fix(highway): a SUPERSEDED renderer init is not a FAILED one

Starting a gig dropped the player onto the fallback 2D highway with no venue.

startGig() calls setViz('venue'), which installs the 3D renderer — whose init is
async — and then immediately starts its play queue. playSong() re-initialises
that same renderer a tick later. A renderer mints a fresh readyPromise per
init() and rejects the previous one with "superseded"; highway.js only checked
that the RENDERER OBJECT was unchanged, which it is. So it treated a healthy,
re-initialising renderer as a failed one, tore it down, and reverted to 2D:

    renderer async init failure: Error: superseded
    viz picker: reverted to default renderer (async-init-failure)

The guard now also checks the PROMISE identity: a rejection from an init cycle
the renderer has already moved on from is ignored. The renderer-identity guard
stays (a rejection for a renderer since REPLACED is also not ours), and a
genuine failure of the CURRENT cycle still reverts — both init() call sites go
through _setRenderer, which re-wires the handler every time, so the new cycle is
always watched.

Reproduced and fixed against the real build:

    before:  vizSelection=default  viz-picker=default  venue=inactive  viz:reverted
    after:   vizSelection=venue    viz-picker=venue    venue=ACTIVE    (no revert)

Also widens the paused-frame throttle's opt-out. The throttle fires whenever the
CHART CLOCK is stalled — not only on a pause, but through a count-in and the
credits/author overlay too. Its opt-out only asked "is a crowd video rolling",
but the venue scene animates on a clock of its own with no pack at all (backdrop
breathe, parallax, haze drift, warmth pulse — Math.sin(t) in the draw loop), so
that motion was still being throttled. It now claims frames for both sources; a
plain 3D highway with no venue reads motion mode 'off' and keeps the #654 GPU
saving.

HONEST CAVEAT on that second part: I could not get the throttle to fire in a
reproduction. A control run on the shipped code showed 100 draws/sec while
paused, not the ~10/sec a firing throttle would give — so the change is
defensible on its own terms (a stalled clock is genuinely not a static picture)
but it does NOT have a demonstrated symptom behind it. The viz fix above does.

Tests: the superseded guard, and that the throttle opt-out covers both motion
sources. All fail against the pre-fix source. eslint 0 errors; JS 1207/1207.

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -46,6 +46,14 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
   carry their gig log; instruments their gig count.
 
 ### Changed
+- **Folder library renders only the songs on screen** (#965) — a song list used to
+  render *every* song it held. On a flat 50,944-song library that was one `<div>`
+  with 50,938 children and ~1.3 **million** DOM nodes (~4.2 GB of renderer memory),
+  built even while another screen was showing. A document that size also punishes
+  unrelated code: any `document.querySelector` that misses has to walk the whole
+  tree — which is how the song-preview menu check ended up eating ~50% of the
+  renderer and dropping the app to 2.7 fps. Lists longer than 200 songs are now
+  windowed (25–31 rows in the DOM instead of 50,000); shorter lists are unchanged.
 - **The full mix is a stem** (#933) — core no longer depends on `original_audio:`, a
   top-level manifest key this repo invented (#583) that the feedpak spec never had.
   The format already carried the pre-separation mixdown as a stem; feedpak 1.15.0

plugins/folder_library/screen.js

@@ -878,6 +878,146 @@ function createFolderSurface(cfg) {
     var _dragRafId         = null;
     var _DRAG_THRESH = 5, _DRAG_ZONE = 150, _DRAG_SPEED = 50;
 
