@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 # garden-gate
 
-![A ledged and braced garden gate of six weathered oak boards with a bow top, standing ajar on two black strap hinges between square oak posts on sandstone flags, a ring pull on its face](preview.webp)
+![A weathered oak garden gate swung ajar between two square posts on sandstone flags, seen from its braced side: three ledges with a Z of braces between them, black hook-and-band straps bolted along the top and bottom ledges and a barrel bolt on the middle one](preview.webp)
 
 A 900 mm ledged-and-braced garden gate: six vertical oak boards under a
 bow top, nailed to three back ledges with two diagonal braces between
-them, hung from a squared hinge post on two hook-and-band hinges and
-closing against a latch post. A barrel bolt sits on the back, a keeper
+them, hung from a squared hinge post on two hook-and-band hinges whose
+straps are bolted along the top and bottom ledges, and closing against a
+latch post. A barrel bolt sits on the middle ledge, a keeper
 staple on the latch post, a ring pull on the front, and both posts stand
 in sandstone flags. **A showcase piece, not an example** — it witnesses
 no API contract. It asserts that generated geometry meets declared asset
@@ -16,7 +17,7 @@ budgets, recomputed from the finished mesh.
 | Shipped content | Used for |
 | --- | --- |
 | `skills/mesh-editing-and-bmesh` | prisms, revolved knuckles, pins, domes and nail heads, a torus ring, all in one `bmesh`, chamfered with `bmesh.ops.bevel` |
-| `skills/custom-properties` | face attributes: `Part` (what each shell is), `GrainDir` (vertical or horizontal fibre) and `WoodTone` (one tone per board or flag) |
+| `skills/custom-properties` | face attributes `Part` (what each shell is) and `WoodTone` (one tone per board or flag); a point attribute `GrainCo` (each vertex in its member's own along / across / through frame) |
 | `skills/procedural-materials-and-shaders` | weathered oak with grain along each member, a tone per board and grime toward the ground; black forged iron rusting in patches; sandstone flags |
 | `skills/bake-high-to-low` | Cycles tangent-space normal bake, a 24-segment high onto the 12-segment low |
 | `skills/engine-export-presets` | Unity glTF (`export_yup=True`) |
@@ -40,8 +41,13 @@ It can fail without looking wrong:
 - **Each knuckle must rest on its hook**, a seat, not a float.
 - **The gate must clear the latch post as it swings.** A closed gate shows
   nothing; only the swing circle does.
+- **Each brace must rise from the hinge side.** Its lower end sits next to
+  the hinge stile and its upper end toward the latch, so it works in
+  compression and carries the free edge's weight back into the bottom
+  hinge. Mirrored, the same timber hangs the free edge off a strut in
+  tension and the gate sags; it looks just as plausible from a distance.
 
-The piece measures all four off the finished mesh. Every shell carries a
+The piece measures all five off the finished mesh. Every shell carries a
 `Part` face attribute written at build time, so the audit finds the two
 knuckles, the two pins, the two hooks, every member that hangs on the
 hinges and the latch post with its keeper, without guessing from shape.
@@ -63,16 +69,23 @@ hinges and the latch post with its keeper, without guessing from shape.
   axes. Every vertex that hangs on the hinges (boards, ledges, braces,
   straps, knuckles, bolts, nails, the barrel bolt and the ring) gives the
   swing circle's radius; every vertex of the latch post and its keeper
-  gives the nearest obstacle. Clearance 8–30 mm; measured 14.87 mm
-  (radius 0.9153 m, keeper at 0.9301 m).
+  gives the nearest obstacle. Clearance 8–30 mm; measured 12.96 mm
+  (radius 0.9161 m, keeper at 0.9290 m).
+
+- **Brace direction.** Each brace's lower end (its vertices within 5 mm
+  of its lowest point) and upper end, as mean plan distance from the
+  measured hinge axis: the upper end must be at least 0.30 m farther out.
+  Measured 0.178 → 0.741 m and 0.215 → 0.703 m.
 
 `--offset-knuckle` moves the upper knuckle 1.5 mm off its pin and leaves
 everything else where it was: exit 17. `--tilt-pintle` leans the upper pin
 about the knuckle's mid-height, so its axis still passes through the
 knuckle and the coaxial budget holds; only plumb fails, exit 19.
 `--tight-post` sets the latch post 14 mm closer; the paving defines the
 envelope, so the AABB does not move, and the swing clearance drops to
-0.89 mm: exit 20.
+−1.04 mm: exit 20. `--reversed-braces` mirrors both braces about the
+gate's centre line, lower ends at the latch side, on the same ledges and
+in the same envelope: exit 21.
 
