Error uploading video: invalid video data

Hey,

just had the same issue while trying to upload a video file:

• .mov format
• with alpha channel

Figma says you can upload .mov format, but for me it doesn’t work? I tried without alpha channel and it also didn’t work.

Hey Max, sorry to hear you are having issues uploading your video in Figma. Yes, you should be able to import in .mov format. Here’s our guide how to add video to files if you want to double check first: https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/360040028034-Add-images-and-videos-to-design-files#Add_images_and_videos_to_files

If this doesn’t help, please reach out to the support team with your video directly via this form for help: https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/requests/new Our team can try to replicate it. Thank you!

This error destroyed my day yesterday. I can’t figure out why but any video I add brings up this error, regardless of if it’s mp4, mov, or webm.

The only exception seems to be screen recordings which are also .mov. I ended up having to screen record the video just to get this done.

Hey Cisco,
Sorry for the trouble! Can you please also check if the file you’re trying to insert the video into is currently in your Drafts folder?

Subscription plans are not tied to specific email address, they’re tied to teams. This means that anything in your Drafts is not related to your Professional plan.

Please move the file to a folder in the team’s space that is tied to your Professional plan to add videos.

You can find more info about this in our Help Center “Add video to prototypes”: https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/8878274530455-Add-video-to-prototypes

Hi,

I tried doing it this way and still got an “unsupported file format” error when trying to upload it. Does Figma not allow mp4 files? Very frustrated and confused as to how to troubleshoot this.

Hey @Vanessa_Perez-Robles ! Can you make sure the video meets the requirements noted here? Also make sure the MP4 is not an audio-only file. I would also suggest trying different browser or clearing your cache to see if that helps.
Also, do you see any error message?

I have NEVER been able to get a mov, mp4, or any video file imported to Figma with the exception of screen recordings. “Invalid video data” warning no matter what. I’m using AE and Media Encoder so I can export pretty much any format there is.

(Yes, I’ve read your docs page on this, it says nothing about the particular reasons why this happens)

Hey Justin,
Sorry to hear you are still having issues. If you have already checked all of this, please reach out directly to the support team and share to them a quick screen recording demonstrating the issue at hand, and please share the .mp4 file you’re trying to upload by filling this form: here. They can test on their end as it may help us to determine what the issue is. Thank you!

Honestly it’s frustrated. I upgraded my plan to be able to add video, only to come here to find out that its the been the normal. I’ve tried all the suggestions you’ve given, all to no avail. Is there an updated solution? smh hmm

Hey @Daniel_ogabi , sorry for the trouble! Usually this happens when your file is not located in the right team (tied to a Professional Plan).

Can you make sure that your file is not in your Draft, but in the team where you have a Professional plan? (to upload your video)

The other workaround is to try to move the file to the team and try uploading the video again.
To move a file, please check out out help center article below:

• Move a file

Hope this helps!

I too am having this error. My file has an alpha channel, and I am wondering if that is the issue based on the comments above. Has anyone been able to solve this? I can get .mp4’s to work, just can’t get a .mov with an alpha channel to do anything other than throw the error.

Hey @Jennifer_White1 , after checking internally, you are correct. The alpha channel encoding on this video can cause the error (we don’t currently support videos with transparency) . Can you try to export the video through Quicktime in the same mov format but without the transparency to see if it works.

Where you need to set a transparency on your videos, we’d suggest using a Luminance Mask plus a WebM format video which should work as expected (see Masks for instructions on how to use this feature). Hope this helps!
If you are still having issue, I’d recommend you to reach out to the support team by including a video you want to upload: here. Our team can try to replicate, thanks.

Has there been a solve for this? I’m on an Education team plan and trying to upload video into team file but still getting the same error.

I agree @Jennifer_White1. I’ve never had an issue adding a .mp4 or .mov to Figma until today when trying to add a .mov with alpha channel. This has to be the reason! Figma just isn’t providing users with enough information about their product and how to troubleshoot issues.

For anyone runs into this thread, don’t get into the conversational cul de sac, just export with H.264 or H265, or any Codec that does NOT support alpha channel. This solved the issue for me. Thanks ​@Jennifer_White1 and ​@Sean_H_Smith for pointing it out!