diff --git a/frontend/src/components/RuntimePresentation.tsx b/frontend/src/components/RuntimePresentation.tsx
index 665c3a4..6ce8170 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/RuntimePresentation.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/RuntimePresentation.tsx
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ import BaseButton from './BaseButton';
 import CardBox from './CardBox';
 import { OfflineToggle } from './Offline/OfflineToggle';
 import LayoutGuest from '../layouts/Guest';
-import { getPageTitle } from '../config';
+import { getPageTitle, baseURLApi } from '../config';
 import { PRELOAD_CONFIG } from '../config/preload.config';
 import { usePreloadOrchestrator } from '../hooks/usePreloadOrchestrator';
 import { useTransitionPlayback } from '../hooks/useTransitionPlayback';
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ import {
   markPresignedUrlFailed,
   isRelativeStoragePath,
 } from '../lib/assetUrl';
-import { baseURLApi } from '../config';
 import { buildElementStyle } from '../lib/elementStyles';
 import type {
   RuntimeProject,
@@ -214,6 +213,9 @@ export default function RuntimePresentation({
   const [error, setError] = useState('');
   const [isLoading, setIsLoading] = useState(true);
   const [isFullscreen, setIsFullscreen] = useState(false);
+  const [isBackgroundReady, setIsBackgroundReady] = useState(true);
+  const [pendingTransitionComplete, setPendingTransitionComplete] =
+    useState(false);
 
   const transitionVideoRef = useRef<HTMLVideoElement>(null);
 
@@ -289,7 +291,7 @@ export default function RuntimePresentation({
   });
 
   // Integrate useTransitionPlayback hook for smooth transitions (matches Constructor pattern)
-  const { isBuffering } = useTransitionPlayback({
+  const { isBuffering, phase: transitionPhase } = useTransitionPlayback({
     videoRef: transitionVideoRef,
     transition: transitionPreview
       ? {
@@ -300,17 +302,23 @@ export default function RuntimePresentation({
         }
       : null,
     onComplete: (targetPageId) => {
+      const video = transitionVideoRef.current;
       if (targetPageId) {
         const targetPage = pages.find((p) => p.id === targetPageId);
         waitForPageImages(targetPage || null).then(() => {
+          // Mark background as not ready - new image will need to load
+          setIsBackgroundReady(false);
           setSelectedPageId(targetPageId);
           setPageHistory((prev) => [...prev, targetPageId]);
-          requestAnimationFrame(() => {
-            requestAnimationFrame(() => {
-              setTransitionPreview(null);
-            });
-          });
+          // Signal that transition is complete and waiting for background
+          setPendingTransitionComplete(true);
         });
+      } else {
+        // No target page - clean up and remove overlay
+        video?.removeAttribute('src');
+        video?.load();
+        setTransitionPreview(null);
+        setPendingTransitionComplete(false);
       }
     },
     features: {
@@ -359,6 +367,21 @@ export default function RuntimePresentation({
       document.removeEventListener('fullscreenchange', handleFullscreenChange);
   }, []);
 
+  // Remove transition overlay when background is ready
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (pendingTransitionComplete && isBackgroundReady) {
+      const video = transitionVideoRef.current;
+      requestAnimationFrame(() => {
+        requestAnimationFrame(() => {
+          video?.removeAttribute('src');
+          video?.load();
+          setTransitionPreview(null);
+          setPendingTransitionComplete(false);
+        });
+      });
+    }
+  }, [pendingTransitionComplete, isBackgroundReady]);
+
   // Load presentation data
   useEffect(() => {
     let isCancelled = false;
@@ -471,6 +494,17 @@ export default function RuntimePresentation({
     }
   }, [selectedPage]);
 
+  // Handle background ready state for pages without images or with videos
+  useEffect(() => {
+    // If no background image, or if there's a video (video takes over), mark as ready
+    if (
+      !selectedPage?.background_image_url ||
+      selectedPage?.background_video_url
+    ) {
+      setIsBackgroundReady(true);
+    }
+  }, [selectedPage?.background_image_url, selectedPage?.background_video_url]);
+
   const navigateToPage = useCallback(
     async (
       targetPageId: string,
@@ -488,8 +522,10 @@ export default function RuntimePresentation({
           isReverse: isBack,
         });
       } else {
-        // Direct navigation - wait for images first
+        // Direct navigation - wait for images first, then switch
         await waitForPageImages(targetPage);
+        // Mark background as loading (Image onLoad will set it back to true)
+        setIsBackgroundReady(false);
         setSelectedPageId(targetPageId);
         setPageHistory((prev) => [...prev, targetPageId]);
       }
@@ -756,6 +792,24 @@ export default function RuntimePresentation({
           backgroundPosition: 'center',
         }}
       >
+        {/* Background image element - ensures proper loading for waitForPageImages() */}
+        {backgroundImageUrl && !backgroundVideoUrl && (
+          <div className='absolute inset-0 pointer-events-none'>
+            <Image
+              key={backgroundImageUrl}
+              src={backgroundImageUrl}
+              alt=''
+              fill
+              sizes='100vw'
+              className='object-cover'
+              priority
+              unoptimized
+              onLoad={() => setIsBackgroundReady(true)}
+              onError={() => setIsBackgroundReady(true)}
+            />
+          </div>
+        )}
+
         {/* Background video */}
         {backgroundVideoUrl && (
           <video
@@ -828,12 +882,15 @@ export default function RuntimePresentation({
         </div>
 
