diff --git a/packages/studio/package.json b/packages/studio/package.json
index d8be6bb863..ad34b16899 100644
--- a/packages/studio/package.json
+++ b/packages/studio/package.json
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
     "types": "./dist/index.d.ts"
   },
   "scripts": {
-    "dev": "vite",
+    "dev": "bun --bun ./node_modules/.bin/vite --host 127.0.0.1",
     "build": "vite build && tsup",
     "typecheck": "tsc --noEmit",
     "test": "vitest run",
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/App.tsx b/packages/studio/src/App.tsx
index b29c5213a4..6b23e67524 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/App.tsx
+++ b/packages/studio/src/App.tsx
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ import { useToast } from "./hooks/useToast";
 import { useCompositionContentLoader } from "./hooks/useCompositionContentLoader";
 import { useStudioUrlState } from "./hooks/useStudioUrlState";
 import { useEffectiveTimelineDuration } from "./hooks/useEffectiveTimelineDuration";
-import { useAudioSoloBridge } from "./hooks/useAudioSoloBridge";
 import {
   buildStudioContextValue,
   useGlobalFileDrop,
@@ -82,7 +81,6 @@ export function StudioApp() {
   const [previewDocumentVersion, refreshPreviewDocumentVersion] = usePreviewDocumentVersion();
   const [blockPreview, setBlockPreview] = useState<BlockPreviewInfo | null>(null);
   const previewIframeRef = useRef<HTMLIFrameElement | null>(null);
-  useAudioSoloBridge(previewIframeRef);
   const activeCompPathRef = useRef(activeCompPath);
   activeCompPathRef.current = activeCompPath;
   const leftSidebarRef = useRef<LeftSidebarHandle>(null);
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/components/StudioRightPanel.tsx b/packages/studio/src/components/StudioRightPanel.tsx
index 9b37ee46c2..e559af8c80 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/components/StudioRightPanel.tsx
+++ b/packages/studio/src/components/StudioRightPanel.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { useCallback, useEffect, useRef } from "react";
+import { useCallback } from "react";
 import type { StudioRightPanelProps } from "./StudioRightPanel.types";
 
 export type { StudioRightPanelProps };
@@ -20,15 +20,15 @@ import { usePanelLayoutContext } from "../contexts/PanelLayoutContext";
 import { useFileManagerContext } from "../contexts/FileManagerContext";
 import { useDomEditContext } from "../contexts/DomEditContext";
 import { usePlayerStore } from "../player";
-import { waitForMediaJob } from "./studioMediaJobs";
 import {
   applyColorGradingScopeUpdate,
   EMPTY_COLOR_GRADING_SCOPE_RESULT,
   type ColorGradingScope,
 } from "./studioColorGradingScope";
-import type { BackgroundRemovalProgress } from "./editor/propertyPanelTypes";
 import { timelineKeysForSelections } from "../utils/studioHelpers";
+import { canHideSelections } from "../utils/timelineInspector";
 import { useInspectorSplitResize } from "../hooks/useInspectorSplitResize";
+import { useRemoveBackground } from "../hooks/useRemoveBackground";
 
 // fallow-ignore-next-line complexity
 export function StudioRightPanel({
@@ -164,14 +164,6 @@ export function StudioRightPanel({
     handleInspectorSplitResizeMove,
     handleInspectorSplitResizeEnd,
   } = useInspectorSplitResize();
-  const backgroundRemovalAbortRef = useRef<AbortController | null>(null);
-
-  useEffect(
-    () => () => {
-      backgroundRemovalAbortRef.current?.abort();
-    },
-    [],
-  );
 
   const renderJobs = renderQueue.jobs as RenderJob[];
   const inspectorTabActive = rightPanelTab === "design" || rightPanelTab === "layers";
@@ -238,52 +230,7 @@ export function StudioRightPanel({
     ],
   );
 
-  const handleRemoveBackground = useCallback(
-    // fallow-ignore-next-line complexity
-    async (
-      inputPath: string,
-      options: {
-        createBackgroundPlate?: boolean;
-        quality?: "fast" | "balanced" | "best";
-        onProgress?: (progress: BackgroundRemovalProgress) => void;
-      },
-    ) => {
-      const response = await fetch(
-        `/api/projects/${encodeURIComponent(projectId)}/media/remove-background`,
-        {
-          method: "POST",
-          headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
-          body: JSON.stringify({
-            inputPath,
-            createBackgroundPlate: options.createBackgroundPlate === true,
-            quality: options.quality ?? "balanced",
-          }),
-        },
-      );
-      const data = (await response.json().catch(() => ({}))) as {
-        jobId?: string;
-        error?: string;
-      };
-      if (!response.ok || !data.jobId) {
-        throw new Error(data.error || `Background removal failed (${response.status})`);
-      }
-      showToast("Removing background...", "info");
-      backgroundRemovalAbortRef.current?.abort();
-      const controller = new AbortController();
-      backgroundRemovalAbortRef.current = controller;
-      try {
-        const result = await waitForMediaJob(data.jobId, options.onProgress, controller.signal);
-        await refreshFileTree();
-        showToast(`Created transparent asset: ${result.outputPath.split("/").pop()}`, "info");
-        return result;
-      } finally {
-        if (backgroundRemovalAbortRef.current === controller) {
-          backgroundRemovalAbortRef.current = null;
-        }
-      }
-    },
-    [projectId, refreshFileTree, showToast],
-  );
+  const handleRemoveBackground = useRemoveBackground(projectId, refreshFileTree, showToast);
 
   /**
    * A dial being dragged writes to the preview and stops there.
@@ -300,6 +247,17 @@ export function StudioRightPanel({
     [handleDomAttributeLiveCommit],
   );
   const handleHideAllSelected = () => {
+    // Audio has no visual to hide, and `data-hidden` on an audio element is what
+    // MUTES it — preview silences it and the render drops it from the mix. The
+    // timeline withholds the eye on an audio track for that reason
+    // (`visible={!isAudioTrack}`), and the single-selection panel gates the same
+    // write on `audioSelection`; this multi-selection path was the way back to
+    // it. Checked here as well as in the panel because the button is not the
+    // only caller.
+    if (!canHideSelections(domEditGroupSelections)) {
+      showToast("Audio can't be hidden — use the group's own controls", "info");
+      return;
+    }
     const { elements } = usePlayerStore.getState();
     const keys = timelineKeysForSelections(domEditGroupSelections, elements, activeCompPath);
     if (keys.length > 0) void onToggleElementHidden?.(keys, true);
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanel.test.tsx b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanel.test.tsx
index 34b691fe93..9d47b6ce57 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanel.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanel.test.tsx
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ afterEach(() => {
   vi.resetModules();
 });
 
-function baseElement() {
+function baseElement(): NonNullable<PropertyPanelProps["element"]> {
   return {
     element: document.createElement("div"),
     id: "mono-label",
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ function nonTextElement() {
 // flat multi-field layer list (FlatTextLayerList + FlatTextFieldEditor) —
 // must not double-render the "Text" heading (FlatGroup's own heading; this
 // component never renders one of its own).
-function multiFieldTextElement() {
+function multiFieldTextElement(): NonNullable<PropertyPanelProps["element"]> {
   const base = baseElement();
   return {
     ...base,
@@ -177,6 +177,43 @@ function sixGroupElement() {
   };
 }
 
