diff --git a/tl/resources/public/css/app.css b/tl/resources/public/css/app.css
index 351ba36..ef15297 100644
--- a/tl/resources/public/css/app.css
+++ b/tl/resources/public/css/app.css
@@ -250,8 +250,19 @@ body { overflow: hidden; }
 .gutter-label.collapsed { opacity: 0; border-bottom: none; padding: 0; }
 .clip {
   position: absolute; top: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden;
-  background: #3a6ea5; border: 1px solid #16324f; border-radius: 2px;
-  font-size: 10px; color: #cfe3f5; white-space: nowrap; padding-left: 3px;
+  background: #244966; border: 1px solid #16324f; border-radius: 2px;
+  font-size: 10px; color: #cfe3f5; white-space: nowrap;
+}
+.clip-thumb {
+  position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0;
+  background-size: cover; background-position: center;
+  opacity: .82;
+}
+.clip-name {
+  position: relative; z-index: 1; height: 100%; box-sizing: border-box;
+  padding: 0 4px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis;
+  text-shadow: 0 1px 2px #000, 0 0 4px #000;
+  background: linear-gradient(90deg, rgba(0,0,0,.55), rgba(0,0,0,.12));
 }
 
 .playhead { position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; width: 2px; background: #e33;
diff --git a/tl/src/tl/scene.cljs b/tl/src/tl/scene.cljs
index 0a7842a..ce5cb37 100644
--- a/tl/src/tl/scene.cljs
+++ b/tl/src/tl/scene.cljs
@@ -72,13 +72,15 @@
 (defn slice
   "Sub-segments of `segs` covering local range [la lb), src + local re-cut."
   [segs la lb]
-  (vec (keep (fn [{:keys [src local] :as seg}]
-               (let [[a _] src [c d] local
-                     lo (max la c) hi (min lb d)]
-                 (when (< lo hi)
-                   (assoc seg :local [lo hi]
-                              :src   [(+ a (- lo c)) (+ a (- hi c))]))))
-             segs)))
+  (vec
+   (keep (fn [{:keys [src local] :as seg}]
+           (let [[a _] src [c d] local
+                 lo (max la c) hi (min lb d)]
+             (when (< lo hi)
+               (cond-> (assoc seg :local [lo hi]
+                                   :src   [(+ a (- lo c)) (+ a (- hi c))])
+                 (:thumb-start seg) (update :thumb-start + (- lo c))))))
+         segs)))
 
 (defn tracks [segs] (into #{} (keep :track segs)))
 
@@ -98,7 +100,9 @@
     (when (seq segs)
       {:xs (-> segs first :src first)
        :xe (-> segs last  :src second)
-       :track (-> segs first :track)})))
+       :track (-> segs first :track)
+       :thumb (-> segs first :thumb)
+       :thumb-start (-> segs first :thumb-start)})))
 
 (defn- point-frame
   "Resolve a point (living in group `gid`) to {:frame :track}, or nil if a ref
@@ -111,10 +115,12 @@
        :track nil})
 
     (map? point)
-    (when-let [{:keys [xs xe track]} (target-range scene (:ref point))]
+    (when-let [{:keys [xs xe track thumb thumb-start]} (target-range scene (:ref point))]
       (let [n (:at point)
             f (if (neg? n) (+ xe n 1) (+ xs n))]
-        (when (<= xs f xe) {:frame f :track track})))))   ; nil if trimmed out of range
+        (when (<= xs f xe)
+          (cond-> {:frame f :track track}
+            thumb (assoc :thumb thumb :thumb-at (+ (or thumb-start 0) (- f xs)))))))))   ; nil if trimmed out of range
 
 (defn resolve-mark
   "One mark → its segment(s) (1 for a ref mark, 1+ for an absolute mark), with
@@ -125,7 +131,8 @@
           b (point-frame scene gid end)]
       (when (and a b)
         (let [s (:frame a) e (:frame b)]
-          [{:mark id :track (:track a) :src [s e] :local [0 (- e s)]}])))
+          [{:mark id :track (:track a) :src [s e] :local [0 (- e s)]
+            :thumb (:thumb a) :thumb-start (:thumb-at a)}])))
     (let [parent (:parent (grp scene gid))]
       (if parent                                     ; absolute, relative to parent
         (let [sub  (slice (resolve scene parent) start end)
@@ -133,7 +140,9 @@
           (mapv (fn [s] (let [[c d] (:local s)]
                           (assoc s :mark id :local [(- c base) (- d base)])))
                 sub))
-        [{:mark id :track track :src [start end] :local [0 (- end start)]}]))))
+        [{:mark id :track track :src [start end] :local [0 (- end start)]
+          :thumb (when (= :clip (:type (grp scene gid))) gid)
+          :thumb-start 0}]))))
 
 (defn resolve
   "A mark-group → its local timeline: ordered segments laid end to end. Broken
diff --git a/tl/src/tl/views.cljs b/tl/src/tl/views.cljs
index f6b50e2..de46fa0 100644
--- a/tl/src/tl/views.cljs
+++ b/tl/src/tl/views.cljs
@@ -12,24 +12,35 @@
 (defonce scroll-el (atom nil))
 (defonce play      (atom nil))   ; {:ctx :segs :fps :idx} while playing, else nil
 
+(def ^:private seek-guard-frames 0.75)
+(def ^:private seek-settle-frames 2)
+
 (defn- px [local fps zoom] (* (/ local fps) zoom))
 
