Prompt Basics
A prompt is a text description of the video you want to generate. The AI interprets your words and creates a video that matches your description as closely as possible. Here are the fundamentals:
Key Principle: Be specific and descriptive. The more detail you provide about the scene, the better the AI can understand your vision. Vague prompts produce unpredictable results.
- Be descriptive — Instead of "a dog", write "a golden retriever playing fetch in a sunlit park"
- Specify the camera — Include camera angle and movement: "close-up", "wide shot", "tracking shot"
- Define the mood — Use lighting and atmosphere terms: "golden hour", "moody", "dramatic"
- Set the style — Specify the visual approach: "photorealistic", "cinematic", "anime", "watercolor"
- Include motion — Describe what's moving: "waves crashing", "birds flying", "camera panning left"
Prompt Structure
Follow this proven structure for consistent, high-quality results:
1. Camera/Shot Type
Cinematic tracking shot
↓
2. Subject
of a lone wolf walking through
↓
3. Environment
a snow-covered forest at dawn
↓
4. Lighting & Atmosphere
soft golden light filtering through mist
↓
5. Style & Quality
photorealistic, 4K, shallow depth of field
"Cinematic tracking shot of a lone wolf walking through a snow-covered forest at dawn, soft golden light filtering through mist, photorealistic, 4K, shallow depth of field"
Camera & Motion Keywords
Use these terms to control how your video looks and moves:
Shot Types
close-up
extreme close-up
medium shot
wide shot
establishing shot
aerial shot
bird's eye view
low angle
high angle
dutch angle
POV shot
over-the-shoulder
Camera Movement
tracking shot
dolly zoom
pan left/right
tilt up/down
crane shot
steadicam
handheld
orbiting
push in
pull back
slow zoom
whip pan
Motion Speed
slow motion
time-lapse
hyperlapse
real-time
speed ramp
freeze frame
Negative Prompts
Negative prompts tell the AI what to avoid. They're essential for preventing common artifacts and quality issues.
blurry, distorted face, deformed eyes, extra limbs, extra fingers, mutated hands, bad anatomy, bad proportions, watermark, text, logo
Tip: The default negative prompt is pre-filled in the generator. You can customize it per-generation to avoid specific unwanted elements.
Common Negative Terms
blurry
low quality
distorted
deformed
watermark
text overlay
bad anatomy
extra limbs
jpeg artifacts
oversaturated
static
flickering
Model-Specific Prompt Techniques
Different AI models respond to prompts differently. Understanding each model's strengths lets you write prompts that play to those strengths.
WAN 2.2 — Speed & Iteration
WAN is fast (4 steps) and excels at clear, simple compositions with natural motion. It responds well to direct, concrete language.
Close-up of a woman's face, wind blowing through her hair, golden hour light, shallow depth of field, photorealistic, cinematic
WAN Tips: Keep prompts focused on one subject with one action. WAN struggles with complex multi-subject scenes. Use it for rapid iteration — test 10 prompt variations in the time it takes another model to render once.
LTX 2.3 & LTX Quality — Detail & Resolution
LTX uses a two-pass pipeline that excels at sharp detail and HD resolution. It handles more complex scenes and responds well to technical language.
Tracking shot following a vintage motorcycle driving down a winding coastal road at sunset, ocean waves crashing against cliffs in the background, dust particles visible in the golden backlight, anamorphic lens, cinematic color grading, ultra-detailed
LTX Tips: Add detail qualifiers like "ultra-detailed", "4K", "sharp focus" — LTX's upsampler pass amplifies these. Use "anamorphic" or "shallow depth of field" for cinematic lens effects. LTX Quality adds a LoRA refinement pass, so technical prompts with many descriptors produce noticeably sharper output than on WAN.
Hunyuan & Hunyuan 1.5 — Motion & Characters
Hunyuan produces exceptionally smooth motion and handles character animation, anime, and complex prompt comprehension better than other models.
A samurai warrior drawing his katana in slow motion, cherry blossom petals swirling in the wind around him, dramatic side lighting revealing the blade's reflection, anime-influenced style with photorealistic textures, epic cinematic
Hunyuan Tips: Hunyuan 1.5 has the best text comprehension, so long complex prompts work well. Describe character appearance in detail — "a middle-aged man with grey stubble, wearing a worn leather jacket" gives Hunyuan more to work with. Use CFG 6.0 (it's tuned for this). Mention specific anime studios or art styles for stylised output.
