Show the character in the output panel while the clips generate

app.py

@@ -44,8 +44,10 @@ EXAMPLES = [
 
 PENDING = (
     "<div style='display:flex;align-items:center;justify-content:center;height:560px;opacity:.55;"
-    "border:1px dashed var(--border-color-primary);border-radius:8px'>Building your character…</div>"
+    "border:1px dashed var(--border-color-primary);border-radius:8px'>Designing your character…</div>"
 )
+
+
 IDLE_PANEL = (
     "<div style='display:flex;align-items:center;justify-content:center;height:560px;opacity:.55;"
     "border:1px dashed var(--border-color-primary);border-radius:8px'>"
@@ -53,6 +55,32 @@ IDLE_PANEL = (
 )
 
 
+def building_panel(character_path: str | None, message: str) -> str:
+    """The output panel while the clips are still generating: the character, and what is happening to it.
+
+    The still is the first thing worth looking at and it exists a couple of minutes before the playable demo does,
+    so it goes straight into the main panel rather than staying folded away in the downloads accordion.
+
+    Embedded as a data URI, downscaled first. A file path here would have to go through `/gradio_api/file=`, which
+    is the route that already 403'd on this Space once, and the panel is re-yielded on every step — a 1024px PNG
+    would be a megabyte of base64 each time.
+    """
+    if not character_path:
+        return PENDING
+    try:
+        thumbnail = Image.open(character_path).convert("RGBA")
+        thumbnail.thumbnail((460, 460))
+        source = sk.data_uri(thumbnail)
+    except Exception:  # noqa: BLE001 — the panel is cosmetic; never fail a run over it
+        return PENDING
+    return (
+        "<div style='display:flex;flex-direction:column;align-items:center;justify-content:center;gap:14px;"
+        "height:560px;border:1px dashed var(--border-color-primary);border-radius:8px'>"
+        "<style>@keyframes sf-pulse{0%,100%{opacity:.55}50%{opacity:1}}</style>"
+        f"<img src='{source}' alt='character' style='max-height:400px;max-width:90%;border-radius:6px'>"
+        f"<div style='animation:sf-pulse 1.6s ease-in-out infinite;font-size:.95em'>{message}</div>"
+        "</div>"
+    )
 def _out(name: str) -> str:
     return os.path.join(OUTPUT_DIR, f"{int(time.time() * 1000)}-{name}")
 
@@ -111,7 +139,8 @@ def forge(
     # ---- 1. the character design still ----
     if uploaded:
         character = uploaded
-        yield PENDING, character, [], None, [], None, "Using your uploaded character."
+        message = f"Animating {len(presets)} moves…"
+        yield building_panel(character, message), character, [], None, [], None, "Using your uploaded character."
     else:
         yield PENDING, None, [], None, [], None, "Designing the character…"
         backend = backends.BY_LABEL[backend_label]
@@ -126,7 +155,10 @@ def forge(
         except Exception as error:
             traceback.print_exc()
             raise gr.Error(f"{backend.space} failed: {type(error).__name__}: {error}") from error
-        yield PENDING, character, [], None, [], None, f"Character designed. Animating {len(presets)} moves…"
+        yield (
+            building_panel(character, f"Animating {len(presets)} moves…"),
+            character, [], None, [], None, f"Character designed. Animating {len(presets)} moves…",
+        )
 
     # ---- 2. one clip per move, concurrently ----
     # These requests are fully independent, so they are fired together: the wall clock becomes the slowest single
@@ -213,7 +245,10 @@ def forge(
         raise gr.Error("Every move failed. " + (failures[0] if failures else ""))
 
     gallery = [(clip["video"], clip["label"]) for clip in clips]
-    yield PENDING, character, gallery, None, [], None, f"{len(clips)} clips generated. Cutting to pose extremes…"
+    yield (
+        building_panel(character, "Cutting to pose extremes…"),
+        character, gallery, None, [], None, f"{len(clips)} clips generated. Cutting to pose extremes…",
+    )
 
     # ---- 3. key, cut to extremes, pack ----
     # One palette for the whole character, read before any keying. Shared across every move so the sheet cannot