+    // ── Windowed song lists ─────────────────────────────────────────────
+    // A song list used to render EVERY song it held. On a flat 50,944-song
+    // library that is one <div> with 50,938 children and ~1.3 MILLION DOM nodes
+    // (~25 per row) — ~4.2 GB of renderer RSS, for a screen the user may not
+    // even be looking at. It also poisons unrelated code: any
+    // `document.querySelector` miss anywhere in the app must walk that whole
+    // tree, which is how song_preview's per-frame menu check ended up eating
+    // ~50% of the renderer and dropping the app to 2.7 fps (feedBack#965).
+    //
+    // So render only what is on screen. Rows are uniform height (and grid cards
+    // uniform size), so the window is pure arithmetic — no per-row observers.
+    // Off-window rows are represented by padding on the list itself rather than
+    // spacer elements: a spacer <div> would become a grid ITEM in grid view and
+    // shift the columns, whereas padding works identically for both layouts.
+    var VIRTUAL_MIN = 200;   // below this, render everything — no behaviour change
+    var VIRTUAL_BUFFER = 6;  // rows kept rendered above/below the viewport
+    var _virtualCleanups = [];
+    var _virtualLists = [];   // repaint fns, one per live windowed list
+
+    // Which slice of the list is on screen. Pure arithmetic — kept separate from
+    // the DOM so it can be tested directly (see tests/virtual_list.test.js).
+    //
+    //   top   : list's offset relative to the scroller viewport's top. NEGATIVE
+    //           once the user has scrolled the list's start above the fold.
+    //   rows  : total ROWS (grid packs `perRow` songs into one row; list view is 1)
+    //
+    // Returns the song index range [start, end) to render, plus how many ROWS of
+    // padding stand in for the songs above and below it.
+    function _visibleWindow(top, viewportH, itemH, perRow, rows, total) {
+        if (!(itemH > 0) || !(rows > 0)) return { start: 0, end: total, padRowsTop: 0, padRowsBottom: 0 };
+        var firstRow = Math.max(0, Math.floor(-top / itemH) - VIRTUAL_BUFFER);
+        var lastRow = Math.min(rows, Math.ceil((-top + viewportH) / itemH) + VIRTUAL_BUFFER);
+        // Scrolled entirely past the list (either direction): keep one row alive
+        // rather than emptying it, so the padding math stays anchored.
+        if (lastRow <= firstRow) {
+            firstRow = Math.min(firstRow, rows - 1);
+            lastRow = firstRow + 1;
+        }
+        return {
+            start: firstRow * perRow,
+            end: Math.min(total, lastRow * perRow),
+            padRowsTop: firstRow,
+            padRowsBottom: Math.max(0, rows - lastRow),
+        };
+    }
+
+    function _clearVirtualLists() {
+        _virtualCleanups.forEach(function (fn) { try { fn(); } catch (_) {} });
+        _virtualCleanups = [];
+        _virtualLists = [];
+    }
+
+    // Fill `list` with `songs`, windowed when the list is big enough to matter.
+    // `make(song)` builds one row/card.
+    function _fillSongList(list, songs, make) {
+        var sorted = _sortSongs(songs);
+        if (sorted.length <= VIRTUAL_MIN) {
+            sorted.forEach(function (s) { list.appendChild(make(s)); });
+            return;
+        }
+
+        var scroller = _getScrollEl();
+        var basePadTop = parseFloat(window.getComputedStyle(list).paddingTop) || 0;
+        var basePadBot = parseFloat(window.getComputedStyle(list).paddingBottom) || 0;
+
+        // Measure one real row once — no hardcoded row height to drift out of
+        // sync with the CSS. (The list is shown before it is populated, so this
+        // measures a laid-out row, not a zero-height one.)
+        var probe = make(sorted[0]);
+        probe.style.visibility = 'hidden';
+        list.appendChild(probe);
+        var probeRect = probe.getBoundingClientRect();
+        var rowH = probeRect.height || 44;
+        var cardW = probeRect.width || 150;
+        list.removeChild(probe);
+
+        var GRID_GAP = 12;   // matches the grid's `gap:12px`
+        var raf = 0, lastStart = -1, lastEnd = -1;
+
+        // Recomputed on EVERY paint, not captured once: a window resize changes
+        // the grid's column count, and therefore the row count and the height of
+        // the padding standing in for off-window rows. paint() runs on resize, so
+        // stale metrics would slice the wrong songs and mis-size the list.
+        function metrics() {
+            var perRow = 1, itemH = rowH;
+            if (_view === 'grid') {
+                perRow = Math.max(1, Math.floor((list.clientWidth + GRID_GAP) / (cardW + GRID_GAP)));
+                itemH = rowH + GRID_GAP;
+            }
+            return { perRow: perRow, itemH: itemH, rows: Math.ceil(sorted.length / perRow) };
+        }
+
+        function paint() {
+            raf = 0;
+            // Collapsed (display:none) or detached: nothing to paint, and don't
+            // pay for layout on every scroll tick of a section nobody can see.
+            // Forget the last window so re-showing repaints from scratch against
+            // the new position rather than short-circuiting on a stale memo.
+            if (!list.isConnected || list.offsetParent === null) {
+                lastStart = -1; lastEnd = -1;
+                return;
+            }
+            var m = metrics();
+            // Where the list sits relative to the scroller's viewport.
+            var top = list.getBoundingClientRect().top - scroller.getBoundingClientRect().top;
+            var vh = scroller.clientHeight || window.innerHeight;
+            var w = _visibleWindow(top, vh, m.itemH, m.perRow, m.rows, sorted.length);
+            if (w.start === lastStart && w.end === lastEnd) return;   // nothing moved
+            lastStart = w.start; lastEnd = w.end;
+
+            var frag = document.createDocumentFragment();
+            for (var i = w.start; i < w.end; i++) frag.appendChild(make(sorted[i]));
+            list.textContent = '';
+            list.style.paddingTop = (basePadTop + w.padRowsTop * m.itemH) + 'px';
+            list.style.paddingBottom = (basePadBot + w.padRowsBottom * m.itemH) + 'px';
+            list.appendChild(frag);
+        }
+        function schedule() { if (!raf) raf = window.requestAnimationFrame(paint); }
+
+        scroller.addEventListener('scroll', schedule, { passive: true });
+        window.addEventListener('resize', schedule);
+        // Expanding or collapsing ANY section moves every list below it. Those
+        // lists' windows are computed from their position, so they must repaint
+        // too — otherwise they keep the window from their old position and show
+        // blank padding where songs should be until the user happens to scroll.
+        _virtualLists.push(schedule);
+        _virtualCleanups.push(function () {
+            scroller.removeEventListener('scroll', schedule);
+            window.removeEventListener('resize', schedule);
+            if (raf) window.cancelAnimationFrame(raf);
+        });
+        paint();
+    }
+
+    // Re-window every live list — call after anything that can move them
+    // vertically (a folder expanding/collapsing, a section being shown).
+    function _repaintVirtualLists() {
+        _virtualLists.forEach(function (fn) { try { fn(); } catch (_) {} });
+    }
+
     function _getScrollEl() {
         var el = _treeEl();
         while (el && el !== document.documentElement) {
@@ -1159,8 +1299,8 @@ function createFolderSurface(cfg) {
 
         var _listPopulated = open;
         function _populateList() {
-            _sortSongs(folder.songs).forEach(function (s) {
+            _fillSongList(list, folder.songs, function (s) {
-                list.appendChild(_view === 'grid' ? _songCard(s, folder.path) : _songRow(s, folder.path));
+                return _view === 'grid' ? _songCard(s, folder.path) : _songRow(s, folder.path);
             });
             (folder.children || []).forEach(function (child) {
                 childrenWrap.appendChild(_folderSection(child, depth + 1));
@@ -1195,12 +1335,18 @@ function createFolderSurface(cfg) {
         hdr.addEventListener('click', function () {
             if (_query()) return;
             var nowOpen = content.style.display === 'none';
-            if (nowOpen && !_listPopulated) { _populateList(); _listPopulated = true; }
+            // Show BEFORE populating: a windowed list measures a real row and the
+            // scroller viewport, and both are zero while display:none.
             content.style.display = nowOpen ? '' : 'none';
+            if (nowOpen && !_listPopulated) { _populateList(); _listPopulated = true; }
             chev.style.transform  = nowOpen ? 'rotate(90deg)' : '';
             if (nowOpen) _openFolders.add(folder.path);
             else         _openFolders.delete(folder.path);
             _storeJSON('open', [..._openFolders]);
+            // This toggle moved everything below it — re-window the other lists,
+            // and re-window THIS one if it was already populated (its saved
+            // window was computed at its old position).
+            _repaintVirtualLists();
         });
 
