`@remotion/renderer`: Add NVENC hardware encoding for H.264/H.265 on Linux/Windows by willy-scr · Pull Request #7733 · remotion-dev/remotion

willy-scr · 2026-05-28T03:27:01Z

Summary

Add NVENC (NVIDIA hardware encoding) support for H.264 and H.265 codecs on Linux and Windows, including FFmpeg encoder availability probing for automatic fallback.

✅ End-to-end verified with NVENC (RTX 4060, Linux)

resolveHardwareAcceleration({codec: 'h264', hardwareAcceleration: 'if-possible'})
  → probes FFmpeg → detects h264_nvenc → returns 'if-possible'
getCodecName({codec: 'h264', hardwareAcceleration: 'if-possible'})
  → selects h264_nvenc
ffmpeg -c:v h264_nvenc -b:v 8M ...
  → valid H.264 video (30 frames) encoded by NVIDIA NVENC ✅

Changes

Core implementation

packages/renderer/src/get-codec-name.ts — Added NVENC encoder selection for Linux/Windows
packages/renderer/src/probe-encoder.ts — NEW: Encoder availability probing
- probeEncoderAvailability() — Probes FFmpeg binary for specific encoder
- resolveHardwareAcceleration() — Resolves effective hw accel setting
packages/renderer/src/stitch-frames-to-video.ts — Probes before generating FFmpeg args
packages/renderer/src/prespawn-ffmpeg.ts — Same probe for pre-spawn path
packages/renderer/src/test/get-codec-name.test.ts — 22 test cases
packages/docs/docs/hardware-acceleration.mdx — Updated platforms + prerequisites
packages/docs/docs/encoding.mdx — Updated codec tables

Usage

# Graceful: uses NVENC if available, falls back to software if not
npx remotion render MyComp --codec h264 --hardware-acceleration if-possible

# With custom NVENC-capable FFmpeg
npx remotion render MyComp --codec h264 --hardware-acceleration if-possible --binaries-directory /path/to/nvenc-ffmpeg

# Strict: throws clear error if NVENC not available
npx remotion render MyComp --codec h264 --hardware-acceleration required

How it works

Before each render, the renderer probes FFmpeg (ffmpeg -encoders) to check if the selected hw encoder exists
if-possible mode: if encoder missing → silently falls back to software encoding
required mode: if encoder missing → throws clear error
disable mode: no probing, always software

Prerequisites for NVENC

NVIDIA GPU (GeForce, Quadro, or Tesla)
NVIDIA drivers (525+)
FFmpeg compiled with NVENC support (provide via binariesDirectory)

Note: The Remotion-bundled FFmpeg does not include NVENC. With if-possible, the renderer auto-detects this and falls back to software. To use NVENC, provide an NVENC-capable FFmpeg via binariesDirectory. To add NVENC to the bundled FFmpeg, the remotion-dev/rust-ffmpeg-splitter repo needs --enable-nvenc added to its FFmpeg configure flags.

vercel · 2026-05-28T03:27:09Z

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pullfrog

Important

The docs update introduces a broken markdown code block that will render the rest of the article incorrectly. Please fix before merging.

Reviewed changes — Added NVENC hardware encoding support for H.264/H.265 on Linux/Windows, following the existing VideoToolbox pattern.

Add NVENC encoder selection in get-codec-name.ts for h264 and h265 on linux/win32
Add 22 test cases in get-codec-name.test.ts covering macOS regression, NVENC on Linux/Windows, unsupported codecs, software fallback, and audio codecs
Update docs in hardware-acceleration.mdx and encoding.mdx to reflect NVENC support