 ## Budgets
 
@@ -82,24 +95,25 @@ cross-version table for 4.5.11 and 5.1.2.
 
 | Budget | Band | Measured |
 | --- | --- | --- |
-| Base triangles | 3100–3550 | 3320 |
+| Base triangles | 3700–4200 | 3936 |
 | LOD1 ratio | 0.32–0.62 | 0.5000 |
-| LOD2 ratio | 0.10–0.35 | 0.2193 |
+| LOD2 ratio | 0.10–0.35 | 0.2185 |
 | Material slots | exactly 3, distinct | 3 |
-| Timber / iron / ground faces | ≥ 330 / 1400 / 140 | 370 / 1534 / 156 |
-| UV bounds | inside 0..1 | (0.0009, 0.0009)–(0.9991, 0.9991) |
+| Timber / iron / ground faces | ≥ 400 / 1400 / 400 | 434 / 1534 / 464 |
+| UV bounds | inside 0..1 | (0.0008, 0.0008)–(0.9992, 0.9992) |
 | UV AABB overlap | ≤ 1e-5 | 0.000000 |
-| Outer AABB | 1.560 × 0.560 × 1.245 m ± 0.020 | 1.5600 × 0.5600 × 1.2450 |
-| Collider triangles | ≤ 400 | 344 (four hulls) |
+| Outer AABB | 1.560 × 0.880 × 1.245 m ± 0.020 | 1.5560 × 0.8759 × 1.2450 |
+| Collider triangles | ≤ 400 | 394 (four hulls) |
 | Normal bake | `{'FINISHED'}` with image data | `{'FINISHED'}`, `has_data=True` |
-| glTF export | file written, non-empty | ~281 kB |
+| glTF export | file written, non-empty | ~332 kB |
 | Hygiene | all zero | loose 0/0, non-manifold 0, zero-area 0, doubles 0, n-gons 0, coplanar cross-shell pairs 0 |
 | Grounded AABB | \|zmin\| ≤ 1e-4 | 0.00000 |
-| Parts | 6 flags, 2 posts, 6 boards, 3 ledges, 2 braces, 2 straps, 2 knuckles, 2 pins, 2 hooks, 6 bolt heads, 26 nails, 5 bolt pieces, 1 keeper, 3 ring pieces | as stated |
+| Parts | 8 flags, 2 posts, 6 boards, 3 ledges, 2 braces, 2 straps, 2 knuckles, 2 pins, 2 hooks, 6 bolt heads, 26 nails, 5 bolt pieces, 1 keeper, 3 ring pieces | as stated |
 | Knuckle on pin | coaxial ≤ 0.3 mm, clearance 0.3–1.0 mm | 0.000 mm, 0.600 mm (both hinges) |
 | Knuckle seat | −1.0 to −0.2 mm on the hook | −0.500 mm (both) |
 | Plumb shared axis | each pin ≤ 0.2 mm, pins ≤ 0.3 mm apart | 0.000 mm, 0.000 mm |
-| Swing clearance | 8–30 mm past the latch post and keeper | 14.87 mm |
+| Swing clearance | 8–30 mm past the latch post and keeper | 12.96 mm |
+| Brace direction | each brace's upper end ≥ 0.30 m farther from the hinge axis than its lower end | 0.178 → 0.741 m, 0.215 → 0.703 m |
 | Real-world size | gate 0.900 ± 0.003 × 0.960 ± 0.005, post 1.205 ± 0.005 above its flag, strap 0.400 ± 0.005, pin Ø 12 ± 0.5 mm | 0.9000 × 0.9599, 1.2050, 0.3995, 12.000 mm |
 