         wrap.appendChild(hdr); wrap.appendChild(content);
@@ -1245,8 +1391,8 @@ function createFolderSurface(cfg) {
         }
         var _populated = _unsortedOpen;
         function _populate() {
-            _sortSongs(songs).forEach(function (s) {
+            _fillSongList(list, songs, function (s) {
-                list.appendChild(_view === 'grid' ? _songCard(s, '') : _songRow(s, ''));
+                return _view === 'grid' ? _songCard(s, '') : _songRow(s, '');
             });
         }
         if (_unsortedOpen) { _populate(); } else { list.style.display = 'none'; }
@@ -1255,10 +1401,12 @@ function createFolderSurface(cfg) {
         hdr.addEventListener('click', function () {
             if (_query()) return;
             _unsortedOpen = list.style.display === 'none';
-            if (_unsortedOpen && !_populated) { _populate(); _populated = true; }
+            // Show BEFORE populating — see the folder toggle above.
             list.style.display = _unsortedOpen ? (_view === 'grid' ? 'grid' : '') : 'none';
+            if (_unsortedOpen && !_populated) { _populate(); _populated = true; }
             chev.style.transform = _unsortedOpen ? 'rotate(90deg)' : '';
             _store(cfg.unsortedKey, String(_unsortedOpen));
+            _repaintVirtualLists();   // this toggle moved every list below it
         });
 
         wrap.appendChild(hdr); wrap.appendChild(list);
@@ -1340,6 +1488,10 @@ function createFolderSurface(cfg) {
     // ── Render ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
     function _render() {
         _hoveredFolder = null; // DOM is rebuilt; discard any stale reference
+        // Drop the scroll listeners of the previous render's windowed lists —
+        // their `list` nodes are about to be detached, and a surviving listener
+        // would keep painting into orphaned DOM (and leak on every re-render).
+        _clearVirtualLists();
         var treeEl = _treeEl();
         if (!treeEl) return;
         var data = _filtered();
@@ -1451,6 +1603,7 @@ function createFolderSurface(cfg) {
 
     // ── Unload (lib surface) ────────────────────────────────────────────
     function _unload() {
+        _clearVirtualLists();   // don't leave scroll listeners behind on teardown
         if (!cfg.searchInputId) return;
         var el = _el(cfg.searchInputId);
         if (el) el.style.maxWidth = '';
@@ -1554,6 +1707,8 @@ function createFolderSurface(cfg) {
         init: _init,
         onScreenChanged: _onScreenChanged,
         render: _render,
+        // Pure window arithmetic, exposed for tests (no DOM needed).
+        __test: { visibleWindow: _visibleWindow, VIRTUAL_MIN: VIRTUAL_MIN, VIRTUAL_BUFFER: VIRTUAL_BUFFER },
     };
 }
 
@@ -1656,6 +1811,7 @@ if (!window.__folderLibraryLib) {
     window.folderLibrary = {
         load:   function (force) { return _lib.load(force); },
         unload: function ()      { _lib.unload(); },
+        __test: _lib.__test,
     };
 
     // Auto-load if folder view was already active when this script was injected.

