---
title: "Troubleshooting"
description: "Find the cause of a display, export, sharing or update problem and the next action to take."
canonical: "https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/troubleshooting/"
last_updated: 2026-10-30
---

# Troubleshooting

Find the cause of a display, export, sharing or update problem and the next action to take.

## The stage uses half blocks

Your terminal has not reported picture support or a finer character set. Inside tmux, an
unrecognised terminal also uses half blocks. This changes the preview, not the exported file.

Open Creator Terminal outside tmux in a terminal with pictures, or use its application shortcut
to open its own window. To choose yourself, use Settings (`F2`) › Appearance › **Stage
pictures**, which takes effect from the next start.

Choose only a protocol your terminal supports: kitty, Sixel or iTerm2.
For character drawing, use half blocks, quadrants, sextants or octants with a font that contains
those characters. See [Terminals](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/terminals.md) for supported terminals and their limits.

## My terminal cannot show pictures

You can still edit with a stage drawn in characters. Some overlays, including motion paths,
snap guides, onion skin and the grid, need pictures and are not shown there.
VS Code can show Sixel with `terminal.integrated.enableImages` enabled. The app's own window
provides pictures and a built-in font. Open it with `creator-tui --window hero.json`.

## Symbols or letters are missing

For missing interface symbols, use the app's own window. It includes JetBrains Mono and uses
your computer's fonts for characters it lacks. For gaps in a character-drawn stage, choose
half blocks in **Stage pictures**, or install a font with the selected block characters.

If an animation's text is missing or cannot be edited, distinguish the animation's font from
the terminal font. A **Glyphs** export carries the letters already used; typing new letters
elsewhere needs the font installed there. Choose **Glyphs + fonts** for an editable delivery
where the font licence allows it. See [Text and fonts](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/export.md#text-and-fonts).

## Export says ffmpeg is needed

**ffmpeg needed · install to export** means the selected format needs ffmpeg. MP4, WebM, MOV,
GIF and WebP use it. Install it, then export again:

| System | Command |
| --- | --- |
| macOS | `brew install ffmpeg` |
| Windows | `winget install ffmpeg` |
| Debian or Ubuntu | `apt install ffmpeg` (with the permissions your system requires) |

Other Linux distributions use their own package manager. The app checks PATH and common
installer locations, including Homebrew. **APNG** and **PNG sequence** can export without
ffmpeg. Sound conversion to MP3 can still need ffmpeg when packaging media.

## ffmpeg is installed but an encoder is missing

**this ffmpeg was built without the … encoder** names the missing encoder. Install a build
that includes it; installing the same limited build again will not add it.

| Export | Encoder |
| --- | --- |
| MP4 | `libx264` |
| WebM | `libvpx-vp9` |
| MOV | `prores_ks` |
| WebP | `libwebp_anim` |
| Sound converted to MP3 | `libmp3lame` |

Run `ffmpeg -encoders` in your shell to inspect that copy. If it differs from the copy the app
finds, check PATH and the common installation folders. For an immediate picture export,
choose **APNG** or **PNG sequence**.

## The GPU takes time to start

Templates and documents with Ink, Soft or a Material show their plain drawing while graphics
hardware starts. Wait for the look to appear; a plain drawing during those first seconds is
not a lost document. If the GPU is unavailable, these looks stay plain.

If export says **the GPU was lost part-way: export again**, start the export again.

## Export cannot write the output

**the folder … isn't there · choose another output path** means the parent folder does not
exist. Create it, or click **Change output path…** and choose an existing folder.
For **choose a different output folder or check its permissions**, choose a folder you can write.

When **the output exists · choose replace or keep both** appears, choose **Replace** to replace
that delivery file or **Keep both** for a numbered copy. The panel refuses to replace the
source document or a symbolic link. Choose another output path.

## An export looks different in a player

Read the export warning on the bottom line. Materials, Ink and Soft need Creator Terminal;
players draw their plain layers. Animated SVG and
Frolic each omit some features. See [Export](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/export.md) and [What players draw](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/concepts/what-players-draw.md).

## Saving does not update LottieFiles

`w` saves the working copy on this computer. Open **↓ export**, choose **LottieFiles**,
**Publish: new version** and **Upload new version**.
For **published vN since**, review the newer version before choosing **Upload over vN**, or
publish a new asset. See [LottieFiles](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/lottiefiles.md).

## LottieFiles says you are not signed in

For **not signed in to LottieFiles: run `creator-tui login`**, run that command and finish the browser
sign-in. Over SSH, or on Linux with no display (a server, a container), no browser opens: open
the printed link on another device. In the LottieFiles view (`⌃L`),
`↵` starts sign-in and `y` copies the link while it waits. If sign-in is refused or expires,
read the error and sign in again. `creator-tui whoami` checks the account and workspaces.

## Creator says there is a conflict

**conflict · F5 reloads** means the expected key times do not match the live document.
Export a local copy if you need to keep your edits, then press `F5` to reload the server's
document. A track whose property can't be matched to Creator's has a faint name in the score;
its edits stay local.
Adding or removing keys cannot sync. See [Creator sync](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/creator-sync.md).

## Sound breaks up on Linux

The status line says how many times the sound broke up while playing, and "no real-time
priority here" where the computer wouldn't let the app's sound thread run at real-time
priority. While the stage draws on every core (as on a slow computer), that thread then waits for its
turn and the sound misses its deadline. Allow your user real-time priority, in a file in
`/etc/security/limits.d/`:

```
youruser - rtprio 1
```

then log in again. (Started by a systemd service instead, give it `LimitRTPRIO=1`.)

## The status line shows a message from another program

While the editor has the screen, what a library or another program writes to stderr (a sound
or GPU driver's warning, say) is kept from the screen. The status line shows its last line,
and each run keeps its own log, named after the run's process id, in the `stderr` folder in
`~/.config/motion`. The newest five runs' logs are kept. Include the
log when you report a problem.

## Updating fails or the version stays the same

Run `creator-tui --version`, then `creator-tui update --check` to check the installed version
against the latest release. `creator-tui update` installs it. Automatic updates are off
when Settings › Updates › **Update by itself** is; turn it on if you want them.

If an update says it kept the previous command at a path, follow that message to restore it.
Do not delete that copy first. Installing an update also restores a missing application
shortcut unless installation was told to leave it out. See [Install](https://terminal.lottiefiles.com/docs/install.md).