## Problem Closes #574. On Windows with cached headless-shell Chrome, a composition that reuses the same video file in three timeline clips can fail before frame capture starts: ```html <video id="video1" src="1.mp4" data-start="0" muted data-duration="4" data-track-index="0" data-media-start="0"></video> <video id="video2" src="1.mp4" data-start="4" muted data-duration="4" data-track-index="0" data-media-start="4"></video> <video id="video3" src="1.mp4" data-start="8" muted data-duration="4" data-track-index="0" data-media-start="8"></video> ``` The reported render reaches video frame extraction, then dies at frame-capture initialization with: ```text [FrameCapture] video metadata not ready after 45000ms. Video elements must load metadata before capture starts. ``` The important detail is that by this stage HyperFrames has already extracted video pixels through FFmpeg. Native Chromium video metadata is only being waited on for DOM layout stability, not because Chromium is the source of rendered pixels. ## Root Cause The render pipeline has two separate media responsibilities: - FFmpeg extracts video frames and audio from declared media. - Chromium owns DOM layout and capture, while injected FFmpeg frames supply the video pixels before each captured frame. Before this PR, every capture session still waited for every DOM `<video>` to reach `readyState >= 1` unless the element was a native HDR exception. That made native browser media metadata a hard render prerequisite even when the browser would not decode or provide the final video pixels. That is why the issue fails at `25% Starting frame capture`: FFmpeg extraction has already succeeded, but capture initialization blocks on repeated native `<video src="1.mp4">` metadata loading in cached Windows headless-shell Chrome. There was a second constraint: the readiness wait also prevents first-frame layout bugs. If a skipped `<video>` has no native metadata, Chromium can use the default `300x150` intrinsic video size, which breaks layouts such as `width: 100%; height: auto` before the first injected frame. The fix therefore must not simply skip all video readiness waits; it must provide dimensions for any skipped videos. ## What This Fixes - Treats videos with successfully extracted FFmpeg frames and usable dimensions as out-of-band rendered video sources. - Skips native browser metadata readiness waits for those extracted videos because Chromium is not responsible for their pixels. - Passes FFmpeg-probed dimensions into capture as `videoMetadataHints`. - Applies those hints before the readiness wait in both screenshot and BeginFrame initialization paths. - Sets missing `width` / `height` attributes and an explicit `aspect-ratio` only when the element does not already provide one, preserving author styles where present. - Keeps native HDR video IDs in the skip list, preserving the existing HEVC/HDR behavior where Chrome may not decode the source but FFmpeg/native HDR compositing can still render it. - Uses one `buildCaptureOptions()` helper so calibration, HDR DOM capture, streaming capture, parallel capture, and sequential capture receive the same skip IDs and metadata hints. - Adds tests for the skip-list and metadata-hint contract. - Adds a Windows CI regression that reproduces the issue shape after the canary render warms the cached-browser path. ## Reviewer Map Primary files: - `packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts` - `collectVideoReadinessSkipIds()` includes native HDR IDs plus extracted videos that have finite positive FFmpeg dimensions. - `collectVideoMetadataHints()` converts extracted FFmpeg metadata into capture hints. - `buildCaptureOptions()` threads `skipReadinessVideoIds` and `videoMetadataHints` into every capture path. - `packages/engine/src/services/frameCapture.ts` - `applyVideoMetadataHints()` runs in the page before video readiness polling. - Both screenshot and BeginFrame initialization call it before checking non-skipped videos for `readyState >= 1`. - `packages/engine/src/types.ts` - Adds `CaptureVideoMetadataHint` and documents that readiness skips should be paired with metadata hints when layout may depend on intrinsic dimensions. - `packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.test.ts` - Covers that extracted videos with dimensions are skipped, invalid dimensions are