remotion-dev/remotion · error · Error

output must be "linear" or "perceptual-scale", but got

Error message

output must be "linear" or "perceptual-scale", but got ${String(output)}

What it means

Thrown by assertValidInterpolateOutputOption. The output option selects how numeric interpolation is computed and accepts only the literal values 'linear', 'perceptual-scale', or undefined (defaults to linear). Any other string — including typos — is rejected.

Solutions

1. Use exactly 'linear' or 'perceptual-scale' (lowercase, hyphenated).
2. Omit the output option to keep the default linear behavior.
3. Check for stale references to the option name in your code and docs.

Example fix

// before
const r = interpolate(t, [0, 1], [0, 100], {output: 'perceptual'});
// after
const r = interpolate(t, [0, 1], [0, 100], {output: 'perceptual-scale'});

const validOutput = ['linear', 'perceptual-scale', undefined] as const;
if (output !== undefined && !validOutput.includes(output as never)) {
  throw new Error('output must be "linear" or "perceptual-scale"');
}
const r = interpolate(input, inputRange, outputRange, {output});

const isInterpolateOutput = (
  v: unknown,
): v is 'linear' | 'perceptual-scale' | undefined =>
  v === undefined || v === 'linear' || v === 'perceptual-scale';

When it happens

Trigger: interpolate(t,[0,1],[0,100],{output:'perceptual'}); {output:'Linear'}; {output:'srgb'}; any value not exactly 'linear' or 'perceptual-scale'.

Common situations: Typo in the option name; copy from an outdated doc/API that used different names; assuming the option accepts color-space strings like 'srgb'.

Related errors

• Cannot interpolate an input which is not a number
• Font weight outputRange must contain only numbers or strings
• forceTranscode must be a boolean.
• input can not be undefined
• inputRange can not be undefined

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@46a3a6bf13 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d5d4be606f9473ba. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at packages/core/src/interpolate.ts:1213

	) {
		throw new Error(
			`posterize must be a positive finite number, but got ${posterize}`,
		);
	}
}

function assertValidInterpolateOutputOption(
	output: InterpolateOptions['output'],
) {
	if (
		output === undefined ||
		output === 'linear' ||
		output === 'perceptual-scale'
	) {
		return;
	}

	throw new Error(
		`output must be "linear" or "perceptual-scale", but got ${String(output)}`,
	);
}

function assertValidInterpolateOutputType(
	outputType: InterpolateOptions['outputType'],
) {
	if (
		outputType === undefined ||
		outputType === 'font-weight' ||
		outputType === 'scale' ||
		outputType === 'translate' ||
		outputType === 'rotate' ||
		outputType === 'transform-origin'
	) {
		return;
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 46a3a6bf13)