diff --git a/skills-manifest.json b/skills-manifest.json
index 84ceb7df0..c2a8e5f6a 100644
--- a/skills-manifest.json
+++ b/skills-manifest.json
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
       "files": 17
     },
     "hyperframes-animation": {
-      "hash": "2ce5ca7dbf361e27",
+      "hash": "4418a24093c4b1c1",
       "files": 121
     },
     "hyperframes-audio": {
diff --git a/skills/hyperframes-animation/scripts/animation-map.mjs b/skills/hyperframes-animation/scripts/animation-map.mjs
index d26b2065b..0bb3c81bc 100644
--- a/skills/hyperframes-animation/scripts/animation-map.mjs
+++ b/skills/hyperframes-animation/scripts/animation-map.mjs
@@ -104,7 +104,11 @@ try {
       (_, k) => +(tw.start + ((k + 0.5) / FRAMES) * (tw.end - tw.start)).toFixed(3),
     );
 
-    const bboxes = await sampleTweenBboxes(session.page, tw.selectorHint, times);
+    // No selector means no element to measure (an onUpdate driver). Sampling anyway
+    // would hand querySelector an unmatchable string.
+    const bboxes = tw.selectorHint
+      ? await sampleTweenBboxes(session.page, tw.selectorHint, times)
+      : [];
 
     const animProps = tw.props.filter(
       (p) => !["parent", "overwrite", "immediateRender", "startAt", "runBackwards"].includes(p),
@@ -114,7 +118,8 @@ try {
 
     report.tweens.push({
       index: i + 1,
-      selector: tw.selectorHint,
+      selector: tw.selectorHint ?? "(onUpdate driver)",
+      driver: tw.driver,
       targets: tw.targetCount,
       props: animProps,
       start: +tw.start.toFixed(3),
@@ -138,8 +143,14 @@ try {
   // ── Composition-level analysis ──
   report.choreography = buildTimeline(report.tweens, duration);
   report.density = computeDensity(report.tweens, duration);
-  report.staggers = detectStaggers(report.tweens);
-  report.elements = buildElementLifecycles(report.tweens);
+  // Staggers and lifecycles are per-ELEMENT, and a driver tween has none. Keyed on
+  // tw.selector they would collapse every driver in the composition into one
+  // "(onUpdate driver)" pseudo-element with null geometry, and let three same-duration
+  // drivers read as a stagger no element performs. Density, dead zones and the timeline
+  // still count them — those are per-SPAN, which is what a driver does have.
+  const elementTweens = report.tweens.filter((tw) => tw.driver !== "onUpdate");
+  report.staggers = detectStaggers(elementTweens);
+  report.elements = buildElementLifecycles(elementTweens);
   report.deadZones = findDeadZones(report.density, duration);
   report.snapshots = await captureSnapshots(session, report.tweens, duration);
 
@@ -184,17 +195,21 @@ async function enumerateTweens(session) {
       return cls ? `${el.tagName.toLowerCase()}.${cls}` : el.tagName.toLowerCase();
     };
 
