diff --git a/helpers/grade.py b/helpers/grade.py
index becf6fb4..0fadbb95 100644
--- a/helpers/grade.py
+++ b/helpers/grade.py
@@ -34,6 +34,16 @@
 import tempfile
 from pathlib import Path
 
+# Windows consoles default to cp1252, which raises UnicodeEncodeError on the
+# Unicode arrows/em-dashes in the status prints below. Force UTF-8 on stdout/
+# stderr so this helper behaves identically on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
+# No-op where the stream is already UTF-8 or can't be reconfigured.
+for _stream in (sys.stdout, sys.stderr):
+    try:
+        _stream.reconfigure(encoding="utf-8")
+    except (AttributeError, ValueError):
+        pass
+
 
 PRESETS: dict[str, str] = {
     # Subtle baseline — barely perceptible cleanup. No color shift.
@@ -75,6 +85,25 @@ def get_preset(name: str) -> str:
 # -------- Auto grade (data-driven, per-clip) --------------------------------
 
 
+def _metadata_filter_target(path: str) -> tuple[str, str]:
+    r"""Return (cwd, filter_value) for writing an ffmpeg metadata file safely.
+
+    ffmpeg filtergraphs treat ':' and '\' as delimiters, so embedding a Windows
+    path like C:\Users\me\tmp.txt in 'metadata=print:file=...' breaks parsing
+    and ffmpeg exits with an error. Instead we pass the bare filename and run
+    ffmpeg with cwd set to the file's directory, so no special character ever
+    reaches the filtergraph parser.
+
+    Split on either separator ('/' or '\') rather than host-native pathlib, so
+    the bare filename is extracted the same way on any OS — the filter value
+    must never contain ':' or a path separator regardless of where this runs.
+    """
+    idx = max(path.rfind("/"), path.rfind("\\"))
+    if idx == -1:
+        return ".", path
+    return path[:idx], path[idx + 1:]
+
+
 def _sample_frame_stats(
     video: Path,
     start: float,
@@ -93,6 +122,11 @@ def _sample_frame_stats(
           "sat_mean": mean saturation in 0..1,
         }
     """
+    # Resolve to an absolute path before the ffmpeg call below: that call sets
+    # cwd to the temp dir (for the metadata file), so a relative `-i <video>`
+    # would otherwise resolve against the temp dir and fail.
+    video = Path(video).resolve()
+
     # Use signalstats + metadata=print to get per-frame stats
     # Sample fps = n_samples / duration, clamped so we don't over-sample short clips
     fps = max(0.5, min(n_samples / max(duration, 0.1), 10.0))
@@ -100,16 +134,21 @@ def _sample_frame_stats(
     with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(mode="w+", suffix=".txt", delete=False) as f:
         metadata_path = f.name
 
+    # Pass a bare filename + run ffmpeg from the file's directory so no Windows
+    # path (with ':' and '\') ever reaches the filtergraph parser. See
+    # _metadata_filter_target.
+    metadata_dir, metadata_name = _metadata_filter_target(metadata_path)
+
     try:
         cmd = [
             "ffmpeg", "-y", "-hide_banner", "-nostats",
             "-ss", f"{start:.3f}",
             "-i", str(video),
             "-t", f"{duration:.3f}",
-            "-vf", f"fps={fps:.2f},signalstats,metadata=print:file={metadata_path}",
+            "-vf", f"fps={fps:.2f},signalstats,metadata=print:file={metadata_name}",
             "-f", "null", "-",
         ]
-        subprocess.run(cmd, check=True, stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL, stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL)
+        subprocess.run(cmd, check=True, cwd=metadata_dir, stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL, stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL)
 
         # Parse signalstats metadata. Signalstats reports values in the NATIVE
         # bit depth of the decoded frame (8-bit → 0-255, 10-bit → 0-1023). We
diff --git a/helpers/pack_transcripts.py b/helpers/pack_transcripts.py
index 036a1276..caadb2ba 100644
--- a/helpers/pack_transcripts.py
+++ b/helpers/pack_transcripts.py
@@ -20,6 +20,16 @@
 import sys
 from pathlib import Path
 
+# Windows consoles default to cp1252, which raises UnicodeEncodeError on the
+# Unicode arrows/em-dashes in the status prints below. Force UTF-8 on stdout/
+# stderr so this helper behaves identically on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
+# No-op where the stream is already UTF-8 or can't be reconfigured.
+for _stream in (sys.stdout, sys.stderr):
+    try:
+        _stream.reconfigure(encoding="utf-8")
+    except (AttributeError, ValueError):
+        pass
+
 
 def format_time(seconds: float) -> str:
     """Format a time in seconds as "NNN.NN" with fixed 6-char width for alignment."""
diff --git a/helpers/render.py b/helpers/render.py
index 0d02cffa..145e6f87 100644
--- a/helpers/render.py
+++ b/helpers/render.py
@@ -28,6 +28,16 @@
 import sys
 from pathlib import Path
 
