diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/render.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/render.ts
index 6c20afb04..2c2ed2724 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/render.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/render.ts
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ import { lintProject, shouldBlockRender } from "../utils/lintProject.js";
 import { formatLintFindings } from "../utils/lintFormat.js";
 import { loadProducer } from "../utils/producer.js";
 import { c } from "../ui/colors.js";
-import { formatBytes, formatDuration, errorBox } from "../ui/format.js";
+import { formatBytes, formatRenderSummaryDetail, errorBox } from "../ui/format.js";
 import { renderProgress } from "../ui/progress.js";
 import {
   trackRenderComplete,
@@ -1227,6 +1227,9 @@ async function renderDocker(
     ...getMemorySnapshot(),
   });
 
+  // ponytail: Docker runs the producer in a child process, so no perfSummary is
+  // threaded back here; the summary shows render time only (never a wrong video
+  // length). Probe the output with ffprobe if a duration figure is wanted here.
   printRenderComplete(outputPath, elapsed, options.quiet);
   if (options.exitAfterComplete) scheduleRenderProcessExit();
   return { renderTimeMs: elapsed };
@@ -1323,7 +1326,13 @@ export async function renderLocal(
 
   const elapsed = Date.now() - startTime;
   trackRenderMetrics(job, elapsed, options, false);
-  printRenderComplete(outputPath, elapsed, options.quiet);
+  printRenderComplete(
+    outputPath,
+    elapsed,
+    options.quiet,
+    job.perfSummary?.compositionDurationSeconds,
+    job.perfSummary?.totalFrames,
+  );
   if (!options.skipFeedback) {
     await maybePromptRenderFeedback({
       renderDurationMs: elapsed,
@@ -1546,12 +1555,20 @@ function trackRenderMetrics(
   });
 }
 
-function printRenderComplete(outputPath: string, elapsedMs: number, quiet: boolean): void {
+function printRenderComplete(
+  outputPath: string,
+  elapsedMs: number,
+  quiet: boolean,
+  outputDurationSeconds?: number,
+  frameCount?: number,
+): void {
   if (quiet) return;
 
   let fileSize = "unknown";
+  let isDirectory = false;
   try {
     const stat = statSync(outputPath);
+    isDirectory = stat.isDirectory();
     if (stat.isDirectory()) {
       // png-sequence output is a directory; sum the contained file sizes so
       // the user sees the on-disk footprint of the deliverable rather than
@@ -1573,8 +1590,13 @@ function printRenderComplete(outputPath: string, elapsedMs: number, quiet: boole
     // file doesn't exist or is inaccessible
   }
 
-  const duration = formatDuration(elapsedMs);
+  const detail = formatRenderSummaryDetail({
+    elapsedMs,
+    outputDurationSeconds,
+    isDirectory,
+    frameCount,
+  });
   console.log("");
   console.log(c.success("\u25C7") + "  " + c.accent(outputPath));
-  console.log("   " + c.bold(fileSize) + c.dim(" \u00B7 " + duration + " \u00B7 completed"));
+  console.log("   " + c.bold(fileSize) + c.dim(" \u00B7 " + detail));
 }
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/format.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/ui/format.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f1d17374b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/format.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { formatRenderSummaryDetail } from "./format.js";
+
+describe("formatRenderSummaryDetail", () => {
+  it("shows the output video length as the primary figure and labels render time", () => {
+    // Output is 71.7s of video but only took 34.2s of wall-clock to render:
+    // the two must be distinguishable so users stop comparing render time to ffprobe.
+    const detail = formatRenderSummaryDetail({
+      elapsedMs: 34_200,
+      outputDurationSeconds: 71.7,
+      isDirectory: false,
+    });
+    expect(detail).toBe("1m 11.7s video · rendered in 34.2s");
+    expect(detail).toContain("video");
+    expect(detail).toContain("rendered in");
+  });
+
+  it("omits the video figure gracefully when the duration is unknown", () => {
+    expect(formatRenderSummaryDetail({ elapsedMs: 5_000, isDirectory: false })).toBe(
+      "rendered in 5.0s",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("shows a frame count for png-sequence directory output instead of a video length", () => {
+    const detail = formatRenderSummaryDetail({
+      elapsedMs: 12_000,
+      isDirectory: true,
+      frameCount: 120,
+      // a stray duration must not leak into directory output
+      outputDurationSeconds: 4,
+    });
+    expect(detail).toBe("120 frames · rendered in 12.0s");
+    expect(detail).not.toContain("video");
+  });
+
+  it("does not crash and shows only render time for a directory with no frame count", () => {
+    expect(formatRenderSummaryDetail({ elapsedMs: 1_000, isDirectory: true })).toBe(
+      "rendered in 1.0s",
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/format.ts b/packages/cli/src/ui/format.ts
index 7fe028439..0ba33827c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/format.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/format.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,31 @@ export function formatDuration(ms: number): string {
   return `${minutes}m ${remaining.toFixed(1)}s`;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Build the detail portion of the render-complete summary (everything after the
+ * file size). The output video length is shown as the primary figure, with the
+ * wall-clock render time explicitly labeled "rendered in" so the two are never
+ * confused (users were comparing the render time to ffprobe's media duration).
+ * Directory (png-sequence) output has no single muxed video, so it shows a frame
+ * count instead, or just the render time when neither is known.
+ */
+export function formatRenderSummaryDetail(input: {
+  elapsedMs: number;
+  outputDurationSeconds?: number;
+  isDirectory: boolean;
+  frameCount?: number;
+}): string {
+  const middle = input.isDirectory
+    ? input.frameCount != null
+      ? `${input.frameCount} frames`
+      : undefined
+    : input.outputDurationSeconds != null && input.outputDurationSeconds > 0
+      ? `${formatDuration(input.outputDurationSeconds * 1000)} video`
+      : undefined;
+  const renderTime = `rendered in ${formatDuration(input.elapsedMs)}`;
+  return [middle, renderTime].filter(Boolean).join(" · ");
+}
+
 export function label(name: string, value: string): string {
   const pad = 14 - name.length;
   return `   ${c.dim(name)}${" ".repeat(Math.max(1, pad))}${c.bold(value)}`;