not, native HDR IDs are preserved, and hints are stable/sorted. - `.github/workflows/windows-render.yml` - Adds the issue #574 Windows regression with the exact three-clip markup and a generated deterministic `1.mp4`. ## Why This Is Safe The skip is intentionally gated: - A standard video is skipped only after `extractAllVideoFrames()` succeeded for that video and returned usable dimensions. - Videos with invalid dimensions are not skipped, so the old browser readiness guard still applies. - DOM videos are still present for layout and element bounds; only the native metadata wait is skipped for sources whose pixels come from FFmpeg injection. - Metadata hints are applied conservatively: existing `width`, `height`, and explicit `aspect-ratio` are not overwritten. - Non-extracted videos, images, fonts, page readiness, and `window.__hf` readiness keep the existing waits. - The fix is not limited to the sequential path from the issue; it is threaded through calibration, HDR DOM capture, streaming encode, parallel capture, and sequential capture. A first local revision skipped readiness too broadly and caused `overlay-montage-prod` first-frame layout shrinkage. The current version fixes that by pairing skips with FFmpeg metadata hints; `overlay-montage-prod` now passes and is listed in verification below. ## Verification ### Root-Cause Reproduction Before Fix The reporter did not attach the actual `1.mp4`, so the regression uses the exact issue markup and a deterministic generated 12s H.264 file named `1.mp4`. I reproduced the failure in GitHub Actions by running this branch's new Windows workflow against unpatched `main`: ```bash gh workflow run windows-render.yml --repo heygen-com/hyperframes --ref fix/reused-video-metadata -f ref=main ``` That means the workflow contains the new issue #574 regression, but the code under test is `main` without this fix. Baseline failure: - Run: https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/actions/runs/25174603730 - Failed job: https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/actions/runs/25174603730/job/73803179086 - Checkout proof: `ref: main`, `origin/main`, commit `8662598a3ac64018a2999d189ffb369e6d46b53a`. - Failure proof: `Browser: cache`, `staticDuration:12`, `videoCount:3`, then `25% Starting frame capture` -> `[FrameCapture] video metadata not ready after 15000ms`. This is the same failure class as the issue, on Windows, in cached-browser mode, before the fix. ### Fixed Windows Regression The same regression passes on this PR branch: - Run: https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/actions/runs/25175048215 - Passing job: https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/actions/runs/25175048215/job/73804781017 - Checkout proof: PR merge contains `79d6b41c9f2ba137cbfb9301678e0815b16c4f5a` merged into `8662598a3ac64018a2999d189ffb369e6d46b53a`. - Passing proof: `Browser: cache`, `staticDuration:12`, `videoCount:3`, `25% Starting frame capture`, captures `360/360` frames, renders `issue-574.mp4`, and `ffprobe` verifies `1920x1080 @ 30/1, 12s`. ### Local Checks - `bun run build:hyperframes-runtime` - `bunx vitest run packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.test.ts` - `bun run --filter @hyperframes/producer typecheck` - `bun run --filter @hyperframes/engine typecheck` - `bunx oxlint packages/engine/src/services/frameCapture.ts packages/engine/src/types.ts packages/engine/src/index.ts packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.test.ts` - `bunx oxfmt --check .github/workflows/windows-render.yml packages/engine/src/services/frameCapture.ts packages/engine/src/types.ts packages/engine/src/index.ts packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.test.ts` - `git diff --check` - Lefthook pre-commit: lint, format, typecheck where applicable - Lefthook commit-msg: commitlint ### Local Render Checks - Created `/tmp/hf-issue-574-repro` with the issue shape: three clips using the same `1.mp4`, `data-media-start=0/4/8`, 12s total. - `PRODUCER_PLAYER_READY_TIMEOUT_MS=5000 bun packages/cli/src/cli.ts render /tmp/hf-issue-574-repro --workers 1 --quality draft --fps 30 --output /tmp/hf-issue-574-h264-fixed-v2.mp4` -> completed. - Created `/tmp/hf-issue-574-prores` with the same three-clip shape using one FFmpeg-readable ProRes `.mov`, which exercises the browser-metadata