Using the GPU

Some types of content in Remotion can benefit from a GPU being available on the machine that is used for rendering.
By default in many cases, the GPU is disabled in headless mode, which can lead to a significant slowdown in rendering time.

Content accelerated by the GPU

WebGL content (Three.JS, Skia, P5.js, Mapbox etc.)
box-shadow
text-shadow
background-image: linear-gradient()
background-image: radial-gradient()
filter: blur()
filter: drop-shadow()
transform
Many 2D Canvas operations

If a GPU is available, it should be enabled by default while in the Remotion Studio or Remotion Player.
However, in headless mode, Chromium disables the GPU, leading to a significant slowdown in rendering time.

Content not accelerated by the GPU

Contrary to popular belief, the following content is not accelerated by the GPU:

<Html5Video>
<OffthreadVideo>
Canvas pixel manipulation

Furthermore, the encoding of the video is not accelerated by the GPU at this point.

Use the `--gl` flag to enable the GPU during rendering

See here for recommendations which OpenGL backend you should use during rendering.

GPU for server-side rendering

See here for an example on how to use the GPU during server-side rendering.

Using the GPU on Lambda

AWS Lambda instances have no GPU, so it is not possible to use it.

What are your experiences?

We'd love to learn and document more findings about the GPU. Let us know and we will amend this document!