All my renders submit successfully, and many render successfully, but some do not even claim to be rendering and I don't know why (stage endpoint)

Shotstack API
1

Just a warning up front: I trained an AI to write weird Lifehacker articles and then generate videos from them, so actually pay attention to any of the content in the JSON or look at the renders please be prepared for a “WTF is this?” :slight_smile: Also, I removed domain names in my URLs in the JSON below and wanted to mention that so you know it’s not the problem.

I’m using the PHP SDK, but since it uses Guzzle I just pulled the JSON out of the requests so I could post that (since, ultimately, that’s what the API is getting and I figured it’d make more sense to compare that data than the giant PHP object it’s based on). Both edits were generated using the same script with different source data so it’s strange that not all edits succeed. I figured this must be related to the source media but I checked them and they’re fine. Maybe you can see what I’m missing in the JSON.

Here is JSON output for a successful render:

{
    "timeline": {
        "background": "#000000",
        "fonts": [
            {
                "src": "https:\/\/shotstack-assets.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/fonts\/OpenSans-Regular.ttf"
            }
        ],
        "tracks": [
            {
                "clips": [
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "audio",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/d05cd5436584e4fc90964239a2b081da\/f5024b02\/FILMPAC_Father--Son_FMAAA2205.mp3?ts=1653429023&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=6ffb8fce77fb691d",
                            "volume": 0.1
                        },
                        "start": 0,
                        "length": 123,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "transition": {
                            "out": "fade"
                        },
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "html",
                            "html": "<h1>Frozen Mayonnaise Popsicles Make for an Improved Relationship With Your Dad<\/h1><p>by Globot Duke Cadmus<\/p>",
                            "css": "h1 { color: #ffffff; font-size: 32px; font-family: \"Open Sans\"; margin-left: 48px; margin-bottom: 4px; width: 1400px; line-height: 100%; } p { font-size: 18px; color: #ffffff; text-transform: uppercase; font-family: \"Open Sans\"; margin-left: 48px; width: 1400px; }",
                            "width": 1400,
                            "height": 160,
                            "background": "transparent",
                            "position": "left"
                        },
                        "start": 5,
                        "length": 118,
                        "fit": "none",
                        "position": "bottomLeft",
                        "offset": {
                            "x": 0,
                            "y": 0
                        },
                        "transition": {
                            "out": "fade"
                        },
                        "opacity": 1
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "clips": [
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "audio",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/e315aa47b8cbb2bb7f2e1c7f7f9629fa\/297b24cb\/c99809cd256c1b087f122c36d7dc4136.mp3?ts=1653430490&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=a3767a085f0056a1",
                            "volume": 1
                        },
                        "start": 5.25,
                        "length": 118,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "image",
                            "src": "https:\/\/[DOMAIN]\/alh\/aLh-Watermark-bg-short.png"
                        },
                        "start": 5,
                        "length": 118,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "clips": [
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/[DOMAIN]\/alh\/alh_bumper.mp4",
                            "volume": 1
                        },
                        "start": 0,
                        "length": 5,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "image",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/5e1f337431d7d4fd8ec511e8ce1b5ecd\/c48b44eb\/pexels-photo-1435901.jpeg"
                        },
                        "start": 5,
                        "length": 5,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "transition": {
                            "out": "fade"
                        },
                        "effect": "zoomIn",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/86706fc25f089151cf3b77df63b7f10f\/08955a22\/mayonnaise-01.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=a6f8d912f9aaa39b",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 10,
                        "length": 7,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/bda7cc08dacf6bbead0b1598c392ed64\/9999e886\/mayonnaise-02.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=06feaf507df7c5d3",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 17,
                        "length": 7,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/a2ea677b345544fe5bbeb80811ed2ca9\/9da62749\/579049398.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=3358bf3a5cec972c",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 24,
                        "length": 7,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/c35abd8f5df24bb73886d12d8667fc4d\/f9abc904\/471842425.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=4b3cc0c032fe2f47",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 31,
                        "length": 7,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/0423fc380b5add14fcd57313f0480e4e\/9e1b94cc\/446893941.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=45b540bdb634c43b",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 38,
                        "length": 7,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/42cff5eeecb5943ff717939b4c3403f8\/7f2207f9\/456084550.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=c8a1197fb0c05693",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 45,
                        "length": 7,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/bbc5032485c9070f8eb36dc5f0f62ff0\/8fc0b614\/397913267.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=c136736c649cb5cb",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 52,
                        "length": 7,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/2e07c06b1ca3862e8d2cc5330a32b1b7\/39f25542\/398491096.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=96cc680d043acebf",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 59,
                        "length": 7,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/162f70fb8abb2fecd976c8574fc67b79\/78161251\/430435946.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=7c3022971f3003df",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 66,
                        "length": 7,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/276ec1c4e9becd77f286b5e5196af319\/739de733\/429549536.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=f121cfc9a5e88a9a",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 73,
                        "length": 7,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/1bd727845148550f2ac33c5a0f59059a\/ef76b05c\/391587199.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=6cba8513bb5d8d4b",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 80,
                        "length": 7,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/59e8e49418d03b737a5634f4392f14ee\/8246df73\/368267400.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=3b95b83dadc892da",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 87,
                        "length": 7,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/0069bba20b203becbf5d145b4765408b\/e0ae16cf\/371616705.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=83c5dbcbcd49b799",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 94,
                        "length": 7,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/04a7f0adb9352d4812353e769398da22\/25241a59\/377065649.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=a32595f37bc554ca",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 101,
                        "length": 7,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/0b738cdffaf08668729e1fe33312a308\/14037360\/401469703.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=bc7954059b874ed2",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 108,
                        "length": 7,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/[DOMAIN]\/alh\/like-comment-subscroob.mp4",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 115,
                        "length": 8,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "transition": {
                            "out": "fade"
                        },
                        "opacity": 1
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "cache": true
    },
    "output": {
        "format": "mp4",
        "resolution": "1080",
        "fps": 24,
        "quality": "medium",
        "repeat": true
    },
    "callback": "https:\/\/[DOMAIN]\/shothook\/webhook.php?shotstack=recL9CdHx9dzf3rzb",
    "disk": "local"
}

