10 Remotion Prompt Mistakes Killing Your AI Videos

So you've set up Remotion with Claude Code. You wrote a prompt. You hit enter. And what came out looked like a PowerPoint made in 2003.

I've been there. After breaking 30+ videos with bad prompts, I finally figured out what's going wrong. Spoiler: it's almost never Remotion's fault.

Here's the thing nobody tells you about AI video generation: the prompts that work for UI generation completely fail for video. Video has time, frames, sequences, and a dozen moving parts that UI prompts don't account for.

Key Takeaways:

• Always specify useCurrentFrame() for animations—AI forgets this constantly
• Include FPS and duration in every prompt (30fps, 60fps matters)
• Build videos in sequences, not one massive prompt
• Skip third-party animation libraries—they flicker in Remotion renders

In This Article

• Mistake 1: No useCurrentFrame()
• Mistake 2: Missing FPS and Duration
• Mistake 3: Too Much in One Prompt
• Mistake 4: No Sequence Timing
• Mistake 5: Audio Sync Forgotten
• Mistake 6: Third-Party Libraries
• Mistake 7: Missing Dimensions
• Mistake 8: Overcomplicated Text
• Mistake 9: Skipping spring()
• Mistake 10: No Async Fallbacks
• The Perfect Prompt Checklist

Mistake 1: Not Specifying useCurrentFrame() for Animations

This is the big one. The mistake I see in 80% of failed Remotion prompts.

When you ask AI to "animate a logo sliding in," it might generate CSS animations or JavaScript timers. Both will render as a static frame or worse—flicker randomly.

Remotion renders frame-by-frame. Each frame is a React component rendered at a specific moment in time. If your animation doesn't use useCurrentFrame(), it's not actually animating.

Bad prompt:

Create a logo that slides in from the left

Good prompt:

Create a logo animation using useCurrentFrame() and interpolate() from Remotion.
The logo should slide in from -100px to 0px on the x-axis over frames 0-30.
Use the 'spring' easing from Remotion for natural motion.

The fix is explicit: tell the AI exactly which Remotion hooks to use. If you're new to Remotion, check out my Remotion + Claude Code tutorial for the basics.

Mistake 2: Ignoring Video Duration and FPS in Prompts

Here's a prompt I see constantly:

Create a 10-second intro video

10 seconds of what FPS? At 30fps, that's 300 frames. At 60fps, it's 600. Your animations will be twice as fast or slow depending on which the AI assumes.

Better prompt:

Create a 10-second intro video at 30fps (300 total frames).
- Frames 0-60: Logo fade in
- Frames 60-150: Text reveal
- Frames 150-240: Call-to-action
- Frames 240-300: Fade out

When you break it down by frames, everything syncs properly. No more animations that feel "off."

Mistake 3: Asking for Too Much in One Prompt

This kills more AI video projects than any technical issue.

Create a full product demo video with animated logo,
text callouts, screen recordings, transitions between 5 scenes,
background music sync, particle effects, and a subscribe button animation.

That prompt is a disaster waiting to happen. Claude Code (or any AI) will hallucinate connections between elements, miss dependencies, and generate spaghetti code.

The fix: prompt chaining.

Break it into sequences:

1. "Create a <Composition> setup for a 30-second video at 30fps, 1920x1080"
2. "Add a <Sequence from={0} durationInFrames={90}> with a logo animation"
3. "Add a second sequence from frame 90-180 with text callouts"

Build layer by layer. This is the same prompt chaining workflow that works for complex UIs—it works even better for video.

Mistake 4: Missing Sequence Timing Instructions

Remotion's <Sequence> component is powerful but AI often ignores it without explicit instructions.

Create a video with three sections: intro, main content, outro

The AI might generate three <div>s side by side, or stack them vertically, or who knows what. Without <Sequence>, your "sections" won't respect time at all.

Explicit timing matters:

Create three Remotion Sequences:
1. <Sequence from={0} durationInFrames={60}> for intro
2. <Sequence from={60} durationInFrames={120}> for main content
3. <Sequence from={180} durationInFrames={60}> for outro

Each sequence should fully render its content only during its frame range.

Now there's no ambiguity.

Mistake 5: Forgetting Audio Sync Requirements

Want your text to appear when the beat drops? Good luck if you don't specify the sync method.

Remotion can sync to audio using useAudioData() and visualizeAudio(), but AI won't use these unless you ask.

What most people write:

Add background music and sync the animations to the beat

What actually works:

Import an audio file and use useAudioData() to get audio amplitude.
Create text that scales based on audio amplitude:
- Map amplitude 0-1 to scale 1-1.5
- The text should "pulse" with the music using interpolate()
- Use getAudioDurationInSeconds() to match video length to audio

Audio sync is one of Remotion's superpowers. Don't leave it to chance.

Mistake 6: Using Third-Party Animation Libraries

"Use Framer Motion for the entrance animation."

Stop. Right. There.

Framer Motion, GSAP, Anime.js—they all use requestAnimationFrame internally. This works fine in browsers but absolutely breaks frame-by-frame rendering.

The result? Flickering. Random frames. Animations that exist in some renders but not others.

Rule: Only use Remotion's built-in animation utilities.

