What causes ""${name}" must be greater than 0, but got ${JSON.stringify(value)}" in remotion-dev/remotion?

Pass a strictly positive value: keep size >= 1 and lineWidth >= 0.1 per the emboss schema.

remotion-dev/remotion · error · TypeError

"${name}" must be greater than 0, but got ${JSON.stringify(v

Error message

"${name}" must be greater than 0, but got ${JSON.stringify(value)}

What it means

Thrown by the emboss effect's internal validatePositive() (a TypeError) when a resolved `size` or `lineWidth` is <= 0. validateEmbossParams() calls validatePositive only on size and lineWidth after assertOptionalFiniteNumber has already guaranteed they are finite numbers. The relief pattern math requires strictly positive cell/dash dimensions, so zero or negative values are rejected up front.

Source

Thrown at packages/effects/src/emboss.ts:135

		readonly uAngle: WebGLUniformLocation | null;
		readonly uLightAngle: WebGLUniformLocation | null;
		readonly uOffset: WebGLUniformLocation | null;
	};
};

const resolve = (p: EmbossParams): EmbossResolved => ({
	amount: p.amount ?? DEFAULT_AMOUNT,
	size: p.size ?? DEFAULT_SIZE,
	lineWidth: p.lineWidth ?? DEFAULT_LINE_WIDTH,
	depth: p.depth ?? DEFAULT_DEPTH,
	angle: p.angle ?? DEFAULT_ANGLE,
	lightAngle: p.lightAngle ?? DEFAULT_LIGHT_ANGLE,
	offset: p.offset ?? DEFAULT_OFFSET,
});

const validatePositive = (value: number, name: string): void => {
	if (value <= 0) {
		throw new TypeError(
			`"${name}" must be greater than 0, but got ${JSON.stringify(value)}`,
		);
	}
};

const validateEmbossParams = (params: EmbossParams): void => {
	assertEffectParamsObject(params, 'Emboss');
	assertOptionalFiniteNumber(params.amount, 'amount');
	assertOptionalFiniteNumber(params.size, 'size');
	assertOptionalFiniteNumber(params.lineWidth, 'lineWidth');
	assertOptionalFiniteNumber(params.depth, 'depth');
	assertOptionalFiniteNumber(params.angle, 'angle');
	assertOptionalFiniteNumber(params.lightAngle, 'lightAngle');
	assertOptionalFiniteNumber(params.offset, 'offset');

	const r = resolve(params);
	validateUnitInterval(r.amount, 'amount');
	validatePositive(r.size, 'size');

View on GitHub (pinned to 78fe4bb3fd)

Solutions

Pass a strictly positive value: keep size >= 1 and lineWidth >= 0.1 per the emboss schema.
When animating, clamp with a floor, e.g. interpolate(...) then Math.max(1, size).
If the value is computed, validate it before passing it to emboss().
Leave the prop undefined to use the documented defaults (size 26, lineWidth 7).

Example fix

// before
emboss({size: frame > 30 ? 0 : 26})

// after
emboss({size: frame > 30 ? 1 : 26})

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Validate size/lineWidth before calling emboss().
function isPositiveFinite(v: unknown): v is number {
  return typeof v === 'number' && Number.isFinite(v) && v > 0;
}

function resolveEmbossDims(p: {size?: number; lineWidth?: number}) {
  const size = p.size ?? 26;
  const lineWidth = p.lineWidth ?? 7;
  if (!isPositiveFinite(size)) throw new TypeError(`size must be > 0, got ${size}`);
  if (!isPositiveFinite(lineWidth)) throw new TypeError(`lineWidth must be > 0, got ${lineWidth}`);
  return {size, lineWidth};
}

Type guard

function isValidEmbossPositive(v: unknown): v is number {
  return typeof v === 'number' && Number.isFinite(v) && v > 0;
}

Prevention

Keep size >= 1 and lineWidth >= 0.1 (the emboss schema's documented minimums).
When animating size/lineWidth, clamp with a floor: Math.max(1, value) / Math.max(0.1, value).
Type props so the compiler warns on out-of-range literals.
Omit the prop to use the safe defaults (size 26, lineWidth 7).

When it happens

Trigger: Calling emboss({size: 0}), emboss({size: -5}), emboss({lineWidth: 0}), or emboss({lineWidth: -1}). Also when a param is driven by an interpolate() or formula that crosses zero at some frame.

Common situations: Animating `size` or `lineWidth` through 0, deriving the value from a ratio that can hit zero, or a copy-paste typo. Note the schema documents size min=1 and lineWidth min=0.1, so values below those are out of the supported range.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@78fe4bb3fd (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/daf0935359a6aa02. Report an issue: GitHub.