+/** An `<audio>` clip: placed on the timeline, but nothing a tween could move. */
+function audioClipElement() {
+  const element = document.createElement("audio");
+  return {
+    ...baseElement(),
+    element,
+    id: "vo-1",
+    selector: "#vo-1",
+    label: "Vo 1",
+    tagName: "audio",
+    textFields: [],
+    dataAttributes: { start: "1", duration: "3" },
+  };
+}
+
+/**
+ * A mixer bus: no clip range at all, and no box either.
+ *
+ * Carries a `data-start` on purpose. A real bus has none — its automation clock
+ * is composition time — but the timing gate has to refuse the TAG rather than
+ * merely fall out of a missing attribute, or something writing one would put
+ * Start/Duration back on a thing that has no range.
+ */
+function audioBusElement() {
+  const element = document.createElement("hf-audio-group");
+  return {
+    ...baseElement(),
+    element,
+    id: "voiceover",
+    selector: "#voiceover",
+    label: "Voiceover",
+    tagName: "hf-audio-group",
+    textFields: [],
+    dataAttributes: { start: "0", duration: "8" },
+  };
+}
+
 const INFERRED_TIMING_ANIMATION = {
   id: "a1",
   targetSelector: "#inferred-anim",
@@ -196,7 +233,7 @@ const INFERRED_TIMING_ANIMATION = {
 
 async function renderPanel(
   flatEnabled: boolean,
-  elementOverride: ReturnType<typeof baseElement> = baseElement(),
+  elementOverride: NonNullable<PropertyPanelProps["element"]> = baseElement(),
   propsOverride: Partial<PropertyPanelProps> = {},
   currentTime?: number,
 ) {
@@ -952,3 +989,64 @@ describe("PropertyPanel — flat group entrance animation scoping (fix round)",
     RENDER_TIMEOUT_MS,
   );
 });
+
+describe("PropertyPanel — Motion is for things that move", () => {
+  it.each([
+    ["a custom music tag", () => document.createElement("music")],
+    [
+      "an element with an audio source",
+      () => {
+        const element = document.createElement("div");
+        element.setAttribute("src", "voiceover.mp3");
+        return element;
+      },
+    ],
+  ])("recognizes %s through the shared audio predicate", async (_label, makeElement) => {
+    const fixture = {
+      ...audioClipElement(),
+      element: makeElement(),
+      tagName: "div",
+    };
+    const { host, root } = await renderPanel(true, fixture);
+    const titles = Array.from(
+      host.querySelectorAll<HTMLElement>("[data-flat-group-collapsed], [data-flat-group-open]"),
+    ).map((node) => node.textContent ?? "");
+    expect(titles.some((title) => title.includes("Motion"))).toBe(false);
+    expect(titles.some((title) => title.includes("Timing"))).toBe(true);
+    act(() => root.unmount());
+  });
+
+  it(
+    "calls the section Timing on an audio clip, and offers no tween editor",
+    async () => {
+      const { host, root } = await renderPanel(true, audioClipElement());
+      const titles = Array.from(
+        host.querySelectorAll<HTMLElement>("[data-flat-group-collapsed], [data-flat-group-open]"),
+      ).map((el) => el.textContent ?? "");
+      // The clip's placement survives — it is still a clip on a track.
+      expect(titles.some((t) => t.includes("Timing"))).toBe(true);
+      // "Motion" named the tween editor, which an <audio> element has no
+      // transform, opacity or box for. Showing it was the panel gating on
+      // handler presence rather than on the element.
+      expect(titles.some((t) => t.includes("Motion"))).toBe(false);
+      act(() => root.unmount());
+    },
+    RENDER_TIMEOUT_MS,
+  );
+
+  it(
+    "offers a bus neither — it has no clip range to edit",
+    async () => {
+      const { host, root } = await renderPanel(true, audioBusElement());
+      const titles = Array.from(
+        host.querySelectorAll<HTMLElement>("[data-flat-group-collapsed], [data-flat-group-open]"),
+      ).map((el) => el.textContent ?? "");
+      expect(titles.some((t) => t.includes("Motion"))).toBe(false);
+      expect(titles.some((t) => t.includes("Timing"))).toBe(false);
+      // It is still a mixer bus: the reason to select one at all.
+      expect(titles.some((t) => t.includes("Audio FX"))).toBe(true);
+      act(() => root.unmount());
+    },
+    RENDER_TIMEOUT_MS,
+  );
+});
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanel.tsx b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanel.tsx
index 9041794c37..ed13dd3afa 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanel.tsx
+++ b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanel.tsx
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ import { type PropertyPanelProps } from "./propertyPanelHelpers";
 import { GestureRecordPanelButton } from "./GestureRecordControl";
 import { PropertyPanelEmptyState } from "./PropertyPanelEmptyState";
 import { DesignPanelInputProvider } from "../../contexts/DesignPanelInputContext";
+import { isAudioDomElement } from "../../utils/timelineInspector";
 
 // Re-export helpers that external consumers import from this module
 export {
@@ -119,6 +120,19 @@ export const PropertyPanel = memo(function PropertyPanel(props: PropertyPanelPro
   const selectedElementId = usePlayerStore((s) => s.selectedElementId);
   const selectedElementHidden = isSelectedElementHidden(timelineElements, selectedElementId);
   const visibilityToggleLabel = selectedElementHidden ? "Show element" : "Hide element";
+  /**
+   * An audio element gets no hide control here.
+   *
+   * On an audio track "hidden" and "muted" are not similar operations, they are
+   * the SAME operation with two names (groups doc §2.1) — which is why the
+   * timeline's eye became the mute rather than growing a sibling. A second copy
+   * in the panel, still called "Hide element", is precisely the thing that step
+   * removed: "Two controls that silence a track, sitting next to each other,
+   * differing only in a distinction the author cannot see." An
+   * `<hf-audio-group>` has no visual to hide at all, and its mute lives on its
+   * own row.
+   */
+  const audioSelection = isAudioDomElement(element?.element);
   // Live during playback, the store's when paused — see the hook. Shared with the
   // audio FX panel, which follows the playhead for the same reason: a value the
   // timeline drives has to be shown moving, not frozen at what the attribute says.
@@ -309,7 +323,7 @@ export const PropertyPanel = memo(function PropertyPanel(props: PropertyPanelPro
               selectedElementId={selectedElementId}
               selectedElementHidden={selectedElementHidden}
               visibilityLabel={visibilityToggleLabel}
-              onToggleHidden={onToggleElementHidden}
+              onToggleHidden={audioSelection ? undefined : onToggleElementHidden}
             />
           </div>
         </div>
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanelEmptyState.test.tsx b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanelEmptyState.test.tsx
index 397fb161cf..ed2059bfc0 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanelEmptyState.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanelEmptyState.test.tsx
@@ -71,4 +71,78 @@ describe("PropertyPanelEmptyState — flat multi-select", () => {
     expect(onClearSelection).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
     act(() => root.unmount());
   });
+
+  // A layout group is a positioned wrapper around a bounding box; an <audio>
+  // clip has none (offsetWidth/Height are 0), so grouping audio produced a 0x0
+  // div with inline left/top on elements that are never laid out. Withheld
+  // rather than offered-then-refused.
+  const audioElements = (tags: string[]) =>
+    tags.map((tag, i) => ({
+      id: `el-${i}`,
+      selector: `#el-${i}`,
+      label: `El ${i}`,
+      tagName: tag,
+      element: document.createElement(tag),
+    })) as unknown as DomEditSelection[];
+
+  it("withholds both actions when the selection includes audio", () => {
+    const { host, root } = renderInto(
+      <PropertyPanelEmptyState
+        flat
+        multiSelectCount={2}
+        multiSelectedElements={audioElements(["audio", "audio"])}
+        onGroupSelection={vi.fn()}
+        onHideAllSelected={vi.fn()}
+      />,
+    );
+    expect(host.querySelector('[data-flat-multiselect-group="true"]')).toBeNull();
+    // Hiding is visibility, and `data-hidden` on audio is what MUTES it — the
+    // timeline withholds the eye on an audio track for that reason, and this
+    // panel was the way back to the same write.
+    expect(host.querySelector('[data-flat-multiselect-hide-all="true"]')).toBeNull();
+    // The list still names what is selected; only the actions go.
+    expect(host.textContent).toContain("2 elements selected");
+    act(() => root.unmount());
+  });
+
+  it("withholds it for a mixed selection too, since the wrapper would still take audio in", () => {
+    const { host, root } = renderInto(
+      <PropertyPanelEmptyState
+        flat
+        multiSelectCount={2}
+        multiSelectedElements={audioElements(["div", "audio"])}
+        onGroupSelection={vi.fn()}
+      />,
+    );
+    expect(host.querySelector('[data-flat-multiselect-group="true"]')).toBeNull();
+    expect(host.querySelector('[data-flat-multiselect-hide-all="true"]')).toBeNull();
+    act(() => root.unmount());
+  });
+
+  it("counts an <hf-audio-group> bus as audio too", () => {
+    const { host, root } = renderInto(
+      <PropertyPanelEmptyState
+        flat
+        multiSelectCount={2}
+        multiSelectedElements={audioElements(["hf-audio-group", "div"])}
+        onGroupSelection={vi.fn()}
+      />,
+    );
+    expect(host.querySelector('[data-flat-multiselect-group="true"]')).toBeNull();
+    act(() => root.unmount());
+  });
+
+  it("still offers both for a selection of layout elements", () => {
+    const { host, root } = renderInto(
+      <PropertyPanelEmptyState
+        flat
+        multiSelectCount={2}
+        multiSelectedElements={audioElements(["div", "span"])}
+        onGroupSelection={vi.fn()}
+      />,
+    );
+    expect(host.querySelector('[data-flat-multiselect-group="true"]')).not.toBeNull();
+    expect(host.querySelector('[data-flat-multiselect-hide-all="true"]')).not.toBeNull();
+    act(() => root.unmount());
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanelEmptyState.tsx b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanelEmptyState.tsx
index b661b70124..c0037d128c 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanelEmptyState.tsx
+++ b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanelEmptyState.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { Eye, Layers } from "../../icons/SystemIcons";
 import type { DomEditSelection } from "./domEditingTypes";
+import { canHideSelections } from "../../utils/timelineInspector";
 
