remotion-dev/remotion · critical · Error

Failed to create WebGL shader

Error message

Failed to create WebGL shader

What it means

Thrown by compileShader (packages/effects/src/noise.ts:148) when gl.createShader(type) returns null while compiling the noise effect's vertex or fragment shader. A null shader object indicates a lost WebGL2 context or exhausted GL object budget; the shader source itself is not yet involved at this line.

Source

Thrown at packages/effects/src/noise.ts:148

		return;
	}

	float noise = random(gl_FragCoord.xy) - 0.5;
	vec3 rgb = texColor.rgb / alpha;
	vec3 noiseLayer = uPremultiply ? rgb * noise : vec3(noise);
	rgb = clamp(rgb + noiseLayer * uAmount, 0.0, 1.0);
	fragColor = vec4(rgb * alpha, alpha);
}
`;

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(`Noise shader compile failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}`);
	}

	return shader;
};

const linkProgram = (
	gl: WebGL2RenderingContext,
	vs: WebGLShader,
	fs: WebGLShader,
): WebGLProgram => {

View on GitHub (pinned to 78fe4bb3fd)

Solutions

1. Render on a GPU-capable host / GPU-enabled headless Chrome so createShader can allocate.
2. Handle 'webglcontextlost' and re-run setup after 'webglcontextrestored' instead of reusing a dead context.
3. Reduce concurrent WebGL2 effects so the shader-object budget is not exhausted.

Example fix

// before
const vs = compileShader(gl, gl.VERTEX_SHADER, NOISE_VS); // createShader() returned null

// after: verify the context is alive before compiling
if (gl.isContextLost()) {
  throw new Error('WebGL2 context lost before noise setup; retry after restore');
}

function canCompileNoiseShader(): boolean {
  try {
    const c = document.createElement('canvas');
    const gl = c.getContext('webgl2');
    if (!gl || gl.isContextLost()) return false;
    const s = gl.createShader(gl.VERTEX_SHADER);
    const ok = !!s;
    if (s) gl.deleteShader(s);
    return ok;
  } catch {
    return false;
  }
}

try {
  scene.push(noise({amount: 0.2}));
} catch (err) {
  if (/Failed to create WebGL shader/.test(String(err?.message))) {
    // context unhealthy: skip noise and retry render after restore
  } else throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: setupNoise compiling NOISE_VS/NOISE_FS on a canvas whose WebGL2 context was just lost or whose GPU resources are exhausted; compiling after a prior context-loss event that was not handled.

Common situations: GPU process crash mid-render; rendering on a host without usable WebGL2; context lost during a heavy parallel render and never restored.

Related errors

• Noise shader compile failed: ${log ?? '(no log)'}
• Failed to create WebGL program
• Failed to create WebGL vertex array
• Failed to create WebGL buffer
• Failed to create WebGL texture

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@78fe4bb3fd (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3c882f78e8f3ca37. Report an issue: GitHub.