remotion-dev/remotion · error · Error

Comma-separated frame selections are only supported by the l

Error message

Comma-separated frame selections are only supported by the local `remotion render` command. Pass one frame range to render a video on Lambda.

What it means

The Lambda render CLI command (npx remotion lambda render) parses frame selection options via getCliOptions(). If the user passes comma-separated frame ranges (e.g. --frames 0-10,20-30, which results in selectedFrames or an array-of-arrays frameRange), the CLI throws this error because AWS Lambda rendering only supports a single contiguous frame range. Comma-separated multi-range rendering is a local-only feature of the remotion render command.

Source

Thrown at packages/lambda/src/cli/commands/render/render.ts:121

			{indent: false, logLevel},
			`${BINARY_NAME} ${RENDER_COMMAND} <serve-url> <composition-id> [output-location]`,
		);
		quit(1);
	}

	const region = getAwsRegion();

	const {envVariables, frameRange, inputProps, selectedFrames} =
		CliInternals.getCliOptions({
			isStill: false,
			logLevel,
			indent: false,
		});
	if (
		selectedFrames !== null ||
		(Array.isArray(frameRange) && Array.isArray(frameRange[0]))
	) {
		throw new Error(
			'Comma-separated frame selections are only supported by the local `remotion render` command. Pass one frame range to render a video on Lambda.',
		);
	}

	const singleFrameRange = frameRange as SingleFrameRange | null;

	const height = overrideHeightOption.getValue({
		commandLine: CliInternals.parsedCli,
	}).value;
	const width = overrideWidthOption.getValue({
		commandLine: CliInternals.parsedCli,
	}).value;
	const fps = overrideFpsOption.getValue({
		commandLine: CliInternals.parsedCli,
	}).value;
	const durationInFrames = overrideDurationOption.getValue({
		commandLine: CliInternals.parsedCli,
	}).value;

View on GitHub (pinned to 78fe4bb3fd)

Solutions

Pass a single contiguous frame range to Lambda render: --frames=0-30 instead of --frames=0-10,20-30.
If you need discontinuous frames, render locally with npx remotion render instead of on Lambda.
Render the full range on Lambda and extract specific frames from the output afterward.

Example fix

# before
npx remotion lambda render MyComp --frames=0-10,20-30

# after
npx remotion lambda render MyComp --frames=0-30

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

function isSingleFrameRange(frames: string | undefined): boolean {
  if (frames === undefined) return true;
  // Reject comma-separated multi-range values
  return !frames.includes(',');
}

const frames = process.argv.includes('--frames')
  ? process.argv[process.argv.indexOf('--frames') + 1]
  : undefined;

if (!isSingleFrameRange(frames)) {
  throw new Error(
    'Lambda render supports a single contiguous frame range only. Use local `remotion render` for comma-separated ranges.'
  );
}

Type guard

type SingleFrameRange = [number, number] | number;

function isSingleFrameRange(v: unknown): v is SingleFrameRange {
  if (typeof v === 'number') return true;
  if (Array.isArray(v) && v.length === 2 && v.every((n) => typeof n === 'number')) return true;
  return false;
}

Prevention

Pass only a single contiguous range (e.g. --frames=0-30) to Lambda render.
Use local `remotion render` for comma-separated or discontinuous frame selections.
Validate the --frames flag before submitting a Lambda render job.

When it happens

Trigger: Running npx remotion lambda render <comp> --frames=0-10,20-30 or using --selected-frames with a comma-separated list. The CLI detects either selectedFrames !== null or frameRange being an array where the first element is itself an array (multi-range).

Common situations: User copies a local render command (which supports comma-separated ranges) to Lambda; user expects Lambda to render discontinuous frame sets; user passes a complex frame selection intended for selective local rendering.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@78fe4bb3fd (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fa6f91f1a54355d7. Report an issue: GitHub.