After generating hundreds of videos, here is what I have learned about writing effective prompts for AI video generation.

Video Prompts Are Different

Video prompts need three components that image prompts do not:

Motion description - What moves, how, and in what direction

Temporal progression - What changes over time

Camera behavior - Static, panning, zooming, tracking

Prompt Structure

[Subject] [action/motion], [environment], [style], [lighting], [camera movement], [quality modifiers]

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Example:

A woman walking through a neon-lit street at night, cyberpunk aesthetic, volumetric fog, camera tracking shot, cinematic quality

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Motion Keywords That Work

Through testing on PopcornAI and other tools:

Camera

dolly in/out - Camera moves toward/away

pan left/right - Camera rotates horizontally

tracking shot - Camera follows subject

static camera - No camera movement

Subject

walking, running, turning

hair blowing…