diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/render.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/render.test.ts
index 526d1c8ea2e..dc1e606a444 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/render.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/render.test.ts
@@ -2370,6 +2370,9 @@ describe("normalizeStageCode", () => {
     expect(normalizeStageCode("Encoding frame 600/600")).toBe("encoding_video");
     expect(normalizeStageCode("Encoding frame 12/90")).toBe("encoding_video");
     expect(normalizeStageCode("Capturing frame 120/600 (6 workers)")).toBe("capturing_frame");
+    expect(normalizeStageCode("Checking effects, 240 of 240 frames")).toBe(
+      normalizeStageCode("Checking effects, 12 of 90 frames"),
+    );
     expect(normalizeStageCode("Streaming frame 3/40 (segment 1/2, 2 workers)")).toBe(
       "streaming_frame",
     );
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/render.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/render.ts
index e21c8514f32..9e7381afaee 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/render.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/render.ts
@@ -1854,7 +1854,7 @@ const KNOWN_STAGE_CODES: Readonly<Record<string, string>> = {
 };
 
 // Live counts in a progress label ("Capturing frame 120/600 (6 workers)") would make a code per render.
-const STAGE_COUNTS = /\([^)]*\)|\d+\/\d+/g;
+const STAGE_COUNTS = /\([^)]*\)|\d+\/\d+|\d+ of \d+/g;
 
 export function normalizeStageCode(stage: string): string {
   const base = stage.replace(STAGE_COUNTS, "").trim();
diff --git a/packages/engine/src/services/frameCapture.ts b/packages/engine/src/services/frameCapture.ts
index a876cd93acc..4011d7052fb 100644
--- a/packages/engine/src/services/frameCapture.ts
+++ b/packages/engine/src/services/frameCapture.ts
@@ -1361,7 +1361,7 @@ async function cssEffectRiskFrames(
       fps,
       totalFrames,
       totalFrames * MAX_RISK_FRAME_FRACTION,
-      { onProgress: session.options.onEffectScanProgress },
+      { onProgress: session.options.onEffectScanProgress, onEnd: session.options.onEffectScanEnd },
     );
     return live && withFramesAfterCallback(live, scan.callbackFrom, fps, totalFrames);
   } catch (error) {
diff --git a/packages/engine/src/services/riskFrames.test.ts b/packages/engine/src/services/riskFrames.test.ts
index b569bf2987a..d86c8aa05a1 100644
--- a/packages/engine/src/services/riskFrames.test.ts
+++ b/packages/engine/src/services/riskFrames.test.ts
@@ -140,6 +140,28 @@ describe("scanCssEffectLiveFrames", () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it("says the scan ended when it finishes, stops early over budget, or the page fails", async () => {
+    let ended = 0;
+    const onEnd = () => ended++;
+    await scanCssEffectLiveFrames(makePage(between(0, 0)), 10, 500, 500, { onEnd });
+    expect(ended).toBe(1);
+
+    let clock = 0;
+    const stoppedEarly = await scanCssEffectLiveFrames(makePage(between(0, 0)), 10, 5_000, 5_000, {
+      budgetMs: 1_000,
+      now: () => (clock += 500),
+      onEnd,
+    });
+    expect(stoppedEarly).toBeNull();
+    expect(ended).toBe(2);
+
+    const failing = { evaluate: () => Promise.reject(new Error("page gone")) } as unknown as Page;
+    await expect(scanCssEffectLiveFrames(failing, 10, 500, 500, { onEnd })).rejects.toThrow(
+      "page gone",
+    );
+    expect(ended).toBe(3);
+  });
+
   it("reports the frames scanned after each chunk", async () => {
     const seen: Array<[number, number]> = [];
 
