remotion-dev/remotion · error · Error

Failed to create WebGL vertex array

Error message

Failed to create WebGL vertex array

What it means

Thrown in the setup() of the halftone-linear-gradient WebGL2 effect when gl.createVertexArray() returns null. WebGL2 returns null from resource-creation calls only when the implementation has run out of addressable GL objects or the context is lost; the library treats a null VAO as fatal because the effect cannot bind vertex attributes without it.

Source

Thrown at packages/effects/src/halftone-linear-gradient.ts:454

		if (!gl) {
			throw createWebGL2ContextError('halftone linear gradient effect');
		}

		gl.pixelStorei(gl.UNPACK_PREMULTIPLY_ALPHA_WEBGL, true);

		const vs = compileShader(gl, gl.VERTEX_SHADER, HALFTONE_LINEAR_GRADIENT_VS);
		const fs = compileShader(
			gl,
			gl.FRAGMENT_SHADER,
			HALFTONE_LINEAR_GRADIENT_FS,
		);
		const program = linkProgram(gl, vs, fs);
		gl.deleteShader(vs);
		gl.deleteShader(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');

View on GitHub (pinned to 78fe4bb3fd)

Solutions

1. Reduce the number of simultaneous WebGL2 effects in the composition, or ensure effects are reused via the effect-state cache rather than re-created each frame.
2. Check for WebGL context-loss: if gl.isContextLost() is true before setup, the GPU process is gone — restart the render.
3. Render on a machine with a healthier GPU/driver (hardware acceleration on, or a newer headless Chromium).
4. Update the GPU driver; very old OpenGL drivers misreport VAO limits.

// Best-effort pre-check: probe whether the context can still hand out a VAO before relying on the effect.
function canCreateVao(canvas: HTMLCanvasElement): boolean {
  const gl = canvas.getContext('webgl2');
  if (!gl) return false;
  const vao = gl.createVertexArray();
  const ok = vao !== null;
  if (vao) gl.deleteVertexArray(vao);
  gl.deleteProgram(gl.createProgram()); // touch
  return ok;
}

try {
  // ...use halftoneLinearGradient()
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof Error && /Failed to create WebGL vertex array/.test(e.message)) {
    // most likely context loss; restart the render process
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Instantiating many halftone-linear-gradient effect instances (or other WebGL2 effects) in one render session until the context's object budget is exhausted; rendering while the GL context is in the process of being lost; rendering on a GPU whose driver caps vertex-array objects very low.

Common situations: Long render jobs with hundreds of frames each allocating fresh effect state; combining several WebGL2-backed effects per composition on low-resource GPUs; GPU process crash in Chrome leaving the context zombie.

Related errors

• Failed to create WebGL buffer
• Failed to create WebGL texture
• Failed to create WebGL program
• 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/f577e375863d7e12. Report an issue: GitHub.