diff --git a/RenderWorker/VFXReviewWorker.Tests/BlenderProgressParserTests.cs b/RenderWorker/VFXReviewWorker.Tests/BlenderProgressParserTests.cs
index e9a1b09..9e3b86c 100644
--- a/RenderWorker/VFXReviewWorker.Tests/BlenderProgressParserTests.cs
+++ b/RenderWorker/VFXReviewWorker.Tests/BlenderProgressParserTests.cs
@@ -73,6 +73,46 @@ public class BlenderProgressParserTests
         Assert.Equal(1002, frames[^1]);
     }
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Blender 5.x prefixes every line with elapsed time and a log category.
+    /// Anchored on "Saved:", the parser counted no frames from a render that
+    /// wrote every one, and the job failed as "saved no frames".
+    /// These lines are verbatim Blender 5.2 output.
+    /// </summary>
+    [Fact]
+    public void ParsesBlender5PrefixedOutput()
+    {
+        Assert.Equal(@"X:\renders\frame_0001.png",
+            BlenderProgressParser.ParseSaved(@"00:02.954  render           | Saved: 'X:\renders\frame_0001.png'"));
+        Assert.Equal(1, BlenderProgressParser.ParseFrame("00:02.469  render           | Fra: 1 | Mem: 0M | Synchronizing object | Cube"));
+        Assert.Null(BlenderProgressParser.ParseSaved("00:02.954  render           | Time: 00:00.87 (Saving: 00:00.14)"));
+        Assert.Null(BlenderProgressParser.ParseFrame("00:02.079  render           | Rendering frame 1"));
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void RecognisesBlender5Errors()
+    {
+        const string unwritable = @"00:03.063  reports          | ERROR Render error (No such file or directory) cannot save: 'Q:\out\f_0001.png'";
+        Assert.True(BlenderProgressParser.IsErrorLine(unwritable));
+        Assert.True(BlenderProgressParser.IsNonRetryableError(unwritable));
+
+        const string missing = @"00:13.250  reports          | ERROR Cannot read file ""X:\gone.blend"": No such file or directory";
+        Assert.True(BlenderProgressParser.IsErrorLine(missing));
+        Assert.True(BlenderProgressParser.IsNonRetryableError(missing));
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Add-ons print warnings on every launch; one must never become the
+    /// reported reason a render failed.
+    /// </summary>
+    [Theory]
+    [InlineData("Warning: add-on missing 'bl_info', this can cause poor performance!: 'G:\\addons\\x\\__init__.py'")]
+    [InlineData("00:01.000  addon            | WARNING something harmless")]
+    public void WarningsAreNotErrors(string line)
+    {
+        Assert.False(BlenderProgressParser.IsErrorLine(line));
+    }
+
     /// <summary>Mirrors BlenderRunner.PumpAsync: CR and LF both end a line.</summary>
     private static List<string> SplitLikeThePump(string text)
     {
diff --git a/RenderWorker/VFXReviewWorker/BlenderProgressParser.cs b/RenderWorker/VFXReviewWorker/BlenderProgressParser.cs
index a79a82b..72cacd0 100644
--- a/RenderWorker/VFXReviewWorker/BlenderProgressParser.cs
+++ b/RenderWorker/VFXReviewWorker/BlenderProgressParser.cs
@@ -8,18 +8,36 @@ namespace VFXReviewWorker;
 /// with "Saved: '...'". The saved lines are the reliable signal — a frame can
 /// be reported for a long time while it renders — so progress counts those and
 /// falls back to Fra: for a first sign of life.
+///
+/// Blender 5.x logs through CLOG, which prefixes every line with an elapsed
+/// time and a category ("00:02.954  render           | Saved: '...'") and
+/// reports errors as "ERROR ..." rather than "Error: ...". The prefix is
+/// stripped before matching, so both formats parse the same way.
 /// </summary>
 public static partial class BlenderProgressParser
 {
-    [GeneratedRegex(@"^Fra:(\d+)", RegexOptions.Compiled)]
+    [GeneratedRegex(@"^(?:\d+:)?\d{2}:\d{2}\.\d{3}\s+\S+\s*\| ?", RegexOptions.Compiled)]
+    private static partial Regex LogPrefix();
+
+    [GeneratedRegex(@"^Fra:\s*(\d+)", RegexOptions.Compiled)]
     private static partial Regex FrameLine();
 