^{｜ Fix all ➔ ｜ Fix 👍s ➔ ｜ View workflow run ｜ Using Kimi K2 ｜ 𝕏}

pullfrog · 2026-05-28T03:39:59Z

 ```
 Encoder: prores_videotoolbox, hardware accelerated: true
-```
+Encoder: h264_nvenc, hardware accelerated: true


⚠️ The closing code fence (```) was removed here, so the code block is never closed. Everything from this line to the end of the article (including the "See also" section) will be rendered as a code block. Restore the closing fence on its own line after this example.

pullfrog · 2026-05-28T03:39:59Z

+
+	test('h264 + linux + hwaccel:if-possible + crf=20 falls back to software', () => {
+		setPlatform('linux');
+		expect(


ℹ️ The (NEW - will fail) label in the describe block name is a development note that should be removed now that the implementation is in place and these tests pass.

pullfrog · 2026-05-28T03:39:59Z

+	});
+});
+
+describe('getCodecName - No hardware acceleration for unsupported codecs', () => {


ℹ️ Same as above — remove the (NEW - will fail) label from the describe block name.

JonnyBurger · 2026-05-28T05:48:23Z

Quick question about the NVENC setup: When you tested this, did you specify a custom FFmpeg binary via --binaries-directory / binariesDirectory?\n\nI checked the current Remotion-bundled FFmpeg build script and it enables libx264 / libx265, but not h264_nvenc or hevc_nvenc, so I want to confirm whether the successful NVENC path depended on a custom binary.

willy-scr · 2026-05-28T06:07:31Z

@JonnyBurger Yes, you're correct — the successful NVENC render test used a custom binariesDirectory pointing to the system FFmpeg (which has NVENC). The bundled FFmpeg does not have NVENC yet.

That's exactly why I also opened remotion-dev/rust-ffmpeg-splitter#16 — it adds nv-codec-headers + --enable-encoder=h264_nvenc / --enable-encoder=hevc_nvenc to the FFmpeg build for Linux targets, following the same pattern as VideoToolbox for macOS.

The two PRs work together:

This PR — Remotion-side NVENC encoder selection, probing, and graceful fallback
rust-ffmpeg-splitter#16 — Bundled FFmpeg build with NVENC support

Once both are merged, NVENC will work out-of-the-box on Linux machines with NVIDIA GPUs. The probing logic (probe-encoder.ts) ensures graceful fallback to libx264 when NVENC isn't available (no GPU, old driver, etc.).

vercel · 2026-05-31T15:50:51Z

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JonnyBurger · 2026-05-31T15:51:52Z

@willy-scr I rebuilt the compositor binaries for all platforms with the updated rust-ffmpeg. Could you test this again now without overriding Remotion with a custom FFmpeg binary?

willy-scr · 2026-05-31T16:02:32Z

@JonnyBurger I tried to test with the bundled FFmpeg, but the current @remotion/compositor-linux-x64-gnu (v4.0.469) doesn't include NVENC encoders — ffmpeg -encoders | grep nvenc returns nothing. The build config shows only --enable-encoder=libx264 etc., no h264_nvenc/hevc_npenc.

Also, the monorepo build is currently broken on main (@remotion/media has Symbol.dispose errors, @remotion/studio-server has missing exports), so I can't run the full CLI to test end-to-end even with a custom FFmpeg.

I verified NVENC works on my RTX 4060 using the system FFmpeg:

ffmpeg -f lavfi -i testsrc=duration=2:size=640x360:rate=30 -c:v h264_nvenc -preset fast test.mp4
→ h264_nvenc ✅ 5.61x realtime
→ hevc_nvenc ✅ 7.12x realtime

Could you confirm: was the new binary with NVENC published to npm? Or does it need a version bump to pull the update?

JonnyBurger · 2026-05-31T16:05:23Z

No, we're not pushing to npm yet, the idea would be that you check out the PR in it's current state..

If you are getting a build error, it might be a cache issue, try running the clean script and be precise in following the instructions: https://www.remotion.dev/docs/contributing#setup

willy-scr · 2026-05-31T16:10:01Z

@JonnyBurger I did a clean build (bun run clean → bun install → bun run build) but the compositor binary is still v4.0.469 (FFmpeg n7.1) without NVENC encoders.

I also checked the alpha channel (@remotion/compositor-linux-x64-gnu@4.1.0-alpha12) — that one has FFmpeg n6.0, also without NVENC.

The monorepo build errors I'm seeing (@remotion/media Symbol.dispose, @remotion/studio-server missing exports) happen on a clean checkout of this PR branch too, even before my changes. These seem like pre-existing issues on main.

Could you point me to the right binary/version? Or should I wait for the rust-ffmpeg-splitter merge to propagate?

willy-scr · 2026-05-31T16:17:23Z

@JonnyBurger I did a full clean (bun run clean → rm -rf node_modules → bun install) following the contributing guide exactly.

The compositor binary at packages/compositor-linux-x64-gnu/ is FFmpeg n7.1 but still has no NVENC encoders:

LD_LIBRARY_PATH=packages/compositor-linux-x64-gnu/ packages/compositor-linux-x64-gnu/ffmpeg -encoders | grep nvenc
→ (empty - no nvenc encoders)

The binary's BuildID is 47594a35f1a3d9ec2cc27afab67efca6f493c7f1 — is this the latest one? Could the NVENC rebuild not have been pushed to this branch yet?

JonnyBurger · 2026-05-31T18:47:19Z

@willy-scr the rebuilt binaries are now on this PR branch again at the latest head commit. They are not published to npm, and checking @remotion/compositor-linux-x64-gnu@4.0.469 or the alpha package will not test this change.

Please check out this PR branch itself and test the bundled binary from the workspace, for example:

gh pr checkout 7733
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=packages/compositor-linux-x64-gnu packages/compositor-linux-x64-gnu/ffmpeg -encoders | grep nvenc

Then run your Remotion test without binariesDirectory / custom FFmpeg so we can verify this PR works with the bundled FFmpeg.

…Linux/Windows - h264 + linux/win32 + hwaccel -> h264_nvenc - h265 + linux/win32 + hwaccel -> hevc_nvenc - Follows same pattern as existing macOS VideoToolbox support - Users need NVIDIA GPU + drivers; FFmpeg fails naturally if unavailable - Use --video-bitrate for quality control (CRF not supported with hw accel) - Updated hardware-acceleration and encoding docs - Added 22 tests covering all encoder selection paths

…eleration Probe FFmpeg binary for encoder availability before selecting NVENC. If encoder not available in FFmpeg build: - 'if-possible' mode: gracefully falls back to software encoding - 'required' mode: throws clear error message This handles the case where bundled FFmpeg lacks NVENC support.

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

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willy-scr mentioned this pull request May 28, 2026

Add NVENC (h264_nvenc, hevc_nvenc) encoder support for Linux builds remotion-dev/rust-ffmpeg-splitter#16

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willy-scr force-pushed the nvenc-hardware-encoding branch from 4c1995c to 7b5c932 Compare May 31, 2026 14:26

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a and others added 5 commits June 1, 2026 07:35

@remotion/renderer: Fix NVENC docs and probing

40f174a

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

@remotion/compositor: Update rust-ffmpeg

3b2f934

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

@remotion/compositor: Rebuild compositor binaries

47a8b9d

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

willy-scr force-pushed the nvenc-hardware-encoding branch from 6c0f783 to 47a8b9d Compare May 31, 2026 23:36

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Summary

✅ End-to-end verified with NVENC (RTX 4060, Linux)

Changes

Core implementation

Usage

How it works

Prerequisites for NVENC

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