diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/audioStage.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/audioStage.ts
index 5e17b6de6..fca171212 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/audioStage.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/audioStage.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import { processCompositionAudio } from "@hyperframes/engine";
-import type { RenderJob } from "../../renderOrchestrator.js";
 import type { CompositionMetadata } from "../shared.js";
 
 export interface AudioStageInput {
@@ -25,7 +24,6 @@ export interface AudioStageInput {
   workDir: string;
   /** `join(workDir, "compiled")`; passed through to the audio mixer for asset resolution. */
   compiledDir: string;
-  job: RenderJob;
   /** Composition duration (post-probe). Must be > 0 — probeStage guarantees this. */
   duration: number;
   /** Read-only view of `composition.audios`. */
diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/captureHdrStage.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/captureHdrStage.ts
index 9627f49bd..ee48c7452 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/captureHdrStage.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/captureHdrStage.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 /**
  * captureHdrStage — Z-ordered HDR / shader-transition layered composite.
  *
- * Lifted verbatim from `executeRenderJob`'s `if (useLayeredComposite)`
- * branch. The most complex capture path:
+ * The most complex capture path:
  *   - Spawns a dedicated `domSession` for transparent-background screenshots.
  *   - Spawns an `hdrEncoder` (`spawnStreamingEncoder` with
  *     `rawInputFormat: "rgb48le"`) accepting pre-composited HDR frames.
diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/captureStreamingStage.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/captureStreamingStage.ts
index bfd1a57c3..75bc3a8e0 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/captureStreamingStage.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/captureStreamingStage.ts
@@ -34,9 +34,10 @@
  *     `streamingEncoderClosed` so it's idempotent.
  *
  * Known follow-up (same as captureStage): this stage imports
- * `updateJobStatus` from `renderOrchestrator.ts`, re-introducing the
- * cycle PR 1.3.5 broke. A subsequent PR will consolidate capture
- * helpers into a shared module.
+ * `updateJobStatus` from `renderOrchestrator.ts`, forming a runtime
+ * cycle with the orchestrator's import of `runCaptureStreamingStage`.
+ * Safe at runtime; a subsequent change will move the capture helpers
+ * into a shared module so the stages can import without reaching back.
  */
 
 import {
@@ -102,8 +103,6 @@ export type CaptureStreamingStageResult =
   | {
       /** Streaming path ran successfully — sequencer should skip the disk path AND Stage 5 encode. */
       success: true;
-      /** Wall-clock ms for the capture phase (`Date.now() - stage4Start` is the sequencer's job). */
-      captureDurationMs: number;
       /** Wall-clock ms for the encode phase (overlapped with capture; from the encoder's own report). */
       encodeMs: number;
       probeSession: CaptureSession | null;
@@ -165,7 +164,6 @@ export async function runCaptureStreamingStage(
     return { success: false };
   }
 
-  const streamStart = Date.now();
   const currentEncoder: StreamingEncoder = streamingEncoder;
 