         {/* Transition overlay - uses useTransitionPlayback hook for smooth transitions */}
+        {/* Opacity is 0 during 'preparing' phase to show old page while video loads */}
         {transitionPreview && (
           <div className='fixed inset-0 z-50 overflow-hidden pointer-events-none'>
             <video
               ref={transitionVideoRef}
               className='absolute inset-0 h-full w-full object-cover transition-opacity duration-300 ease-linear'
-              style={{ opacity: isBuffering ? 0 : 1 }}
+              style={{
+                opacity: transitionPhase === 'preparing' || isBuffering ? 0 : 1,
+              }}
               muted
               playsInline
               preload='auto'
diff --git a/frontend/src/hooks/usePreloadOrchestrator.ts b/frontend/src/hooks/usePreloadOrchestrator.ts
index 03cbfcf..5f5f266 100644
--- a/frontend/src/hooks/usePreloadOrchestrator.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/hooks/usePreloadOrchestrator.ts
@@ -515,10 +515,16 @@ export function usePreloadOrchestrator(
     const storagePaths: string[] = [];
     const currentPage = pages.find((p) => p.id === currentPageId);
 
-    if (currentPage?.background_image_url && isRelativeStoragePath(currentPage.background_image_url)) {
+    if (
+      currentPage?.background_image_url &&
+      isRelativeStoragePath(currentPage.background_image_url)
+    ) {
       storagePaths.push(currentPage.background_image_url);
     }
-    if (currentPage?.background_video_url && isRelativeStoragePath(currentPage.background_video_url)) {
+    if (
+      currentPage?.background_video_url &&
+      isRelativeStoragePath(currentPage.background_video_url)
+    ) {
       storagePaths.push(currentPage.background_video_url);
     }
 
@@ -532,7 +538,10 @@ export function usePreloadOrchestrator(
       const neighbors = neighborGraph.getNeighbors(currentPageId, 1);
       neighbors.forEach(({ pageId }) => {
         const page = pages.find((p) => p.id === pageId);
-        if (page?.background_image_url && isRelativeStoragePath(page.background_image_url)) {
+        if (
+          page?.background_image_url &&
+          isRelativeStoragePath(page.background_image_url)
+        ) {
           storagePaths.push(page.background_image_url);
         }
       });
@@ -548,7 +557,9 @@ export function usePreloadOrchestrator(
           addToQueue({
             id: `bg-img-${currentPageId}`,
             url: resolvedUrl,
-            storageKey: isRelativeStoragePath(storageKey) ? storageKey : undefined,
+            storageKey: isRelativeStoragePath(storageKey)
+              ? storageKey
+              : undefined,
             priority: PRELOAD_CONFIG.priority.currentPage + 200,
             assetType: 'image',
             pageId: currentPageId,
@@ -562,7 +573,9 @@ export function usePreloadOrchestrator(
           addToQueue({
             id: `bg-vid-${currentPageId}`,
             url: resolvedUrl,
-            storageKey: isRelativeStoragePath(storageKey) ? storageKey : undefined,
+            storageKey: isRelativeStoragePath(storageKey)
+              ? storageKey
+              : undefined,
             priority: PRELOAD_CONFIG.priority.currentPage + 150,
             assetType: 'video',
             pageId: currentPageId,
@@ -578,7 +591,9 @@ export function usePreloadOrchestrator(
           addToQueue({
             id: generateJobId(),
             url: resolvedUrl,
-            storageKey: isRelativeStoragePath(storageKey) ? storageKey : undefined,
+            storageKey: isRelativeStoragePath(storageKey)
+              ? storageKey
+              : undefined,
             priority: asset.priority,
             assetType: asset.assetType,
             pageId: asset.pageId,
@@ -598,7 +613,9 @@ export function usePreloadOrchestrator(
               addToQueue({
                 id: `bg-img-${pageId}`,
                 url: resolvedUrl,
-                storageKey: isRelativeStoragePath(storageKey) ? storageKey : undefined,
+                storageKey: isRelativeStoragePath(storageKey)
+                  ? storageKey
+                  : undefined,
                 priority: PRELOAD_CONFIG.priority.neighborBase,
                 assetType: 'image',
                 pageId,
@@ -620,9 +637,12 @@ export function usePreloadOrchestrator(
           addAssetsToQueue();
         })
         .catch((error) => {
-          logger.error('[PRELOAD] Failed to fetch presigned URLs, falling back to proxy', {
-            error: error?.message,
-          });
+          logger.error(
+            '[PRELOAD] Failed to fetch presigned URLs, falling back to proxy',
+            {
+              error: error?.message,
+            },
+          );
           // Fallback: add to queue without presigned URLs (will use backend proxy)
           addAssetsToQueue();
         });
diff --git a/frontend/src/hooks/useTransitionPlayback.ts b/frontend/src/hooks/useTransitionPlayback.ts
index 9dbd315..00b0baf 100644
--- a/frontend/src/hooks/useTransitionPlayback.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/hooks/useTransitionPlayback.ts
@@ -113,7 +113,10 @@ function isPresignedUrl(url: string): boolean {
  * Convert a presigned URL back to proxy URL
  * Extracts the storage key from the S3 path and builds a proxy URL
  */
-function getProxyUrlFallback(presignedUrl: string, originalStorageKey?: string): string | null {
+function getProxyUrlFallback(
+  presignedUrl: string,
+  originalStorageKey?: string,
+): string | null {
   // If we have the original storage key, use it directly
   if (originalStorageKey && isRelativeStoragePath(originalStorageKey)) {
     const normalizedPath = originalStorageKey.replace(/^\/+/, '');
@@ -615,7 +618,11 @@ export function useTransitionPlayback(
 