The rest won’t fit so I’ll post the unsuccessful example as a comment.

2

Now here’s the JSON of an unsuccessful render:

/* RENDER ID: 80163a6c-f0cc-4037-af2b-4c5fa5a37403 */
{
    "timeline": {
        "background": "#000000",
        "fonts": [
            {
                "src": "https:\/\/shotstack-assets.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/fonts\/OpenSans-Regular.ttf"
            }
        ],
        "tracks": [
            {
                "clips": [
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "audio",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/5a024bf46693166fc771ec20118a4341\/600920d5\/FILMPAC_Buckshot_FMAAA1539.mp3?ts=1653429025&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=3ef57426b2ccf60f",
                            "volume": 0.1
                        },
                        "start": 0,
                        "length": 100.58200000000221,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "transition": {
                            "out": "fade"
                        },
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "html",
                            "html": "<h1>Weaponize Your Garbage Disposal to Stop Would Be Intruders<\/h1><p>by Globot Baseball Sanderpiel<\/p>",
                            "css": "h1 { color: #ffffff; font-size: 32px; font-family: \"Open Sans\"; margin-left: 48px; margin-bottom: 4px; width: 1400px; line-height: 100%; } p { font-size: 18px; color: #ffffff; text-transform: uppercase; font-family: \"Open Sans\"; margin-left: 48px; width: 1400px; }",
                            "width": 1400,
                            "height": 160,
                            "background": "transparent",
                            "position": "left"
                        },
                        "start": 5,
                        "length": 96,
                        "fit": "none",
                        "position": "bottomLeft",
                        "offset": {
                            "x": 0,
                            "y": 0
                        },
                        "transition": {
                            "out": "fade"
                        },
                        "opacity": 1
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "clips": [
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "audio",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/0eb71a52a855bc4c421ea9eefe6f9830\/39c77f86\/03f9d09262887737464b8e100416d352.mp3?ts=1653430041&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=c3df929c642f8540",
                            "volume": 1
                        },
                        "start": 5.25,
                        "length": 96,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "image",
                            "src": "https:\/\/[DOMAIN]\/alh\/aLh-Watermark-bg-short.png"
                        },
                        "start": 5,
                        "length": 96,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "clips": [
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/[DOMAIN]\/alh\/alh_bumper.mp4",
                            "volume": 1
                        },
                        "start": 0,
                        "length": 5,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "image",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/763f14a0cd77a642bd051461e1b9f47f\/af100781\/pexels-photo-259165.jpeg"
                        },
                        "start": 5,
                        "length": 5,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "transition": {
                            "out": "fade"
                        },
                        "effect": "zoomIn",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/7c44aed5989a77e400189210231dcdf4\/71d8ae91\/453930982.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=eede656208f89e9e",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 10,
                        "length": 4,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/70d1af1ff5a515ae858b1624a0356c8b\/51989020\/520459723.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=78da4d0883e2ee1b",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 14,
                        "length": 4,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/b5e75bd73047f08580fd32fcb190c2de\/94f46843\/453930944.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=75d46ef2a3524d13",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 18,
                        "length": 4,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/b173019b66ccf6a20524e6fb177c61aa\/d292e3eb\/513846641.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=057248e98e794065",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 22,
                        "length": 4,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/2e82170d336e4b8eb6510f961a779bbf\/5503ef11\/460382064.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=d94231a2f2f4c691",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 26,
                        "length": 4,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/16fbadb107e951f39433474349f6cd0d\/de1052b1\/460844521.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=b3e8e04a652d31c2",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 30,