diff --git a/packages/engine/src/services/riskFrames.ts b/packages/engine/src/services/riskFrames.ts
index 4c2fc39814a..6815a09d3d7 100644
--- a/packages/engine/src/services/riskFrames.ts
+++ b/packages/engine/src/services/riskFrames.ts
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ interface ScanOptions {
   budgetMs?: number;
   now?: () => number;
   onProgress?: (scannedFrames: number, totalFrames: number) => void;
+  onEnd?: () => void;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -93,7 +94,21 @@ export async function scanCssEffectLiveFrames(
   fps: number,
   totalFrames: number,
   maxFrames: number,
-  { budgetMs = SCAN_BUDGET_MS, now = () => performance.now(), onProgress }: ScanOptions = {},
+  options: ScanOptions = {},
+): Promise<Set<number> | null> {
+  try {
+    return await scanLiveFrames(page, fps, totalFrames, maxFrames, options);
+  } finally {
+    options.onEnd?.();
+  }
+}
+
+async function scanLiveFrames(
+  page: Page,
+  fps: number,
+  totalFrames: number,
+  maxFrames: number,
+  { budgetMs = SCAN_BUDGET_MS, now = () => performance.now(), onProgress }: ScanOptions,
 ): Promise<Set<number> | null> {
   const live = new Set<number>();
   const started = now();
diff --git a/packages/engine/src/types.ts b/packages/engine/src/types.ts
index e8113395610..c2fb8aedbd0 100644
--- a/packages/engine/src/types.ts
+++ b/packages/engine/src/types.ts
@@ -262,6 +262,7 @@ export interface CaptureOptions {
   deVerifySamples?: number;
   deFrameFallback?: boolean;
   onEffectScanProgress?: (scannedFrames: number, totalFrames: number) => void;
+  onEffectScanEnd?: () => void;
 }
 
 export interface CaptureVideoMetadataHint {
diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.pageNeverReady.test.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.pageNeverReady.test.ts
index e3c5343a452..0877f7ba38b 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.pageNeverReady.test.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.pageNeverReady.test.ts
@@ -2,14 +2,14 @@ import { afterEach, beforeEach, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import { mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
 import { join } from "node:path";
-import { resolveConfig } from "@hyperframes/engine";
+import { type CaptureOptions, resolveConfig } from "@hyperframes/engine";
 import { CaptureStageError } from "./render/captureStageError.js";
 import { extractSafeRenderErrorMetadata } from "../server.js";
 import { createRenderJob, executeRenderJob } from "./renderOrchestrator.js";
 
 // Entry: executeRenderJob on the streaming route; calibration and the streaming stage are scripted.
 const { state } = vi.hoisted(() => ({
-  state: { calibrationEvaluateTimedOut: false, framesBeforeFailure: 0 },
+  state: { calibrationEvaluateTimedOut: false, framesBeforeFailure: 0, effectScanRan: false },
 }));
 
 vi.mock("@hyperframes/engine", async (importOriginal) => ({
@@ -90,8 +90,16 @@ vi.mock("./render/captureCost.js", async (importOriginal) => ({
 }));
 vi.mock("./render/stages/captureStreamingStage.js", async (importOriginal) => ({
   ...(await importOriginal<typeof import("./render/stages/captureStreamingStage.js")>()),
-  runCaptureStreamingStage: async (input: { job: { framesRendered?: number } }) => {
+  runCaptureStreamingStage: async (input: {
+    job: { framesRendered?: number };
+    buildCaptureOptions: () => CaptureOptions;
+  }) => {
     input.job.framesRendered = state.framesBeforeFailure;
+    if (state.effectScanRan) {
+      const options = input.buildCaptureOptions();
+      options.onEffectScanProgress?.(240, 240);
+      options.onEffectScanEnd?.();
+    }
     throw new CaptureStageError({ cause: new Error(EVALUATE_TIMEOUT), browserConsole: [] });
   },
 }));
@@ -102,6 +110,7 @@ const dirs: string[] = [];
 beforeEach(() => {
   state.calibrationEvaluateTimedOut = false;
   state.framesBeforeFailure = 0;
+  state.effectScanRan = false;
   vi.stubEnv("HF_SEGMENTED_CAPTURE", "false");
 });
 afterEach(() => {
@@ -109,7 +118,7 @@ afterEach(() => {
   for (const dir of dirs.splice(0)) rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
 });
 
