Animation export fails

Symptoms

If one or more of these match what you are seeing, you are on the right page.

• •The export completes but the file is far shorter than the project
• •The export dialog stalls at a percentage and never finishes
• •Export works in one browser and fails in another
• •The exported file has no transparency despite a transparent canvas background

Causes and fixes

Ordered from most to least likely. Work down the list — each cause is paired with what to do about it.

1. 1

   The work area is narrower than the animation.

   Export uses the work area In and Out points as its default range. Press Ctrl+Alt+F in the timeline to fit the view to the full project duration and confirm the range, or set the range explicitly with the export range override in the export dialog.

2. 2

   The browser lacks the advanced video encoder.

   The VideoEncoder API is available in Safari from 16.4; earlier versions fall back to a slower export path that can appear stalled on long compositions. Export from Chrome or Edge for the fastest and most reliable encode.

3. 3

   The composition is too expensive to render within available GPU memory.

   Export renders at full resolution regardless of preview quality, and at 4K the cost of filters multiplies. Reduce the number of simultaneous offscreen-buffer effects, or export at a smaller canvas size to confirm the composition is the cause.

4. 4

   The chosen format does not carry an alpha channel.

   Transparent backgrounds export only to formats that support alpha — PNG, WebM with alpha, and single-frame PNG. Exporting a transparent canvas to MP4 produces an opaque result.

5. 5

   Transparent export is combined with 3D elements on non-Normal blend modes.

   This combination can produce composite errors at element boundaries. Set 3D elements to Normal blending for transparent exports, or export over a solid background and key it later.

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