Explainer bench — pick the method, pick the identity

Same 9-second beat (Atomic Habits, the 1% curve), same narration take, same music level, same subtitles — only the production method changes. Say your pick out loud to Jarvis, e.g. "method A, direction Cathode".

1 · Method arms

All four render the same BLUEPRINT art direction so only the method is being judged. Cost = real marginal spend for this clip (narration is on the existing ElevenLabs sub; VM compute not billed).

2 · Art directions

Five identities, each with its own mascot and one signature move no other direction has. Rendered as shorter motion vignettes on identical footing.

3 · Jarvis's verdict (one honest paragraph)

I would ship Method D (hybrid): it keeps the pixel-perfect consistency, word-locked timing and zero marginal cost of the code-drawn engine, and the generated backplate adds the texture and light that makes A feel flat. A is the safe fallback (same engine, no backplate). B reproduced exactly the slide-to-slide background drift you complained about on the old explainers — the method's structural weakness, not fixable by prompting. C (Seedance 2.5) genuinely surprised me: one take followed the whole beat with the mascot and palette locked, and it is the right tool for hero shots or intro stings — but at ~$4.60 per 10 seconds a 3-minute video is ~$80+ per take before re-rolls, it caps at 720p, and word-level sync is luck. Method winner: D, with C as an occasional hero-shot garnish. Direction: my pick is Cathode or Kinetic Press for ownability — but that one is genuinely yours.