diff --git a/electron/main.ts b/electron/main.ts
index c2d7a4d48..827e7725c 100644
--- a/electron/main.ts
+++ b/electron/main.ts
@@ -126,6 +126,30 @@ if (hasSingleInstanceLock) {
 	app.quit();
 }
 
+// Forward renderer console output to the main process so it appears in the
+// terminal where `npm run dev` is running. Without this, `console.info` /
+// `console.warn` / `console.error` calls in the renderer only show up in
+// DevTools, which is invisible when the user is following terminal
+// instructions (see issue #8 and PR #11).
+app.on("browser-window-created", (_event, window) => {
+	window.webContents.on("console-message", (details) => {
+		// New API: details.level is "info" | "warning" | "error" | "debug".
+		// Skip debug to keep the terminal readable; the user can still inspect
+		// DevTools for that.
+		const { level, message } = details;
+		if (level === "debug") return;
+		const tag = level.toUpperCase();
+		const line = `[renderer ${tag}] ${message}`;
+		if (level === "error") {
+			console.error(line);
+		} else if (level === "warning") {
+			console.warn(line);
+		} else {
+			console.log(line);
+		}
+	});
+});
+
 function isEditorWindow(window: BrowserWindow) {
 	return window.webContents.getURL().includes("windowType=editor");
 }
diff --git a/src/components/video-editor/VideoEditor.tsx b/src/components/video-editor/VideoEditor.tsx
index 445a09060..3b7afb360 100644
--- a/src/components/video-editor/VideoEditor.tsx
+++ b/src/components/video-editor/VideoEditor.tsx
@@ -174,6 +174,31 @@ function buildSaveDiagnosticMessage(formatLabel: "GIF" | "Video", reason?: strin
 	return `${formatLabel} export save failed${reason ? `\nReason: ${reason}` : ""}`;
 }
 
+function getPreviewVideoDiagnostics(video: HTMLVideoElement | null) {
+	if (!video) {
+		return { present: false };
+	}
+
+	return {
+		present: true,
+		src: video.currentSrc || video.src,
+		readyState: video.readyState,
+		networkState: video.networkState,
+		error: video.error
+			? {
+					code: video.error.code,
+					message: video.error.message,
+				}
+			: null,
+		currentTime: Number.isFinite(video.currentTime) ? video.currentTime : null,
+		duration: Number.isFinite(video.duration) ? video.duration : null,
+		paused: video.paused,
+		ended: video.ended,
+		videoWidth: video.videoWidth,
+		videoHeight: video.videoHeight,
+	};
+}
+
 const CAPTION_WORD_CHOICES = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12] as const;
 
 export default function VideoEditor() {
@@ -1855,6 +1880,33 @@ export default function VideoEditor() {
 			setExportError(null);
 			setExportedFilePath(null);
 
+			const previewBeforeExport = getPreviewVideoDiagnostics(video);
+			console.info(
+				`[VideoEditor] export started ${JSON.stringify({
+					format: settings.format,
+					sourcePath: videoSourcePath ?? videoPath,
+					videoPath,
+					webcamVideoPath,
+					preview: previewBeforeExport,
+					settings: {
+						exportQuality: settings.quality || exportQuality,
+						aspectRatio,
+						padding,
+						borderRadius,
+						shadowIntensity,
+						showBlur,
+						motionBlurAmount,
+						cropRegion,
+						zoomRegions: zoomRegions.length,
+						trimRegions: trimRegions.length,
+						speedRegions: speedRegions.length,
+						annotations: annotationRegions.length,
+						effectiveShowCursor,
+						cursorSize,
+					},
+				})}`,
+			);
+
 			try {
 				const wasPlaying = isPlaying;
 				if (wasPlaying) {
@@ -2080,6 +2132,14 @@ export default function VideoEditor() {
 					toast.error(t("errors.exportFailedWithError", { error: message }));
 				}
 			} finally {
+				console.info(
+					`[VideoEditor] export finished ${JSON.stringify({
+						sourcePath: videoSourcePath ?? videoPath,
+						videoPath,
+						previewBefore: previewBeforeExport,
+						previewAfter: getPreviewVideoDiagnostics(videoPlaybackRef.current?.video ?? null),
+					})}`,
+				);
 				setIsExporting(false);
 				exporterRef.current = null;
 				// Reset so the next export can reopen the dialog (second export
diff --git a/src/components/video-editor/VideoPlayback.tsx b/src/components/video-editor/VideoPlayback.tsx
index 1b4ad5263..64967184f 100644
--- a/src/components/video-editor/VideoPlayback.tsx
+++ b/src/components/video-editor/VideoPlayback.tsx
@@ -215,6 +215,26 @@ function enableAllPreviewAudioTracks(video: HTMLVideoElement) {
 	}
 }
 
