Branding flash monetization: full-frame 'made with ytLlive!' every 300s replaces the always-on watermark

MainWindow.xaml

@@ -376,6 +376,39 @@
                                         <Ellipse Width="26" Height="26" Fill="#e94560" Stroke="White" StrokeThickness="2"
                                                  HorizontalAlignment="Right" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" Margin="0,0,-13,-13"/>
                                     </Grid>
+
+                                    <Grid x:Name="BrandFlashLayer" Width="1920" Height="1080" IsHitTestVisible="False" Opacity="0">
+                                        <Grid.Style>
+                                            <Style TargetType="Grid">
+                                                <Setter Property="Opacity" Value="0"/>
+                                                <Style.Triggers>
+                                                    <DataTrigger Binding="{Binding BrandFlashActive}" Value="True">
+                                                        <DataTrigger.EnterActions>
+                                                            <BeginStoryboard>
+                                                                <Storyboard>
+                                                                    <DoubleAnimation Storyboard.TargetProperty="Opacity"
+                                                                                     From="0" To="0.25" Duration="0:0:0.25"/>
+                                                                </Storyboard>
+                                                            </BeginStoryboard>
+                                                        </DataTrigger.EnterActions>
+                                                        <DataTrigger.ExitActions>
+                                                            <BeginStoryboard>
+                                                                <Storyboard>
+                                                                    <DoubleAnimation Storyboard.TargetProperty="Opacity"
+                                                                                     From="0.25" To="0" Duration="0:0:0.25"/>
+                                                                </Storyboard>
+                                                            </BeginStoryboard>
+                                                        </DataTrigger.ExitActions>
+                                                    </DataTrigger>
+                                                </Style.Triggers>
+                                            </Style>
+                                        </Grid.Style>
+                                        <Viewbox Stretch="Uniform" MaxWidth="1600" MaxHeight="800"
+                                                 HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center">
+                                            <TextBlock Text="made with ytLlive!" FontWeight="Bold" Foreground="White"
+                                                       FontSize="180" TextAlignment="Center"/>
+                                        </Viewbox>
+                                    </Grid>
                                 </Canvas>
                             </Grid>
                         </Viewbox>
@@ -622,7 +655,7 @@
                         <TextBlock Text="Live streaming for YouTube — simple enough that even the most right-brained person can intuit it."
                                    Foreground="#a0a0b0" FontSize="13" TextWrapping="Wrap" MaxWidth="380"
                                    TextAlignment="Center" Margin="0,16,0,0"/>
-                        <TextBlock Text="Free forever with a watermark. A one-time unlock removes the watermark and adds alerts."
+                        <TextBlock Text="Free forever — live streams carry a brief &quot;made with ytLlive!&quot; flash. A one-time unlock removes it and adds alerts."
                                    Foreground="#888" FontSize="12" TextWrapping="Wrap" MaxWidth="380"
                                    TextAlignment="Center" Margin="0,12,0,0"/>
                         <TextBlock Text="Made by gramps · llama chile shop" Foreground="#a0a0b0" FontSize="12"

TASKS.md

@@ -139,7 +139,12 @@ Preview shows the transition too (WYSIWYG). No wipes/slides/LUTs beyond the four
 4. **Chat box** — rendered from the live chat poll (right panel is the same feed, raw)
 5. **Scene compositing** — per-scene source layering (z-order = sources list order, top-to-bottom
    back-to-front), preview rendered via D3DImage or MediaElement
-6. **Drag/drop placement & reorder** — intuitive, visual (per design principle):
+6. **Branding flash** — the topmost full-frame "made with ytLlive!" layer at ~25% opacity, ~1s on /
+   300s off (see Monetization in `ai.md`), gated on `BrandFlashEnabled` + live/recording. Lives in the
+   preview compositor now (`BrandFlashLayer` in `MainWindow.xaml` CanvasGrid, driven by
+   `BrandFlashActive`/`BrandFlashTimer` in `MainViewModel`); the encoder output renders the same layer,
+   and v0.2 local recordings carry it too
+7. **Drag/drop placement & reorder** — intuitive, visual (per design principle):
    - **Preview:** click-drag a source in the center panel to reposition it; resize via handles
    - **Scenes list:** drag rows to reorder scenes
    - **Sources list:** drag rows to reorder sources (this *is* the z-order) — implemented
@@ -231,6 +236,6 @@ Preview shows the transition too (WYSIWYG). No wipes/slides/LUTs beyond the four
 
 ## Backlog (future versions)
 
-- v0.2 — Recording to local file
+- v0.2 — Recording to local file (recordings carry the branding flash — see TASK 3 / `ai.md` Monetization)
 - v0.3 — Stream scheduling
 - v0.4 — Multi-destination restreaming

ViewModels/MainViewModel.cs

@@ -56,6 +56,14 @@ public class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
     private DispatcherTimer? _saveDebounce;
     private bool _isLoading;
 
+    // Branding flash (monetization): a full-frame "made with ytLlive!" shown
+    // for ~1s every 300s on the live output, ~25% opacity. Paid unlock sets
+    // BrandFlashEnabled = false. See ai.md "Monetization".
+    private readonly DispatcherTimer _brandFlashTimer;
+    private readonly DispatcherTimer _brandFlashOffTimer;
+    private bool _brandFlashEnabled = true;
+    private bool _brandFlashActive;
+
     private const string SupportEmail = "gramps@llamachile.shop";
     private const string ChannelUrl = "https://youtube.com/@llamachileshop";
     public static string AppVersionLabel => $"Version {typeof(MainViewModel).Assembly.GetName().Version?.ToString(3)}";
@@ -135,6 +143,33 @@ public class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
     public bool ShowPreviewPlaceholder => !ShowEmptySceneHint && ActiveBackgroundImage == null;
     public bool ShowSourcesEmptyHint => ActiveScene == null || ActiveScene.Sources.Count == 0;
 