   try {
@@ -280,7 +278,6 @@ export async function runCaptureStreamingStage(
 
     return {
       success: true,
-      captureDurationMs: Date.now() - streamStart,
       encodeMs: encodeResult.durationMs,
       probeSession,
       lastBrowserConsole,
diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/encodeStage.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/encodeStage.ts
index 8e883103a..eca96c0cc 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/encodeStage.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/render/stages/encodeStage.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@ import {
   encodeFramesFromDir,
   getEncoderPreset,
 } from "@hyperframes/engine";
-import type { Fps } from "@hyperframes/core";
 import type { ProducerLogger } from "../../../logger.js";
 import {
   updateJobStatus,
@@ -53,7 +52,6 @@ export interface EncodeStageInput {
   /** Output dimensions (post-deviceScaleFactor). */
   width: number;
   height: number;
-  fps: Fps;
   /** True when the output format requires an alpha channel; selects frame extension. */
   needsAlpha: boolean;
   /** True iff the composition has audio. Drives the sidecar copy. */
@@ -66,7 +64,6 @@ export interface EncodeStageInput {
   preset: ReturnType<typeof getEncoderPreset>;
   effectiveQuality: number;
   effectiveBitrate: string | undefined;
-  useGpu: boolean | undefined;
   /** Producer config — enables the chunked-concat encoder when on. */
   enableChunkedEncode: boolean;
   chunkedEncodeSize: number;
@@ -89,7 +86,6 @@ export async function runEncodeStage(input: EncodeStageInput): Promise<EncodeSta
     videoOnlyPath,
     width,
     height,
-    fps,
     needsAlpha,
     hasAudio,
     audioOutputPath,
@@ -97,7 +93,6 @@ export async function runEncodeStage(input: EncodeStageInput): Promise<EncodeSta
     preset,
     effectiveQuality,
     effectiveBitrate,
-    useGpu,
     enableChunkedEncode,
     chunkedEncodeSize,
     abortSignal,
@@ -143,7 +138,7 @@ export async function runEncodeStage(input: EncodeStageInput): Promise<EncodeSta
   const frameExt = needsAlpha ? "png" : "jpg";
   const framePattern = `frame_%06d.${frameExt}`;
   const encoderOpts = {
-    fps,
+    fps: job.config.fps,
     width,
     height,
     codec: preset.codec,
@@ -151,7 +146,7 @@ export async function runEncodeStage(input: EncodeStageInput): Promise<EncodeSta
     quality: effectiveQuality,
     bitrate: effectiveBitrate,
     pixelFormat: preset.pixelFormat,
-    useGpu,
+    useGpu: job.config.useGpu,
     hdr: preset.hdr,
   };
   const encodeResult = enableChunkedEncode
diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts
index ccdffa765..22c330e6e 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts
@@ -1,16 +1,33 @@
 /**
  * Render Orchestrator Service
  *
- * Coordinates the entire video rendering pipeline:
- * 1. Parse composition metadata
- * 2. Pre-extract video frames
- * 3. Pre-process audio tracks
- * 4. Parallel frame capture
- * 5. Video encoding
- * 6. Final assembly (audio mux + faststart)
+ * `executeRenderJob` is the in-process entry point that composes the
+ * pipeline's six stages. Each stage lives in its own module under
+ * `./render/stages/` so the pure-function primitives can be reused by
+ * the distributed render path without dragging the orchestrator's
+ * cleanup and observability scaffolding with them.
  *
- * Heavy observability: every stage logs timing, errors include
- * full context, and failures produce a diagnostic summary.
+ *   Stage 1  compile         → services/render/stages/compileStage.ts
+ *   Stage 1b probe           → services/render/stages/probeStage.ts
+ *            (browser-driven duration discovery + media reconciliation;
+ *            grouped with Stage 1 in the perf summary)
+ *   Stage 2  extract videos  → services/render/stages/extractVideosStage.ts
+ *   Stage 3  audio           → services/render/stages/audioStage.ts
+ *   Stage 4  capture         → services/render/stages/captureStage.ts
+ *                              services/render/stages/captureStreamingStage.ts
+ *                              services/render/stages/captureHdrStage.ts
+ *   Stage 5  encode          → services/render/stages/encodeStage.ts
+ *   Stage 6  assemble        → services/render/stages/assembleStage.ts
+ *
+ * Resources spawned by stages (file server, capture sessions, streaming
+ * encoders, raw HDR frame files) are tracked in the orchestrator's
+ * `try/finally` so a stage throwing mid-pipeline doesn't leak Chrome
+ * processes or ffmpeg subprocesses.
+ *
+ * Heavy observability: every stage records timing into `perfStages`,
+ * errors carry full context, and failures produce a diagnostic summary
+ * (browser console tail, memory peaks, capture attempts, HDR
+ * diagnostics).
  */
 
 import {
@@ -1812,6 +1829,16 @@ export function extractStandaloneEntryFromIndex(
   return document.toString();
 }
 
+/**
+ * Render a `RenderJob` end-to-end: compile → probe → extract videos →
+ * audio → capture → encode → assemble. The function body is a thin
+ * sequencer over the eight stage modules in `./render/stages/`; the
+ * orchestrator owns shared resources (work dir, file server, probe
+ * session, browser console buffer, perf counters, peak-memory sampler)
+ * and the `try/finally` cleanup. Returns once the final output exists at
+ * `outputPath`; throws on cancellation, encoder failure, or a stage
+ * error (with a diagnostic summary written to `perf-summary.json`).
+ */
 export async function executeRenderJob(
   job: RenderJob,
   projectDir: string,
@@ -2069,7 +2096,6 @@ export async function executeRenderJob(
       projectDir,
       workDir,
       compiledDir,
-      job,
       duration: job.duration,
       audios: composition.audios,
       abortSignal,
@@ -2442,7 +2468,6 @@ export async function executeRenderJob(
           videoOnlyPath,
           width,
           height,
-          fps: job.config.fps,
           needsAlpha,
           hasAudio,
           audioOutputPath,
@@ -2450,7 +2475,6 @@ export async function executeRenderJob(
           preset,
           effectiveQuality,
           effectiveBitrate,
-          useGpu: job.config.useGpu,
           enableChunkedEncode,
           chunkedEncodeSize,
           abortSignal,