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Mayuresh Smita Suresh
Mayuresh Smita Suresh Subscriber

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New Claude+Remotion to create amazing videos using AI

#ai #productivity

I Built a Video in React and It Changed Everything: Why Remotion is a Game-Changer for Developers

Ever wished you could generate videos programmatically? What if I told you that you could create stunning, data-driven videos using the same React skills you already have? Enter Remotion—the framework that’s revolutionizing how developers approach video creation.

What is Remotion?

Remotion is an open-source framework that allows you to create videos programmatically using React. Instead of dragging timelines in traditional video editing software, you write code. Each frame is a React component, and your entire video becomes a codebase.

Think of it as “React but for video.”

import { useCurrentFrame } from 'remotion';

export const MyVideo = () => {
  const frame = useCurrentFrame();

  return (
    <div style={{ 
      flex: 1, 
      justifyContent: 'center', 
      alignItems: 'center',
      fontSize: frame 
    }}>
      Frame: {frame}
    </div>
  );
};
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Why Should You Care?

1. You Already Know the Stack

If you know React, you know Remotion. No need to learn complex video editing software like Adobe Premiere or After Effects. Your existing knowledge of:

  • React hooks
  • CSS/Tailwind
  • TypeScript
  • npm packages

…all applies directly to video creation.

2. Programmatic Video Generation

This is where Remotion truly shines. Need to generate 1,000 personalized videos? 100 different language versions? Data visualizations that update automatically?

const videos = users.map(user => ({
  id: user.id,
  component: () => <PersonalizedGreeting name={user.name} />
}));
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Perfect use cases:

  • Automated social media content
  • Personalized marketing videos
  • Data visualization videos
  • Tutorial series with consistent branding
  • Dynamic product showcases

3. Version Control & Collaboration

Since your videos are code, you get all the benefits of modern development workflows:

  • Git versioning - Track every change to your video
  • Code reviews - Team members can review video changes via PRs
  • CI/CD pipelines - Automate video rendering on deploy
  • Reusable components - Build a library of video elements

4. Infinite Flexibility

You can use ANY npm package. Want to:

  • Fetch live data from APIs?
  • Use Three.js for 3D animations?
  • Integrate chart libraries like D3 or Chart.js?
  • Add Firebase real-time data?

It all works.

Getting Started with Remotion

Installation 

npm init video --template=blank
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This creates a new Remotion project with everything configured.

Your First Composition 

import { Composition } from 'remotion';
import { MyVideo } from './MyVideo';

export const RemotionRoot = () => {
  return (
    <Composition
      id="MyVideo"
      component={MyVideo}
      durationInFrames={150}
      fps={30}
      width={1920}
      height={1080}
    />
  );
};
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Key Concepts

1. Frames, Not Seconds

Everything is frame-based. At 30 fps, frame 30 = 1 second.

const frame = useCurrentFrame(); // Current frame number
const { fps } = useVideoConfig(); // Frames per second

const timeInSeconds = frame / fps;
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2. Interpolation for Animations

Remotion provides powerful interpolation utilities:

import { interpolate, useCurrentFrame } from 'remotion';

const frame = useCurrentFrame();

const opacity = interpolate(
  frame,
  [0, 30], // From frame 0 to 30
  [0, 1],  // Opacity goes from 0 to 1
  { extrapolateRight: 'clamp' }
);

return <div style={{ opacity }}>Fading in!</div>;
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3. Sequences for Timing

Control when components appear:

import { Sequence } from 'remotion';

<>
  <Sequence from={0} durationInFrames={90}>
    <Scene1 />
  </Sequence>
  <Sequence from={90} durationInFrames={90}>
    <Scene2 />
  </Sequence>
</>
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Real-World Example: Animated Stats Video

Let’s build something practical—an animated statistics dashboard:

import { interpolate, useCurrentFrame, useVideoConfig, spring } from 'remotion';

export const StatsVideo = ({ data }) => {
  const frame = useCurrentFrame();
  const { fps } = useVideoConfig();

  const revenue = spring({
    frame: frame - 30,
    fps,
    config: { damping: 100 }
  });

  const displayRevenue = Math.floor(
    interpolate(revenue, [0, 1], [0, data.revenue])
  );

  return (
    <div className="stats-container">
      <h1>2024 Revenue</h1>
      <div className="number">
        ${displayRevenue.toLocaleString()}
      </div>
    </div>
  );
};
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Advanced Features

Audio Support 

import { Audio, staticFile } from 'remotion';

<Audio src={staticFile('background-music.mp3')} />
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Video Composition

Layer multiple video elements:

import { Video, staticFile } from 'remotion';

<>
  <Video src={staticFile('background.mp4')} />
  <div className="overlay">
    <h1>Your Text Overlay</h1>
  </div>
</>
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Server-Side Rendering

Render videos programmatically via Node.js:

import { bundle } from '@remotion/bundler';
import { renderMedia, selectComposition } from '@remotion/renderer';

const composition = await selectComposition({
  serveUrl: bundleLocation,
  id: 'MyVideo',
});

await renderMedia({
  composition,
  serveUrl: bundleLocation,
  codec: 'h264',
  outputLocation: `out/video.mp4`,
});
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Performance Tips

  1. Use delayRender() for async operations: 
const [handle] = useState(() => delayRender());
const [data, setData] = useState(null);

useEffect(() => {
  fetchData().then(result => {
    setData(result);
    continueRender(handle);
  });
}, []);
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  1. Optimize re-renders - Remotion renders frame by frame, so performance matters
  2. Use staticFile() for assets - Properly reference local files
  3. Consider GPU acceleration - Enable hardware acceleration for faster renders

Production Use Cases

Companies and developers are using Remotion for:

  • GitHub Unwrapped - GitHub’s year-in-review videos
  • Spotify Wrapped-style videos - Personalized user statistics
  • Automated news clips - Data-driven journalism
  • E-commerce product videos - Dynamic product showcases
  • Social media content - Scalable content creation
  • Educational content - Automated tutorial videos

Pricing & Deployment

Remotion is open-source and free for local development. For rendering in the cloud, Remotion offers:

  • Remotion Lambda - Serverless rendering on AWS
  • Self-hosted rendering - Use your own infrastructure
  • Remotion Cloud Run - Rendering on Google Cloud

Challenges to Consider

Learning Curve

  • Frame-based thinking takes adjustment
  • Animation timing requires practice

Rendering Time

  • Complex videos can take time to render
  • Consider cloud rendering for production

File Sizes

  • Video files can get large
  • Plan your storage strategy accordingly

Getting Help

The Remotion community is incredibly active:

Conclusion

Remotion is more than a video tool—it’s a paradigm shift. It brings the power of code to video creation, enabling developers to build things that were previously impossible or impractical.

Whether you’re building personalized marketing videos, data visualizations, or just want to automate your content creation, Remotion deserves a spot in your toolkit.

The best part? You can start building today with the skills you already have.

Have you tried Remotion? What would you build with programmatic video? Drop your thoughts in the comments below! 👇

Quick Start Checklist

✅ Install: npm init video

✅ Learn the basics: frames, interpolation, sequences

✅ Build your first composition

✅ Experiment with animations

✅ Explore the example gallery

✅ Join the Discord community

✅ Ship your first programmatic video

Have questions about Remotion? Want to share your first project? Let’s connect in the comments!

Tags: #react #remotion #video #webdev #javascript #typescript #animation #programming

Further Reading:

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