     [GeneratedRegex(@"^Saved:\s*'(.+)'", RegexOptions.Compiled)]
     private static partial Regex SavedLine();
 
-    [GeneratedRegex(@"^(Error|Warning): |^Error: ", RegexOptions.Compiled | RegexOptions.IgnoreCase)]
+    // Errors only. Warnings are not failures, and add-ons print them on every
+    // launch ("Warning: add-on missing 'bl_info'"), so counting them made an
+    // add-on's complaint the reported reason for a failed render.
+    [GeneratedRegex(@"(?i:^Error: )|^(ERROR|FATAL) ", RegexOptions.Compiled)]
     private static partial Regex ErrorLine();
 
+    /// <summary>The line without Blender 5.x's "elapsed  category | " prefix.</summary>
+    private static string Message(string line)
+    {
+        var m = LogPrefix().Match(line);
+        return m.Success ? line[m.Length..] : line;
+    }
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Failures that will repeat identically on another machine — a missing
     /// file, an unknown scene, an unwritable output. Retrying these burns the
@@ -35,7 +53,9 @@ public static partial class BlenderProgressParser
         "unknown scene",
         "scene not found",
         "unable to create directory",
+        "couldn't create directory",
         "cannot write file",
+        "cannot save:",
         "no camera",
         "python script fail",
         "unknown argument",
@@ -44,18 +64,18 @@ public static partial class BlenderProgressParser
     /// <summary>The frame Blender is currently working on, or null.</summary>
     public static int? ParseFrame(string line)
     {
-        var m = FrameLine().Match(line);
+        var m = FrameLine().Match(Message(line));
         return m.Success && int.TryParse(m.Groups[1].Value, out var f) ? f : null;
     }
 
     /// <summary>The path of a frame Blender has just written, or null.</summary>
     public static string? ParseSaved(string line)
     {
-        var m = SavedLine().Match(line);
+        var m = SavedLine().Match(Message(line));
         return m.Success ? m.Groups[1].Value : null;
     }
 
-    public static bool IsErrorLine(string line) => ErrorLine().IsMatch(line);
+    public static bool IsErrorLine(string line) => ErrorLine().IsMatch(Message(line));
 
     public static bool IsNonRetryableError(string line)
     {
diff --git a/RenderWorker/VFXReviewWorker/BlenderRunner.cs b/RenderWorker/VFXReviewWorker/BlenderRunner.cs
index f7b1733..9f2cfe1 100644
--- a/RenderWorker/VFXReviewWorker/BlenderRunner.cs
+++ b/RenderWorker/VFXReviewWorker/BlenderRunner.cs
@@ -268,7 +268,9 @@ public sealed class BlenderRunner
             if (framesSaved == 0)
             {
                 return new RenderResult(false, 0, Retryable: false,
-                    "Blender exited cleanly but saved no frames — check the output path and frame range in the .blend",
+                    firstError is not null
+                        ? $"Blender exited cleanly but saved no frames: {firstError}"
+                        : "Blender exited cleanly but saved no frames — check the output path and frame range in the .blend",
                     tail.ToString(), fullLogPath, sw.Elapsed.TotalSeconds);
             }
 
diff --git a/RenderWorker/VFXReviewWorker/VFXReviewWorker.csproj b/RenderWorker/VFXReviewWorker/VFXReviewWorker.csproj
index 862fbf0..ed9a71b 100644
--- a/RenderWorker/VFXReviewWorker/VFXReviewWorker.csproj
+++ b/RenderWorker/VFXReviewWorker/VFXReviewWorker.csproj
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
       every change that gets published. publish.ps1 appends the git SHA via
       SourceRevisionId, giving "1.1.0+feb1c7b".
     -->
-    <Version>1.6.2</Version>
+    <Version>1.6.3</Version>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>