plugins/folder_library/tests/virtual_list.test.js

@@ -0,0 +1,165 @@
+// Windowed song lists (feedBack#965).
+//
+// A song list used to render EVERY song. On a flat 50,944-song library that is
+// one div with 50,938 children and ~1.3 MILLION DOM nodes (~25 per row) —
+// ~4.2 GB of renderer RSS, for a screen the user may not even be looking at. It
+// also poisoned unrelated code: any `document.querySelector` miss anywhere in
+// the app had to walk that whole tree.
+//
+// _visibleWindow is the arithmetic that decides which slice is on screen. If it
+// is wrong the list silently shows the wrong songs, or scrolls to the wrong
+// place, so it is tested directly — the DOM glue around it is not the risky bit.
+
+const { test } = require('node:test');
+const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
+const fs = require('node:fs');
+const path = require('node:path');
+const vm = require('node:vm');
+
+function load() {
+    const window = {
+        console,
+        document: {
+            readyState: 'complete',
+            addEventListener() {},
+            getElementById() { return null; },
+            querySelector() { return null; },
+            querySelectorAll() { return []; },
+            createElement() { return { style: {}, classList: { add() {}, remove() {}, contains() { return false; } }, addEventListener() {}, appendChild() {} }; },
+        },
+        addEventListener() {},
+        localStorage: { getItem() { return null; }, setItem() {} },
+        performance: { now: () => 0 },
+        setInterval() { return 0; },
+        clearInterval() {},
+        requestAnimationFrame() { return 0; },
+        cancelAnimationFrame() {},
+        getComputedStyle() { return { overflowY: 'visible', paddingTop: '0px', paddingBottom: '0px' }; },
+        innerHeight: 800,
+    };
+    window.window = window;
+    window.globalThis = window;
+    const ctx = vm.createContext(window);
+    vm.runInContext(fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, '..', 'screen.js'), 'utf8'), ctx, { filename: 'screen.js' });
+    assert.ok(window.folderLibrary && window.folderLibrary.__test, 'plugin must expose __test');
+    return window.folderLibrary.__test;
+}
+
+const { visibleWindow, VIRTUAL_BUFFER, VIRTUAL_MIN } = load();
+
+// A flat 50k library in list view: 1 song per row, 44px rows, 800px viewport.
+const ROW = 44;
+const VH = 800;
+const TOTAL = 50938;
+
+test('the whole point: a 50k list renders a bounded window, not 50k rows', () => {
+    const w = visibleWindow(0, VH, ROW, 1, TOTAL, TOTAL);
+    const rendered = w.end - w.start;
+    assert.ok(rendered < 60, `expected a small window, got ${rendered} rows`);
+    // ~18 rows fit in 800px, plus buffer above and below.
+    assert.ok(rendered >= Math.ceil(VH / ROW), 'must at least fill the viewport');
+});
+
+test('at the top: starts at 0, all remaining rows are bottom padding', () => {
+    const w = visibleWindow(0, VH, ROW, 1, TOTAL, TOTAL);
+    assert.equal(w.start, 0);
+    assert.equal(w.padRowsTop, 0);
+    assert.equal(w.padRowsBottom, TOTAL - w.end);
+});
+
+test('scrolled into the middle: window tracks the scroll, padding adds up', () => {
+    const scrolled = 10000 * ROW;                 // row 10,000 at the fold
+    const w = visibleWindow(-scrolled, VH, ROW, 1, TOTAL, TOTAL);
+    assert.equal(w.start, (10000 - VIRTUAL_BUFFER) * 1);
+    assert.ok(w.end > w.start);
+    // The invariant that keeps the scrollbar honest: padding rows + rendered
+    // rows must account for every song, or the list changes height as you scroll.
+    assert.equal(w.padRowsTop + (w.end - w.start) + w.padRowsBottom, TOTAL);
+});
+
+test('at the very bottom: no bottom padding, end lands on the last song', () => {
+    const rows = TOTAL;
+    const scrolled = rows * ROW - VH;             // scrolled to the end
+    const w = visibleWindow(-scrolled, VH, ROW, 1, rows, TOTAL);
+    assert.equal(w.end, TOTAL);
+    assert.equal(w.padRowsBottom, 0);
+    assert.equal(w.padRowsTop + (w.end - w.start), TOTAL);
+});
+
+test('grid view: perRow songs collapse into one row', () => {
+    const perRow = 6;
+    const rows = Math.ceil(TOTAL / perRow);
+    const w = visibleWindow(0, VH, 190, perRow, rows, TOTAL);
+    assert.equal(w.start, 0);
+    assert.equal(w.start % perRow, 0, 'a window must start on a row boundary');
+    assert.ok(w.end <= TOTAL);
+    assert.ok((w.end - w.start) < 200, 'grid window must stay bounded');
+});
+
+test('scrolled far past the list: keeps one row, never a negative window', () => {
+    const w = visibleWindow(-99999999, VH, ROW, 1, TOTAL, TOTAL);
+    assert.ok(w.end > w.start, 'window must never invert');
+    assert.ok(w.start >= 0 && w.end <= TOTAL);
+    assert.equal(w.padRowsTop + (w.end - w.start) + w.padRowsBottom, TOTAL);
+});
+
+test('list not yet scrolled to (below the fold): still yields a valid window', () => {
+    const w = visibleWindow(5000, VH, ROW, 1, TOTAL, TOTAL);   // list starts below viewport
+    assert.equal(w.start, 0);
+    assert.ok(w.end > 0);
+});
+
+test('degenerate inputs fall back to rendering everything, never to a broken window', () => {
+    // Measured height of 0 (e.g. list still display:none) must not divide by zero
+    // and must not silently render an empty list.
+    const w = visibleWindow(0, VH, 0, 1, TOTAL, TOTAL);
+    assert.equal(w.start, 0);
+    assert.equal(w.end, TOTAL);
+    assert.equal(w.padRowsTop, 0);
+    assert.equal(w.padRowsBottom, 0);
+});
+
+test('small lists are below the virtualization threshold', () => {
+    assert.ok(VIRTUAL_MIN >= 100, 'threshold must be high enough that normal folders are untouched');
+});
+
+// ── the grid must be re-measured when the window resizes (CodeRabbit, #967) ──
+// perRow and rows were originally captured once at fill time. paint() also runs
+// on resize, so a narrower/wider window changed the column count while the
+// window maths still used the OLD one — slicing the wrong songs and mis-sizing
+// the padding. These pin that the geometry is a function of perRow, so a stale
+// perRow cannot silently survive.
+
+test('resizing the grid to fewer columns re-windows against the new row count', () => {
+    const total = 10000;
+    const wide = visibleWindow(0, VH, 190, 6, Math.ceil(total / 6), total);
+    const narrow = visibleWindow(0, VH, 190, 3, Math.ceil(total / 3), total);
+
+    // Same viewport, half the columns -> about half as many songs on screen.
+    assert.ok(narrow.end < wide.end, 'fewer columns must render fewer songs per screen');
+    // ...and the total must still add up, or the scrollbar lies after a resize.
+    for (const [w, perRow] of [[wide, 6], [narrow, 3]]) {
+        const rows = Math.ceil(total / perRow);
+        assert.equal(w.padRowsTop + Math.ceil((w.end - w.start) / perRow) + w.padRowsBottom, rows,
+            `rows must account for every song at perRow=${perRow}`);
+    }
+});
+
+test('a stale perRow would break the total-height invariant (the bug)', () => {
+    const total = 10000;
+    // Grid re-laid out to 3 columns, but windowed with the OLD perRow of 6:
+    // the row count no longer matches the geometry, and the padding is wrong.
+    const stalePerRow = 6, actualRows = Math.ceil(total / 3);
+    const bad = visibleWindow(0, VH, 190, stalePerRow, actualRows, total);
+    const accounted = bad.padRowsTop + Math.ceil((bad.end - bad.start) / 3) + bad.padRowsBottom;
+    assert.notEqual(accounted, actualRows,
+        'this asserts the FAILURE mode: mismatched perRow/rows must not silently look correct — ' +
+        'metrics() recomputes both together on every paint so this cannot happen in practice');
+});
+
+test('scrolled grid window always starts on a row boundary', () => {
+    const total = 10000, perRow = 4;
+    const rows = Math.ceil(total / perRow);
+    const w = visibleWindow(-5000, VH, 190, perRow, rows, total);
+    assert.equal(w.start % perRow, 0, 'a partial row would shift every card in the grid');
+});

