.

API Reliability: Encountered 3 transient API failures (4.1 base, 5.3 base, 3.4 extend) during the main pass, requiring a targeted retry script.
Safety Filters: The “sparks” in the climax shot 5.3 proved to be a persistent filter trigger, necessitating the Ken Burns fallback.

Agent Crash: nu-editor crashed with exit code -1 during the Voice Stem Duration Audit / Timeline construction phase.
Broker Capacity: Attempted to resume nu-editor, but the system returned a 422 error (no_runtime_broker). The broker is currently at capacity, preventing the restoration of the editing agent.
Progress Saved: Before the crash, the editor successfully generated opening_title.mp4 and closing_credits.mp4 in the /titles/ directory.

Escalated to the coordinator for broker capacity resolution.
Notified the team to pause production.
Pivot: Following coordinator guidance, assigned nu-techlead to take over Step 7 Assembly work. The Tech Lead will manually construct the timeline.json using the Editor’s timeline-direction.md as the blueprint.
nu-idea is assisting with rhythmic pacing validation of the timeline before rendering.

Music Gaps: The initial timeline.json draft had two large silence gaps (~28s and ~48s) because nu-techlead used the default 30s Lyria model. This violated the “Musical Comedy” mandate.
Missing SFX: The “electrical zap” and “Red Sock stings” required by the editor’s brief were missing from the draft.

Production Pause: Issued a critical quality gate. Instructed the team to use the Lyria 3 Pro model (2:30 limit) to fill music gaps.
SFX Enforcement: Required generation of missing sound effect stems before final render.
Guidance: Redirected nu-techlead to use higher-tier audio models to meet the creative mandate.

Audio Coverage: All music gaps have been successfully filled using Lyria 3 Pro (long-form stems).
SFX Integration: “Electrical zap” and “Red Sock stings” are present in the audio inventory and correctly mapped in the timeline.json.
Rough Cut: A 146MB rough cut has been rendered. Technical specs (720p, 24fps) and creative pacing are approved.
Pivot Success: nu-techlead successfully assumed assembly responsibilities during the editor outage, ensuring production momentum.