remotion-dev/remotion · critical · Error

Failed to create WebGL buffer

Error message

Failed to create WebGL buffer

What it means

Thrown when `gl.createBuffer()` returns null while allocating the fullscreen-quad VBO for linearGradientTint. Failure is limited to context loss or buffer-handle exhaustion.

Source

Thrown at packages/effects/src/linear-gradient-tint.ts:296

	gl.pixelStorei(gl.UNPACK_PREMULTIPLY_ALPHA_WEBGL, true);

	const program = createProgram(gl);

	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 textureSource = createRgbaTexture(gl);

	const colorCanvas = document.createElement('canvas');
	colorCanvas.width = 1;

View on GitHub (pinned to 78fe4bb3fd)

Solutions

1. Pair setup with cleanup to free VBOs.
2. Recover on context restore rather than retrying.
3. Limit stacked WebGL effects per frame.
4. Restart workers that accumulate handles.

try {
  setupLinearGradientTint(canvas);
} catch (err) {
  renderWithoutEffect();
}

When it happens

Trigger: Setup on a lost context; many effects leaking VBOs; constrained embedded GPU buffer limits.

Common situations: Long-lived render sessions that leak buffers; Studio hot-reload without teardown; embedded/VM GPUs.

Related errors

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

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@78fe4bb3fd (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8e8f76ea6587dad7. Report an issue: GitHub.