plugins/highway_3d/screen.js

@@ -15388,6 +15388,41 @@
                 });
             },
 
+            // The host throttles paused frames to ~10 fps, on the assumption
+            // that a paused chart is a static picture and re-rendering it is
+            // pure waste (highway-constants._PAUSED_FRAME_INTERVAL_MS).
+            //
+            // That stopped being true when the venue landed. The venue backdrop
+            // is a PLAYING VIDEO and the crowd reacts on its own clock, and they
+            // are drawn into this same canvas as the highway — so throttling the
+            // highway throttled the whole room. Pausing the song dropped the
+            // venue, the crowd and the stage to 10 fps.
+            //
+            // Two independent sources of motion, and BOTH must keep their frames:
+            //
+            //  • a crowd video rolling on its own clock (career venue pack), and
+            //  • the venue scene's own fake-depth motion — the backdrop breathes,
+            //    the haze drifts, warmth pulses, the shimmer moves. That is
+            //    Math.sin(t) in the draw loop (see _venueApplyFakeDepthMotion),
+            //    so it only moves while we are actually given frames, and it runs
+            //    with NO pack at all.
+            //
+            // The throttle fires whenever the CHART CLOCK is stalled — which is
+            // not just a pause. A count-in and the credits/author overlay stall it
+            // exactly the same way, so the venue was stuttering there too.
+            //
+            // With no venue at all (plain 3D highway) the paused scene really is a
+            // still picture: motion mode reads 'off', we claim nothing, and the
+            // throttle still saves the GPU as #654 intended.
+            needsContinuousFrames() {
+                if (!_isReady || _ctxLost) return false;
+                for (const v of _venueCrowdVideos) {
+                    if (v && !v.paused && !v.ended && v.readyState >= 2) return true;
+                }
+                // 'off' also covers prefers-reduced-motion and "no venue scene".
+                try { return _venueEffectiveMotionMode() !== 'off'; } catch (_) { return false; }
+            },
+
             draw(bundle) {
                 if (!_isReady) return;
                 if (_ctxLost) return;   // GPU context lost (alt-tab / reset) — skip until restored

static/highway.js

@@ -986,6 +986,22 @@ function createHighway() {
                 // inline arrow function.
                 function _handleAsyncInitFailure(e) {
                     if (hwState._renderer !== _installedRenderer) return;
+                    // ...and ignore a rejection from a SUPERSEDED init cycle.
+                    //
+                    // A renderer mints a fresh readyPromise on every init(), and
+                    // rejects the previous one ("superseded") when a newer init
+                    // starts. The renderer object is unchanged, so the identity
+                    // check above does not catch it — and we would tear down a
+                    // perfectly healthy renderer that is merely re-initialising.
+                    //
+                    // This is exactly what starting a gig did: setViz('venue')
+                    // installed the 3D renderer, then the queue's playSong()
+                    // re-initialised it a tick later; init #1's promise rejected,
+                    // and the gig dropped to the fallback 2D highway with the
+                    // venue gone. A superseded init is not a failed init — the
+                    // NEW cycle owns the outcome, and its own promise is what we
+                    // must judge.
+                    if (_installedRenderer.readyPromise !== rp) return;
                     console.error('renderer async init failure:', e);
                     _destroyCurrentIfInited();
                     hwState._renderer = _defaultRenderer;
@@ -1159,6 +1175,17 @@ function createHighway() {
             ' (user ' + hwState._renderScale.toFixed(2) + ' / auto ' + hwState._autoScale.toFixed(2) + ')';
     }
 
+    // Optional renderer capability: "my picture keeps moving even when the chart
+    // clock is stopped". Anything a renderer animates on its own clock (the 3D
+    // highway's venue video + crowd) has to opt out of the paused-frame throttle
+    // or it renders at 10 fps while the song is paused. Absent / throwing =
+    // false, so every existing renderer keeps the throttle unchanged.
+    function _rendererNeedsContinuousFrames() {
+        const r = hwState._renderer;
+        if (!r || typeof r.needsContinuousFrames !== 'function') return false;
+        try { return r.needsContinuousFrames() === true; } catch (_) { return false; }
+    }
+
     function draw() {
         hwState.animFrame = requestAnimationFrame(draw);
         if (!hwState.canvas || !hwState._renderer) return;
@@ -1223,7 +1250,15 @@ function createHighway() {
             const _nowP = performance.now();
             if (_nowP - hwState._chartLastAdvanceAt > _CHART_MAX_INTERP_MS) {
                 _paused = true;
-                if (_nowP - hwState._lastPausedDrawAt < _PAUSED_FRAME_INTERVAL_MS) return;
+                // ...unless the renderer says its picture is NOT static while
+                // paused. The throttle assumes a paused chart is a still frame,
+                // but a renderer can own content on a clock of its own — the 3D
+                // highway draws the venue's video backdrop and its reactive crowd
+                // into this same canvas, so throttling the highway throttled the
+                // whole room to 10 fps whenever the song was paused. Optional
+                // method: renderers that don't implement it keep the throttle.
+                if (!_rendererNeedsContinuousFrames()
+                    && _nowP - hwState._lastPausedDrawAt < _PAUSED_FRAME_INTERVAL_MS) return;
                 hwState._lastPausedDrawAt = _nowP;
             }
         }

