You can save the animation by recording HTML5 canvas animation and encoding it into a video file. First, use the MediaRecorder API to record the canvas output, obtain the stream through canvas.captureStream(), create a MediaRecorder instance and collect data blocks, and finally generate a downloadable WebM video. Secondly, if you need higher quality or specific formats, you can export frame images (PNG/JPEG) and synthesize videos through tools such as FFmpeg. In addition, pay attention to performance and file size, appropriately limit frame rate, select compression formats, and consider the backend processing of long videos. The two methods have their own advantages and disadvantages, and choose according to your needs.
You can save an HTML5 canvas animation as a video by recording the canvas output and encoding it into a video file. This process usually involves using JavaScript tools to capture frames and convert them into a format browsers support, like WebM or MP4.

Use MediaRecorder
API to Record Canvas Output
Modern browsers support the MediaRecorder
API, which allows you to record media streams directly in the browser. If your canvas is animated (eg, using requestAnimationFrame
), you can capture its stream and encode it.
Here's how:

- Get the canvas context with
canvas.captureStream()
- Create a MediaRecorder instance:
new MediaRecorder(stream)
- Collect chunks of recorded data via the
dataavailable
event - Stop the record when animation ends and create a downloadable blob
Example:
const canvas = document.getElementById('myCanvas'); const stream = canvas.captureStream(60); // 60 FPS const chunks = []; const mediaRecorder = new MediaRecorder(stream); mediaRecorder.ondataavailable = e => { if (e.data.size > 0) chunks.push(e.data); }; mediaRecorder.onstop = () => { const blob = new Blob(chunks, { type: 'video/webm' }); const videoURL = URL.createObjectURL(blob); const a = document.createElement('a'); a.href = videoURL; a.download = 'animation.webm'; a.click(); }; // Start recording mediaRecorder.start(); // After animation ends, call: mediaRecorder.stop();
This method works well for short animations and simple use cases.

Export Frames and Encode Outside the Browser
If you need higher quality or specific formats like MP4 with H.264 encoding, consider exporting individual frames as image files (PNG or JPEG) and then stitching them into a video using external tools like FFmpeg .
Steps:
- Render each frame of your animation
- Use
canvas.toDataURL()
orcanvas.toBlob()
to export images - Save them locally or upload them to a server
- Use FFmpeg or similar software to convert the image sequence into a video
For example, after saving all frames as numbered PNGs ( frame001.png
, frame002.png
, etc.), run this command in the terminal:
ffmpeg -framerate 30 -i frame d.png -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p output.mp4
This approach gives more control over video encoding but requires additional setup and processing time.
Consider Performance and File Size
When capturing canvas animations, especially high-resolution ones, performance and file size matter. Here are a few tips:
- Limit frame rate (eg, 30fps instead of 60fps) unless high speed is needed
- Compress frames before encoding — use JPEG instead of PNG if quality loss is acceptable
- For long recordings, offload processing to a backend or use headless rendering tools
Also, keep in mind that browser-based recording may not be supported on all platforms — especially older mobile browsers.
Basically that's it.
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