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defaultProps too big - could not serialize

If you experience an error during rendering:

defaultProps too big - could not serialize - the defaultProps of composition with ID "[composition-id]" - the object that was passed to defaultProps was too big. Learn how to mitigate this error by visiting https://remotion.dev/docs/troubleshooting/serialize-defaultprops
defaultProps too big - could not serialize - the defaultProps of composition with ID "[composition-id]" - the object that was passed to defaultProps was too big. Learn how to mitigate this error by visiting https://remotion.dev/docs/troubleshooting/serialize-defaultprops

It means the object that was passed to defaultProps for the specified composition is too big that Chrome cannot serialize it into a string.

If you see this variant of the error:

defaultProps too big - Could not serialize - an object that was passed to defaultProps was too big. Learn how to mitigate this error by visiting https://remotion.dev/docs/troubleshooting/serialize-defaultprops
defaultProps too big - Could not serialize - an object that was passed to defaultProps was too big. Learn how to mitigate this error by visiting https://remotion.dev/docs/troubleshooting/serialize-defaultprops

The defaultProps is not too big, but the list of compositions as a whole is too big to serialize.

Why this error occurs​

Remotion is trying to gather a list of compositions using getCompositions(), and is copying them from the headless browser into Node.JS. During this operation, the JavaScript object needs to be converted into a string. The upper limit for this is 256MB, however dependending on the machine Remotion runs on, the error may also occur on smaller payloads.

How to fix the error​

Avoid passing huge data payloads to defaultProps. Instead, derive the big data payload inside the component based on slim defaultProps. For example:

  • Instead of passing a data URL or Buffer that represents an asset, pass a URL to the asset and fetch the asset from inside the composition
  • Don't fetch an audio visualization using getAudioData() and pass it as default props - instead, pass the URL of the audio asset and fetch the audio visualization inside the component.

Example:

❌ Avoid - big data chunk as defaultProps
tsx
import { AudioData, getAudioData } from "@remotion/media-utils";
import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
import { Composition, continueRender, delayRender, staticFile } from "remotion";
 
// MyComp.tsx
const MyComp: React.FC<{
  audioData: AudioData | null;
}> = ({ audioData }) => {
  return null;
};
 
// src/Video.tsx
const RemotionRoot = () => {
  const [audioData, setAudioData] = useState<AudioData | null>(null);
  const [handle] = useState(() => delayRender());
 
  useEffect(() => {
    getAudioData(staticFile("audio.mp3"))
      .then((data) => {
        setAudioData(data);
        continueRender(handle);
      })
      .catch((e) => {
        console.log(e);
      });
  }, [handle]);
 
  return (
    <Composition
      id="my-comp"
      durationInFrames={90}
      width={1080}
      height={1080}
      fps={1080}
      component={MyComp}
      defaultProps={{
        audioData,
      }}
    />
  );
};
❌ Avoid - big data chunk as defaultProps
tsx
import { AudioData, getAudioData } from "@remotion/media-utils";
import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
import { Composition, continueRender, delayRender, staticFile } from "remotion";
 
// MyComp.tsx
const MyComp: React.FC<{
  audioData: AudioData | null;
}> = ({ audioData }) => {
  return null;
};
 
// src/Video.tsx
const RemotionRoot = () => {
  const [audioData, setAudioData] = useState<AudioData | null>(null);
  const [handle] = useState(() => delayRender());
 
  useEffect(() => {
    getAudioData(staticFile("audio.mp3"))
      .then((data) => {
        setAudioData(data);
        continueRender(handle);
      })
      .catch((e) => {
        console.log(e);
      });
  }, [handle]);
 
  return (
    <Composition
      id="my-comp"
      durationInFrames={90}
      width={1080}
      height={1080}
      fps={1080}
      component={MyComp}
      defaultProps={{
        audioData,
      }}
    />
  );
};

This can lead to problems because the audioData variable can become very big since it contains raw data about the waveform, and Remotion needs to serialize this data into a string, which is slow and can lead to this error. Instead, pass the audio URL and do the audio data fetching inside the component:

✅ Do - Fetch data inside composition
tsx
import { getAudioData } from "@remotion/media-utils";
import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
import { Composition, continueRender, delayRender, staticFile } from "remotion";
 
// MyComp.tsx
const MyComp: React.FC<{ src: string }> = ({ src }) => {
  const [audioData, setAudioData] = useState<any>(undefined);
  const [handle] = useState(() => delayRender());
 
  useEffect(() => {
    getAudioData(src)
      .then((data) => {
        setAudioData(data);
        continueRender(handle);
      })
      .catch((e) => {
        console.log(e);
      });
  }, [handle]);
 
  return null;
};
 
// src/Video.tsx
const RemotionRoot = () => {
  return (
    <Composition
      id="my-comp"
      durationInFrames={90}
      width={1080}
      height={1080}
      fps={1080}
      component={MyComp}
      defaultProps={{
        src: staticFile("audio.mp3"),
      }}
    />
  );
};
✅ Do - Fetch data inside composition
tsx
import { getAudioData } from "@remotion/media-utils";
import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
import { Composition, continueRender, delayRender, staticFile } from "remotion";
 
// MyComp.tsx
const MyComp: React.FC<{ src: string }> = ({ src }) => {
  const [audioData, setAudioData] = useState<any>(undefined);
  const [handle] = useState(() => delayRender());
 
  useEffect(() => {
    getAudioData(src)
      .then((data) => {
        setAudioData(data);
        continueRender(handle);
      })
      .catch((e) => {
        console.log(e);
      });
  }, [handle]);
 
  return null;
};
 
// src/Video.tsx
const RemotionRoot = () => {
  return (
    <Composition
      id="my-comp"
      durationInFrames={90}
      width={1080}
      height={1080}
      fps={1080}
      component={MyComp}
      defaultProps={{
        src: staticFile("audio.mp3"),
      }}
    />
  );
};

See also​