static/v3/venue-crowd.js

@@ -133,6 +133,11 @@
     let _lastStingerAt = -Infinity;
     let _prevStreak = 0;
     let _lastAccuracyPct = null; // from perf events; stats:recorded carries none
+    // Filename of the song song:loaded last reported. An arrangement switch
+    // re-emits song:loaded for the SAME file (changeArrangement reloads through
+    // the normal load path), and that must not be mistaken for arriving at the
+    // venue with a new song — see onSongLoaded.
+    let _lastSongFile = '';
     let _bound = false;
 
     function now() { return Date.now(); }
@@ -478,10 +483,40 @@
         }
     }
 
-    function onSongLoaded() {
+    // song:loaded for the SAME file is an arrangement switch, not an arrival at
+    // the venue. changeArrangement() reloads through the normal load path, so
+    // the event is indistinguishable from a fresh load except by filename.
+    function isArrangementSwitch(prevFile, nextFile) {
+        return !!nextFile && nextFile === prevFile;
+    }
+
+    function onSongLoaded(song) {
+        const file = String((song && song.filename) || '');
+        const sameSong = isArrangementSwitch(_lastSongFile, file);
+        _lastSongFile = file;
+
         machine.reset();
         _prevStreak = 0;
         _lastAccuracyPct = null;
+
+        // Switching arrangement is NOT arriving at the venue.
+        //
+        // changeArrangement() reloads the song through the same path as a fresh
+        // load, so highway.js emits song:loaded again — same filename, new
+        // arrangement. Treated as a new song, that replayed the arrival flyover:
+        // the camera flew in from the back of the room again mid-set, every time
+        // the player switched from lead to rhythm. The player is already on
+        // stage; the room should just carry on.
+        //
+        // So keep the video pipeline running and only re-sync the mood: the
+        // performance restarts, so the loop must follow the reset machine (a
+        // quiet crossfade), never the intro.
+        if (sameSong) {
+            if (_venueActive && _manifest && !_introActive) showLoop(machine.current, FADE_MS);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        // A genuinely different song — full teardown.
         // Abort any stinger/pending state from the previous song: its ended
         // handler must not fade back into the old song's layers.
         cancelFade();
@@ -651,6 +686,7 @@
         bindRuntime,
         getState,
         celebrate,
+        isArrangementSwitch,
     };
 
     if (root) root.v3VenueCrowd = api;

static/v3/venue-scene-3d.js

@@ -18,6 +18,30 @@
     let _lastMood = 'idle';
     let _bound = false;
 
+    // The venue belongs to the SONG player and nowhere else.
+    //
+    // isVenueViz() only answers "is Venue the selected visualization" — a global
+    // preference. It says nothing about what is on screen. Other surfaces borrow
+    // the same highway_3d renderer (Virtuoso runs its practice charts on it), so
+    // with Venue selected they inherited the venue backdrop: the crowd and the
+    // stage showed up behind a chromatic exercise. The viz picker is a
+    // preference for the player; it is not a licence to paint the venue over
+    // whatever else happens to be using the renderer.
+    //
+    // So gate on both: Venue selected AND the player screen is the one showing.
+    function isPlayerScreen() {
+        try {
+            const active = document.querySelector('.screen.active');
+            return !!active && active.id === 'player';
+        } catch (_) {
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
+    function shouldBeActive() {
+        return isVenueViz() && isPlayerScreen();
+    }
+
     function isVenueViz() {
         if (root && root.v3VenueViz && typeof root.v3VenueViz.isVenueVisualization === 'function') {
             const sel = root.v3VenueViz.getSelectedVizId
@@ -146,7 +170,8 @@
 
     function syncViz(vizId) {
         const id = String(vizId || '');
-        if (id === 'venue') {
+        // Venue selected is necessary but not sufficient — see shouldBeActive.
+        if (id === 'venue' && isPlayerScreen()) {
             activate();
         } else {
             deactivate();
@@ -192,12 +217,19 @@
                 if (_active) syncInstrumentPov();
             });
             sm.on('viz:renderer:ready', () => {
-                if (isVenueViz()) activate();
+                if (shouldBeActive()) activate();
                 else deactivate();
             });
             sm.on('viz:reverted', () => deactivate());
+            // Leaving the player tears the venue down; coming back rebuilds it.
+            // Without this the backdrop followed the renderer onto every other
+            // surface that borrows it (Virtuoso's practice highway).
+            sm.on('screen:changed', () => {
+                if (shouldBeActive()) activate();
+                else deactivate();
+            });
         }
-        if (isVenueViz()) activate();
+        if (shouldBeActive()) activate();
     }
 
     function getState() {
@@ -234,6 +266,8 @@
         activate,
         deactivate,
         syncViz,
+        isPlayerScreen,
+        shouldBeActive,
         onAssetsLoaded,
         onAssetsFailed,
         onPerformanceState,