+function getVideoElementDiagnostics(video: HTMLVideoElement) {
+	return {
+		src: video.currentSrc || video.src,
+		readyState: video.readyState,
+		networkState: video.networkState,
+		error: video.error
+			? {
+					code: video.error.code,
+					message: video.error.message,
+				}
+			: null,
+		currentTime: Number.isFinite(video.currentTime) ? video.currentTime : null,
+		duration: Number.isFinite(video.duration) ? video.duration : null,
+		paused: video.paused,
+		ended: video.ended,
+		videoWidth: video.videoWidth,
+		videoHeight: video.videoHeight,
+	};
+}
+
 const VideoPlayback = forwardRef<VideoPlaybackRef, VideoPlaybackProps>(
 	(
 		{
@@ -345,6 +365,18 @@ const VideoPlayback = forwardRef<VideoPlaybackRef, VideoPlaybackProps>(
 		const speedRegionsRef = useRef<SpeedRegion[]>([]);
 		const motionBlurAmountRef = useRef(motionBlurAmount);
 		const cursorOverlayRef = useRef<PixiCursorOverlay | null>(null);
+
+		const logPreviewVideoEvent = useCallback(
+			(event: React.SyntheticEvent<HTMLVideoElement>) => {
+				console.info(
+					`[VideoPlayback] preview video ${event.type} ${JSON.stringify({
+						videoPath,
+						diagnostics: getVideoElementDiagnostics(event.currentTarget),
+					})}`,
+				);
+			},
+			[videoPath],
+		);
 		const showCursorRef = useRef(showCursor);
 		const cursorSizeRef = useRef(cursorSize);
 		const cursorSmoothingRef = useRef(cursorSmoothing);
@@ -2152,7 +2184,14 @@ const VideoPlayback = forwardRef<VideoPlaybackRef, VideoPlaybackProps>(
 							forceResolveDuration(e.currentTarget);
 						}
 					}}
-					onError={() => onError("Failed to load video")}
+					onEmptied={logPreviewVideoEvent}
+					onStalled={logPreviewVideoEvent}
+					onSuspend={logPreviewVideoEvent}
+					onAbort={logPreviewVideoEvent}
+					onError={(event) => {
+						logPreviewVideoEvent(event);
+						onError("Failed to load video");
+					}}
 				/>
 				{supplementalAudioPath && (
 					<audio ref={supplementalAudioRef} src={supplementalAudioPath} preload="auto" />
diff --git a/src/main.tsx b/src/main.tsx
index 365bdc7b2..ac448233e 100644
--- a/src/main.tsx
+++ b/src/main.tsx
@@ -4,6 +4,27 @@ import App from "./App.tsx";
 import { I18nProvider } from "./contexts/I18nContext";
 import "./index.css";
 
+// === One-shot uncaught trap — capture stack traces for the .geometry null deref in #8.
+// Delete after the diagnostic run that closes out the issue's root cause.
+const __errTrap = (tag: string) => (e: ErrorEvent | PromiseRejectionEvent) => {
+	const isRej = "reason" in e;
+	const err = isRej ? (e as PromiseRejectionEvent).reason : (e as ErrorEvent).error;
+	const evt = e as ErrorEvent;
+	console.error(
+		`[VideoEditor] ${tag}`,
+		JSON.stringify({
+			message: err?.message ?? String(err),
+			source: isRej ? null : evt.filename,
+			lineno: isRej ? null : evt.lineno,
+			colno: isRej ? null : evt.colno,
+			stack: err?.stack ?? null,
+		}),
+	);
+};
+window.addEventListener("error", __errTrap("uncaught"));
+window.addEventListener("unhandledrejection", __errTrap("unhandledrejection"));
+// === end trap ===
+
 const windowType = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search).get("windowType") || "";
 if (
 	windowType === "hud-overlay" ||