Temporal drift, the limit behind a length
Temporal drift is the gradual change in faces, clothing, lighting and geometry across a long generation. It is the reason a release can accept a large frame count and still not produce a usable clip at that length. As of 2026-09-22.
| Aspect | Effect over a long clip |
|---|---|
| Faces | Identity shifts gradually |
| Clothing | Details change between passages |
| Lighting | Direction and colour move |
| Geometry | Room and object shapes deform |
Inclusion rule. Aspects that degrade over a long generation. Rows describe a general failure mode with no release attributed, because no repository here measures it. Order. From the aspect a viewer notices first to the one they notice last.
1Why an unbounded frame argument is not generosity
One release in this register treats frames as an argument with no stated maximum. That tells a reader what the code accepts and leaves them to discover where the output stops holding together.
Finding that boundary costs runs. A published ceiling, even a conservative one, transfers some of that cost back to the vendor who could measure it cheaply.
2This is why the register does not rank lengths
A stated minute and a stated four seconds are not comparable as quality, because the longer claim is about what the code will do rather than about what holds together.
No repository here publishes a consistency measurement, so the register records the stated lengths and says nothing about how far either one is usable.
3Why the register does not rank lengths
No repository here publishes a consistency measurement, so a stated minute and a stated four seconds cannot be compared as quality. The longer claim is about what the code accepts.
One family states no maximum at all, which means the boundary has to be found by running out of patience or memory. The register records the absence of a ceiling rather than inventing one.
A reading note, not an entry: no vendor value appears on this page. Where the register records this term for a particular release, it is on the length column and on that family's own page. Nearby terms: Sequence packing, Permissive licence.