How to write a prompt that makes a usable clip

Each generation is one 5-second clip. That is one shot — a single moment with a subject, a setting and some movement — not a sequence of scenes or a plot.

Start with the plain sentence you would say to a camera operator: “a golden retriever running through shallow surf at sunset.” That alone gives the model something clear to work with.

Avoid stacking events. A prompt asking for someone to enter a room, pick up a phone, and then walk outside is more than 5 seconds can show, and the model will usually pick one part or blur them together.

After the subject, the details that change the result most are the camera (“slow dolly in”, “aerial drone shot”, “handheld close-up”), the light (“overcast”, “neon at night”, “warm morning sun”) and the mood or style (“cinematic”, “documentary”, “dreamy”).

Be specific rather than long. “Close-up, shallow depth of field, soft window light” helps more than a paragraph of adjectives.

Prompts can be up to 2000 characters, but most good prompts are one to three sentences.

Choose 16:9 for landscape video, websites and YouTube; 9:16 for Reels, Shorts and TikTok; 1:1 for square feed posts.

The clip is generated at that shape, so compose the prompt for it: a tall 9:16 frame suits a standing person or a tall building better than a wide landscape.

A clip usually takes about 1–3 minutes. The page shows progress, and you can leave and come back — your recent videos are listed on the generator page.

Download the MP4 as soon as you are happy with it. Video links are hosted by the provider and may expire, so anything you want to keep should be saved on your side.

Clips are 5 seconds long. For a longer piece, generate several clips and join them in your own editor.

AI video models interpret what you write, and results vary. If a clip is close but not right, change one thing at a time — the camera, the light, or the subject detail — so you can see what made the difference.

If the result is far off, the prompt is probably ambiguous. Name the subject more plainly and cut anything that could be read two ways.

A failed generation — a prompt blocked by the provider's safety checker, a model error, a timeout — is not counted against your monthly quota, so retrying an error is free.