CogVideoX — Artistic & Stylised
CogVideoX excels at artistic, creative, and stylised output. It has particularly strong text comprehension from research-grade training.
A surrealist painting coming to life, melting clocks dripping off the edge of a desert cliff, Salvador Dali style, dreamlike atmosphere, impossibly saturated colours, time flowing like liquid, artistic masterpiece
AnimateDiff — Anime & SD Styles
AnimateDiff turns Stable Diffusion checkpoints into animations. It's best for short, stylised clips — especially anime, illustration, and any SD-compatible art style.
1girl, long silver hair flowing in the wind, standing on a moonlit rooftop, cityscape background, petals floating, anime style, detailed eyes, soft glow, masterpiece, best quality
AnimateDiff Tips: Use Stable Diffusion prompt syntax: comma-separated tags work better than natural sentences. Include quality tags like "masterpiece, best quality". Keep motion subtle — "flowing hair", "drifting clouds", "floating particles" work well. Avoid fast camera movement.
Image-to-Video Prompt Guide
When generating Image-to-Video (I2V), your prompt describes what should happen to the static image, not what the image looks like. The model already has the image — it needs to know how to animate it.
I2V Prompt Structure
1. Subject Action
The woman slowly turns her head to the right
↓
2. Camera Movement
camera slowly pushing in
↓
3. Environmental Motion
wind gently blowing through the trees in the background
↓
4. Atmosphere Details
golden dust particles floating in the light
I2V Do's and Don'ts
✓ Do
- Describe motion: "the dog runs forward", "waves crash on rocks"
- Specify camera: "camera slowly pans left", "gentle zoom in"
- Add ambient motion: "clouds drifting", "leaves rustling"
- Keep it simple: one or two actions per prompt
- Match your image: if the image is a portrait, describe portrait motion
✗ Don't
- Don't describe the scene: the model already sees the image
- Don't request scene changes: "turns into a cat" won't work
- Don't add conflicting motion: "zooming in while pulling back"
- Don't use style keywords: style is locked by the source image
- Don't write long complex prompts: I2V works best with short, focused motion descriptions
I2V Example Prompts
Portrait Photo
The person smiles gently and tilts their head slightly, hair moves softly with a breeze, subtle camera push in, soft focus on background
Landscape Photo
Clouds slowly drift across the sky, water ripples gently, grass sways in a light breeze, camera slowly pans right across the scene
Product Photo
Camera slowly orbits around the product, reflections shift on the surface, subtle depth of field animation, smooth studio turntable motion
Advanced Techniques
Temporal Keywords
Use time-based language to control transitions within a single clip:
Temporal Phrasing
transitioning from... to...
gradually changing
slowly revealing
emerging from
dissolving into
morphing from... to...
beginning with... ending with...
unfolding over time
Time-lapse of a flower bud gradually opening into full bloom, transitioning from dawn pink light to bright midday sun, petals slowly unfurling, dew drops evaporating, macro lens, nature documentary quality
Prompt Weighting & Emphasis
Place the most important elements at the beginning of your prompt. AI models weight earlier terms more heavily:
✗ Weak
"There is a forest with some fog and a deer walking through it in a cinematic way with golden light"
✓ Strong
"Cinematic tracking shot of a majestic deer walking through a foggy ancient forest, golden volumetric light rays, photorealistic, film grain"
Combining Motion Types
Layer different types of motion for cinematic depth:
- Camera + Subject: "Tracking shot following a running athlete" — camera moves while subject moves
- Camera + Environment: "Slow crane shot rising above a city as cars move below" — camera moves, environment has motion
- Subject + Particles: "Dancer spinning as sparks and embers swirl around her" — subject motion with particle effects
- All Three: "Dolly push through a busy marketplace, vendors calling out, banners fluttering in the breeze, dust motes in shafts of light" — camera, subjects, and environmental detail
Quality Boosters
Append these terms to almost any prompt to improve output quality:
General Quality
cinematic
4K
8K
photorealistic
ultra-detailed
professional
award-winning
masterpiece
Lens & Film
shallow depth of field
bokeh
anamorphic
film grain
lens flare
35mm
IMAX
tilt-shift
Composition
rule of thirds
leading lines
symmetrical
centred subject
negative space
golden ratio
foreground interest
framed composition
Common Mistakes
Avoid these pitfalls that lead to poor results:
✗
Too Vague
"A nice video of nature" — gives the AI almost nothing to work with. Be specific: what nature? What time of day? What camera angle? What mood?
