How to write AI video prompts

Start with a single visible action

A useful prompt specifies subject, action, environment, camera and light. Write what changes over time: a robot places a sphere on a table is clearer than a beautiful futuristic robot. Keep one action in a first test.

Separate the camera from the subject

State whether the subject stays still and the camera pushes in, or the camera stays fixed while the subject moves. Combining zoom, orbit and cuts can create contradictory instructions.

Iterate with a small experiment

Keep duration, orientation and the source material unchanged while changing one instruction. Compare movement, composition and unwanted details. A prompt is guidance, not a precise camera path.

Turn feedback into a revision

If the scene barely moves, name a concrete action. If faces distort, reduce turns and occlusions. If the scene changes abruptly, remove cuts and competing settings. Save the exact prompt with each downloaded result.

Settings and credit budget

Choose 5, 10 or 15 seconds. Text tasks cost 6 credits; image and two-frame tasks cost 8. New Google accounts receive a one-time 60-credit grant valid for 30 days. Landscape output is 896 × 512 and portrait output is 512 × 896 at 24 fps. Each account can have one active task. Wait for a confirmed result instead of repeatedly submitting.

A prompt to start with

A silver robot carefully sets down a glass sphere on a dark studio table, slow push-in from a medium shot, soft rim lighting reflected in the glass, one continuous shot, no cuts.

Use this as a starting point, then adjust one action or camera instruction at a time. It is a prompt example, not a guarantee of a specific result.