# 05 - PIPELINE AND GATES
### Nothing renders in colour until the board is approved.

## THE GATE LOOP (per sequence)
`G0 intent -> G1 BOARD SHEET -> G2 FILMED SEQUENCE -> G3 lock`

- **G1 - the board sheet (the gate).** Write the master prompt; the image model
  renders the SKEEVA Sheet: project card + monochrome pencil panels + director
  strip. The director approves STAGING, SHOT COUNT and BEATS. Cheap, monochrome,
  no colour spent yet.
- **G2 - the filmed sequence.** Feed the approved sheet + the three design refs
  to the video model in custom multi-shot mode. One generation = one sequence.
- **G3 - lock** the take to the edit. Extract frames and verify BEFORE locking.

*Prerequisite:* the design-bible sheets (character, environment, prop) are
rendered and approved first. They are the reference anchors fed into everything.

## APPROVAL TOKENS
The director replies with exactly one of:
- **GREEN** - approved, lock it, move on.
- **REGEN (+note)** - re-generate with the named fix.
- **TWEAK** - patch one detail, keep everything else pixel-stable.
- **KILL** - retire the approach entirely.
Rejected takes move to `_REJECTED/` and are kept, never deleted.

## THE MODEL LOCK (non-negotiable)
Pick ONE image model for every still and ONE video model for every motion shot,
for the whole project. Never switch models to fix a style problem: a different
model fixes the medium and breaks the face. Identity lives in the model. Solve
drift INSIDE your locked model with reference dominance and specific negations.

## PATCH, DO NOT RE-ROLL
When a locked asset has exactly one thing wrong, edit that one thing: feed the
flawed asset itself as the only reference and prompt "keep everything else
identical; the ONLY change is X." Re-rolling from scratch reintroduces drift in
everything that was already right.

## QA DISCIPLINE
You cannot watch motion inside a pipeline: extract 12-24 frames per clip and
inspect them. Sparse sampling misses cuts and flickers; when a clip matters,
sample densely. Check: identity, grade, display digits, camera behaviour,
temporal stability of static elements.

## FOLDERS
```
00-08 docs / 10_REFERENCE / 20_STORYBOARDS / 30_CHARACTER_SHEETS
40_KEYFRAMES / 50_CLIPS / 60_SOCIAL / 90_DELIVERABLES / _REJECTED
```

## CREDIT DISCIPLINE
Boards are cheap; colour is not. Lock staging on boards before rendering colour.
Hero frame before shot keys; shot keys before motion. Keep a running ledger of
every job id, what it fixed, and its gate status: three patches in, you will not
remember which version is canonical without it.