Use This	Not This
interpolate() from Remotion	Framer Motion's animate()
spring() from Remotion	GSAP's gsap.to()
useCurrentFrame()	CSS transitions
Remotion's makeTransform()	CSS keyframes

This is similar to animation issues in regular UI generation—but the consequences are worse with video.

Mistake 7: Not Specifying Output Dimensions

"Create a TikTok video."

Cool. What dimensions? TikTok uses 1080x1920. YouTube Shorts uses the same. Instagram Reels prefers 1080x1920 but supports 4:5.

AI might assume 1920x1080 (landscape) because that's more common in tutorials.

Be explicit:

Create a vertical video composition:
- Width: 1080px
- Height: 1920px
- FPS: 30
- Duration: 15 seconds (450 frames)

All elements should be positioned for mobile viewing with safe zones
of 100px from top and bottom for platform UI overlays.

The safe zone part is critical—TikTok's UI covers the top and bottom of your video.

Mistake 8: Overcomplicating Text Animations

AI loves to over-engineer text:

• Per-letter animations with staggered delays
• 3D transforms on every word
• Complex SVG path reveals

Most of these render poorly or tank your export time.

Keep text animations simple:

That's usually enough. If you want something fancier:

Create a word-by-word reveal animation:
- Split the sentence into an array of words
- Use <Sequence> to stagger each word by 6 frames
- Each word should use interpolate() to fade from opacity 0 to 1
- Keep the text position static, only animate opacity

Less is more. Your viewers won't notice "per-letter kerning animations" but they will notice dropped frames.

Mistake 9: Ignoring the spring() Function for Smooth Motion

Linear animations look robotic. Ease-in-out is better but predictable. Remotion's spring() function is what makes motion feel natural.

Don't do this:

Animate the element from 0 to 100 over 30 frames

Do this:

Animate the element using Remotion's spring() function:
- fps: 30
- config: { damping: 10, mass: 0.5, stiffness: 100 }
- Apply the spring value to transform translateY for a bounce effect

The spring config matters. Higher stiffness = snappier. Lower damping = more bounce. This is the kind of detail that makes the difference between "amateur" and "professional" looking video.

Mistake 10: No Fallbacks for Async Data Loading

If your video fetches external data (API calls, remote images), you need to handle the loading state properly.

Remotion uses delayRender() and continueRender() for async operations. Skip these and your video might render blank frames where data should be.

Prompt pattern for async:

This video loads product data from a JSON file.
Use delayRender() at the start of the component.
Fetch the data in useEffect().
Call continueRender() once data is loaded.
Display a fallback "Loading..." text if data hasn't loaded
(though this shouldn't appear in final render if delayRender works correctly).

This is the same pattern for fixing AI-generated code that fetches data—but critical for video rendering.

The Perfect Remotion Prompt Checklist

Before you send any Remotion prompt, run through this:

Check	What to Include
Frame reference	"Use useCurrentFrame() from Remotion"
Duration	"X seconds at Y fps (Z total frames)"
Dimensions	"Width: Xpx, Height: Ypx"
Sequences	"Use <Sequence from={X} durationInFrames={Y}>"
Animation method	"Use interpolate() and spring() from Remotion"
No external libs	"Do NOT use Framer Motion, GSAP, or CSS animations"
Audio sync	"Use useAudioData() for audio-reactive elements"
Async handling	"Use delayRender()/continueRender() for data fetching"

Copy this. Paste it at the start of every prompt. Seriously.

From Broken to Beautiful

Remotion is incredible for programmatic video—but AI doesn't know its quirks out of the box. Every mistake on this list came from a real failed render.

The fix isn't complicated: be explicit about Remotion's specific requirements. Reference the hooks. Specify the timing. Skip the flashy libraries that don't work.

If you're still getting weird output, check your general vibe coding habits. The same principles apply: smaller prompts, explicit requirements, iterative refinement.

And honestly? Once you internalize this checklist, Remotion + AI becomes one of the most powerful creative tools out there. You're not just coding videos—you're vibe coding them. Welcome to the future of AI-powered development.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do my Remotion animations flicker during export?

Flickering almost always means you're using browser-based animations (CSS keyframes, Framer Motion, GSAP) instead of Remotion's frame-based system. Switch to useCurrentFrame() and interpolate() exclusively.

What FPS should I use for TikTok/Shorts videos?

30fps is standard and keeps file sizes reasonable. 60fps looks smoother but doubles your render time and file size. Unless you're doing slow-motion or fast-action content, stick with 30fps.

Can I use Remotion Skills without Claude Code?

Remotion Skills was specifically built for Claude Code integration. While you can write Remotion code manually with any AI, the Skills feature is Claude Code specific. The prompting patterns in this article work with any AI, though.

How long should a single Remotion prompt be?

Keep prompts focused on one sequence or feature. A prompt generating more than 100-150 lines of code is probably too big. Chain smaller prompts instead.

My video takes forever to render. What's wrong?

Usually one of three things: complex per-frame calculations that should be memoized, oversized images that should be compressed, or third-party libraries doing unnecessary work. Check your component render count first.

You Might Also Like

• Remotion + Claude Code: Make Videos with AI - The beginner's setup guide for Remotion Skills
• 10 Vibe Coding Mistakes That Kill Your Projects - General AI coding mistakes to avoid
• AI Animation Prompts That Actually Work - Animation prompts for regular UI components

---

Written by the Fardino Team. We build AI tools for frontend developers. Try Fardino free →