failure class because Chromium should not be needed to decode the source. - `PRODUCER_PLAYER_READY_TIMEOUT_MS=3000 bun packages/cli/src/cli.ts render /tmp/hf-issue-574-prores --workers 1 --quality draft --fps 30 --output /tmp/hf-issue-574-prores-fixed-v2.mp4` -> completed. - `bun run --filter @hyperframes/producer test --sequential --keep-temp overlay-montage-prod` -> passed; this guards against skipped metadata shrinking `height:auto` video layout before the first injected frame. - `ffmpeg -v error -i /tmp/hf-issue-574-prores-fixed-v2.mp4 -f null -` - `ffmpeg -v error -i /tmp/hf-issue-574-h264-fixed-v2.mp4 -f null -` - `ffprobe -v error -show_entries format=duration:stream=codec_name,width,height,r_frame_rate -of json /tmp/hf-issue-574-h264-fixed-v2.mp4` -> H.264, 320x180, 30fps, 12.0s. ### Current PR Checks - Windows render verification: pass on https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/actions/runs/25175048215. - Windows tests: pass on https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/actions/runs/25175048215. - Main CI build/lint/typecheck/test/smoke jobs: pass on https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/actions/runs/25175048175. - Regression shards observed passing include HDR, render-compat, styles A-G, and `overlay-montage-prod`. At the time this body was updated, the `fast` regression shard was still in progress in run https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes/actions/runs/25174515546. ### Browser Verification - Used `agent-browser` to open `file:///tmp/hf-issue-574-h264-fixed-v2.mp4` and verify the rendered output displays in Chromium. - Screenshot: `.debug/issue-574/h264-output-page.png` - Agent-browser recording: `.debug/issue-574/h264-output-playback.webm` ## Notes / Caveats - The reporter's exact `1.mp4` was not attached to #574. The committed Windows regression uses a generated deterministic H.264 file with the same filename and exact markup from the issue. - The exact H.264 issue shape did not reproduce the timeout on this macOS/system-Chrome machine before the fix; it rendered successfully locally. The GitHub Actions baseline above reproduces it on Windows/cache without the fix. - The Windows fixture intentionally runs after the existing canary render so the browser path is `Browser: cache`, matching the reporter's environment. - The generated fixture emits sparse-keyframe warnings. Those warnings are expected and are not the failure being fixed; the baseline failure occurs before any frame capture because native browser video metadata never becomes ready. - Browser proof artifacts are local-only under `.debug/issue-574/` and intentionally not committed.
@hyperframes/producer
Full HTML-to-video rendering pipeline: capture frames with Chrome's BeginFrame API, encode with FFmpeg, mix audio — all in one call.
Install
npm install @hyperframes/producer
Requirements: Node.js >= 22, Chrome/Chromium (auto-downloaded), FFmpeg
Usage
Render a video
import { createRenderJob, executeRenderJob } from "@hyperframes/producer";
const job = createRenderJob({
inputPath: "./my-composition.html",
outputPath: "./output.mp4",
width: 1920,
height: 1080,
fps: 30,
});
const result = await executeRenderJob(job, (progress) => {
console.log(`${Math.round(progress.percent * 100)}%`);
});
console.log(result.outputPath); // ./output.mp4
Run as an HTTP server
The producer can also run as a render server, accepting render requests over HTTP:
import { startServer } from "@hyperframes/producer";
await startServer({ port: 8080 });
// POST /render with a RenderConfig body
Configuration
RenderConfig controls the render pipeline:
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
inputPath |
— | Path to the HTML composition |
outputPath |
— | Output video file path (or directory, for format: "png-sequence") |
width |
1920 | Frame width in pixels |
height |
1080 | Frame height in pixels |
fps |
30 | Frames per second (24, 30, or 60) |
quality |
"standard" |
Encoder preset ("draft", "standard", "high") |
format |
"mp4" |
Output container — "mp4", "webm", "mov", or "png-sequence". See Transparent Video Output below. |
Transparent Video Output
The producer can render HTML compositions to formats that carry a true alpha channel — not chroma key. The same composition that renders an opaque MP4 renders a layerable overlay when you set format.