-    const walk = (node, parentOffset = 0) => {
+    const walk = (node, parentOffset = 0, parentDriven = false) => {
       if (!node) return;
       if (typeof node.getChildren === "function") {
         const offset = parentOffset + (node.startTime?.() ?? 0);
+        // A TIMELINE can own the driver instead of the tween. The WebGL/uniform idiom is
+        // gsap.timeline({ onUpdate: renderFrame }) over children that tween plain uniform
+        // objects; those children carry no onUpdate of their own, so the driver has to
+        // reach them from above or their motion reads as a dead zone all the same.
+        const driven = parentDriven || typeof node.vars?.onUpdate === "function";
         for (const child of node.getChildren(true, true, true)) {
-          walk(child, offset);
+          walk(child, offset, driven);
         }
         return;
       }
       const targets = (node.targets?.() ?? []).filter((t) => t instanceof Element);
-      if (!targets.length) return;
       const vars = node.vars ?? {};
       const props = Object.keys(vars).filter(
         (k) =>
@@ -210,10 +225,28 @@ async function enumerateTweens(session) {
             "stagger",
           ].includes(k),
       );
+      // The proxy-driver idiom tweens a plain object and applies the motion in onUpdate,
+      // so targets() holds no Element. Dropping those tweens hid real motion from the
+      // map: computeDensity saw zero active tweens over their span and findDeadZones
+      // reported it as dead. There is no element to select or measure here, but the span
+      // is real, so keep the tween and mark why it carries no geometry.
+      //
+      // Under an inherited driver the tween must also CHANGE something. Its own onUpdate is
+      // proof of work by itself (a repaint loop need not animate a property), but a parent's
+      // is not: a bare `tl.to({}, { duration: D })` spacer inside a driven timeline advances
+      // the playhead without altering any value, so counting it would mask a genuine dead
+      // zone — the exact false positive the tween-local rule was careful to avoid.
+      const isProxyDriver =
+        targets.length === 0 &&
+        (typeof vars.onUpdate === "function" || (parentDriven && props.length > 0));
+      if (!targets.length && !isProxyDriver) return;
       const start = parentOffset + (node.startTime?.() ?? 0);
       const end = start + (node.duration?.() ?? 0);
       results.push({
-        selectorHint: selectorOf(targets[0]) ?? "(unknown)",
+        // null, not a placeholder string: this feeds document.querySelector downstream,
+        // so it must be absent rather than unmatchable.
+        selectorHint: isProxyDriver ? null : (selectorOf(targets[0]) ?? "(unknown)"),
+        driver: isProxyDriver ? "onUpdate" : "target",
         targetCount: targets.length,
         props,
         start,
@@ -234,7 +267,15 @@ function describeTween(tw, props, bboxes, flags) {
   const dur = (tw.end - tw.start).toFixed(2);
   const parts = [];
 
-  parts.push(`${tw.selectorHint} animates ${props.join("+")} over ${dur}s (${tw.ease})`);
+  if (tw.selectorHint) {
+    parts.push(`${tw.selectorHint} animates ${props.join("+")} over ${dur}s (${tw.ease})`);
+  } else {
+    // An onUpdate driver: the span and props are known, the affected element is not.
+    parts.push(
+      `an onUpdate driver animates ${props.join("+")} over ${dur}s (${tw.ease}) — ` +
+        `motion is applied in JS, so no element geometry was measured`,
+    );
+  }
 
   // Movement
   const first = bboxes[0];
@@ -299,7 +340,10 @@ function computeFlags(tw, bboxes, { width, height }) {
   const flags = [];
   const dur = tw.end - tw.start;
 
-  if (bboxes.every((b) => b.w === 0 || b.h === 0)) flags.push("degenerate");
+  // No samples at all (an onUpdate driver has no element to measure) is not evidence of
+  // a degenerate or invisible box — `[].every()` is vacuously true, so guard the
+  // geometry-derived flags. The pacing flags below read only start/end and still apply.
+  if (bboxes.length && bboxes.every((b) => b.w === 0 || b.h === 0)) flags.push("degenerate");
 
   const anyOffscreen = bboxes.some(
     (b) =>
@@ -314,7 +358,10 @@ function computeFlags(tw, bboxes, { width, height }) {
   );
   if (anyOffscreen) flags.push("offscreen");
 
