E556 — Duncan Fewkes reel analysis digest

Source video: `../reels/E556-DVbENIFCocX.mp4` (symlink to `[home-path]`) Caption: `../reels/E556-DVbENIFCocX.txt` This file aggregates every playbook chunk section that cites E556. Sections are de-duplicated by heading. - 20 reels ingested at `[home]/.openclaw/browser/reels-ingest/{DU,DV}*/` - Episodes covered: **E485 (Pt2 Jason Derulo World Tour), E525-E536, E543-E549, E556-E557, E560, E567-E568, E570** - 5 Gemini visual analyses: DU-52fcinww (E544 Blocky Pinscreen), DUleGWZisrH (E534 Fluid Presets), DV6A04wislr (E568 SuperHot Cubes), DUSui7PioUD (E527 Holovis branded), DUgoDHlipPu (E532 Depth Cubes vs Fluid Presets) — rest rate-limited - All on **HDRP + VFX Graph + Shader Graph** (confirmed every caption) - **VFX Graph Particle Strips** (= ribbon particles), used as kelp strands. Each strand has per-strip stiffness, propagating directionality down the chain. - **Per-particle physics constraints**: per-strip stiffness, motion/forces propagated parent→child along the strip. - **Lookdev gotcha** (E548): going from debug line renderer to even basic HDRP lit material with self-shadow = "huge difference". - **#normalizefailure** — he literally tags failures and shows them. Authenticity move worth borrowing for LUME devlog. - **Fish boids** (E557): Reynolds boids sim with audio params on cruising speed, separation. Tuned audio levels low so fish don't zip away. - **Spectrum-mapped vertical audio response** (E557, his next step): > *"Planning another pass with spectrum levels mapping audio vertically, so leaves at the bottom react to the bass and frequencies increase up the stalk."* This is a concrete pattern: **map FFT bin index → vertical Y position on a strip particle**. Bass drives bottom leaves, treble drives top leaves. **LUME**: directly portable to anything tall/strip-shaped (curtain VFX, kelp, lightning). - **"Wobbly Lads" feedback gotcha** (E556): audio-reactive procedural creatures. *"Making the motion of the Wobbly Lad input to fluid sim meant I had to disable the fluid sim force contribution to the motion, otherwise it would feedback and he'd go apeshit."* Lesson: bidirectional coupling between sim and creatures requires breaking the loop — pick one direction. **LUME relevance**: kelp/seagrass = niche, but the **strip-particle physics primitive** is broadly useful (tendrils, smoke ribbons, hair). Park the kelp aesthetic; bring forward the strip-physics capability for Wave 4-5.