diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/render/shared.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/render/shared.ts
index 8c26224d17..3f88a56381 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/render/shared.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/render/shared.ts
@@ -252,6 +252,44 @@ export function updateJobStatus(
   if (onProgress) void onProgress(job, stage);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Surface auto-worker calibration as its own stage. Calibration writes
+ * throwaway sample frames, so keep the final-output counter at zero until the
+ * real capture stage begins.
+ */
+export function prepareCaptureCalibration(input: {
+  job: RenderJob;
+  totalFrames: number;
+  htmlInCanvasDetected: boolean;
+  lowMemoryMode: boolean;
+  deInversionEligible: boolean;
+  deParallelRouterEligible: boolean;
+  onProgress?: ProgressCallback;
+}): boolean {
+  const {
+    job,
+    totalFrames,
+    htmlInCanvasDetected,
+    lowMemoryMode,
+    deInversionEligible,
+    deParallelRouterEligible,
+    onProgress,
+  } = input;
+  if (
+    job.config.workers !== undefined ||
+    totalFrames < 60 ||
+    htmlInCanvasDetected ||
+    lowMemoryMode ||
+    deInversionEligible ||
+    deParallelRouterEligible
+  ) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  job.framesRendered = 0;
+  updateJobStatus(job, "rendering", "Calibrating capture performance", 25, onProgress);
+  return true;
+}
+
 /**
  * Build a `resolver(framePath)` closure that maps an absolute path to
  * a frame inside `compiledDir` into a server-relative URL the producer's
diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.test.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.test.ts
index 818694973c..a09236f18a 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.test.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.test.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import {
   shouldDiscardProbeSessionForPageSideCompositing,
   resolveInversionRetryPlan,
   resolveParallelRouterRetryPlan,
+  createRenderJob,
   resetCaptureAttemptProgress,
   shouldRetryViaPinnedFallback,
   shouldPreferParallelDrawElement,
@@ -51,12 +52,66 @@ import {
   applyRenderModeHints,
   createCompiledFrameSrcResolver,
   materializeExtractedFramesForCompiledDir,
+  prepareCaptureCalibration,
   projectBrowserEndToCompositionTimeline,
   resolveDeviceScaleFactor,
   writeCompiledArtifacts,
 } from "./render/shared.js";
 import { formatCaptureFrameName, toExternalAssetKey } from "../utils/paths.js";
 
+describe("capture calibration progress", () => {
+  it("reports calibration when the auto-worker branch is eligible", () => {
+    const job = createRenderJob({ fps: 30, quality: "high" });
+    job.framesRendered = 17;
+    const events: Array<{ stage: string; framesRendered: number | undefined }> = [];
+
+    const shouldCalibrate = prepareCaptureCalibration({
+      job,
+      totalFrames: 60,
+      htmlInCanvasDetected: false,
+      lowMemoryMode: false,
+      deInversionEligible: false,
+      deParallelRouterEligible: false,
+      onProgress: (current) => {
+        events.push({
+          stage: current.currentStage,
+          framesRendered: current.framesRendered,
+        });
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(shouldCalibrate).toBe(true);
+    expect(events).toEqual([
+      {
+        stage: "Calibrating capture performance",
+        framesRendered: 0,
+      },
+    ]);
+    expect(job.progress).toBe(25);
+  });
+
+  it("leaves progress untouched when calibration is skipped", () => {
+    const job = createRenderJob({ fps: 30, quality: "high", workers: 2 });
+    job.framesRendered = 17;
+    const onProgress = vi.fn();
+
+    const shouldCalibrate = prepareCaptureCalibration({
+      job,
+      totalFrames: 60,
+      htmlInCanvasDetected: false,
+      lowMemoryMode: false,
+      deInversionEligible: false,
+      deParallelRouterEligible: false,
+      onProgress,
+    });
+
+    expect(shouldCalibrate).toBe(false);
+    expect(onProgress).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(job.framesRendered).toBe(17);
+    expect(job.currentStage).toBe("Queued");
+  });
+});
+
 describe("extractStandaloneEntryFromIndex", () => {
   it("reuses the index wrapper and keeps only the requested composition host", () => {
     const indexHtml = `<!DOCTYPE html>
diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts
index c5d2528d3c..66c33cfbcf 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts
@@ -89,7 +89,12 @@ import {
   VIRTUAL_TIME_SHIM,
 } from "./fileServer.js";
 import { defaultLogger, type ProducerLogger } from "../logger.js";
-import { createMemorySampler, type MemorySampler, updateJobStatus } from "./render/shared.js";
+import {
+  createMemorySampler,
+  prepareCaptureCalibration,
+  type MemorySampler,
+  updateJobStatus,
+} from "./render/shared.js";
 import { buildRenderErrorDetails, cleanupRenderResources, safeCleanup } from "./render/cleanup.js";
 import {
   OrderedRenderEventPublisher,
@@ -2223,12 +2228,15 @@ export async function executeRenderJob(
     });
 
     if (
-      job.config.workers === undefined &&
-      totalFrames >= 60 &&
-      !htmlInCanvasDetected &&
-      !cfg.lowMemoryMode &&
-      !deInversionEligible &&
-      !deParallelRouterEligible
+      prepareCaptureCalibration({
+        job,
+        totalFrames,
+        htmlInCanvasDetected,
+        lowMemoryMode: Boolean(cfg.lowMemoryMode),
+        deInversionEligible,
+        deParallelRouterEligible,
+        onProgress,
+      })
     ) {
       const outcome = await observeRenderStage(
         observability,