remotion-dev/remotion · error · Error

Failed to create WebGL vertex array

Error message

Failed to create WebGL vertex array

What it means

During setupOutline(), gl.createVertexArray() returned null, meaning the WebGL2 context cannot allocate a VAO - a lost context is the only spec-level cause. The outline effect uses the VAO to bind its fullscreen-quad vertex buffer, so setup aborts before any drawing happens.

Source

Thrown at packages/effects/src/outline.ts:360

	}
};

const setupOutline = (target: HTMLCanvasElement): OutlineState => {
	const gl = target.getContext('webgl2', {
		premultipliedAlpha: true,
		alpha: true,
		preserveDrawingBuffer: true,
	});
	if (!gl) {
		throw createWebGL2ContextError('outline effect');
	}

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

	gl.bindBuffer(gl.ARRAY_BUFFER, vbo);
	gl.bufferData(
		gl.ARRAY_BUFFER,
		new Float32Array([-1, -1, 0, 0, 1, -1, 1, 0, -1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1]),
		gl.STATIC_DRAW,
	);

	const aPos = gl.getAttribLocation(program, 'aPos');
	const aUv = gl.getAttribLocation(program, 'aUv');
	gl.enableVertexAttribArray(aPos);

View on GitHub (pinned to 10db9de073)

Solutions

1. Re-run the render - fresh page, fresh context
2. Lower --concurrency to reduce simultaneous WebGL state per Chrome profile
3. Update Chrome and GPU drivers
4. Report persistent, deterministic reproduction to Remotion with Chrome version details

try {
  await renderMedia({composition, codec: 'h264'});
} catch (err) {
  if (err instanceof Error && err.message === 'Failed to create WebGL vertex array') {
    await renderMedia({composition, codec: 'h264'}); // fresh page -> fresh context
  } else {
    throw err;
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Applying outline() on a lost/degraded WebGL2 context, typically after heavy GPU object churn in the same page (many effect setups in a concurrent render).

Common situations: Long concurrent renders with many outline() frames; GPU resets; memory pressure in headless Chrome. Nearly always environmental, not compositional.

Related errors

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

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@10db9de073 (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c91fd3bb57dc14e2. Report an issue: GitHub.