 function FlatEmptyState() {
   return (
@@ -67,6 +68,9 @@ function FlatMultiSelectState({
   onHideAllSelected?: () => void;
   onClearSelection?: () => void;
 }) {
+  // One predicate for both actions and for the handler's own refusal, so the
+  // button and the refusal cannot disagree about what audio is.
+  const hasAudio = !canHideSelections(multiSelectedElements);
   return (
     <div className="flex flex-col gap-3 px-4 py-3">
       <div className="flex items-center gap-3 rounded-xl border border-panel-border bg-panel-surface p-3">
@@ -123,26 +127,37 @@ function FlatMultiSelectState({
           );
         })}
       </div>
-      <div className="flex gap-2">
-        <button
-          type="button"
-          data-flat-multiselect-group="true"
-          onClick={onGroupSelection}
-          className="flex h-[34px] flex-1 items-center justify-center gap-2 rounded-lg bg-panel-hover text-[11px] font-semibold text-panel-text-0"
-        >
-          <Layers size={13} />
-          Group selection
-        </button>
-        <button
-          type="button"
-          data-flat-multiselect-hide-all="true"
-          onClick={onHideAllSelected}
-          className="flex h-[34px] items-center gap-1.5 rounded-lg border border-panel-border-input bg-panel-input px-3 text-[11px] font-medium text-panel-text-2"
-        >
-          <Eye size={13} />
-          Hide all
-        </button>
-      </div>
+      {/* Neither action applies to audio, so the row goes rather than showing
+          an empty frame. Grouping is the LAYOUT grouper — a positioned wrapper
+          around a bounding box, and an <audio> clip has none (grouping two
+          produced a 0x0 div with inline left/top on elements that are never
+          laid out). Hiding is visibility, which for audio doubles as mute; the
+          timeline already withholds the eye on an audio track
+          (`visible={!isAudioTrack}`) and this panel was the way back to the
+          same write. Both handlers refuse it too — they own keyboard paths no
+          hidden button can gate. */}
+      {!hasAudio && (
+        <div className="flex gap-2">
+          <button
+            type="button"
+            data-flat-multiselect-group="true"
+            onClick={onGroupSelection}
+            className="flex h-[34px] flex-1 items-center justify-center gap-2 rounded-lg bg-panel-hover text-[11px] font-semibold text-panel-text-0"
+          >
+            <Layers size={13} />
+            Group selection
+          </button>
+          <button
+            type="button"
+            data-flat-multiselect-hide-all="true"
+            onClick={onHideAllSelected}
+            className="flex h-[34px] items-center gap-1.5 rounded-lg border border-panel-border-input bg-panel-input px-3 text-[11px] font-medium text-panel-text-2"
+          >
+            <Eye size={13} />
+            Hide all
+          </button>
+        </div>
+      )}
       <span className="text-center text-[10px] text-panel-text-5">
         Select a single element to edit its properties
       </span>
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanelFlat.tsx b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanelFlat.tsx
index 553430e93e..ebce5c3e1e 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanelFlat.tsx
+++ b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanelFlat.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { scopedElementKey } from "../../hooks/gsapKeyframeCacheHelpers";
-import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
+import { useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from "react";
 import { useShallow } from "zustand/react/shallow";
 import { DesignPanelInputProvider } from "../../contexts/DesignPanelInputContext";
 import { slugifyDesignInput } from "../../utils/designInputTracking";
@@ -7,15 +7,18 @@ import { isTextEditableSelection } from "./domEditing";
 import type { PropertyPanelFlatProps } from "./propertyPanelFlatProps";
 import { formatPxMetricValue } from "./propertyPanelHelpers";
 import { audioFxSummary } from "./audioFxSummary";
+import { resolveAudioGroups } from "@hyperframes/core/audio-groups";
 import { PropertyPanelFlatHeader } from "./PropertyPanelFlatHeader";
 import { PropertyPanelFlatFooter } from "./PropertyPanelFlatFooter";
+import { closedGroupHeader, isSelectionHidden } from "./propertyPanelFlatClosedGroup";
 import { FlatGroupHeader } from "./propertyPanelFlatPrimitives";
 import { FlatTextSection } from "./propertyPanelFlatTextSection";
 import { FlatStyleSection } from "./propertyPanelFlatStyleSections";
 import { FlatLayoutSection } from "./propertyPanelFlatLayoutSection";
-import { FlatMotionSection } from "./propertyPanelFlatMotionSection";
+import { FlatMotionSection, motionSectionLabel } from "./propertyPanelFlatMotionSection";
 import { AudioFxGroup } from "./propertyPanelAudioFxGroup.js";
 import { useVolumeAutomation } from "./useVolumeAutomation";
+import { useAudioFxRevealSection } from "./useAudioFxRevealSection";
 import { FlatMediaSection } from "./propertyPanelFlatMediaSection";
 import { deriveElementTiming } from "./propertyPanelFlatTimingDerivation";
 import { createGsapLivePreview } from "./gsapLivePreview";
@@ -40,6 +43,7 @@ import {
   EMPTY_GSAP_EFFECT_HANDLERS,
   type FlatGroupDescriptor,
 } from "./propertyPanelFlatDescriptors";
+import { isAudioDomElement } from "../../utils/timelineInspector";
 