✗
Too Many Subjects
"A man and woman dancing while a dog runs by and fireworks explode overhead and cars drive past" — too many competing elements. Focus on one clear subject and action per generation.
✗
Contradictory Instructions
"Close-up aerial wide shot" or "bright dark moody sunny" — conflicting terms confuse the model and produce incoherent output.
✗
High CFG with Low-CFG Models
Setting CFG to 7+ on WAN or LTX (which are tuned for CFG 1.0) produces oversaturated, distorted results. Trust the default CFG for each model.
✗
Expecting Text Rendering
AI video models cannot reliably render readable text, logos, or specific written words in video. Avoid prompts like "a sign that reads 'Hello World'".
✗
Ignoring Duration
A 1-second clip can't show complex action sequences. Match your prompt complexity to the video duration: simple motion for short clips, progressive scenes for longer ones.
Genre Templates
Ready-to-use prompt templates for common video genres. Copy, customise the bracketed sections, and generate.
🎥 Cinematic / Film
Cinematic [shot type] of [subject] in [environment], [lighting description], [camera movement], film grain, anamorphic lens, shallow depth of field, professional color grading, 4K
👾 Horror / Thriller
Eerie [shot type] of [subject] in [dark environment], dim flickering light casting long shadows, [slow unsettling camera movement], fog rolling across the ground, desaturated cold tones, tension building, horror film aesthetic
💙 Romance / Drama
Intimate [shot type] of [subjects] in [warm environment], soft golden hour light, [gentle camera movement], bokeh background, warm colour palette, romantic atmosphere, shallow depth of field, cinematic
🏃 Action / Thriller
Dynamic [tracking/handheld] shot of [subject in action] through [high-energy environment], [fast camera movement], motion blur on background, high contrast lighting, adrenaline-fueled atmosphere, cinematic, professional stunt photography
🌎 Documentary / Nature
[Aerial/tracking] shot of [wildlife/landscape] in [natural habitat], [natural lighting], [steady camera movement], incredible detail, National Geographic quality, nature documentary, photorealistic, 4K ultra HD
🎵 Music Video
[Creative shot type] of [performer/subject] in [stylised environment], [dramatic/colourful lighting with specific colours], [rhythmic camera movement], high fashion aesthetic, music video vibes, vivid colours, artistic composition
💼 Product / Commercial
Smooth [orbiting/tracking] studio shot of [product] on [clean surface/background], [professional studio lighting], [slow elegant camera movement], reflections visible on surface, shallow depth of field, luxury commercial photography, high-end advertising
🔮 Sci-Fi / Fantasy
Epic [shot type] of [subject] in [otherworldly environment], [volumetric/neon/ethereal lighting], [dramatic camera movement], particle effects, [futuristic/magical] atmosphere, ultra-detailed, concept art quality, 8K
Example Prompts
Copy these prompts and try them out. Each is crafted to showcase different capabilities.
Nature & Landscape
Cinematic aerial shot slowly descending over an ancient redwood forest shrouded in morning mist, shafts of golden sunlight breaking through the canopy, a gentle river winding through the valley below, photorealistic, National Geographic quality
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
A colossal space station orbiting a gas giant planet, camera slowly pushing through docking bay windows to reveal thousands of tiny ships approaching, volumetric nebula lighting in purple and teal, hard sci-fi aesthetic, Kubrick-inspired composition
Product & Commercial
Smooth 360-degree orbiting shot of a luxury wristwatch on a marble pedestal, dramatic studio lighting with soft shadows, reflective surfaces catching light, shallow depth of field with bokeh background, high-end commercial photography style
Abstract & Artistic
Mesmerizing slow-motion macro shot of ink drops falling into clear water, splitting into fractal tendrils of deep blue and crimson, abstract fluid dynamics, studio lighting against pure black background, high speed photography
Urban & Architecture
Hyperlapse tracking through Tokyo streets at night, neon signs reflecting on rain-slicked pavement, crowds of people moving at accelerated speed, camera weaving through narrow alleys, cyberpunk atmosphere, anamorphic lens flares