       // Check if this is a presigned URL failure (likely CORS)
       const currentUrl = currentPlayableUrlRef.current;
-      if (currentUrl && isPresignedUrl(currentUrl) && !didTryFallbackRef.current) {
+      if (
+        currentUrl &&
+        isPresignedUrl(currentUrl) &&
+        !didTryFallbackRef.current
+      ) {
         logger.info('Presigned URL failed, trying proxy fallback', {
           url: currentUrl.slice(0, 80),
         });
@@ -628,7 +635,10 @@ export function useTransitionPlayback(
         }
 
         // Get proxy fallback URL
-        const fallbackUrl = getProxyUrlFallback(currentUrl, currentTransition.videoUrl);
+        const fallbackUrl = getProxyUrlFallback(
+          currentUrl,
+          currentTransition.videoUrl,
+        );
         if (fallbackUrl) {
           didTryFallbackRef.current = true;
           video.pause();
@@ -684,7 +694,17 @@ export function useTransitionPlayback(
       clearTimers();
       stopReverseRef.current?.();
     };
-  }, [sourceUrl, videoRef, playbackStartMs, durationBufferMs, hardTimeoutMs, clearTimers, revokeBlobUrl, finishPlayback, handleError]);
+  }, [
+    sourceUrl,
+    videoRef,
+    playbackStartMs,
+    durationBufferMs,
+    hardTimeoutMs,
+    clearTimers,
+    revokeBlobUrl,
+    finishPlayback,
+    handleError,
+  ]);
 
   useEffect(() => {
     if (!transition) {
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/assetUrl.ts b/frontend/src/lib/assetUrl.ts
index 2f70c79..e545db9 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/assetUrl.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/assetUrl.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 import axios, { AxiosError } from 'axios';
 import { baseURLApi } from '../config';
+import { logger } from './logger';
 
 /**
  * Check if a URL is a presigned S3 URL
@@ -27,12 +28,12 @@ export const setupPresignedUrlInterceptor = (): void => {
 
       // Check if this is a presigned S3 URL failure (likely CORS)
       if (isPresignedS3Url(url) && !presignedUrlsDisabled) {
-        console.info('[assetUrl] Presigned URL request failed, disabling presigned URLs');
+        logger.info('Presigned URL request failed, disabling presigned URLs');
         disablePresignedUrls();
       }
 
       return Promise.reject(error);
-    }
+    },
   );
 };
 
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@ export const disablePresignedUrls = (): void => {
   if (!presignedUrlsDisabled) {
     presignedUrlsDisabled = true;
     presignedUrlCache.clear();
-    console.info('[assetUrl] Presigned URLs disabled - all requests will use proxy');
+    logger.info('Presigned URLs disabled - all requests will use proxy');
   }
 };
 
