diff --git a/test-sunrise.sh b/test-sunrise.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..d4596c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test-sunrise.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,156 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# test-sunrise.sh — smoke-test the sunrise pipeline using recent captured frames.
+#
+# Uses the same steps as daily_sunrise_video.sh:
+#   1. raw video from the most recent ~2 min of JPEGs (12 frames @ 10s interval)
+#   2. speed-adjust to SUNRISE_TARGET_SECS
+#   3. grab 10s of live RTSP audio centred on the mid-point frame
+#   4. mix audio + burn vertical time overlay
+#
+# Usage:
+#   ./test-sunrise.sh [output_path]
+#   ./test-sunrise.sh ~/drives/data2-main/test2.mp4
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(dirname "$(realpath "$0")")"
+source "$SCRIPT_DIR/sky-cam.conf"
+source "$SCRIPT_DIR/.env" 2>/dev/null || true
+export TZ="$TIMEZONE"
+ENCODE_PRESET="${ENCODE_PRESET:-slow}"
+CRF_SUNRISE="${CRF_SUNRISE:-28}"
+SUNRISE_TARGET_SECS="${SUNRISE_TARGET_SECS:-10}"
+SUNRISE_OVERLAY_OPACITY="${SUNRISE_OVERLAY_OPACITY:-0.45}"
+
+OUTPUT="${1:-/tmp/sunrise-test.mp4}"
+CAM="$SUNRISE_CAM"
+TODAY=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
+image_dir="$BASE_DIR/$CAM/$TODAY"
+NUM_FRAMES=12   # ~2 minutes at 10s interval
+
+# ── Collect frames ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+if [ ! -d "$image_dir" ]; then
+    echo "ERROR: no frames today at $image_dir"
+    echo "       Is capture.sh running?  systemctl --user status sky-cam-capture-${CAM}.service"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+mapfile -t frames < <(find "$image_dir" -name "*.jpg" | sort | tail -n "$NUM_FRAMES")
+if [ "${#frames[@]}" -lt 1 ]; then
+    echo "ERROR: no frames found in $image_dir"
+    exit 1
+fi
+echo "Frames: ${#frames[@]} most-recent from $image_dir"
+
+# ── Mid-point frame → overlay time ───────────────────────────────────────────
+mid_idx=$(( ${#frames[@]} / 2 ))
+mid_frame="${frames[$mid_idx]}"
+mid_hms=$(basename "$mid_frame" .jpg)          # HH-MM-SS
+MID_TIME=$(echo "$mid_hms" | cut -c1-5 | tr '-' ':')   # HH:MM
+echo "Mid-point frame: $mid_hms  →  overlay time: $MID_TIME"
+
+# Vertical text: each character on its own line (matches daily_sunrise_video.sh)
+MID_VERT="${MID_TIME:0:1}\\n${MID_TIME:1:1}\\n${MID_TIME:2:1}\\n${MID_TIME:3:1}\\n${MID_TIME:4:1}"
+
+# ── Font detection ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+FONT=""
+if command -v fc-match &>/dev/null; then
+    FONT=$(fc-match "DejaVu Sans:style=Regular" --format="%{file}" 2>/dev/null || true)
+fi
+if [ -z "$FONT" ]; then
+    for f in /usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu/DejaVuSans.ttf \
+              /usr/share/fonts/dejavu/DejaVuSans.ttf \
+              /usr/share/fonts/TTF/DejaVuSans.ttf \
+              /usr/share/fonts/truetype/freefont/FreeSans.ttf; do
+        [ -f "$f" ] && { FONT="$f"; break; }
+    done
+fi
+
+# ── Temp files ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+TMP_LIST=$(mktemp --suffix=.txt)
+TMP_RAW=$(mktemp --suffix=.mp4)
+TMP_SPED=$(mktemp --suffix=.mp4)
+TMP_AUDIO=$(mktemp --suffix=.m4a)
+cleanup() { rm -f "$TMP_LIST" "$TMP_RAW" "$TMP_SPED" "$TMP_AUDIO" 2>/dev/null || true; }
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+printf "file '%s'\n" "${frames[@]}" > "$TMP_LIST"
+
+# ── Step 1: raw video from frames ─────────────────────────────────────────────
+echo ""
+echo "Step 1/4: encoding raw video from ${#frames[@]} frames..."
