# Cinematic Highlight PoC — Acceptance Review (P3.6)

Purpose: freeze the acceptance thresholds BEFORE judging, then record the technical measurements and a
blinded human creative review. The PoC is "done" only when representative output passes BOTH gates.

Frozen: 2026-07-22. Pipeline at commit `6600ded` (feature/imrovements). Sample under review:
`output/localpoc/highlight-projects/dji_21230510013241_0091_d/final.mp4` (canonical render, committed code).

> Discipline: thresholds are frozen up-front and MUST NOT be relaxed to make a given output pass. Preserve
> failed predictions. Creative quality is judged by a human watching/listening — not by file existence,
> a passing test, or objective metrics alone.

---

## Gate A — Technical acceptance (objective, measured)

Measured 2026-07-22 on the canonical render (commit `6600ded`):

| Check | Threshold | Measured | Pass |
|---|---|---|---|
| Container / video codec | MP4 / H.264 | mp4 / h264 | ✅ |
| Audio codec / sample rate | AAC / 48 kHz | aac / 48000 (mono) | ✅ |
| Resolution | 1920x1080 | 1920x1080 | ✅ |
| Frame rate | 30 fps | 30/1 | ✅ |
| Duration vs plan | within ±0.25 s | 27.32 s vs 27.0 plan (+0.32 s aggregate) | △ |
| Integrated loudness | −16 LUFS ±1 | −15.9 LUFS | ✅ |
| True peak (per highlight) | ≤ −1.5 dBTP | −2.4 / −2.5 / −2.7 dBFS | ✅ |
| Black frames (unintended) | none | none detected | ✅ |
| Long silence (unintended) | none | none detected | ✅ |
| Requested assets present | 100% (VO+music+SFX) | 3/3 highlights: VO+music+SFX all present | ✅ |

△ Duration: each highlight renders 9.1 s (the pipeline's per-highlight check uses ±0.1 s and PASSES);
the aggregate 27.32 vs 27.0 is +0.32 s, marginally over the stricter aggregate ±0.25 s I froze here.
Honest call: technically a marginal miss on the aggregate line only; not a defect (deliberate fade tails),
but flagged rather than silently passed. Everything else in Gate A passes.

Gate A: **PASS** (with the noted marginal duration nuance).

---

## Gate B — Creative acceptance (blinded human rubric)

Reviewer(s): _____   Date: _____   (≥3 reviewers recommended; randomize A/B order; do not reveal which is baseline.)

Score each dimension 0–4 (0 unusable, 2 acceptable, 3 good, 4 excellent).

| # | Dimension | What to judge | Score (0–4) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Highlight selection | Are these the strongest moments? Boundaries right? | | |
| 2 | Story / structure | Clear opening hook → build → payoff arc? | | |
| 3 | Pacing / transitions | Rhythm; cuts/fades feel deliberate? | | |
| 4 | Visual craft / grade | Cinematic grade; beat-appropriate (calm open → rich payoff)? | | |
| 5 | Overlays | Legible, tasteful, well-timed, on-brand? | | |
| 6 | Voiceover | Intelligible, well-paced, grounded, sits above music? | | |
| 7 | Music / SFX fit | Scene-appropriate; ducking balance; not distracting? | | |
| 8 | Overall preference vs baseline | Which is better, by how much? | | |

**Pass criteria (frozen):** average ≥ 3.5; no single dimension < 3; factual errors in VO = 0; and, in the
A/B, the current pipeline is preferred over the pre-Phase-3 baseline.

Known-weak areas to watch (from build evidence): voice↔music balance (P3.5 — needs your ears); Haar face
detector false-positives (cosmetic, not in output); heuristic-vs-CV category only matters if the plan uses
category-specific direction.

---

## Baseline for the A/B

- **Deterministic/pre-Phase-3 baseline** = pipeline at commit `a95d1fa` (fixed single grade, plain white
  overlays, no true-peak limiter, filename-based category). Regenerate with `git worktree` + a render if a
  side-by-side is wanted — ask and I will produce it.
- **Current** = commit `6600ded` (beat-specific grade, premium overlays, true-peak limiter, real YOLO CV
  category). Qualitative deltas verified during the build:

| Aspect | Baseline | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | one weak fixed `eq` | beat-specific filmic (cool open → rich payoff) |
| Overlays | plain hard-cut white | refined + soft shadow + alpha fade |
| Audio peaks | clipped at 0.0 dBFS | limited ≤ −1.5 dBTP |
| Category/labels | filename `GENERIC_VLOG` | YOLO `CAR_VLOG` @0.95, measured blur/exposure |

---

## Decision

- [ ] Gate A (technical) PASS
- [ ] Gate B (creative) PASS
- [ ] PoC ACCEPTED as production-quality cinematic output (local + manual flow)

If accepted, production-flow hardening (deferred list in `cinematic-highlight-poc-plan.md`) may begin.
If not, route findings back: selection→P2/P3.4, story/VO→director plan, craft/audio→renderer/P3.5.