@@ -127,7 +128,9 @@ const processBatch = async (): Promise<void> => {
  * Queue a URL for batch presigning and return a promise that resolves when the batch completes.
  * Used by the preloader to efficiently fetch presigned URLs for multiple assets.
  */
-export const queuePresignedUrl = (storageKey: string): Promise<string | null> => {
+export const queuePresignedUrl = (
+  storageKey: string,
+): Promise<string | null> => {
   // Check cache first
   const cached = presignedUrlCache.get(storageKey);
   if (cached && cached.expiresAt > Date.now() + CACHE_BUFFER_MS) {
@@ -158,7 +161,9 @@ export const queuePresignedUrl = (storageKey: string): Promise<string | null> =>
  * More efficient than calling queuePresignedUrl multiple times.
  * Returns empty object if presigned URLs are disabled.
  */
-export const queuePresignedUrls = (storageKeys: string[]): Promise<Record<string, string>> => {
+export const queuePresignedUrls = (
+  storageKeys: string[],
+): Promise<Record<string, string>> => {
   // Skip if presigned URLs are disabled
   if (presignedUrlsDisabled) {
     return Promise.resolve({});
@@ -259,7 +264,7 @@ export const arePresignedUrlsDisabled = (): boolean => {
 export const markPresignedUrlsVerified = (): void => {
   if (!presignedUrlsDisabled && !presignedUrlsVerified) {
     presignedUrlsVerified = true;
-    console.info('[assetUrl] Presigned URLs verified - enabling direct S3 access');
+    logger.info('Presigned URLs verified - enabling direct S3 access');
   }
 };
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/imagePreDecode.ts b/frontend/src/lib/imagePreDecode.ts
index 19dce00..37f6830 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/imagePreDecode.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/imagePreDecode.ts
@@ -64,9 +64,7 @@ export const decodeImages = async (
  * @example
  * const imageUrls = extractPageImageUrls(page);
  */
-export const extractPageImageUrls = (
-  page: PageWithImages | null,
-): string[] => {
+export const extractPageImageUrls = (page: PageWithImages | null): string[] => {
   if (!page) return [];
 
   const imageUrls: string[] = [];
diff --git a/frontend/src/pages/_app.tsx b/frontend/src/pages/_app.tsx
index 649d3f3..bf5ba3d 100644
--- a/frontend/src/pages/_app.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/pages/_app.tsx
@@ -69,7 +69,10 @@ axios.interceptors.response.use(
 
       // Detect presigned S3 URL failures (CORS not configured)
       // Network errors (status 0) or CORS errors typically indicate S3 CORS issues
-      if (isPresignedS3Url(requestUrl) && (!status || status === 0 || error.message?.includes('Network Error'))) {
+      if (
+        isPresignedS3Url(requestUrl) &&
+        (!status || status === 0 || error.message?.includes('Network Error'))
+      ) {
         logger.info('[axios] Presigned URL failed, disabling presigned URLs', {
           url: requestUrl.slice(0, 80),
         });
diff --git a/frontend/src/pages/constructor.tsx b/frontend/src/pages/constructor.tsx
index a54d9de..ca2bfa6 100644
--- a/frontend/src/pages/constructor.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/pages/constructor.tsx
@@ -427,9 +427,13 @@ const mergeElementWithDefaults = (
     const elementValue = elementRecord[prop];
     const defaultValue = defaultsRecord[prop];
     const elementIsEmpty =
-      elementValue === '' || elementValue === undefined || elementValue === null;
+      elementValue === '' ||
+      elementValue === undefined ||
+      elementValue === null;
     const defaultHasValue =
-      defaultValue !== undefined && defaultValue !== null && defaultValue !== '';
+      defaultValue !== undefined &&
+      defaultValue !== null &&
+      defaultValue !== '';
     if (elementIsEmpty && defaultHasValue) {
       mergedRecord[prop] = defaultValue;
     }
@@ -1087,10 +1091,7 @@ const ConstructorPage = ({ mode = 'constructor' }: ConstructorPageProps) => {
                 (item: Record<string, unknown>) => {
                   const extracted: Record<string, unknown> = {};
                   nestedUrlFields.forEach((urlField) => {
-                    if (
-                      item[urlField] !== undefined &&
-                      item[urlField] !== ''
-                    ) {
+                    if (item[urlField] !== undefined && item[urlField] !== '') {
                       extracted[urlField] = item[urlField];
                     }
                   });
diff --git a/frontend/src/pages/runtime.tsx b/frontend/src/pages/runtime.tsx
index 9edc0dd..e79d4cd 100644
--- a/frontend/src/pages/runtime.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/pages/runtime.tsx
@@ -232,8 +232,7 @@ const RuntimePageView = () => {
         return;
       }
 
-      const isBack =
-        linkDirection === 'back' || isBackNavigation(targetPageId);
+      const isBack = linkDirection === 'back' || isBackNavigation(targetPageId);
       const transitionName =
         transition?.name || transition?.slug || 'Transition';
       const canUseReverseVideo =