+ffmpeg -loglevel warning \
+    -f concat -safe 0 -i "$TMP_LIST" \
+    -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p -preset "$ENCODE_PRESET" -crf "$CRF_SUNRISE" -vsync 2 -an \
+    -y "$TMP_RAW"
+
+raw_dur=$(ffprobe -v error -show_entries format=duration -of csv=p=0 "$TMP_RAW")
+speed=$(echo "scale=3; $raw_dur / $SUNRISE_TARGET_SECS" | bc)
+echo "  Raw: ${raw_dur}s  speed: ${speed}x"
+
+# ── Step 2: speed-adjust to SUNRISE_TARGET_SECS ───────────────────────────────
+echo "Step 2/4: speed-adjust to ${SUNRISE_TARGET_SECS}s..."
+ffmpeg -loglevel warning \
+    -i "$TMP_RAW" \
+    -vf "setpts=PTS/$speed" \
+    -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p -preset "$ENCODE_PRESET" -crf "$CRF_SUNRISE" -an \
+    -t "$SUNRISE_TARGET_SECS" \
+    -y "$TMP_SPED"
+
+# ── Step 3: grab 10s of live audio centred on mid-point ──────────────────────
+# Connects to the RTSP stream briefly — audio from "right now" stands in for
+# the real sunrise-audio.m4a that capture.sh would record at sunrise.
+echo "Step 3/4: recording ${SUNRISE_TARGET_SECS}s of live audio from camera..."
+rtsp_var="CAM_RTSP_${CAM}"
+RTSP_URL="${!rtsp_var:-}"
+
+HAS_AUDIO=false
+if [ -n "$RTSP_URL" ]; then
+    if ffmpeg -loglevel warning \
+        -rtsp_transport tcp \
+        -i "$RTSP_URL" \
+        -t "$SUNRISE_TARGET_SECS" \
+        -vn -c:a aac -b:a 64k \
+        -y "$TMP_AUDIO" 2>/dev/null; then
+        HAS_AUDIO=true
+        echo "  Audio: captured OK"
+    else
+        echo "  Audio: capture failed — continuing without audio"
+    fi
+else
+    echo "  Audio: CAM_RTSP_${CAM} not set — skipping"
+fi
+
+# ── Step 4: mix audio + burn overlay ─────────────────────────────────────────
+echo "Step 4/4: mix audio + overlay → $OUTPUT"
+mkdir -p "$(dirname "$OUTPUT")"
+
+FADE_OUT=$(echo "scale=1; $SUNRISE_TARGET_SECS - 0.5" | bc)
+DT="drawtext=fontfile='${FONT}'"
+DT="${DT}:text='${MID_VERT}'"
+DT="${DT}:fontcolor=white@${SUNRISE_OVERLAY_OPACITY}"
+DT="${DT}:fontsize=h/22:line_spacing=4"
+DT="${DT}:x=w-tw-18:y=(h-th)/2"
+DT="${DT}:shadowcolor=black@0.55:shadowx=1:shadowy=1"
+
+if $HAS_AUDIO; then
+    ffmpeg -loglevel warning \
+        -i "$TMP_SPED" -i "$TMP_AUDIO" \
+        -filter_complex \
+"[0:v]${DT}[vout];\
+[1:a]afade=t=in:st=0:d=0.5,afade=t=out:st=${FADE_OUT}:d=0.5[aout]" \
+        -map "[vout]" -map "[aout]" \
+        -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p -preset "$ENCODE_PRESET" -crf "$CRF_SUNRISE" \
+        -c:a aac -b:a 128k \
+        -y "$OUTPUT"
+else
+    ffmpeg -loglevel warning \
+        -i "$TMP_SPED" \
+        -vf "$DT" \
+        -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p -preset "$ENCODE_PRESET" -crf "$CRF_SUNRISE" -an \
+        -y "$OUTPUT"
+fi
+
+actual=$(ffprobe -v error -show_entries format=duration -of csv=p=0 "$OUTPUT")
+echo ""
+echo "Done: $OUTPUT  (${actual}s, overlay: $MID_TIME)"