 /** The flat inspector shell with one shared open-group state. */
 // fallow-ignore-next-line complexity
@@ -135,7 +139,13 @@ export function PropertyPanelFlat({
         ? "style"
         : sections.media
           ? "media"
-          : "layout",
+          : // An `<hf-audio-group>` has no style, no layout and no media — its
+            // chain is the only reason to select one. Without this the fallback
+            // landed on "layout", a section a bus does not render, so opening the
+            // rack on a group produced a panel with everything collapsed.
+            sections.audioFx
+            ? "audio-fx"
+            : "layout",
   );
 
   // Tracks which group(s) are actively transitioning this toggle cycle, so
@@ -161,6 +171,7 @@ export function PropertyPanelFlat({
       timelineSessionEpoch: state.timelineSessionEpoch,
     })),
   );
+  const storeElements = usePlayerStore((state) => state.elements);
   // Identity of the element THIS panel actually renders (not the store's
   // selectedElementId, which flips synchronously on selection while the panel
   // still renders the previous element during async DOM-selection resolution):
@@ -187,6 +198,25 @@ export function PropertyPanelFlat({
     if (focusesThisPanel) setOpenGroupId("motion");
   }
 
+  /**
+   * A lane's reveal request opens the Audio FX section, the same way a focused
+   * ease segment opens Motion.
+   *
+   * Without this the request reached a collapsed section: the rack — and the
+   * module the request names — is not mounted while it is closed, so the click
+   * selected the clip and then appeared to do nothing.
+   */
+  const hiddenNow = isSelectionHidden(selectedElementHidden, element);
+
+  const reveal = useAudioFxRevealSection({
+    elementId: element?.id,
+    hasAudioFxSection: Boolean(sections.audioFx),
+  });
+  if (reveal.revealNonce !== null) {
+    reveal.consume(reveal.revealNonce);
+    setOpenGroupId("audio-fx");
+  }
+
   const [justToggledIds, setJustToggledIds] = useState<string[]>([]);
   const justToggledTimeoutRef = useRef<ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null>(null);
   const panelBodyRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
@@ -254,11 +284,30 @@ export function PropertyPanelFlat({
           onSetAllKeyframeEases,
         }
       : null;
-  const showMotionEffects = gsapEffectHandlers !== null;
+  const audioSelection = isAudioDomElement(element.element);
+  // Handlers being wired is necessary but not sufficient: App.tsx always passes
+  // them, so this alone showed the tween editor for every selection — including
+  // an `<audio>` clip and an `<hf-audio-group>` bus, neither of which has a
+  // transform, an opacity or a box for a tween to move. Gated on the TAG, not on
+  // `sections.animation` (`animationCount > 0`): a div with no tweens yet must
+  // still offer "+ Add", so "has none" and "can have none" are different
+  // questions and only the second one belongs here.
+  const showMotionEffects = gsapEffectHandlers !== null && !audioSelection;
   const showMotionGroup = showMotionTiming || showMotionEffects;
 
   const volumeAutomation = useVolumeAutomation(element, onSetAttributeQuiet ?? onSetAttributeLive);
 
+  // The group this clip belongs to, if any — the Audio FX summary reads
+  // "in Voiceover" for a member (see `audioFxSummary`). Membership lives on the
+  // members, so resolve the owning label from the live document.
+  const audioGroupLabel = useMemo((): string | undefined => {
+    const doc = element.element?.ownerDocument;
+    const id = element.id;
+    if (!doc || !id) return undefined;
+    return resolveAudioGroups(doc).find((group) => group.memberIds.includes(id))?.label;
+    // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps -- store replacement signals live group membership changed
+  }, [element, storeElements]);
+
   const groups: FlatGroupDescriptor[] = [];
   if (isTextEditable) {
     groups.push({
@@ -346,8 +395,12 @@ export function PropertyPanelFlat({
   if (showMotionGroup) {
     groups.push({
       id: "motion",
-      title: "Motion",
-      summary: `${gsapAnimations.length} effect${gsapAnimations.length === 1 ? "" : "s"}`,
+      ...motionSectionLabel({
+        timingOnly: audioSelection,
+        start: elStart,
+        duration: elDuration,
+        effectCount: gsapAnimations.length,
+      }),
       content: (
         <FlatMotionSection
           element={element}
@@ -431,7 +484,7 @@ export function PropertyPanelFlat({
     groups.push({
       id: "audio-fx",
       title: "Audio FX",
-      summary: audioFxSummary(element),
+      summary: audioFxSummary(element, audioGroupLabel),
       content: (
         <AudioFxGroup
           element={element}
@@ -466,17 +519,8 @@ export function PropertyPanelFlat({
   const beforeOpen = openIndex === -1 ? groups : groups.slice(0, openIndex);
   const openGroup = openIndex === -1 ? null : groups[openIndex];
   const afterOpen = openIndex === -1 ? [] : groups.slice(openIndex + 1);
-  const renderClosedGroup = (group: FlatGroupDescriptor) => (
-    <DesignPanelInputProvider key={group.id} section={slugifyDesignInput(group.title)}>
-      <FlatGroupHeader
-        title={group.title}
-        isOpen={false}
-        onToggleOpen={() => toggleOpen(group.id)}
-        summary={group.summary}
-        animateEntrance={justToggledIds.includes(group.id)}
-      />
-    </DesignPanelInputProvider>
-  );
+  const renderClosedGroup = (group: FlatGroupDescriptor) =>
+    closedGroupHeader(group, toggleOpen, justToggledIds);
 