                        "length": 4,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/e40988387d05d4b4906e2ed6dcbcbc6e\/9d224633\/461642950.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=f306d4cf1a36f504",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 34,
                        "length": 4,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
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                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 38,
                        "length": 4,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
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                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/efbccdd7ba4b5b461db876e94a208b4d\/503369ca\/527228392.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=2b844b52bd8e8ce9",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 42,
                        "length": 4,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/3a9347d560cbba9f15c2252865a59fa7\/21da64c2\/405385009.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=f5621e1191991d2f",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 46,
                        "length": 4,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/262537d6d4e373c7235385b44eaf1247\/2bdcdb53\/403477954.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=e214b07c5b9fd98c",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 50,
                        "length": 4,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/ee65ef4bc2761634f10fd67ab5052ae4\/ada8b0ea\/403477579.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=cb4fd69630f8a6bd",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 54,
                        "length": 4,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/03151301762f0f77de753f75128c703a\/006cfd66\/327268765.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=2b4b3247a36fd3cc",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 58,
                        "length": 4,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
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                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/edc9193213d1c2100b0527b055a0b238\/67ddb856\/426221948.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=9daedddda6cc76f8",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 62,
                        "length": 4,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
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                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/49ebb4499e4a63c377728678fc364609\/e6e68632\/407876406.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=5357969eb47acbc8",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 66,
                        "length": 4,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/4d4e76293b9ce00eccde4693dbb6b6b5\/9c771d5a\/363442834.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=2fa7ea5daf1d5fd4",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 70,
                        "length": 4,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/c9fab7434a46fa82c824c21352f686c9\/898838ae\/537894991.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=2451b7aa2bb9c7fb",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 74,
                        "length": 4,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/40e2635d021541e145b0de3a14701bfa\/6cf50b3e\/458873946.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=03addcbca0ef8719",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 78,
                        "length": 4,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/4fb85dab8d6c1b6cdeee7f00cb187a15\/e1a6371c\/595899205.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=e6b1e553b5df9f2b",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 82,
                        "length": 4,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/dl.airtable.com\/.attachments\/0cedf225d15dd6abfdff7ef0492fc1d5\/8e226a55\/543495658.hd.mp4?ts=1653429017&userId=usrQ4kJRtjzTLK4bl&cs=0fc4cb981c6aafd0",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 86,
                        "length": 4,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "opacity": 1
                    },
                    {
                        "asset": {
                            "type": "video",
                            "src": "https:\/\/[DOMAIN]\/alh\/like-comment-subscroob.mp4",
                            "volume": 0
                        },
                        "start": 90,
                        "length": 10.58200000000221,
                        "fit": "crop",
                        "position": "center",
                        "transition": {
                            "out": "fade"
                        },
                        "opacity": 1
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "cache": true
    },
    "output": {
        "format": "mp4",
        "resolution": "1080",
        "fps": 29.97,
        "quality": "medium",
        "repeat": true
    },
    "callback": "https:\/\/[DOMAIN]\/shothook\/webhook.php?shotstack=reczC8TShuh90fgK5",
    "disk": "local"
}

