skills/generate-video/references/veo-prompt-guide.md

Veo 3.1 Prompt Guide

Condensed guide for writing effective Veo video generation prompts.

Six Elements of a Video Prompt

1. Subject

The main focus of the scene. Be specific about appearance, position, and scale.

• "A golden retriever puppy with floppy ears"
• "A weathered lighthouse on a rocky cliff"
• "A woman in a flowing red dress"

2. Action / Motion

What moves, how fast, and in what direction. Veo excels with clear motion descriptions.

• "slowly turns its head to face the camera"
• "waves crash and recede in rhythmic cycles"
• "sparks spiral upward from a campfire"
• "traffic flows through rain-slicked streets"

Motion keywords: slowly, rapidly, gently, explosively, drifting, swirling, pulsing, flowing, cascading, flickering

3. Style / Aesthetic

Visual treatment and artistic direction.

• "cinematic film grain, desaturated color palette"
• "Studio Ghibli hand-painted animation style"
• "hyper-realistic 8K footage"
• "neon-lit cyberpunk aesthetic"

When using --style, the promptHints are prepended automatically. Layer additional style cues on top.

4. Camera Motion

How the virtual camera moves. Veo responds well to explicit camera direction.

• Static: "locked-off shot", "tripod shot"
• Pan: "camera slowly pans left to right"
• Tilt: "camera tilts up to reveal the sky"
• Dolly: "camera dollies forward through the corridor"
• Orbit: "camera orbits around the subject at eye level"
• Crane: "crane shot rising from ground level"
• Tracking: "camera tracks alongside the running figure"
• Zoom: "slow zoom into the subject's eyes"
• Handheld: "slight handheld camera movement"
• Aerial/Drone: "aerial drone shot sweeping over the landscape"

5. Composition

Framing, depth, and spatial arrangement.

• "close-up shot", "wide establishing shot", "medium shot"
• "shallow depth of field with bokeh background"
• "symmetrical composition centered on the subject"
• "foreground elements frame the distant subject"
• "rule of thirds with subject on the left"

6. Ambiance / Audio

Lighting mood and sound design. Veo 3.1 generates native audio, so audio cues in the prompt influence the soundtrack.

Lighting:

• "golden hour warm light", "blue hour twilight"
• "dramatic chiaroscuro lighting", "soft diffused overcast"
• "neon glow reflecting off wet surfaces"
• "flickering candlelight", "harsh midday sun"

Audio cues:

• "gentle piano melody in the background"
• "birds singing, leaves rustling in the wind"
• "deep bass rumble with industrial metal sounds"
• "rain pattering on a tin roof"
• "crowd murmuring, distant traffic"
• "complete silence with occasional water drips"

Negative Prompts

Use --negative to specify what to avoid. Effective negative prompts:

• "blurry, low quality, distorted faces, text overlays"
• "shaky camera, rapid cuts, jarring transitions"
• "watermark, logo, border, letterbox"
• "unrealistic motion, morphing artifacts"

Image-to-Video Tips

When using --input with a starting frame:

1. Match aspect ratio - The input image MUST match the video aspect ratio. A square image fed to 16:9 video produces black pillarboxing. Generate the starting frame at --aspect 16:9 (or 9:16 for vertical) to match the target video.
2. Describe the motion, not the image - The image provides the visual; the prompt should describe what happens next
3. Match the style - If the starting frame has a specific art style, mention it so Veo maintains consistency
4. Start subtle - Small, natural movements work better than dramatic transformations
5. Reference elements - "The figure in the center slowly raises their hand" anchors motion to visible elements

Good image-to-video prompts:

• "The clouds drift slowly across the sky, light shifts from warm to cool"
• "The character blinks and turns their head slightly to the right"
• "Water begins to flow down the rocks, mist rises gently"

Avoid:

• "Transform this into a completely different scene" (too much change)
• "Add a person walking" (adding new major elements is unreliable)
• Prompts that contradict visible elements in the starting frame

Prompt Length

• Sweet spot: 2-4 sentences covering subject, action, and 2-3 additional elements
• Too short: "A cat" (no motion, no style, no camera direction)
• Too long: Overly detailed prompts can confuse the model; prioritize clarity over exhaustiveness

Complete Example

Prompt: "A majestic bald eagle soars through a misty mountain valley at dawn. The camera tracks alongside as the eagle banks right, sunlight catching its white head feathers. Cinematic shallow depth of field with fog-covered peaks in the background. Wind rushing sounds with distant eagle call."

Negative: "blurry, text, watermark, unrealistic wing movement"

This covers all six elements: subject (eagle), action (soars, banks), style (cinematic), camera (tracking), composition (shallow DOF), ambiance (dawn mist, wind sounds).