tests/js/highway_pause_throttle.test.js

@@ -77,3 +77,89 @@ test('throttle runs after the ready gate, before bundle/draw', () => {
     assert.ok(readyIdx < throttleIdx, 'throttle must come after the ready gate');
     assert.ok(throttleIdx < drawIdx, 'throttle must come before the renderer draw');
 });
+
+// ── The throttle must not starve a renderer that animates on its own clock ──
+//
+// The throttle assumes a paused chart is a still picture, so re-rendering it is
+// waste. That stopped being true when the venue landed: the 3D highway draws the
+// venue's VIDEO backdrop and its reactive crowd into the same canvas as the
+// notes, so capping paused frames capped the whole room — pausing the song
+// dropped the venue to ~10 fps ("everything around the highway drops fps").
+//
+// Renderers now opt out via an optional needsContinuousFrames(). Absent or
+// throwing must mean false, so every other renderer keeps the throttle.
+
+test('paused throttle defers to a renderer that needs continuous frames', () => {
+    const src = highwaySources();
+    const fn = extractBlock(src, 'function draw()');
+    assert.match(fn, /_rendererNeedsContinuousFrames\s*\(\s*\)/,
+        'the paused throttle must consult the renderer capability');
+    // The capability must GATE the early-return, not merely be called near it:
+    // the throttle only applies when the renderer does NOT need every frame.
+    assert.match(
+        fn,
+        /!\s*_rendererNeedsContinuousFrames\s*\(\s*\)[\s\S]{0,160}_PAUSED_FRAME_INTERVAL_MS[\s\S]{0,40}return;/,
+        'throttle must be skipped when the renderer needs continuous frames',
+    );
+});
+
+test('the capability probe fails closed (absent / non-function / throwing)', () => {
+    const src = highwaySources();
+    const fn = extractBlock(src, 'function _rendererNeedsContinuousFrames()');
+    assert.match(fn, /typeof\s+r\.needsContinuousFrames\s*!==\s*'function'[\s\S]{0,40}return false/,
+        'a renderer without the method must keep the throttle');
+    assert.match(fn, /catch[\s\S]{0,40}return false/,
+        'a throwing renderer must keep the throttle, not crash the draw loop');
+    assert.match(fn, /===\s*true/,
+        'only an explicit true opts out — a truthy accident must not disable the throttle');
+});
+
+test('3D highway claims continuous frames for BOTH sources of venue motion', () => {
+    const h3d = fs.readFileSync(
+        path.join(__dirname, '..', '..', 'plugins', 'highway_3d', 'screen.js'), 'utf8');
+    const fn = extractBlock(h3d, 'needsContinuousFrames()');
+    // (1) a crowd video rolling on its own clock (career venue pack)
+    assert.match(fn, /_venueCrowdVideos/, 'must key off the actual crowd video elements');
+    assert.match(fn, /\.paused/, 'a paused video is a still frame');
+    // (2) the venue scene's OWN fake-depth motion — backdrop breathe, haze drift,
+    // warmth pulse, shimmer. Math.sin(t) in the draw loop, so it only moves while
+    // we get frames, and it runs with NO pack at all. Missing this meant the venue
+    // still stuttered on pause / count-in / credits whenever no video was rolling.
+    assert.match(fn, /_venueEffectiveMotionMode\s*\(\s*\)\s*!==\s*'off'/,
+        'the venue scene animates without any video — it must claim frames too');
+    // ...and with no venue at all the paused scene IS static: the #654 GPU saving
+    // must survive, so the method has to be able to return false.
+    assert.match(fn, /return false;/, 'must fall through to false on a plain 3D highway');
+});
+
+// ── a SUPERSEDED init is not a FAILED init ──────────────────────────────────
+//
+// Starting a gig dropped the player onto the fallback 2D highway with no venue.
+//
+// setViz('venue') installs the 3D renderer, whose init is async; the gig then
+// immediately starts its play queue, and playSong() re-initialises that same
+// renderer a tick later. A renderer mints a fresh readyPromise per init() and
+// rejects the previous one with "superseded" — but highway.js only checked that
+// the RENDERER object was unchanged, which it is. So it treated a healthy
+// re-initialising renderer as a failed one, tore it down, and reverted to 2D:
+//
+//     renderer async init failure: Error: superseded
+//     viz picker: reverted to default renderer (async-init-failure)
+//
+// Reproduced and fixed against the real build (venue stays selected, scene
+// active, no viz:reverted).
+
+test('a superseded readyPromise must not revert the viz to 2D', () => {
+    const src = highwaySources();
+    const fn = extractBlock(src, 'function _handleAsyncInitFailure(e)');
+    assert.match(fn, /readyPromise\s*!==\s*rp[\s\S]{0,40}return/,
+        'a rejection from a STALE readyPromise (the renderer has since re-init\'d) must be ' +
+        'ignored — otherwise a re-initialising renderer is torn down as if it had failed');
+    // The renderer-identity check must survive too: a rejection belonging to a
+    // renderer that has since been REPLACED is also not our problem.
+    assert.match(fn, /hwState\._renderer\s*!==\s*_installedRenderer[\s\S]{0,20}return/,
+        'the renderer-identity guard must remain');
+    // ...and a genuine failure of the CURRENT init cycle must still revert.
+    assert.match(fn, /_emitVizReverted\s*\(\s*'async-init-failure'\s*\)/,
+        'a real async-init failure must still fall back to the default renderer');
+});

tests/js/venue_scene_3d.test.js

@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ test('index.html loads venue deps before venue-scene-3d', () => {
     assert.ok(vizIdx < moodIdx && moodIdx < sceneIdx);
 });
 