   return (
     <DesignPanelInputProvider ui="flat">
@@ -486,10 +530,27 @@ export function PropertyPanelFlat({
             name={element.label}
             meta={`${sourceLabel} · ${element.tagName}`}
             elementKind={elementKind}
-            hidden={selectedElementHidden}
+            hidden={hiddenNow}
+            // Audio gets no hide control here. On an audio track "hidden" and
+            // "muted" are not similar operations, they are the SAME operation
+            // with two names (groups doc §2.1) — which is why the timeline's eye
+            // BECAME the mute rather than growing a sibling. A second copy in
+            // the panel, still called "Hide element", is exactly what that step
+            // set out to remove: "Two controls that silence a track, sitting
+            // next to each other, differing only in a distinction the author
+            // cannot see." An `<hf-audio-group>` has no visual to hide at all.
+            //
+            // EXCEPT while it is already hidden — the same door-from-the-inside
+            // the timeline's eye keeps for an audio track
+            // (`TimelineTrackPlainHeader`). Withholding it unconditionally
+            // withheld the only way back: a `data-hidden` group is silent in
+            // preview (the bus's mute gain) and absent from the render (every
+            // member dropped), and the group header carries no visibility
+            // control of its own now that mute and solo are gone. Only
+            // hand-editing the HTML brought the audio back.
             onToggleHidden={
-              selectedElementId && onToggleElementHidden
-                ? () => void onToggleElementHidden(selectedElementId, !selectedElementHidden)
+              selectedElementId && onToggleElementHidden && (!audioSelection || hiddenNow)
+                ? () => void onToggleElementHidden(selectedElementId, !hiddenNow)
                 : undefined
             }
             copied={clipboardCopied}
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanelFlatHeader.test.tsx b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanelFlatHeader.test.tsx
index 2d467db82b..51c43ad266 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanelFlatHeader.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/PropertyPanelFlatHeader.test.tsx
@@ -76,4 +76,25 @@ describe("PropertyPanelFlatHeader", () => {
     const { host: withUngroup } = renderHeader({ showUngroup: true, onUngroup: vi.fn() });
     expect(withUngroup.querySelector('[aria-label="Ungroup"]')).not.toBeNull();
   });
+
+  // The panel's hide control is withheld for audio by its caller — on an audio
+  // track "hidden" and "muted" are the same operation with two names (groups
+  // doc §2.1), and the timeline already carries it, correctly labelled. This
+  // pins the header's half of that contract: no handler, no button.
+  it("renders no visibility control when its caller withholds the handler", () => {
+    const { host } = renderHeader({ onToggleHidden: undefined });
+    const labels = Array.from(host.querySelectorAll("button")).map((b) =>
+      b.getAttribute("aria-label"),
+    );
+    expect(labels).not.toContain("Hide element");
+    expect(labels).not.toContain("Show element");
+  });
+
+  it("renders it when the handler is supplied", () => {
+    const { host } = renderHeader({ onToggleHidden: vi.fn() });
+    const labels = Array.from(host.querySelectorAll("button")).map((b) =>
+      b.getAttribute("aria-label"),
+    );
+    expect(labels).toContain("Hide element");
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/TimelineFxPopover.tsx b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/TimelineFxPopover.tsx
index a63eba137a..1650e94853 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/TimelineFxPopover.tsx
+++ b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/TimelineFxPopover.tsx
@@ -11,9 +11,11 @@
 import { useEffect, useRef, type CSSProperties, type KeyboardEvent } from "react";
 import type { HfAudioFxChain } from "@hyperframes/core/audio-fx";
 import type { HfAudioNameKind } from "@hyperframes/core/audio-carve";
+import { applyAudioFxPreset, getAudioFxPreset } from "@hyperframes/core/audio-fx-presets";
 import { FxPresetMenu } from "./propertyPanelFxPresetMenu.js";
 import { applyPresetToChain } from "./useApplyAudioFxPreset.js";
 import { useFxAudition } from "./useFxAudition.js";
+import { trackPresetAuditioned } from "./audioFxTelemetry.js";
 
 const POPOVER_WIDTH = 260;
 const VIEWPORT_MARGIN = 8;
@@ -80,6 +82,13 @@ export interface TimelineFxPopoverProps {
   onOpenRack: () => void;
 }
 
+/** A preset applied for AUDITION only: no telemetry, since nothing was chosen.
+ *  `applyPresetToChain` is the tracked path and belongs to `onPick`. */
+function auditionPresetChain(base: HfAudioFxChain, presetId: string): HfAudioFxChain {
+  const preset = getAudioFxPreset(presetId);
+  return preset ? applyAudioFxPreset(base, preset) : base;
+}
+
 export function TimelineFxPopover({
   anchorRect,
   chain,
@@ -108,6 +117,7 @@ export function TimelineFxPopover({
   }, [onClose]);
 
   const applyPreset = (id: string) => {
+    // The stored chain, not the auditioned one — see `storedChain`.
     const next = applyPresetToChain(storedChain(), id, trackKind);
     if (!next) return;
     clearAudition();
@@ -141,12 +151,18 @@ export function TimelineFxPopover({
         <FxPresetMenu
           trackKind={trackKind}
           onPick={applyPreset}
+          // The RAW apply, not `applyPresetToChain` — that helper fires
+          // `trackPresetApplied` on every call, so auditioning a 12-preset shelf
+          // by hover or arrow key emitted 12 `preset_applied` events and the
+          // numbers could not tell an audition from a decision. `FxSection`
+          // makes exactly this split, with `onAuditionTracked` carrying the
+          // honest event.
           onAudition={
             onChainPreview
-              ? (id) =>
-                  audition(id ? (base) => applyPresetToChain(base, id, trackKind) ?? base : null)
+              ? (id) => audition(id ? (base) => auditionPresetChain(base, id) : null)
               : undefined
           }
+          onAuditionTracked={(id) => trackPresetAuditioned(id, { trackKind })}
         />
       </div>
       <div className="mt-2 flex shrink-0 items-center justify-between border-t border-white/10 pt-2 text-[10px] text-white/55">
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/propertyPanelAudioFxGroup.test.tsx b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/propertyPanelAudioFxGroup.test.tsx
index ea368a90b5..1705258c6a 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/propertyPanelAudioFxGroup.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/propertyPanelAudioFxGroup.test.tsx
@@ -101,6 +101,37 @@ function mount(dataAttributes: Record<string, string>, alone = false, voices = 2
   return { host, onSetAttributeQuiet, onSetAttributeLive };
 }
 
+function mountGroup(memberStart: number) {
+  const bus = document.createElement("hf-audio-group");
+  bus.id = "voiceover";
+  document.body.append(bus);
+  const member = document.createElement("audio");
+  member.id = "vo-1";
+  member.setAttribute("data-audio-group", "voiceover");
+  member.setAttribute("data-start", String(memberStart));
+  member.setAttribute("data-duration", "5");
+  document.body.append(member);
+
+  const host = document.createElement("div");
+  document.body.append(host);
+  const selection = {
+    dataAttributes: { "fx-chain": CHAIN },
+    id: "voiceover",
+    element: bus,
+    tagName: "hf-audio-group",
+  } as unknown as DomEditSelection;
+  act(() => {
+    createRoot(host).render(
+      <AudioFxGroup
+        element={selection}
+        onSetAttributeQuiet={vi.fn()}
+        onSetAttributeLive={vi.fn()}
+      />,
+    );
+  });
+  return host;
+}
+
 const rowFor = (host: HTMLElement, label: string): HTMLElement | null => {
   for (const row of Array.from(host.querySelectorAll<HTMLElement>(".hf-fx-row"))) {
     if (row.querySelector(".hf-fx-label")?.textContent === label) return row;
@@ -565,6 +596,20 @@ describe("AudioFxGroup dynamic carve", () => {
       expect(store().playbackRequest?.returnTo).toBe(42);
     });
 
