diff --git a/scripts/dispatcher.py b/scripts/dispatcher.py
index 75eca6d..01ed6a7 100644
--- a/scripts/dispatcher.py
+++ b/scripts/dispatcher.py
@@ -120,6 +120,15 @@ def count_frames(worker: dict, frames_dir: str) -> int:
         return 0
 
 
+def scp_to_worker(local_path: str, worker: dict, remote_path: str):
+    r = subprocess.run(
+        ["scp", "-o", "BatchMode=yes", local_path, f"{worker['ssh_alias']}:{remote_path}"],
+        capture_output=True, timeout=1800,
+    )
+    if r.returncode != 0:
+        raise RuntimeError(f"scp failed: {r.stderr.decode()[:200]}")
+
+
 def do_extract(job: sqlite3.Row, worker: dict) -> str:
     videos = json.loads(job["video_paths"])
     frames_dir = f"{worker['frames_dir']}/job_{job['id']}"
@@ -128,8 +137,14 @@ def do_extract(job: sqlite3.Row, worker: dict) -> str:
     for v in videos:
         vf = f"fps={FPS},scale={IMG_W}:{IMG_H}"
         pattern = f"{frames_dir}/frame_%06d.jpg"
+        # Copy video to worker if it doesn't exist there
+        worker_src = f"{frames_dir}/src_{Path(v).name}"
+        rc_check = ssh(worker["ssh_alias"], f"test -f {shlex.quote(worker_src)}")[0]
+        if rc_check != 0:
+            print(f"  scp {Path(v).name} → {worker['host']}...")
+            scp_to_worker(v, worker, worker_src)
         cmd = (
-            f"ffmpeg -hide_banner -loglevel error -i {shlex.quote(v)} "
+            f"ffmpeg -hide_banner -loglevel error -i {shlex.quote(worker_src)} "
             f"-vf {shlex.quote(vf)} -start_number {idx} -q:v 4 "
             f"{shlex.quote(pattern)}"
         )
@@ -146,18 +161,39 @@ def do_reconstruct(job: sqlite3.Row, worker: dict, frames_dir: str) -> tuple[str
     log = f"/tmp/cosma-qc-job-{job['id']}.log"
     ckpt = f"{worker['lingbot_path']}/checkpoints/lingbot-map/lingbot-map-long.pt"
     ply_path = f"{frames_dir}/reconstruction.ply"
+    # demo.py starts a viser web server after saving the PLY and never exits.
+    # Wrap it: launch in bg, wait for "PLY saved" marker in the log, kill, exit 0.
+    # Match on the unique job frames_dir to identify our demo.py among all children/threads.
+    marker = shlex.quote(frames_dir)
     cmd = (
         f"cd {shlex.quote(worker['lingbot_path'])} && source .venv/bin/activate && "
-        f"python3 demo.py --model_path {shlex.quote(ckpt)} "
+        f"setsid python3 demo.py --model_path {shlex.quote(ckpt)} "
         f"--image_folder {shlex.quote(frames_dir)} --port {port} "
         f"--use_sdpa --mode windowed --window_size 16 --overlap_size 2 --offload_to_cpu "
-        f"--save_ply {shlex.quote(ply_path)} "
-        f"> {log} 2>&1"
+        f"--save_ply {shlex.quote(ply_path)} > {log} 2>&1 & "
+        f"DEMO_PID=$!; "
+        f"for i in $(seq 1 3600); do "
+        f"  if ! kill -0 $DEMO_PID 2>/dev/null; then wait $DEMO_PID; exit $?; fi; "
+        f"  if grep -q 'PLY saved:' {log} 2>/dev/null; then "
+        f"    sleep 2; "
+        f"    pkill -TERM -f \"demo.py.*{frames_dir}\" 2>/dev/null; sleep 1; "
+        f"    pkill -KILL -f \"demo.py.*{frames_dir}\" 2>/dev/null; "
+        f"    wait $DEMO_PID 2>/dev/null; exit 0; "
+        f"  fi; "
+        f"  sleep 3; "
+        f"done; "
+        f"pkill -KILL -f \"demo.py.*{frames_dir}\" 2>/dev/null; exit 124"
     )
     rc, _, err = ssh(worker["ssh_alias"], cmd, timeout=3 * 3600)
-    if rc != 0:
+    # Accept rc==0 OR PLY file exists with non-zero size (kill -TERM may return non-zero)
+    ply_rc, ply_size, _ = ssh(worker["ssh_alias"], f"stat -c %s {shlex.quote(ply_path)} 2>/dev/null || echo 0")
+    try:
+        ply_ok = int(ply_size.strip()) > 0
+    except ValueError:
+        ply_ok = False
+    if not ply_ok:
         tail = ssh(worker["ssh_alias"], f"tail -30 {log}")[1]
-        raise RuntimeError(f"demo.py failed: {err[:200]}\n---\n{tail[:800]}")
+        raise RuntimeError(f"demo.py failed (rc={rc}): {err[:200]}\n---\n{tail[:800]}")
     viser_url = f"http://{worker['host']}:{port}"
     return viser_url, log, ply_path
 
@@ -296,7 +332,7 @@ def run_one_stitch(stitch: sqlite3.Row):
 def run_one(job: sqlite3.Row) -> bool:
     """Returns True if a worker was picked and work started."""
     job_id = job["id"]
-    estimated = estimate_vram_mib(job["frame_count"] or 400)
+    estimated = estimate_vram_mib(job["frame_count"] or 150)
     worker = pick_worker(estimated)
     if not worker:
         return False
diff --git a/scripts/ingest.py b/scripts/ingest.py
index 7f545c9..fe696e5 100644
--- a/scripts/ingest.py
+++ b/scripts/ingest.py
@@ -34,7 +34,12 @@ def exif_create_date(path: Path) -> datetime | None:
             ["exiftool", "-s3", "-CreateDate", "-api", "QuickTimeUTC=1", str(path)],
             stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL, text=True, timeout=10,
         ).strip()
-        return datetime.strptime(out, "%Y:%m:%d %H:%M:%S") if out else None
+        if not out:
+            return None
+        # Strip timezone suffix (+HH:MM or -HH:MM) if present
+        import re as _re
+        out = _re.sub(r'[+-]\d{2}:\d{2}$', '', out).strip()
+        return datetime.strptime(out, "%Y:%m:%d %H:%M:%S")
     except Exception:
         return None