-  if (bboxes.every((b) => b.opacity !== undefined && b.opacity < 0.01 && b.visible)) {
+  if (
+    bboxes.length &&
+    bboxes.every((b) => b.opacity !== undefined && b.opacity < 0.01 && b.visible)
+  ) {
     flags.push("invisible");
   }
 
diff --git a/skills/hyperframes-animation/scripts/animation-map.test.mjs b/skills/hyperframes-animation/scripts/animation-map.test.mjs
index f3cbbecdf..d93c33f66 100644
--- a/skills/hyperframes-animation/scripts/animation-map.test.mjs
+++ b/skills/hyperframes-animation/scripts/animation-map.test.mjs
@@ -286,3 +286,159 @@ describe("transient-init retry", () => {
     }
   });
 });
+
+// ── Proxy-driver tweens (the false dead-zone fix) ───────────────────────────
+// The proxy-driver idiom tweens a plain object and applies the motion inside
+// onUpdate, so the tween's targets() holds no Element. The map used to drop those
+// tweens outright, which meant computeDensity counted zero active tweens over their
+// span and findDeadZones reported real motion as a dead zone.
+//
+// The fake producer hands animation-map a session whose page.evaluate runs the
+// callback in this process, against a stubbed window/document. That exercises the real
+// enumerateTweens/computeDensity/findDeadZones code without a browser.
+const FAKE_PROXY_DRIVER_ENV = [
+  "globalThis.Element = class Element {};",
+  "const mover = new globalThis.Element();",
+  'mover.id = "mover";',
+  "mover.classList = [];",
+  // 0-1s: an ordinary element tween.
+  "const elementTween = {",
+  "  targets: () => [mover],",
+  '  vars: { x: 900, duration: 1, ease: "power2.out" },',
+  "  startTime: () => 0,",
+  "  duration: () => 1,",
+  "};",
+  // 2-4s: a proxy driver. Real motion, no Element target.
+  "const proxyTween = {",
+  "  targets: () => [{ v: 0 }],",
+  '  vars: { v: 100, duration: 2, ease: "none", onUpdate() {} },',
+  "  startTime: () => 2,",
+  "  duration: () => 2,",
+  "};",
+  // 2-4s as well: a bare spacer with no onUpdate. Produces nothing, must stay dropped,
+  // otherwise every full-span anchor tween would mask genuine dead zones.
+  "const spacerTween = {",
+  "  targets: () => [{}],",
+  "  vars: { duration: 2 },",
+  "  startTime: () => 2,",
+  "  duration: () => 2,",
+  "};",
+  "const timeline = {",
+  "  getChildren: () => [elementTween, proxyTween, spacerTween],",
+  "  startTime: () => 0,",
+  "  duration: () => 4,",
+  "  seek() {},",
+  "};",
+  "globalThis.window = { __timelines: { main: timeline } };",
+  "globalThis.document = { querySelector: () => null, querySelectorAll: () => [] };",
+  "globalThis.getComputedStyle = () => ({",
+  '  opacity: "1",',
+  '  visibility: "visible",',
+  '  display: "block",',
+  "});",
+  'export async function createFileServer() { return { url: "http://test", close() {} }; }',
+  "export async function createCaptureSession() {",
+  "  return { page: { evaluate: async (fn, arg) => fn(arg) } };",
+  "}",
+  "export async function closeCaptureSession() {}",
+  "export async function initializeSession() {}",
+  "export async function getCompositionDuration() { return 4; }",
+].join("\n");
+
+// The WebGL/uniform shape, e.g. skills/music-to-video/references/templates/
+// held-message-living-field: the TIMELINE carries onUpdate: renderFrame and its children
+// tween plain uniform objects. No child has an onUpdate of its own, so a tween-local
+// discriminator misses all of them and the whole composition reads as one dead zone.
+const FAKE_PARENT_DRIVER_ENV = [
+  "globalThis.Element = class Element {};",
+  "const uniformTween = {",
+  "  targets: () => [{ value: 0 }],",
+  '  vars: { value: 12, duration: 12, ease: "none" },',
+  "  startTime: () => 0,",
+  "  duration: () => 12,",
+  "};",
+  // Same driven timeline, but this one alters nothing — the repaint it triggers is