With the unsuccessful one, I see this response forever when checking status:

Request failed or not found: [404] Client error: `GET https://api.shotstack.io/serve/stage/assets/render/80163a6c-f0cc-4037-af2b-4c5fa5a37403` resulted in a `404 Not Found` response

That shows up for awhile with every rending (I don’t know if that’s normal or a staging situation) but is eventually replaced with actual information about the render. They never show in my account as renders no matter what, btw. Is that normal for the stage endpoint because it’s not a final product or should those renders still show up?

In any case, any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Adam

3

I think I might’ve solved this but I’m not sure—still testing. I still couldn’t find any relevant differences in the JSON data for both renders so I tried replacing the failed render’s clips with the functional render’s clips and it worked. I examined the clips of both more carefully and found nothing abnormal at all. Nothing was broken, they all came in a variety of sizes, etc. But, I noticed the total file size of the failed render was over 600MB and I remember reading that the data cap is 512MB unless you mount a larger disk (I think).

So, I’m going to reduce the total data size under 512MB and see what happens. If it renders, that’s clearly the issue and I should be able to resolve all of them. That being said, it would be incredibly helpful if the API could return an error to actually tell us why it’s not rendering. Because your API does not provide much (or in this and other cases any) information about why something is not performing correctly, literally the majority of my time spent on this project has been troubleshooting these errors. I’ve only posted about two of the five, but I could’ve fixed these so much faster if I just had a clue as to what was going on. Obviously I know about the 512MB limit, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this in the first place, but I’m sure you’re aware of how easy it is to miss little things like this when writing code and dealing with enormous amounts of data. We wouldn’t lose time debugging code over a missing semicolon or comma or whatever if that weren’t the case. Good error reporting is vital.

On that note, I’m going to make another post about the truncated error reporting issue in the PHP SDK. I hadn’t posted about it earlier because I’d already fixed it myself, but I’m realizing that I should’ve because it’s something you can fix very easily in a few minutes.

I’ll report back once I know if the issue here was due to file sizes.

4

CONFIRMED it was the total media size exceeding 512MB. It renders fine now. It would be very helpful an error was returned when this happens. Had I realized that the AI was grabbing larger resolution clips (higher than 1080P) I probably would’ve caught this much sooner, but I was under the impression that everything was 1080P at most. I’m glad this was the problem because any other video file-related issue would’ve been much harder to deal with. At least this is a simple fix, even if it was hard to pinpoint.

5

I’m glad you were able to get to the bottom of this.

We are looking at automating this step in the future so we’ll mount the disk for you but we haven’t gotten around to that yet.

In terms of error reporting @Jeff.S is this something we can make more clear in the response?

6

I think that the same 404-not-found-forever is also occurring if an excess of n assets are included in the JSON, but I’m still trying to sort out what that maximum amount is. I’m basically trying to render a PNG sequence to create a very basic animation and I do get an error if the JSON is over 391kb.

As you know, there’s no error for the total media size exceeding 512MB on a local disk render so I added some code to check the total media size prior to posting the request (which I’ll use to switch to a mounted disk if I discover I need to do that) and the total media size is far below the limit with every test I’ve done. That’s why I’m assuming there’s an asset limit but I’m not sure if that’s the case or what the upper limit is if there is one. I’ll report back if I discover anything else related to this.

7

Yeah we’re aware of the payload limit and it’s an issue in our backlog. The limit has to do with the database we’re using to record the request which has a 400kb limit.

We know how to solve it but so far we haven’t seen many occurrences of users exceeding this limit. Is there a specific reason you need a payload larger than 391kb? What limit would make sense to you?

8

Okay, so when there’s an error due to an excess of clips (I should’ve said clips rather than assets before) I’m getting an error, at least, via the webhook:

{"type":"edit","action":"render","id":"5502b0b6-8785-44f2-a78e-a5a20dfa4c87","owner":"jv0skgvwr8","status":"failed","url":null,"poster":null,"thumbnail":null,"error":"Rendering failed","completed":"2022-05-29T23:13:07.014Z","rid":"recYqGd1GtWP6NUGz"}

It doesn’t tell me anything other than that a failure occurred, but that appears to be different from when the total media size is in excess of the limit. But…maybe not. I’m pretty sure I was recording all the webhook data when I ran into that issue and didn’t see anything, but I can also definitely see myself remembering that wrong.