+    it("seeks a group audition to the next member span", () => {
+      act(() =>
+        usePlayerStore.setState({
+          isPlaying: false,
+          currentTime: 2,
+          requestedSeekTime: null,
+        }),
+      );
+      const host = mountGroup(10);
+      hoverPreset(host);
+      expect(store().requestedSeekTime).toBe(10);
+      leaveShelf(host);
+    });
+
     it("leaves a transport the author started alone", () => {
       // Stopping their playback because they passed over a preset would be the
       // panel taking a decision nobody offered it.
@@ -1341,6 +1386,62 @@ describe("AudioFxGroup carve by default", () => {
     expect(onSetAttributeQuiet.mock.calls.some((c) => c[0] === "data-fx-carve")).toBe(false);
     expect(host.querySelector(".hf-fx-carve-module")).toBeNull();
   });
+
+  /**
+   * Mount a track of the test's own naming as the selection, with siblings.
+   *
+   * `mount` always calls the selected track `bed`, which is what let the near-end
+   * hole go unnoticed: nothing ever selected a track whose NAME said voice.
+   */
+  const mountNamed = (id: string, siblings: string[]) => {
+    const onSetAttributeQuiet = vi.fn();
+    const selected = document.createElement("audio");
+    selected.id = id;
+    document.body.append(selected);
+    for (const other of siblings) {
+      const el = document.createElement("audio");
+      el.id = other;
+      document.body.append(el);
+    }
+    const host = document.createElement("div");
+    document.body.append(host);
+    act(() => {
+      createRoot(host).render(
+        <AudioFxGroup
+          element={
+            {
+              dataAttributes: { "fx-chain": "" },
+              id,
+              element: selected,
+            } as unknown as DomEditSelection
+          }
+          onSetAttributeQuiet={onSetAttributeQuiet}
+          onSetAttributeLive={vi.fn()}
+        />,
+      );
+    });
+    return { host, onSetAttributeQuiet };
+  };
+
+  // The reported bug. A carve makes room in a bed for a voice, so a voice track
+  // is the one thing that can never be the bed — `couldBeCarveSource` has said
+  // as much since it was written, and nothing called it. Selecting a narration
+  // clip offered it the module, found one candidate, and applied a carve nobody
+  // asked for.
+  it("never offers the carve on a track whose name says voice", () => {
+    const { host, onSetAttributeQuiet } = mountNamed("vo-2", ["music-bed"]);
+    expect(onSetAttributeQuiet.mock.calls.some((c) => c[0] === "data-fx-carve")).toBe(false);
+    expect(host.querySelector(".hf-fx-carve-module")).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  // Offering is a suggestion, applying is a decision. An unnamed track keeps the
+  // module — the author may know better than the name does — but nothing is
+  // written until they say so.
+  it("offers but does not apply on a track whose name says nothing", () => {
+    const { host, onSetAttributeQuiet } = mountNamed("a1", ["vo-1"]);
+    expect(host.querySelector(".hf-fx-carve-module")).not.toBeNull();
+    expect(onSetAttributeQuiet.mock.calls.some((c) => c[0] === "data-fx-carve")).toBe(false);
+  });
 });
 
 describe("AudioFxGroup carve source list", () => {
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/propertyPanelAudioFxGroup.tsx b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/propertyPanelAudioFxGroup.tsx
index eb806368d8..df0a0d9361 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/propertyPanelAudioFxGroup.tsx
+++ b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/propertyPanelAudioFxGroup.tsx
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
  * budget, and self-contained enough to test on its own.
  */
 
-import { useState } from "react";
+import { useMemo, useState } from "react";
 import {
   HF_AUDIO_FX_ATTR,
   HF_AUDIO_FX_DATA_KEY,
@@ -40,12 +40,47 @@ import {
 } from "./propertyPanelAutomation";
 import type { DomEditSelection } from "./domEditingTypes";
 import { useLivePlayheadTime } from "../../hooks/useLivePlayheadTime";
+import { usePlayerStore } from "../../player/store/playerStore";
+import { isRevealedAudioFxRequestCurrent } from "../../player/store/keyframeSlice";
 import { FxSection } from "./propertyPanelFxSection.js";
 import { clipStart } from "./propertyPanelAudioFxGroupUtils.js";
 import { useFxChainObserved } from "./useFxChainObserved.js";
 import { useFxCarve } from "./useFxCarve.js";
+import { audioFxSignalPath } from "./audioFxSignalPath.js";
+import type { AuditionSpan } from "./useAuditionTransport.js";
+import {
+  HF_AUDIO_GROUP_ATTR,
+  HF_AUDIO_GROUP_TAG,
+  resolveAudioGroups,
+} from "@hyperframes/core/audio-groups";
 import { useFxLevelling } from "./useFxLevelling.js";
 
+function auditionSpan(startRaw: string | undefined, durationRaw: string | undefined) {
+  const start = Number.parseFloat(startRaw ?? "");
+  const duration = Number.parseFloat(durationRaw ?? "");
+  return Number.isFinite(start) && Number.isFinite(duration) && duration > 0
+    ? { start, duration }
+    : null;
+}
+
+/** The selected clip, or every current member when the selected rack is a bus. */
+function auditionSpansFor(element: DomEditSelection): AuditionSpan[] {
+  const own = auditionSpan(element.dataAttributes?.["start"], element.dataAttributes?.["duration"]);
+  if (own) return [own];
+  if (element.tagName?.toLowerCase() !== HF_AUDIO_GROUP_TAG || !element.id) return [];
+  const doc = element.element?.ownerDocument;
+  if (!doc) return [];
+  return [...doc.querySelectorAll(`audio[${HF_AUDIO_GROUP_ATTR}]`)]
+    .filter((member) => member.getAttribute(HF_AUDIO_GROUP_ATTR) === element.id)
+    .flatMap((member) => {
+      const span = auditionSpan(
+        member.getAttribute("data-start") ?? undefined,
+        member.getAttribute("data-duration") ?? undefined,
+      );
+      return span ? [span] : [];
+    });
+}
+
 /**
  * Bridges the FX panel to the element/attribute world. Chain and carve are
  * serialised onto the element the way colour grading carries its config, so
@@ -112,6 +147,9 @@ export function AudioFxGroup({
    * came under the playhead.
    */
   const playhead = useLivePlayheadTime();
+  const revealRequest = usePlayerStore((s) => s.revealedAudioFxTarget);
+  const timelineProjectId = usePlayerStore((s) => s.timelineProjectId);
+  const timelineSessionEpoch = usePlayerStore((s) => s.timelineSessionEpoch);
   const localTime = playhead - clipStart(element.dataAttributes?.["start"]);
   const liveAutomationValues = ((): Map<string, number> => {
     const values = new Map<string, number>();
@@ -226,6 +264,31 @@ export function AudioFxGroup({
 
   const [analysing, setAnalysing] = useState(false);
 
+  // The rack's In/Out lines. Resolved from the live document because a group's
+  // membership lives on the members, so neither end of the routing can be read
+  // off the selected element alone.
+  // Keyed on the store's element array as well as the selection: membership is
+  // held by the MEMBERS, so a clip joining or leaving this group changes neither
+  // `element` nor its attributes, and the path went stale — "OUT to mix" on a
+  // clip that had just been grouped. `syncStoredGroupAttribute` and
+  // `updateElement` both replace the array, so its identity is the cheap signal
+  // that membership may have moved.
+  const storeElements = usePlayerStore((s) => s.elements);
+  const signalPath = useMemo(() => {
+    const doc = element.element?.ownerDocument;
+    return audioFxSignalPath(
+      element.tagName?.toLowerCase(),
+      element.id ?? undefined,
+      doc ? resolveAudioGroups(doc) : [],
+    );
+    // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
+  }, [element, storeElements]);
+
+  // A bus has no span of its own, so resolve the live members. The
+  // `storeElements` subscription above rerenders this panel when membership
+  // changes without changing the selection.
+  const auditionSpans = auditionSpansFor(element);
+
   const { carvedAgainstBy, sourceOptions, setCarve } = useFxCarve(
     element,
     chain,
@@ -249,6 +312,32 @@ export function AudioFxGroup({
 