+  // identical frame to frame, so it must NOT count as motion.
+  "const spacerTween = {",
+  "  targets: () => [{}],",
+  "  vars: { duration: 12 },",
+  "  startTime: () => 0,",
+  "  duration: () => 12,",
+  "};",
+  "const timeline = {",
+  "  vars: { onUpdate() {} },",
+  "  getChildren: () => [uniformTween, spacerTween],",
+  "  startTime: () => 0,",
+  "  duration: () => 12,",
+  "  seek() {},",
+  "};",
+  "globalThis.window = { __timelines: { main: timeline } };",
+  "globalThis.document = { querySelector: () => null, querySelectorAll: () => [] };",
+  "globalThis.getComputedStyle = () => ({",
+  '  opacity: "1",',
+  '  visibility: "visible",',
+  '  display: "block",',
+  "});",
+  'export async function createFileServer() { return { url: "http://test", close() {} }; }',
+  "export async function createCaptureSession() {",
+  "  return { page: { evaluate: async (fn, arg) => fn(arg) } };",
+  "}",
+  "export async function closeCaptureSession() {}",
+  "export async function initializeSession() {}",
+  "export async function getCompositionDuration() { return 12; }",
+].join("\n");
+
+describe("proxy-driver tweens", () => {
+  it("counts an onUpdate driver's span instead of reporting it as a dead zone", () => {
+    const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "hyperframes-skill-proxy-test-"));
+    try {
+      const compositionDir = writeFakeEnv(root, FAKE_PROXY_DRIVER_ENV);
+      const output = runHelper(HELPERS[0], root, compositionDir);
+      const report = JSON.parse(readFileSync(join(root, "out", "animation-map.json"), "utf8"));
+
+      const drivers = report.tweens.filter((tw) => tw.driver === "onUpdate");
+      assert.equal(drivers.length, 1, `expected one onUpdate driver in:\n${output}`);
+      assert.equal(drivers[0].start, 2);
+      assert.equal(drivers[0].end, 4);
+      assert.equal(drivers[0].targets, 0);
+      assert.deepEqual(drivers[0].bboxes, [], "there is no element to measure");
+      // `[].every()` is vacuously true, so unmeasured must not read as degenerate/invisible.
+      assert.deepEqual(drivers[0].flags, []);
+
+      assert.deepEqual(report.deadZones, [], "2-4s is animating, not dead");
+      // The bare spacer stays out — only the element tween and the driver are mapped.
+      assert.equal(report.tweens.length, 2);
+
+      // Per-ELEMENT analyses must not adopt the driver as a pseudo-element.
+      assert.deepEqual(Object.keys(report.elements), ["#mover"]);
+      assert.deepEqual(report.staggers, []);
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("inherits a driver the TIMELINE owns, without counting a spacer under it", () => {
+    const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "hyperframes-skill-parent-driver-test-"));
+    try {
+      const compositionDir = writeFakeEnv(root, FAKE_PARENT_DRIVER_ENV);
+      const output = runHelper(HELPERS[0], root, compositionDir);
+      const report = JSON.parse(readFileSync(join(root, "out", "animation-map.json"), "utf8"));
+
+      const drivers = report.tweens.filter((tw) => tw.driver === "onUpdate");
+      assert.equal(drivers.length, 1, `expected one inherited driver in:\n${output}`);
+      assert.deepEqual(drivers[0].props, ["value"]);
+      assert.equal(drivers[0].start, 0);
+      assert.equal(drivers[0].end, 12);
+
+      assert.deepEqual(report.deadZones, [], "the uniform tween animates the whole span");
+      // Nothing element-backed here at all, so both per-element analyses stay empty.
+      assert.deepEqual(report.elements, {});
+      assert.deepEqual(report.staggers, []);
+      // The spacer changes no value, so the parent's onUpdate repaints an identical frame.
+      // Counting it would mask a real dead zone.
+      assert.equal(report.tweens.length, 1);
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+});