-(defn- clip-thumbnail-layer [thumbs fps zoom row-h {:keys [mark]}]
-  (when-let [tiles (seq (get-in thumbs [:clips mark]))]
-    (let [clip-w (px (-> tiles last :end) fps zoom)
+(defn- clip-thumbnail-layer [thumbs fps zoom row-h {:keys [mark thumb thumb-start local]}]
+  (when-let [tiles (seq (get-in thumbs [:clips (or thumb mark)]))]
+    (let [[c d] local
+          offset (or thumb-start 0)
+          visible-end (+ offset (- d c))
+          visible-tiles (seq (filter (fn [{:keys [start end]}]
+                                       (and (< start visible-end) (> end offset)))
+                                     tiles))
+          clip-w (px (- d c) fps zoom)
           tile-w (max 1 (* (- row-h 2) (/ 16 9)))
-          n      (min (count tiles) (max 1 (js/Math.ceil (/ clip-w tile-w))))]
-      (into [:<>]
-            (for [i (range n)
-                  :let [left (* i tile-w)
-                        width (min tile-w (- clip-w left))
-                        url (:url (nth tiles i))]
-                  :when (pos? width)]
-              ^{:key i}
-              [:div.clip-thumb
-               {:style {:left left
-                        :width width
-                        :background-image (str "url(" url ")")}}])))))
+          n      (when visible-tiles
+                   (min (count visible-tiles) (max 1 (js/Math.ceil (/ clip-w tile-w)))))]
+      (when n
+        (into [:<>]
+              (for [i (range n)
+                    :let [left (* i tile-w)
+                          width (min tile-w (- clip-w left))
+                          url (:url (nth visible-tiles i))]
+                    :when (pos? width)]
+                ^{:key i}
+                [:div.clip-thumb
+                 {:style {:left left
+                          :width width
+                          :background-image (str "url(" url ")")}}]))))))
 
 ;; --- playback: the VIDEO is the clock ------------------------------------
 ;; Play it; a rAF reads currentTime and maps it into the current context's local
@@ -68,15 +79,27 @@
   (when-let [{:keys [ctx segs fps idx]} @play]
     (let [v  @video-el
           sf (* (.-currentTime v) fps)
+          {:keys [pending-ns]} @play
           {[ss se] :src [ls _] :local} (nth segs idx)]
-      (if (>= sf se)
-        (if-let [{[ns _] :src [nl _] :local} (get segs (inc idx))]
-          (do (swap! play assoc :idx (inc idx))
-              (when (> (js/Math.abs (- sf ns)) 1.5)              ; only seek at a real discontinuity
-                (seek-video! fps ns))
-              (rf/dispatch [::events/set-playhead ctx nl]))
-          (.pause v))                                            ; end → pause event disengages
-        (rf/dispatch [::events/set-playhead ctx (+ ls (- sf ss))])))
+      (cond
+        pending-ns
+        (when (< (js/Math.abs (- sf pending-ns)) seek-settle-frames)
+          (swap! play dissoc :pending-ns))
+
+        :else
+        (let [{[ns _] :src [nl _] :local :as next-seg} (get segs (inc idx))
+              discontinuity? (and next-seg (> (js/Math.abs (- se ns)) 1.5))
+              boundary       (if discontinuity? (- se seek-guard-frames) se)]
+          (if (>= sf boundary)
+            (if next-seg
+              (do (swap! play (fn [p]
+                                (cond-> (assoc p :idx (inc idx))
+                                  discontinuity? (assoc :pending-ns ns))))
+                  (when discontinuity?
+                    (seek-video! fps ns))
+                  (rf/dispatch [::events/set-playhead ctx nl]))
+              (.pause v))                                        ; end → pause event disengages
+            (rf/dispatch [::events/set-playhead ctx (+ ls (- sf ss))])))))
     (when @play (reset! raf (js/requestAnimationFrame play-tick)))))
 
 (defn- engage-play!
diff --git a/tl/test/tl/scene_test.cljs b/tl/test/tl/scene_test.cljs
index 2b70d0b..f44cb99 100644
--- a/tl/test/tl/scene_test.cljs
+++ b/tl/test/tl/scene_test.cljs
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@
       (is (= [150 200] (:src (nth segs 0))))
       (is (= 150 (s/local->source segs 0)))     ; B's second half
       (is (= 0   (s/local->source segs 50)))    ; boundary into A's first half
+      (is (= [:clip-b :clip-a :clip-b :clip-a] (map :thumb segs)))
+      (is (= [50 0 0 50] (map :thumb-start segs)))
       (is (= #{:t1 :t0} (s/tracks segs))))))
 
 (deftest trim-no-clamp
@@ -168,7 +170,9 @@
   (testing "a local frame in Y (nested 2 deep) resolves down Y->X->clip to source"
     (let [segs (s/resolve x+y :ann-y)]
       (is (= 165 (s/local->source segs 5)))     ; inside y0 -> B src 165
-      (is (= 2   (s/local->source segs 12))))))  ; across the boundary -> A src 2
+      (is (= 2   (s/local->source segs 12)))     ; across the boundary -> A src 2
+      (is (= [:clip-b :clip-a] (map :thumb segs)))
+      (is (= [60 0] (map :thumb-start segs))))))
 
 (deftest seek-only-at-boundaries
   (testing "source advances 1:1 within a subclip and jumps only at a boundary"