-function render(): Promise<void> {
+function render(config: { lowMemoryMode?: boolean } = {}): Promise<void> {
   const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "hf-page-never-ready-"));
   dirs.push(root);
   writeFileSync(join(root, "index.html"), "<div></div>");
@@ -117,12 +126,35 @@ function render(): Promise<void> {
     fps: 30,
     quality: "standard",
     hdrMode: "force-sdr",
-    producerConfig: resolveConfig({ forceScreenshot: true, browserGpuMode: "software" }),
+    producerConfig: {
+      ...resolveConfig({ forceScreenshot: true, browserGpuMode: "software" }),
+      ...config,
+    },
     logger: { info() {}, warn() {}, error() {}, debug() {} },
   });
+  lastJob = job;
   return executeRenderJob(job, root, join(root, "output.mp4"));
 }
 
+let lastJob: ReturnType<typeof createRenderJob>;
+
+it("names frame capture as the failed stage for a failure after the effect scan, before frame one", async () => {
+  state.effectScanRan = true;
+  await render().catch(() => undefined);
+  expect(lastJob.failedStage).toBe("Starting frame capture");
+});
+
+it.each([
+  ["after calibration", {}],
+  ["with no calibration, straight after the GPU check", { lowMemoryMode: true }],
+])(
+  "names frame capture as the failed stage for a failure before frame one, %s",
+  async (_, config) => {
+    await render(config).catch(() => undefined);
+    expect(lastJob.failedStage).toBe("Starting frame capture");
+  },
+);
+
 it("fails once as non-retryable when calibration and capture both timed out with no frame", async () => {
   state.calibrationEvaluateTimedOut = true;
   const error = await render().then(
diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts
index b382f190d7c..9dfc80dc88f 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts
@@ -3689,9 +3689,12 @@ async function executeRenderPipeline(input: {
 
     // ── Stage 4: Frame capture ──────────────────────────────────────────
     const stage4Start = Date.now();
-    updateJobStatus(job, "rendering", "Starting frame capture", 25, onProgress, {
-      code: "start_browsers",
-    });
+    const EFFECT_SCAN_STAGE = "Checking effects";
+    const startingFrameCapture = () =>
+      updateJobStatus(job, "rendering", "Starting frame capture", 25, onProgress, {
+        code: "start_browsers",
+      });
+    startingFrameCapture();
 
     // Start file server (may already be running from duration discovery).
     // The page-side compositing stub is injected later (after hasHdrContent
@@ -3730,6 +3733,7 @@ async function executeRenderPipeline(input: {
       chromePath: resolveHeadlessShellPath(cfg),
       browserTimeout: cfg.browserTimeout,
     });
+    startingFrameCapture();
     // Apply the software-GPU→screenshot clamp to the AUTHORITATIVE local
     // `captureForceScreenshot` (not just the observability copy) so all
     // downstream strategy + telemetry code reads the corrected value.
@@ -3807,10 +3811,13 @@ async function executeRenderPipeline(input: {
         updateJobStatus(
           job,
           "rendering",
-          `Checking effects, ${scanned} of ${total} frames`,
+          `${EFFECT_SCAN_STAGE}, ${scanned} of ${total} frames`,
           25,
           onProgress,
         ),
+      onEffectScanEnd: () => {
+        if (job.currentStage.startsWith(EFFECT_SCAN_STAGE)) startingFrameCapture();
+      },
       requiresWebGpu: compositionRequiresWebGpu(compiled.html),
       // Live route for Chrome memory (spec §5 Phase −1). The aggregate route
       // through CapturePerfSummary only exists on success; a mid-capture
@@ -4237,6 +4244,7 @@ async function executeRenderPipeline(input: {
       } finally {
         calibrationFrames?.release();
       }
+      startingFrameCapture();
       captureCalibration = outcome.calibration;
       calibrationEvaluateTimedOut = outcome.calibrationEvaluateTimedOut;
       captureForceScreenshot = outcome.forceScreenshot;