+# Windows consoles default to cp1252, which raises UnicodeEncodeError on the
+# Unicode arrows/em-dashes in the status prints below. Force UTF-8 on stdout/
+# stderr so this helper behaves identically on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
+# No-op where the stream is already UTF-8 or can't be reconfigured.
+for _stream in (sys.stdout, sys.stderr):
+    try:
+        _stream.reconfigure(encoding="utf-8")
+    except (AttributeError, ValueError):
+        pass
+
 try:
     from grade import get_preset, auto_grade_for_clip  # same directory
 except Exception:
diff --git a/helpers/transcribe_batch.py b/helpers/transcribe_batch.py
index 5aeb1d68..c71b02c7 100644
--- a/helpers/transcribe_batch.py
+++ b/helpers/transcribe_batch.py
@@ -22,6 +22,16 @@
 
 from transcribe import load_api_key, transcribe_one
 
+# Windows consoles default to cp1252, which raises UnicodeEncodeError on the
+# Unicode arrows/em-dashes in the status prints below. Force UTF-8 on stdout/
+# stderr so this helper behaves identically on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
+# No-op where the stream is already UTF-8 or can't be reconfigured.
+for _stream in (sys.stdout, sys.stderr):
+    try:
+        _stream.reconfigure(encoding="utf-8")
+    except (AttributeError, ValueError):
+        pass
+
 
 VIDEO_EXTS = {".mp4", ".MP4", ".mov", ".MOV", ".mkv", ".MKV", ".avi", ".AVI", ".m4v"}
 
diff --git a/tests/test_grade_path.py b/tests/test_grade_path.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..163a91ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_grade_path.py
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+r"""Regression tests for the Windows cross-platform fixes in the helpers.
+
+Bug 1 (ffmpeg path): grade.py --analyze crashed on Windows because the
+signalstats metadata filter embedded a temp path (e.g. C:\Users\me\Temp\stats.txt),
+and the ':' and '\' in that path collide with ffmpeg filtergraph delimiters, so
+ffmpeg exited with an error. Fix: _metadata_filter_target() returns the file's
+directory (for ffmpeg's cwd) and the bare filename (for the filter), so no path
+separator or drive colon reaches the filtergraph parser.
+
+Bug 2 (cp1252 print crash): status print() calls emit non-ASCII glyphs (U+2192
+arrow, U+2014 em-dash) which raise UnicodeEncodeError on a Windows cp1252 console.
+Fix: each helper reconfigures stdout/stderr to UTF-8 at import.
+
+These tests are written to pass identically on Windows and on Linux CI.
+"""
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import unittest
+from pathlib import Path
+
+HELPERS_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent / "helpers"
+sys.path.insert(0, str(HELPERS_DIR))
+import grade  # noqa: E402
+
+
+class MetadataFilterTargetTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    """The filter value must be a bare filename (no ':' or path separator) for
+    BOTH Windows and POSIX inputs, regardless of which OS runs the test."""
+
+    def test_windows_path_yields_bare_name(self):
+        cwd, name = grade._metadata_filter_target(r"C:\Users\me\AppData\Local\Temp\stats.txt")
+        self.assertEqual(name, "stats.txt")
+        self.assertEqual(cwd, r"C:\Users\me\AppData\Local\Temp")
+        for ch in (":", "/", "\\"):
+            self.assertNotIn(ch, name)
+
+    def test_posix_path_yields_bare_name(self):
+        cwd, name = grade._metadata_filter_target("/var/folders/xy/stats.txt")
+        self.assertEqual(name, "stats.txt")
+        self.assertEqual(cwd, "/var/folders/xy")
+
+    def test_bare_filename_has_no_dir(self):
+        cwd, name = grade._metadata_filter_target("stats.txt")
+        self.assertEqual(name, "stats.txt")
+        self.assertEqual(cwd, ".")
+
+
+class Utf8ConsoleTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Regression for the cp1252 print crash. Runs in a subprocess so we can
+    force a cp1252 stdout without disturbing the test runner's own streams."""
+
+    def test_arrow_glyphs_survive_cp1252_after_reconfigure(self):
+        # Force the Windows-default cp1252 stdout, apply the same reconfigure the
+        # helpers do at import, then print the exact glyphs that crashed. Without
+        # the reconfigure line this raises UnicodeEncodeError; with it, exit 0.
+        code = (
+            "import sys, io;"
+            "sys.stdout = io.TextIOWrapper(io.BytesIO(), encoding='cp1252');"
+            "sys.stdout.reconfigure(encoding='utf-8');"
+            "print('grading a → b — c')"
+        )
+        r = subprocess.run([sys.executable, "-c", code], capture_output=True)
+        self.assertEqual(r.returncode, 0, r.stderr.decode("utf-8", "replace"))
+
+    def test_helpers_force_utf8_stdout_on_import(self):
+        # After import, each patched helper must leave stdout UTF-8-capable, so
+        # an accidental deletion of the reconfigure block is caught here.
+        for mod in ("grade", "pack_transcripts"):
+            code = (
+                f"import sys; sys.path.insert(0, r'{HELPERS_DIR}');"
+                f"import {mod};"
+                "enc=(sys.stdout.encoding or '').lower().replace('-', '');"
+                "sys.exit(0 if 'utf8' in enc else 1)"
+            )
+            r = subprocess.run([sys.executable, "-c", code], capture_output=True)
+            self.assertEqual(
+                r.returncode, 0,
+                f"{mod}: stdout not UTF-8 after import; {r.stderr.decode('utf-8', 'replace')}",
+            )
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()