   return (
     <FxSection
+      // A lane's reveal request, but only when it names THIS element: the rack
+      // shows one element, and a request aimed at another must not reopen
+      // whatever happens to be mounted. Stale requests (other project, pre-
+      // reload session) are refused by the same check.
+      revealTarget={
+        revealRequest &&
+        revealRequest.elementKey === element.id &&
+        isRevealedAudioFxRequestCurrent(revealRequest, {
+          timelineProjectId,
+          timelineSessionEpoch,
+        })
+          ? revealRequest.automationTarget
+          : null
+      }
+      // Forwarded, not dropped: the section consumes by nonce, so without it a
+      // request never fires and a second click on the same lane is inert.
+      revealNonce={
+        revealRequest &&
+        revealRequest.elementKey === element.id &&
+        isRevealedAudioFxRequestCurrent(revealRequest, {
+          timelineProjectId,
+          timelineSessionEpoch,
+        })
+          ? revealRequest.nonce
+          : null
+      }
       // Locked while the carve is measuring. `analyse` captures the chain and
       // the automation BEFORE its fetch and decode, then rewrites the whole
       // attribute from that snapshot — so an effect added, or a knob committed,
@@ -273,7 +362,8 @@ export function AudioFxGroup({
           next.nodes.length ? serializeAudioFxChain(next) : null,
         )
       }
-      onAuditionTransport={auditionTransport}
+      signalPath={signalPath}
+      onAuditionTransport={(on) => auditionTransport(on, auditionSpans)}
       onChainPreview={(next) =>
         // Live writes skip the preview refresh entirely, so dragging a knob no
         // longer reloads the composition and restarts playback on every pixel.
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/propertyPanelFlatClosedGroup.tsx b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/propertyPanelFlatClosedGroup.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..92d7b8dc67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/propertyPanelFlatClosedGroup.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+/**
+ * A collapsed group's header row in the flat inspector.
+ *
+ * Its own module so `PropertyPanelFlat.tsx` stays under the studio's 600-line
+ * cap; it reads only its arguments, which is what makes it separable.
+ */
+
+import { DesignPanelInputProvider } from "../../contexts/DesignPanelInputContext";
+import { slugifyDesignInput } from "../../utils/designInputTracking";
+import { FlatGroupHeader } from "./propertyPanelFlatPrimitives";
+import type { FlatGroupDescriptor } from "./propertyPanelFlatDescriptors";
+
+/** Its title, its one-line summary, and the entrance animation only the group
+ *  just toggled gets. */
+export function closedGroupHeader(
+  group: FlatGroupDescriptor,
+  toggleOpen: (id: string) => void,
+  justToggledIds: readonly string[],
+) {
+  return (
+    <DesignPanelInputProvider key={group.id} section={slugifyDesignInput(group.title)}>
+      <FlatGroupHeader
+        title={group.title}
+        isOpen={false}
+        onToggleOpen={() => toggleOpen(group.id)}
+        summary={group.summary}
+        animateEntrance={justToggledIds.includes(group.id)}
+      />
+    </DesignPanelInputProvider>
+  );
+}
+
+/**
+ * Is the selection hidden RIGHT NOW.
+ *
+ * `selectedElementHidden` is derived from `timelineElements`, and an
+ * `<hf-audio-group>` is not one — it is a mixer bus, and the runtime no longer
+ * stamps timing on it, so it has no timeline row to carry a `hidden` flag. Its
+ * `data-hidden` lives only on the element, so the attribute is the fallback.
+ */
+export function isSelectionHidden(
+  fromTimeline: boolean,
+  element: { dataAttributes?: Record<string, string | undefined> } | null | undefined,
+): boolean {
+  return fromTimeline || element?.dataAttributes?.["hidden"] != null;
+}
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/propertyPanelFlatMotionSection.tsx b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/propertyPanelFlatMotionSection.tsx
index f3084a4470..47f27a71f9 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/propertyPanelFlatMotionSection.tsx
+++ b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/propertyPanelFlatMotionSection.tsx
@@ -172,3 +172,34 @@ export function FlatMotionSection({
     </div>
   );
 }
+
+/**
+ * What the Motion section is called, and what its collapsed line says.
+ *
+ * "Motion" names the tween editor. On audio the section is Start/Duration/End
+ * and nothing else, so the label would promise what it no longer offers — and
+ * "Motion: 0 effects" on a sound is a category error, hence the span instead of
+ * a count.
+ *
+ * Keyed on the TAG by its caller, not on whether the effects half is showing:
+ * that half also disappears when a host simply has not wired the GSAP handlers,
+ * and a div in that state is still a thing that moves — renaming its section
+ * would be describing the host's wiring rather than the element.
+ */
+export function motionSectionLabel(args: {
+  timingOnly: boolean;
+  start: number;
+  duration: number;
+  effectCount: number;
+}): { title: string; summary: string } {
+  if (args.timingOnly) {
+    return {
+      title: "Timing",
+      summary: `${formatTimingValue(args.start)} – ${formatTimingValue(args.start + args.duration)}`,
+    };
+  }
+  return {
+    title: "Motion",
+    summary: `${args.effectCount} effect${args.effectCount === 1 ? "" : "s"}`,
+  };
+}
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/useAudioFxRevealSection.ts b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/useAudioFxRevealSection.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2c989c6ad4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/useAudioFxRevealSection.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+/**
+ * Opening the Audio FX section for a lane's reveal request.
+ *
+ * Split out of `PropertyPanelFlat.tsx` to keep it under the studio's 600-line
+ * cap. All three of the request's hazards live here rather than being restated
+ * at the call site: it must be current, it is consumed by NONCE, and it is
+ * retired when the panel goes away.
+ */
+
+import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
+import { usePlayerStore } from "../../player";
+import { isRevealedAudioFxRequestCurrent } from "../../player/store/keyframeSlice";
+
+export interface AudioFxRevealSectionInput {
+  /** The element the panel is showing, or null. */
+  elementId: string | null | undefined;
+  /** False when the panel does not render an Audio FX section at all. */
+  hasAudioFxSection: boolean;
+}
+
+/**
+ * The nonce this panel should act on, or null.
+ *
+ * Consumption is keyed on the NONCE, not the request object: clicking a lane
+ * selects the clip first, which REMOUNTS this panel, so a `!==` against the
+ * previous value would initialise to the already-set request and never fire.
+ * The nonce also makes a second click on the same lane a new request.
+ */
+export function useAudioFxRevealSection(input: AudioFxRevealSectionInput): {
+  /** Non-null exactly once per request: open the section on this commit. */
+  revealNonce: number | null;
+  consume: (nonce: number) => void;
+} {
+  const revealedAudioFxTarget = usePlayerStore((s) => s.revealedAudioFxTarget);
+  const timelineProjectId = usePlayerStore((s) => s.timelineProjectId);
+  const timelineSessionEpoch = usePlayerStore((s) => s.timelineSessionEpoch);
+  const clearRevealedAudioFxTarget = usePlayerStore((s) => s.clearRevealedAudioFxTarget);
+  const [consumed, setConsumed] = useState<number | null>(null);
+
+  // Retire the request once this panel is gone. Consumption is nonce-guarded so
+  // a stale request was already harmless — but it sat in the store until the
+  // next click, and a request nobody will ever consume is state every reader
+  // then has to reason about.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (consumed === null) return;
+    return () => clearRevealedAudioFxTarget(consumed);
+  }, [consumed, clearRevealedAudioFxTarget]);
+
+  const forThisPanel =
+    revealedAudioFxTarget !== null &&
+    revealedAudioFxTarget.elementKey === input.elementId &&
+    isRevealedAudioFxRequestCurrent(revealedAudioFxTarget, {
+      timelineProjectId,
+      timelineSessionEpoch,
+    }) &&
+    input.hasAudioFxSection
+      ? revealedAudioFxTarget.nonce
+      : null;
+
+  return {
+    revealNonce: forThisPanel !== null && forThisPanel !== consumed ? forThisPanel : null,
+    consume: setConsumed,
+  };
+}
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/hooks/useAudioSoloBridge.ts b/packages/studio/src/hooks/useAudioSoloBridge.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index da790c5142..0000000000
--- a/packages/studio/src/hooks/useAudioSoloBridge.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,61 +0,0 @@
-import { useEffect, useMemo } from "react";
-import { HF_AUDIO_GROUP_TAG } from "@hyperframes/core/audio-groups";
-import { usePlayerStore } from "../player/store/playerStore";
-import { getTimelineElementDisplayLabel } from "../player/lib/timelineElementHelpers";
-
-interface IframeWindow extends Window {
-  __hf?: { setAudioSolo?: (ids: readonly string[]) => void };
-}
-
-/**
- * Pushes the studio's "Hear only this" set into the preview runtime whenever
- * it changes. A dedicated push, not a DOM write: solo is session-only and
- * must never touch an attribute (design doc §2.2 / the export-safety
- * guarantee), so it can't ride `syncTimedElementVisibility`'s attribute-diff
- * the way group mute does — see `window.__hf.setAudioSolo`.
- */
-export function useAudioSoloBridge(previewIframeRef: { current: HTMLIFrameElement | null }): void {
-  const soloed = usePlayerStore((s) => s.soloed);
-  useEffect(() => {
-    const win = previewIframeRef.current?.contentWindow as IframeWindow | null;
-    win?.__hf?.setAudioSolo?.([...soloed]);
-  }, [soloed, previewIframeRef]);
-}
-
-/** One soloed id's display label — reads the live preview DOM directly (same
- *  approach as `patchLiveGroupAttribute`), since solo ids are never anywhere
- *  but the document's own element ids. A group carries its label on
- *  `data-label`; anything else falls back to the same label rule the
- *  timeline itself uses. */
-function resolveSoloLabel(doc: Document | null | undefined, id: string): string {
-  const el = doc?.getElementById(id);
-  if (!el) return id;
-  if (el.tagName.toLowerCase() === HF_AUDIO_GROUP_TAG) {
-    return getTimelineElementDisplayLabel({ id, label: el.getAttribute("data-label") });
-  }
-  return getTimelineElementDisplayLabel({
-    id,
-    label: el.getAttribute("data-timeline-label") ?? el.getAttribute("data-label"),
-    tag: el.tagName,
-  });
-}
-
-/**
- * The transport bar's "Hear only this" banner text — `null` while nothing is
- * soloed. One name when exactly one thing is soloed, `"N tracks"` otherwise
- * (design doc §2.2's banner rule); "your export is not affected" is fixed
- * copy the caller owns, this only resolves the variable half.
- */
-export function useSoloBannerText(previewIframeRef: {
-  current: HTMLIFrameElement | null;
-}): string | null {
-  const soloed = usePlayerStore((s) => s.soloed);
-  return useMemo(() => {
-    if (soloed.size === 0) return null;
-    if (soloed.size === 1) {
-      const doc = previewIframeRef.current?.contentDocument;
-      return resolveSoloLabel(doc, [...soloed][0]);
-    }
-    return `${soloed.size} tracks`;
-  }, [soloed, previewIframeRef]);
-}
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/hooks/useRemoveBackground.ts b/packages/studio/src/hooks/useRemoveBackground.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c55a81e255
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/studio/src/hooks/useRemoveBackground.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+import { useCallback, useEffect, useRef } from "react";
+import { waitForMediaJob } from "../components/studioMediaJobs";
+import type { BackgroundRemovalProgress } from "../components/editor/propertyPanelTypes";
+
+interface RemoveBackgroundOptions {
+  createBackgroundPlate?: boolean;
+  quality?: "fast" | "balanced" | "best";
+  onProgress?: (progress: BackgroundRemovalProgress) => void;
+}
+
+/**
+ * One removal in flight at a time: starting a second one aborts whichever job
+ * is still running, so a stale progress callback can't overwrite a newer
+ * result. Unmounting aborts too, or the job would keep running against a
+ * panel that is no longer there to show its progress.
+ */
+export function useRemoveBackground(
+  projectId: string,
+  refreshFileTree: () => Promise<void>,
+  showToast: (message: string, kind?: "info" | "error") => void,
+) {
+  const abortRef = useRef<AbortController | null>(null);
+
+  useEffect(
+    () => () => {
+      abortRef.current?.abort();
+    },
+    [],
+  );
+
+  return useCallback(
+    // fallow-ignore-next-line complexity
+    async (inputPath: string, options: RemoveBackgroundOptions) => {
+      const response = await fetch(
+        `/api/projects/${encodeURIComponent(projectId)}/media/remove-background`,
+        {
+          method: "POST",
+          headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
+          body: JSON.stringify({
+            inputPath,
+            createBackgroundPlate: options.createBackgroundPlate === true,
+            quality: options.quality ?? "balanced",
+          }),
+        },
+      );
+      const data = (await response.json().catch(() => ({}))) as {
+        jobId?: string;
+        error?: string;
+      };
+      if (!response.ok || !data.jobId) {
+        throw new Error(data.error || `Background removal failed (${response.status})`);
+      }
+      showToast("Removing background...", "info");
+      abortRef.current?.abort();
+      const controller = new AbortController();
+      abortRef.current = controller;
+      try {
+        const result = await waitForMediaJob(data.jobId, options.onProgress, controller.signal);
+        await refreshFileTree();
+        showToast(`Created transparent asset: ${result.outputPath.split("/").pop()}`, "info");
+        return result;
+      } finally {
+        if (abortRef.current === controller) {
+          abortRef.current = null;
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    [projectId, refreshFileTree, showToast],
+  );
+}
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/player/store/keyframeSlice.ts b/packages/studio/src/player/store/keyframeSlice.ts
index 6e5f7e8aea..049f415615 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/player/store/keyframeSlice.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/player/store/keyframeSlice.ts
@@ -55,6 +55,17 @@ export type RevealedAudioFxTargetRequest = Omit<
   "projectId" | "sessionEpoch" | "nonce"
 >;
 