format |
Codec / pixel format | Alpha | Audio | Use case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
"mp4" (default) |
H.264 (yuv420p) or H.265 + HDR10 | No | AAC | Streaming, social, default deliverable |
"webm" |
VP9 + yuva420p | True alpha | Opus | Web playback as overlay (<video> over background); supported in Chrome, Edge, Firefox |
"mov" |
ProRes 4444 + yuva444p10le | True alpha + 10-bit | AAC | Editor ingest (Premiere, Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve) |
"png-sequence" |
Numbered RGBA PNGs in a directory | Lossless alpha | Sidecar audio.aac |
After Effects / Nuke / Fusion, or pipelines that post-process frames before encoding |
Example
import { createRenderJob, executeRenderJob } from "@hyperframes/producer";
const job = createRenderJob({
inputPath: "./my-composition.html",
outputPath: "./output.webm", // or a directory for "png-sequence"
width: 1080,
height: 1920,
fps: 30,
format: "webm", // "mp4" | "webm" | "mov" | "png-sequence"
});
await executeRenderJob(job);
What "transparent background" means here
The producer captures Chrome screenshots with the page background forced transparent (html, body, [data-composition-id] { background: transparent !important }) and the CDP default background override set to RGBA 0,0,0,0. The captured PNGs carry a real alpha channel and that channel is preserved end-to-end:
- VP9 (
webm) is encoded with-pix_fmt yuva420p,-auto-alt-ref 0, andalpha_mode=1metadata. - ProRes 4444 (
mov) is encoded with-pix_fmt yuva444p10le. - PNG sequences are written without re-encoding (zero-padded
frame_NNNNNN.png).
This is not chroma keying. There is no green/blue background to remove and no "key" tolerance to tune — pixels that were transparent in the browser are transparent in the output.
Caveats
- Linux + alpha forces screenshot capture. Chrome's BeginFrame compositor (the default deterministic capture path on Linux headless-shell) does not preserve alpha; the orchestrator falls back to
Page.captureScreenshot, which is slower per frame. macOS and Windows already use screenshot mode by default, so they are unaffected. - HDR + alpha is not supported. Setting
hdr: truetogether with an alpha-capable format logs a warning and falls back to SDR. Useformat: "mp4"for HDR10 output. png-sequencedoes not produce a single muxed file. When the composition contains audio elements, anaudio.aacsidecar is written alongside the PNGs inoutputPath.- Safari + WebM alpha is incomplete. For broad browser playback of an alpha video, ship
format: "mov"to your editor and re-encode for the codec your distribution target supports.
Authoring transparent compositions
Don't paint a fullscreen background in your HTML. The default body background is overridden to transparent automatically — any body { background: ... }, #root { background: ... }, or [data-composition-id] { background: ... } rule is force-overridden during alpha rendering. Backgrounds on inner elements (cards, scenes, components) are kept.
How it works
- Serve — spins up a local file server for the HTML composition
- Capture — opens the page in headless Chrome, seeks frame-by-frame via
HeadlessExperimental.beginFrame(orPage.captureScreenshotfor transparent / non-Linux renders), captures screenshots - Encode — pipes frames through FFmpeg (with GPU encoder detection and chunked concat). Skipped for
format: "png-sequence". - Mix — extracts
<audio>elements and mixes them into the final video. Forpng-sequence, audio is written as anaudio.aacsidecar. - Finalize — applies faststart for streaming-friendly MP4 (no-op for WebM, MOV, and
png-sequence)
Documentation
Full documentation: hyperframes.heygen.com/packages/producer
Related packages
@hyperframes/core— types, parsers, frame adapters@hyperframes/engine— lower-level capture and encode primitiveshyperframes— CLI