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James
67bb56c703
When the host doesn't have a usable GPU (CI containers, eval rigs without
GPU passthrough, dev VMs), Chrome's hardware-mode WebGL flags
(`--use-gl=egl/metal/d3d11`) silently leave WebGL unavailable —
`getContext("webgl")` returns null, three.js' WebGLRenderer dies, the
canvas stays black. Surfaced today by Abhay's c2v-eval failing on a
docker render of an hf bundle that uses three.js + a custom fragment
shader.
The fix that's been there: `--use-gl=angle --use-angle=swiftshader` (CPU
software WebGL, ~5-50× slower but pixel-identical). The engine already
exposed `browserGpuMode: "software"` for this. The gap was discovery —
users had to know to pass `--no-browser-gpu` on no-GPU hosts.
This change adds `browserGpuMode: "auto"` (now the CLI default for local
renders): on first launch in the process, probe Chrome with hardware
args, check `canvas.getContext("webgl") !== null`, cache the result.
~1-2 s on first render, free on every subsequent render in the same
worker. Hardware GPUs keep their fast path; no-GPU hosts get SwiftShader
without ceremony.
Behaviour matrix:
- No flag, no env, local → "auto" (NEW default)
- `--browser-gpu` → "hardware" (force; errors if no GPU)
- `--no-browser-gpu` → "software" (force SwiftShader)
- `PRODUCER_BROWSER_GPU_MODE` → "hardware" / "software" / "auto" / unset
- Docker mode → forced "software" (unchanged)
Engine-config default stays "software" (conservative for embedders); the
"auto" default lives in the CLI's `resolveBrowserGpuForCli` so producer
embedders aren't surprised by a probe-on-launch.
Also adds `--enable-unsafe-swiftshader` to the software flag set —
Chrome 120+ deprecated implicit SwiftShader fallback and emits a
deprecation warning unless the flag is set explicitly. Despite the
"unsafe" name this is exactly the pre-deprecation behaviour; the rename
is about Chrome's threat model on the open web, not about the rendering
itself.
Verification:
- Engine 535/535 + CLI 256/256 (incl. new probe tests + tri-state CLI test)
- Empirical: probe on this no-GPU devbox returns "software" in 240 ms,
cached 0 ms on subsequent calls
- Format / lint / typecheck clean across all packages
Refs the Abhay/Slack thread on c2v-eval rendering without a GPU node.
@hyperframes/engine
Seekable web-page-to-video rendering engine built on Puppeteer and FFmpeg.
Framework-agnostic: works with GSAP, Lottie, Three.js, CSS animations, or any web content that implements the window.__hf seek protocol.
Install
npm install @hyperframes/engine
Requirements: Node.js >= 22, Chrome/Chromium (auto-downloaded by Puppeteer), FFmpeg
What it does
The engine opens your HTML composition in a headless Chrome instance, seeks frame-by-frame using Chrome's HeadlessExperimental.beginFrame API, captures screenshots, and encodes them into video with FFmpeg.
Key services
| Service | Description |
|---|---|
| browserManager | Launches and pools headless Chrome instances (chrome-headless-shell) |
| frameCapture | Manages capture sessions — seek, screenshot, buffer lifecycle |
| screenshotService | BeginFrame-based capture with CDP (Chrome DevTools Protocol) |
| chunkEncoder | FFmpeg encoding with chunked concat, GPU detection, faststart |
| streamingEncoder | Pipe frames to FFmpeg in real time (no intermediate PNGs on disk) |
| audioMixer | Parse <audio> elements and mix audio tracks via FFmpeg |
| videoFrameExtractor | Extract frames from <video> elements for compositing |
| parallelCoordinator | Split frame ranges across worker processes |
| fileServer | Serve local HTML files to the browser via Hono |
Usage
import {
acquireBrowser,
releaseBrowser,
createCaptureSession,
initializeSession,
captureFrame,
closeCaptureSession,
} from "@hyperframes/engine";
// 1. Launch browser
const browser = await acquireBrowser({ captureMode: "beginFrame" });
// 2. Open a capture session
const session = createCaptureSession({
browser: browser.browser,
url: "http://localhost:3000/my-composition.html",
width: 1920,
height: 1080,
fps: 30,
});
await initializeSession(session);
// 3. Capture frames
for (let i = 0; i < totalFrames; i++) {
await captureFrame(session, i, `/tmp/frames/frame-${i}.png`);
}
// 4. Clean up
await closeCaptureSession(session);
await releaseBrowser(browser);
Most users should use @hyperframes/producer or the hyperframes CLI instead of calling the engine directly.
Documentation
Full documentation: hyperframes.heygen.com/packages/engine
Related packages
@hyperframes/core— types, parsers, frame adapters@hyperframes/producer— high-level render pipeline built on this enginehyperframes— CLI