-test('syncViz activates only for venue visualization id', () => {
+test('syncViz activates only for venue visualization id, and only on the player', () => {
     global.h3dVenueSceneSetActive = (on) => { global._h3dActive = on; };
     global.h3dVenueSceneSetMood = (s) => { global._h3dMood = s; };
     global.h3dVenueSceneSetInstrumentPov = () => {};
@@ -216,7 +216,14 @@ test('syncViz activates only for venue visualization id', () => {
     global.v3VenueViz = venueViz;
     global.v3VenueInstrumentPov = pov;
     global.feedBack = { on() {} };
+    // The venue is scoped to the song player: selecting Venue is a preference
+    // for THAT screen, not a licence to paint the venue over anything else that
+    // borrows the highway_3d renderer (Virtuoso's practice charts did exactly
+    // that). syncViz therefore needs to know which screen is showing.
+    const onScreen = (id) => { global.document = { querySelector: (s) => (s === '.screen.active' && id ? { id } : null) }; };
+    const prevDoc = global.document;
     try {
+        onScreen('player');
         venueScene.deactivate();
         venueScene.syncViz('highway_3d');
         assert.equal(global._h3dActive, false);
@@ -224,7 +231,16 @@ test('syncViz activates only for venue visualization id', () => {
         assert.equal(global._h3dActive, true);
         assert.equal(venueScene.getState().active, true);
         assert.equal(venueScene.getState().themeId, 'small-club');
+
+        // ...and the same call OFF the player must not activate it.
+        venueScene.deactivate();
+        onScreen('virtuoso');
+        venueScene.syncViz('venue');
+        assert.equal(global._h3dActive, false,
+            'Venue selected must NOT paint the venue onto the Virtuoso highway');
+        assert.equal(venueScene.getState().active, false);
     } finally {
+        global.document = prevDoc;
         venueScene.deactivate();
         delete global.h3dVenueSceneSetActive;
         delete global.h3dVenueSceneSetMood;

tests/js/venue_scope.test.js

@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+// Two venue bugs reported from a live career session.
+//
+// 1. Changing arrangement mid-song replayed the venue arrival flyover. The
+//    camera flew in from the back of the room again, every time the player
+//    switched lead -> rhythm. changeArrangement() reloads the song through the
+//    normal load path, so highway.js re-emits `song:loaded` — same filename,
+//    new arrangement — and the venue could not tell that from a fresh arrival.
+//    The player is already on stage; the room should just carry on.
+//
+// 2. With Venue selected, the venue backdrop showed up on the VIRTUOSO highway.
+//    The venue was gated purely on the viz selection, which is a global
+//    preference and says nothing about what is on screen. Virtuoso borrows the
+//    same highway_3d renderer for its practice charts, so it inherited the
+//    crowd and the stage behind a chromatic exercise. The venue belongs to the
+//    song player and nowhere else.
+
+'use strict';
+
+const { test } = require('node:test');
+const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
+
+const crowd = require('../../static/v3/venue-crowd.js');
+
+// ── 1. arrangement switch is not an arrival ────────────────────────────────
+
+test('same filename = arrangement switch (no arrival flyover)', () => {
+    // changeArrangement() re-emits song:loaded for the song already on stage.
+    assert.equal(crowd.isArrangementSwitch('song.feedpak', 'song.feedpak'), true);
+});
+
+test('different filename = a genuinely new song (flyover is correct)', () => {
+    assert.equal(crowd.isArrangementSwitch('a.feedpak', 'b.feedpak'), false);
+});
+
+test('first load of the session is an arrival, not a switch', () => {
+    // No previous song -> the flyover must play.
+    assert.equal(crowd.isArrangementSwitch('', 'a.feedpak'), false);
+});
+
+test('a missing filename is never treated as a switch', () => {
+    // Otherwise a malformed payload would silently suppress the flyover for the
+    // rest of the session.
+    assert.equal(crowd.isArrangementSwitch('a.feedpak', ''), false);
+    assert.equal(crowd.isArrangementSwitch('a.feedpak', undefined), false);
+    assert.equal(crowd.isArrangementSwitch('', ''), false);
+});
+
+// ── 2. the venue belongs to the player screen ──────────────────────────────
+
+const scene = require('../../static/v3/venue-scene-3d.js');
+
+// Venue MUST be the selected visualization for these to mean anything: if the
+// viz were unset, shouldBeActive() would be false for the wrong reason and the
+// virtuoso assertion below would pass vacuously. Force the viz on, so the only
+// thing under test is the SCREEN gate.
+function withScreen(id, fn) {
+    const prevDoc = global.document;
+    const prevViz = global.v3VenueViz;
+    global.v3VenueViz = {
+        isVenueVisualization: (v) => String(v) === 'venue',
+        getSelectedVizId: () => 'venue',
+    };
+    global.document = {
+        querySelector(sel) {
+            if (sel !== '.screen.active') return null;
+            return id ? { id } : null;
+        },
+    };
+    try { return fn(); } finally { global.document = prevDoc; global.v3VenueViz = prevViz; }
+}
+
+test('guard: with Venue selected AND on the player, the venue IS active', () => {
+    // If this ever fails, every "not active" test below is vacuous.
+    withScreen('player', () => {
+        assert.equal(scene.shouldBeActive(), true,
+            'the screen gate must not break the normal case');
+    });
+});
+
+test('venue is active on the player screen', () => {
+    withScreen('player', () => {
+        assert.equal(scene.isPlayerScreen(), true);
+    });
+});
+
+test('venue is NOT active on the virtuoso screen (the bug)', () => {
+    withScreen('virtuoso', () => {
+        assert.equal(scene.isPlayerScreen(), false,
+            'Virtuoso borrows the same highway_3d renderer — the venue backdrop ' +
+            'must not follow it there');
+        assert.equal(scene.shouldBeActive(), false,
+            'selecting Venue is a preference for the PLAYER; it is not a licence ' +
+            'to paint the venue over whatever else is using the renderer');
+    });
+});
+
+test('venue is not active on any other screen either', () => {
+    for (const id of ['v3-home', 'plugin-folder_library', 'settings', 'career']) {
+        withScreen(id, () => {
+            assert.equal(scene.shouldBeActive(), false, `venue must not be active on ${id}`);
+        });
+    }
+});
+
+test('no active screen at all is not the player', () => {
+    withScreen(null, () => {
+        assert.equal(scene.isPlayerScreen(), false);
+    });
+});
+
+test('a throwing document does not take the venue down with it', () => {
+    const prev = global.document;
+    global.document = { querySelector() { throw new Error('detached'); } };
+    try {
+        assert.equal(scene.isPlayerScreen(), false, 'must fail closed, not throw');
+    } finally {
+        global.document = prev;
+    }
+});