 Real-world size: hook-and-band hinges are usually sized at a third of the
@@ -117,8 +131,10 @@ above the flags.
   rise from the hinge side to the latch side (the strut that carries the
   free edge's weight back down into the bottom hinge); their ends are
   bitten 2 mm into the ledges and their faces sit off the ledges' planes.
-- **Hinges.** The strap is a tapered prism 0.5 mm into the boards, with
-  three domed carriage-bolt heads. The knuckle is a revolved tube 6.6 mm
+- **Hinges.** Hook-and-band straps go on the ledged side: each strap is
+  a tapered prism lying along the top or bottom ledge, let 0.5 mm into
+  it, with three domed carriage-bolt heads through the ledge, so the
+  hinge axis sits behind the boards, in line with the ledges. The knuckle is a revolved tube 6.6 mm
   bore, 11.2 mm outside, 40 mm tall, 2 mm taller than the strap so their
   ends are not one plane. The hook is a 14 mm square shank driven 70 mm
   into the hinge post and a 12 mm pin rising through it, chamfered at the
@@ -130,17 +146,28 @@ above the flags.
   rod drawn back inside the gate's edge and its knob), a keeper staple
   bitten 6 mm into the latch post, and a ring pull on a round rose that
   hangs from its staple and leans out at the bottom.
-- **Posts and paving.** Square posts with chamfered arrises and a
-  pyramid weathering, sunk 20 mm into the flags. A pad flag under each
-  post and four flags across the opening, 12 mm joints, the opening's
-  flags 4–6 mm proud or shy of the pads so no two flag tops are one plane.
+- **Posts and paving.** Square posts with chamfered arrises, a V-groove
+  necking each one 70 mm below a pyramid weathering, sunk 20 mm into the
+  flags. A pad flag under each post, four flags across the opening and
+  two more on the side the gate swings to, so the open leaf hangs over
+  paving (a gateway is paved where the gate sweeps), 7 mm joints, each flag dressed with knocked-off corners and edges a few
+  millimetres out of true, the opening's flags 4–6 mm proud or shy of the
+  pads so no two flag tops are one plane.
+- **Timber surface.** `GrainCo` puts every vertex in its member's own
+  frame (along the grain, across the face, through the thickness), offset
+  per shell, so fibres run up the boards and posts, along the ledges and
+  down each brace's diagonal, and no two members share a figure. The oak
+  is a low-contrast silver-brown: mid-scale streaks, thin latewood lines
+  spaced irregularly, sparse checking cracks, long weathering patches,
+  a tone per member and grime toward the ground.
 - **Collider.** One hull per post, one over the gate's timber, one over
   the paving. The ironwork is left out: millimetres of strap and bolt on
   faces the gate's hull already covers.
-- **The still.** The gate is swung 24° open about the measured hinge axis
-  for the render only, so the knuckles are seen turning on their pins and
-  the keeper shows on the latch post. Every budget is asserted on the
-  closed gate.
+- **The still.** Seen from the braced side, so the ledges, the Z of
+  braces, the straps and the barrel bolt all read; the gate is swung 32°
+  toward the viewer about the measured hinge axis for the render only,
+  so the knuckles are seen turning on their pins. Rendered in Cycles with
+  denoising. Every budget is asserted on the closed gate.
 
 ## Findings the budgets forced
 
@@ -154,9 +181,18 @@ above the flags.
   to break the swing, but it moves the gate's width before the swing is
   read, so it would fail the real-world size first. `--tight-post` moves
   the latch post instead.
-- **The swing has a limit the other way.** Swung inward the gate's
-  hinge-side back corner meets the hinge post at about 35°; the still
-  uses 24°.
+- **The swing has a limit the other way.** Swung away from the straps
+  the gate's hinge-side corner meets the hinge post; the still swings it
+  32° toward the strap side, the way a gate hung on the ledged face opens.
+- **Quality pass findings.** Moving the straps onto the ledges first
+  reported four coplanar pairs: a ledge's end chamfer and the strap's end
+  chamfer fell on one plane while the ledges stopped 4 mm from the board
+  edge; they stop 6 mm in now. Dressing the flags turned each underside
+  into an n-gon whose ear-clipped triangles sat within reach of the next
+  flag's (all undersides lie at z = 0), two more pairs; the undersides
+  are fanned from their centres. The first still left the open leaf
+  hanging past the paving's back edge, and the bare floor under it read
+  as a black hole; the paving now runs on under the swing.
 
