remotion-dev/remotion · error · std::io::Error

The codec is not a video codec

Error message

The codec is not a video codec

What it means

Thrown by get_video_metadata when the best video stream's decoder is not an ffmpeg video decoder (context.decoder().video() fails or yields a non-video codec). The metadata path requires a real video codec to read width/height/pixel format.

Source

Thrown at packages/compositor/rust/get_video_metadata.rs:334

        };

        // Return the video metadata
        let metadata = VideoMetadata {
            fps,
            width: video.width(),
            height: video.height(),
            durationInSeconds,
            codec: video_codec_name,
            canPlayInVideoTag,
            supportsSeeking,
            colorSpace,
            audioCodec: audio_codec_name,
            audioFileExtension: audio_file_extension,
            pixelFormat,
        };
        Ok(metadata)
    } else {
        return Err(std::io::Error::new(
            ErrorKind::Other,
            "The codec is not a video codec",
        ))?;
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 78fe4bb3fd)

Solutions

1. Run `ffprobe -show_streams <file>` and check the selected video stream's codec_name and whether ffmpeg can decode it.
2. Re-mux/re-encode the file so the primary video stream uses a supported codec.
3. Rebuild ffmpeg with the required decoder (e.g. --enable-decoder=hevc).

Example fix

// before
const meta = await getVideoMetadata(file);

// after (CLI verification)
// $ ffprobe -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=codec_name -of csv=p=0 file
// ensure it prints a real video codec (h264, hevc, vp9, av1), not mjpeg/png

// CLI check before metadata call:
// $ ffprobe -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream=codec_name,codec_type -of csv=p=0 <file>
// ensure codec_type=video and codec_name is a supported decoder

null

match get_video_metadata(path) {
    Ok(m) => m,
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("not a video codec") => fallback_metadata(),
    Err(e) => return Err(e),
}

When it happens

Trigger: The stream selected as 'best video' resolves to a codec context that cannot be opened as a video decoder — e.g. an attached-picture (mjpeg) stream, a data/overlay stream, or a codec unsupported by the linked ffmpeg.

Common situations: Probing a container with an embedded cover-art/album-art stream that ffmpeg ranks as the best video stream; using an ffmpeg build without the codec (e.g. hevc disabled); corrupted codec parameters in the header.

Related errors

• No video stream found in ${file_path}. Is this a video file?
• No audio stream found in '${input_path}'. Ensure the video c
• Not enough planes or linesizes
• Could not find audio stream in ${src}
• No frame found at position {} for source {} (original source

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@78fe4bb3fd (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/efa3dbeae4608709. Report an issue: GitHub.