+/** Whether a reveal request still belongs to what is on screen. */
+export function isRevealedAudioFxRequestCurrent(
+  request: RevealedAudioFxTarget,
+  state: TimelineSessionIdentity,
+): boolean {
+  return (
+    request.projectId === state.timelineProjectId &&
+    request.sessionEpoch === state.timelineSessionEpoch
+  );
+}
+
 interface TimelineSessionIdentity {
   timelineProjectId: string | null;
   timelineSessionEpoch: number;
diff --git a/scripts/check-no-main-deletions.mjs b/scripts/check-no-main-deletions.mjs
index d5ac91d14c..8e7f38d6e4 100644
--- a/scripts/check-no-main-deletions.mjs
+++ b/scripts/check-no-main-deletions.mjs
@@ -121,6 +121,10 @@ export const ALLOWED_DELETIONS = new Map([
     "packages/core/scripts/build-inline-artifact.ts",
     "a later branch in this stack (wa-20b2-lfo-fixes) independently deduped the same two build scripts a different way — buildInjectedArtifact.ts plus two thin per-target files — before this consolidation and that one had merged; this branch's tree keeps that shape instead, so build-inline-artifact.ts is the one that goes.",
   ],
+  [
+    "packages/studio/src/hooks/useAudioSoloBridge.ts",
+    "#3453 removes the obsolete solo bridge after its last consumer leaves",
+  ],
 ]);
 
 export function parseBase(argv, fallback = "origin/main") {