remotion-dev/remotion · critical · Error

Failed to create WebGL buffer

Error message

Failed to create WebGL buffer

What it means

A plain Error thrown inside setupLines when gl.createBuffer() returns null. This buffer holds the Lines full-screen quad vertex data (positions + uvs); allocation failure means the effect cannot upload geometry and aborts.

Source

Thrown at packages/effects/src/lines.ts:401

	gl.pixelStorei(gl.UNPACK_PREMULTIPLY_ALPHA_WEBGL, true);

	const program = createProgram(gl, LINES_VS, LINES_FS);

	const vao = gl.createVertexArray();
	if (!vao) {
		throw new Error('Failed to create WebGL vertex array');
	}

	gl.bindVertexArray(vao);

	const data = new Float32Array([
		-1, -1, 0, 0, 1, -1, 1, 0, -1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
	]);

	const vbo = gl.createBuffer();
	if (!vbo) {
		throw new Error('Failed to create WebGL buffer');
	}

	gl.bindBuffer(gl.ARRAY_BUFFER, vbo);
	gl.bufferData(gl.ARRAY_BUFFER, data, gl.STATIC_DRAW);

	const aPos = gl.getAttribLocation(program, 'aPos');
	const aUv = gl.getAttribLocation(program, 'aUv');
	gl.enableVertexAttribArray(aPos);
	gl.vertexAttribPointer(aPos, 2, gl.FLOAT, false, 16, 0);
	gl.enableVertexAttribArray(aUv);
	gl.vertexAttribPointer(aUv, 2, gl.FLOAT, false, 16, 8);

	gl.bindVertexArray(null);

	const colorCanvas = document.createElement('canvas');
	colorCanvas.width = 1;
	colorCanvas.height = 1;
	const colorCtx = colorCanvas.getContext('2d', {willReadFrequently: true});

View on GitHub (pinned to 78fe4bb3fd)

Solutions

1. Lower render concurrency.
2. Ensure previous effects/contexts are disposed so buffers are reclaimed.
3. Render on a host with adequate GPU memory / a stable GL backend.

function canAllocateBuffer(): boolean {
  const c = document.createElement('canvas');
  const gl = c.getContext('webgl2');
  if (!gl) return false;
  return !!gl.createBuffer();
}

try {
  lines(...);
} catch (err) {
  if (err instanceof Error && /WebGL buffer/.test(err.message)) {
    // free buffers / reduce concurrency, then retry
  } else throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: WebGL2 context is alive but cannot allocate a buffer object — GPU memory exhaustion or context loss. Reached after the VAO is created and bound, immediately before bufferData with the static quad array.

Common situations: Heavy concurrent rendering saturating GPU memory; a leaked context; headless software GL with limited buffer capacity; a context-loss race.

Related errors

• Failed to create WebGL shader
• Failed to create WebGL program
• Failed to create WebGL texture
• Failed to create WebGL vertex array
• Failed to create WebGL buffer

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@78fe4bb3fd (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2b7c5ce28110dbd6. Report an issue: GitHub.