9

Rendering PNG sequences quickly exceeds 391kb since so many clips need to be noted in the JSON. I understand if you don’t want to accommodate something like this, but if you do I wouldn’t expect to exceed 1MB. I haven’t gotten to testing the longer content yet so I’m not sure, but that’s my best guess so far.

10

The clip limit seems to be around 900 clips. I’ve gotten as high as 891 so far but it fails in the 900s.

11

Does the database also have a character limit for the payload? I’m wondering if that’s why the renders fail if there are a certain number of clips. It seems to be around 900 but I’m struggling to find the exact number. Most of the videos I need to render are going to require more than 900 so please let me know if this won’t be possible. I should be able to just use ffmpeg to handle the sequence assembly, and get a better frame rate out of it that way anyway, so I’ll go that route if there’s a hard limit here.

12

I looked up the logs for your render and it appears the instance ran out of memory. This can occur when a large volume of clips are used. While there is no limit on the number of clips itself you are bound by a 8GB memory limit.

We tried testing your video with and without the ~1,000 image clips and individually they rendered ok:

But looking at the logs for this video it hit the upper limit and was likely close to running out of memory.

We are looking to support higher memory instances for enterprise plans in the future but this is likely some time away.

To solve for your issue I can only think of three things:

  1. Create a small number of videos with the blinking and then can combine those instead. Have 10 variations and can combine those rather than so many images. If this is done dynamically this may not help you however.
  2. Create the flashing as a video by and of itself and use that as one clip. This again may not help if the blinking is configured dynamically.
  3. Create up to x clips n times. Then stitch these together. This would cost double the amount of credits however.
13

Just saw your other post:

That is for a specific reason: I need to generate opacity values based on the voice over audio data

The only solution that would work here is #3 then.

14

Actually I tried it again using accelerated rendering (which is available on our Professional plans) and that appears to work nicely.

What this does is cut your render into multiple pieces and render them individually - and stitch them back together when they’re all completed.

This doesn’t work on free and essentials plans however.

15

Thanks for checking! Unfortunately, option #3 would end up increasing the cost by far too much. I’ve been testing with shorter videos to minimize use of the free rendering. The longer videos would likely require stitching more than just two clips. Accelerated rendering could work, though. I mean, it will most likely work for almost every video but some of them may still be too long if there’s a limit to how many distributed pieces there can be. I’ll check that out and try to determine if the longest video will work or not. Otherwise, ffmpeg is always a fallback for stitching the PNG sequence into a .mov that won’t cause problems. I just really hate dealing with ffmpeg so I’ve been trying to avoid it. I mean, obviously, since I’m here. :slight_smile:

16

Yes completely understand. FFmpeg is one of the reasons we built Shotstack.

17

Accelerated rendering should work with most of your use cases I think. We just spin up more instances depending on the length of the video.

We’ll look whether another input should be the number of clips as this appears to be another variable to take into consideration.

18

I’m not seeing any definitive information about how the accelerated rendering process works (in terms of how it determines the number of separate pieces to create) but I found a forum post of yours that implies it’s broken up by the minute. Is this the case? If it is it won’t be an issue.

19

While I’m all for considering the number of clips, as I could get presumably achieve a higher (key)frame rate for the animation in that situation, the one upside of my use case is that the number of frames are limited by time. If accelerated rendering is time-based, it should work for the current batch and future videos. I’ve got to review a few more tests first, but if everything looks good then I think I’m good to go. Thanks for suggesting this! I was thinking about going with the professional plan initially because the first batch of videos is very large, but I never would’ve thought of the accelerated rendering process as a solution. This should save quite a bit of time, so I greatly appreciate it. :slight_smile:

1 Like
20

Yeah exactly. At the moment it goes up to 16 individual instances for Professional accounts. But we can increase it depending on needs.

The idea is that every video should never take longer than a minute to render.