remotion-dev/remotion · error · Error

Duotone shader compile failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}

Error message

Duotone shader compile failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}

What it means

Thrown by duotone's compileShader() when gl.getShaderParameter(shader, gl.COMPILE_STATUS) is false. The driver's info log is embedded in the message. Because DUOTONE_VS / DUOTONE_FS are hardcoded #version 300 es GLSL constants inside the library (the caller never supplies shader source), a compile failure is never a user-input problem: it indicates the WebGL2 driver cannot translate or accept the library's GLSL ES 3.00 shader.

Source

Thrown at packages/effects/src/duotone.ts:146

}
`;

const compileShader = (
	gl: WebGL2RenderingContext,
	type: number,
	source: string,
): WebGLShader => {
	const shader = gl.createShader(type);
	if (!shader) {
		throw new Error('Failed to create WebGL shader');
	}

	gl.shaderSource(shader, source);
	gl.compileShader(shader);
	if (!gl.getShaderParameter(shader, gl.COMPILE_STATUS)) {
		const log = gl.getShaderInfoLog(shader);
		gl.deleteShader(shader);
		throw new Error(`Duotone shader compile failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}`);
	}

	return shader;
};

const linkProgram = (
	gl: WebGL2RenderingContext,
	vs: WebGLShader,
	fs: WebGLShader,
): WebGLProgram => {
	const program = gl.createProgram();
	if (!program) {
		throw new Error('Failed to create WebGL program');
	}

	gl.attachShader(program, vs);
	gl.attachShader(program, fs);
	gl.linkProgram(program);

View on GitHub (pinned to 78fe4bb3fd)

Solutions

1. Switch the render GL backend and re-render: `npx remotion render <comp> --gl=swiftshader` (or --gl=angle / --gl=swangle) to bypass the failing driver path.
2. Update the system GPU driver and/or the Chromium build Remotion uses.
3. If rendering on Lambda, confirm the function uses a supported Chrome layer version.
4. If the failure reproduces identically across swiftshader, angle, and swangle, file a Remotion bug with the full shader info log from the message.

// You cannot 'fix' a driver rejecting a fixed library shader; fall back to a
// software/ANGLE backend that translates GLSL differently.
async function renderWithFallback(opts) {
  try {
    return await renderMedia(opts);
  } catch (err) {
    const msg = String(err?.message ?? '');
    if (/shader compile failed/i.test(msg)) {
      return await renderMedia({...opts, gl: 'swiftshader'});
    }
    throw err;
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Rendering or previewing duotone() on a GPU/driver that rejects the bundled vertex or fragment shader. The shader source is fixed; only the driver varies.

Common situations: Outdated or buggy GPU drivers, an ANGLE/SwiftShader regression, a virtualized or headless environment with incomplete WebGL2 shader translation, or a Chromium update that changed how the shader is compiled.

Related errors

• Failed to create WebGL shader
• Checkerboard shader compile failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}
• Failed to create WebGL shader
• Shader compile failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}
• Duotone program link failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@78fe4bb3fd (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8e9497c0e06ef835. Report an issue: GitHub.