diff --git a/ss_player/ss_internal_player.cpp b/ss_player/ss_internal_player.cpp
index 2ec044c..8796a75 100644
--- a/ss_player/ss_internal_player.cpp
+++ b/ss_player/ss_internal_player.cpp
@@ -978,6 +978,18 @@ bool SsInternalPlayer::_build_mask_writers(const DrawFrame& f) {
         // drawing its own colour over the scene.
         if (pure_mask) pure_mask_flags[p_idx] = 1;
 
+        // A writer only writes where its per-frame mask is non-zero and it is not
+        // hidden (Rule_Mask.md §2-2). Both live in FrameData, so this is the one
+        // half of the classification PartData cannot answer: an authored MASK of 0
+        // is how a writer is switched off over a range of frames, and the cutout
+        // threshold cannot stand in for it — a shape mask samples no texture, so
+        // its coverage is its whole geometry whatever the threshold says. A part
+        // with no PartState this frame was not evaluated and writes nothing, which
+        // is what `_bake_coverage_geometry` would decide about it anyway.
+        // Tested before the bitmap budget so a switched-off writer costs no bit.
+        const auto* ps = (p_idx < (int)_parts_by_idx.size()) ? _parts_by_idx[p_idx] : nullptr;
+        if (!ps || ps->mask() == 0.0f || ps->hide()) continue;
+
         // Bitmap holds 24 writers; keep scanning past that so the pure masks that
         // did not fit are still flagged above.
         if ((int)_mask_writers.size() >= MAX_MASK_WRITERS) continue;
diff --git a/ss_player/ss_internal_player.h b/ss_player/ss_internal_player.h
index 83d6f97..d5349b5 100644
--- a/ss_player/ss_internal_player.h
+++ b/ss_player/ss_internal_player.h
@@ -555,7 +555,8 @@ class SsInternalPlayer {
 
     // ---- CBP masking (clever bit packing) ----------------------------------
     // One entry per part that writes the mask this frame. Rebuilt by
-    // `_build_mask_writers` each frame from draw_order + static PartData.
+    // `_build_mask_writers` each frame from draw_order, static PartData, and the
+    // per-frame mask / hide that say whether a writer writes at all.
     // `bit` is the writer's slot in the coverage bitmap (0..MAX_MASK_WRITERS-1).
     // `op_invert` comes from PartData.mask_influence (false=increment / true=
     // invert). `is_clipping` selects the scope direction: a pure Mask part
@@ -575,11 +576,13 @@ class SsInternalPlayer {
     Vector<MaskWriter> _mask_writers;
     // Per part index (parallel to `_parts_by_idx`): 1 when the part is a "pure"
     // mask this frame. Rebuilt with `_mask_writers` so the emit paths can test it
-    // once per part without walking the writer list.
+    // once per part without walking the writer list. A pure mask keeps this flag
+    // when it writes nothing — switched off, hidden, or past the bit budget — so
+    // that it still draws no colour of its own.
     LocalVector<uint8_t> _part_pure_mask;
-    // Populate `_mask_writers` from this frame's draw_order + static PartData.
-    // Returns true if at least one writer is present (i.e., masking is active
-    // this frame). Only the top-root player owns the mask state.
+    // Populate `_mask_writers` from this frame's draw_order, static PartData and
+    // per-frame mask / hide. Returns true if at least one writer is present (i.e.,
+    // masking is active this frame). Only the top-root player owns the mask state.
     bool _build_mask_writers(const DrawFrame& f);
 
     // ---- CBP coverage bitmap (offscreen RGBA8 = 32 mask bits) --------------