TL;DR In generative video pipelines, running cheap low-step sketches to pick parameters sounds like free optimization. But when prompts go out-of-distribution, surrogate scorers return noise, turning a \$0.002 check into a bad decision that triggers a \$15 compounding failure. Here's why skipping the cheap step is sometimes the cheapest option. Three numbers run Scenematic's generation loop. A think-frame costs \$0.002. A full render costs \$0.50. A bad scene that slips through and gets bu...