 ## Conventions walked
 
@@ -171,7 +207,7 @@ Every convention in `showcase/README.md`, and whether it applies here.
 | A member is tenoned into its seat | yes | posts into the flags, ledges and straps into the boards, braces into the ledges, the keeper into the post, the hook into the post |
 | Seat conformance (a band: minimum so it cannot float) | yes | each knuckle on its hook (`--lift-gate`), exit 18 |
 | Mirrored assemblies | no | a gate is handed; nothing is mirrored |
-| Material face floors | yes | timber 330, iron 1400, ground 140 |
+| Material face floors | yes | timber 400, iron 1400, ground 400 |
 | One substance, one slot | yes | oak, forged iron, sandstone |
 | Shading is part of the model | yes | timber and flags faceted; knuckles, pins, domes, rod and ring smooth, every edge over 35° hard |
 | Edge treatment | yes | every prism chamfered; no separate budget, removing the chamfers moves the triangle band first |
@@ -194,7 +230,8 @@ were run on Blender 4.5.11, 5.1.2 and 5.2.1 and exited the declared code.
 | `--offset-knuckle` | knuckle on pin | moves the upper knuckle 1.5 mm along the gate; clearance −0.90 mm | 17 |
 | `--lift-gate` | knuckle seat | lifts everything that hangs 3 mm off the hooks; seat +2.50 mm | 18 |
 | `--tilt-pintle` | plumb shared axis | leans the upper pin 3.4° about the knuckle's mid-height; top 3.96 mm off its foot | 19 |
-| `--tight-post` | swing clearance | sets the latch post 14 mm closer; clearance 0.89 mm | 20 |
+| `--tight-post` | swing clearance | sets the latch post 14 mm closer; clearance −1.04 mm | 20 |
+| `--reversed-braces` | brace direction | mirrors both braces, lower ends at the latch side; brace 0 rises 0.741 → 0.178 m | 21 |
 
 ## Exit codes
 
@@ -224,6 +261,7 @@ wrapper — a crash, never a named check.
 | 18 | Knuckle seat on its hook (`--lift-gate`) |
 | 19 | Pin plumb, shared hinge axis or real-world size (`--tilt-pintle`) |
 | 20 | Swing clearance at the latch post (`--tight-post`) |
+| 21 | A brace does not rise from the hinge side (`--reversed-braces`) |
 | 24 | Asset-quality floors (`examples/gallery_asset_quality.py`, render path only) |
 
 ## Run it
@@ -235,11 +273,14 @@ blender --background --python garden_gate.py --
 # Falsifier: the latch post 14 mm closer. Must exit 20.
 blender --background --python garden_gate.py -- --tight-post
 
+# Falsifier: both braces mirrored, lower ends at the latch side. Must exit 21.
+blender --background --python garden_gate.py -- --reversed-braces
+
 # Falsifier: the upper knuckle 1.5 mm off its pin. Must exit 17.
 blender --background --python garden_gate.py -- --offset-knuckle
 
-# Render the gallery still (EEVEE; --engine cycles on a GPU-less host).
-blender --background --python garden_gate.py -- --output garden_gate.webp
+# Render the gallery still (Cycles, 64 samples, denoised).
+blender --background --python garden_gate.py -- --output garden_gate.png --engine cycles
 ```
 
 Smoke runs the check-only path. It does not pass `--output` or any falsifier.
@@ -253,11 +294,11 @@ gate is a ratio band; every hinge, swing and size value is identical.
 
 | Value | 4.5.11 | 5.1.2 | 5.2.1 |
 | --- | --- | --- | --- |
-| Base triangles | 3320 | 3320 | 3320 |
-| LOD1 / LOD2 triangles | 1660 / 730 | 1660 / 730 | 1660 / 728 |
-| LOD2 ratio | 0.2199 | 0.2199 | 0.2193 |
-| Faces timber / iron / ground | 370 / 1534 / 156 | 370 / 1534 / 156 | 370 / 1534 / 156 |
-| Collider triangles | 344 | 344 | 344 |
+| Base triangles | 3936 | 3936 | 3936 |
+| LOD1 / LOD2 triangles | 1968 / 864 | 1968 / 864 | 1968 / 860 |
+| LOD2 ratio | 0.2195 | 0.2195 | 0.2185 |
+| Faces timber / iron / ground | 434 / 1534 / 464 | 434 / 1534 / 464 | 434 / 1534 / 464 |
+| Collider triangles | 394 | 394 | 394 |
 | Coaxial, clearance, seat | 0.000 / 0.600 / −0.500 mm | same | same |
-| Swing clearance | 14.869 mm | 14.869 mm | 14.869 mm |
-| Falsifier exits 9 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 | all as declared | all as declared | all as declared |
+| Swing clearance | 12.959 mm | 12.959 mm | 12.959 mm |
+| Falsifier exits 9 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 | all as declared | all as declared | all as declared |