+    // Paid unlock flips this off (see ai.md "Monetization"). When disabled the
+    // cadence timer is stopped and any active flash is hidden immediately.
+    public bool BrandFlashEnabled
+    {
+        get => _brandFlashEnabled;
+        set
+        {
+            if (!SetProperty(ref _brandFlashEnabled, value)) return;
+            if (value)
+            {
+                if (IsLive) StartBrandFlashTimer();
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                _brandFlashTimer.Stop();
+                _brandFlashOffTimer.Stop();
+                BrandFlashActive = false;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    public bool BrandFlashActive
+    {
+        get => _brandFlashActive;
+        private set => SetProperty(ref _brandFlashActive, value);
+    }
+
     private void UpdateActiveBackground()
     {
         var background = ActiveScene?.Sources.FirstOrDefault(s => s.Type == SourceType.Background);
@@ -356,6 +391,12 @@ public class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
 
         _saveDebounce = new DispatcherTimer { Interval = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(1500) };
         _saveDebounce.Tick += (_, _) => SaveLayoutNow();
+
+        _brandFlashTimer = new DispatcherTimer { Interval = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(300) };
+        _brandFlashTimer.Tick += OnBrandFlashTimerTick;
+        _brandFlashOffTimer = new DispatcherTimer { Interval = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(750) };
+        _brandFlashOffTimer.Tick += (_, _) => { _brandFlashOffTimer.Stop(); BrandFlashActive = false; };
+
         Scenes.CollectionChanged += OnScenesChanged;
 
         AddSceneCommand = new RelayCommand(_ => AddScene());
@@ -852,15 +893,44 @@ public class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
             LiveElapsedText = "00:00:00";
             LivePulseOpacity = 1.0;
             _liveTimer.Start();
+            if (BrandFlashEnabled) StartBrandFlashTimer();
         }
         else
         {
             _liveTimer.Stop();
+            _brandFlashTimer.Stop();
+            _brandFlashOffTimer.Stop();
+            BrandFlashActive = false;
             LiveElapsedText = "00:00:00";
             LivePulseOpacity = 1.0;
         }
     }
 
+    // First flash shortly after go-live, then every 300s (the cadence resets on
+    // the first tick so the interval is 5s only for that one shot).
+    private void StartBrandFlashTimer()
+    {
+        _brandFlashTimer.Stop();
+        _brandFlashTimer.Interval = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5);
+        _brandFlashTimer.Start();
+    }
+
+    private void OnBrandFlashTimerTick(object? sender, EventArgs e)
+    {
+        _brandFlashTimer.Stop();
+        _brandFlashTimer.Interval = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(300);
+        _brandFlashTimer.Start();
+        ShowBrandFlash();
+    }
+
+    private void ShowBrandFlash()
+    {
+        if (!IsLive || !BrandFlashEnabled) return;
+        BrandFlashActive = true;
+        _brandFlashOffTimer.Stop();
+        _brandFlashOffTimer.Start();
+    }
+
     private void OnLiveTimerTick(object? sender, EventArgs e)
     {
         _liveElapsed = _liveElapsed.Add(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1));

ai.md

@@ -81,20 +81,26 @@ Apply this to every UI decision:
 - Visual/drag-and-drop scene building over property panels
 - Every action produces a visible outcome — no dead ends
 
-## Monetization (design decision — the watermark is the sword)
+## Monetization (design decision — the branding flash is the sword)
 
 Free forever: all streams unlimited, no time caps, no subscription, no per-feature paywalls. The
 **one paid line is a one-time unlock** (delivered via itch.io — they handle hosting, payment, and key
 delivery; we never own a server or a key shop):
 
-- **Free:** a small "made with ytLlive" watermark is always on, every frame, every stream — the sword
+- **Free:** a periodic full-frame branding flash — "made with ytLlive!" rendered big and centered at
-  of Damocles. Standard practice; only Streamlabs runs watermark-nagging to a capitalist extreme.
+  ~25% opacity for about one second (soft 250ms fade in/out), repeated every 300s, on the live output
-- **Paid (one-time):** watermark removed + **Alerts** (Super Chat / membership / subscribe pop-ins).
+  (and on v0.2 local recordings). Implemented as `BrandFlashLayer` in the preview compositor
+  (`MainWindow.xaml` CanvasGrid) + `BrandFlashTimer` in `MainViewModel` — cadence 300s, first flash
+  ~5s after go-live, only while live or recording. An always-on watermark can be cropped or covered;
+  an intermittent full-frame flash can't be cropped and is impractical to edit around on a live feed.
+- **Paid (one-time):** branding flash removed (flips `BrandFlashEnabled` off) + **Alerts**
+  (Super Chat / membership / subscribe pop-ins).
 
-Deliberately rejected: hard stream-time cutoffs (the worst dead end — a stream dying mid-broadcast
+Deliberately rejected: always-on watermark (obscurable — replaced by the flash), hard stream-time
-reads as broken, and YouTube streams routinely run 2-4 hours), soft-limit nagging, freemium tiers,
+cutoffs (the worst dead end — a stream dying mid-broadcast reads as broken, and YouTube streams
-and donation-only (relies on the kindness of strangers). Resolution/quality ceilings are **deferred** —
+routinely run 2-4 hours), soft-limit nagging, freemium tiers, and donation-only (relies on the
-that decision belongs to the resolution & streaming-constraints conversation, not monetization.
+kindness of strangers). Resolution/quality ceilings are **deferred** — that decision belongs to the
+resolution & streaming-constraints conversation, not monetization.
 
 ## Auth gates Go Live, but not exploration