How to Write Veo 3 Prompts: 5-Step Formula + 10 Templates for Cinematic AI Videos

Introduction

To be honest, when I first tried Veo 3, I excitedly opened the interface, typed “a girl walking on a beach,” and waited with anticipation for AI to generate a cinematic shot. The result? A video was generated, but it was blurry with stiff movements—nothing like the romantic, cinematic feel I imagined.

Have you experienced this? You see others sharing amazing Veo 3 work on social media—beautiful shots that look like movie scenes, smooth camera movements, perfectly matched sound effects. But when you try it yourself, the videos never quite meet expectations. After a few attempts, you start wondering: Is Veo 3 just not friendly to me?

Actually, no. The problem lies in your prompts.

Veo 3 prompts aren’t just a few random words. They’re more like giving instructions to a professional cinematographer. You can’t just say “shoot something nice”—you need to specify the lens, angle, lighting, subject actions, and even sound effects.

In this article, I’ll share a proven Veo 3 prompt writing system. From 5 core elements to 10 ready-to-use templates, from common mistakes to advanced techniques—everything you need. After reading this, you’ll be able to write prompts that generate high-quality videos.

Why Your Veo 3 Videos Aren’t Good Enough

Before diving into the solution, let’s understand why it fails. Many people think prompts are just natural language descriptions—write whatever comes to mind. But actually, Veo 3 prompts are more like structured instruction language.

Think of it like ordering at a restaurant. You can’t just say “I want something delicious”—the waiter would be confused. You need to specify whether you want Sichuan or Cantonese cuisine, spicy or mild, rice or noodles. Same with Veo 3—it needs clear “instructions.”

According to Google’s official data, detailed prompts can improve generation quality by over 60% compared to simple ones. What does “detailed” mean? Not more words, but complete information.

3 Common Prompt Mistakes

Mistake 1: Overly Simple Description

Many people write prompts in one sentence, like “a person running” or “a cat playing.” These prompts lack information, so Veo 3 has to guess. The result might be a middle-aged person in formal wear on an office treadmill, or a young person in sportswear running in a park. Which do you want? It doesn’t know.

Compare this:

❌ Poor prompt: “a person running”

✅ Good prompt: “Tracking shot following from the side, a young male in black sportswear jogging on city streets at dawn, light and powerful steps, sunlight on his body. Cinematic quality, inspirational atmosphere, warm tones. SFX: Running footsteps, morning city ambient sounds.”

See the difference? The good prompt specifies camera, character, action, environment, style, and sound effects.

Mistake 2: Information Overload Without Focus

The other extreme is piling on every detail you can think of in a long paragraph, causing Veo 3 to lose focus. It’s like telling a cinematographer: “I want close-up, wide angle, tracking, slow motion, sunrise and sunset…” The cinematographer would break down.

Google Cloud’s official recommendation is to keep prompts around 10-25 words. Too short lacks information; too long causes confusion. Focus on the core visual elements.

Mistake 3: Ignoring Audio Guidance

This is easily overlooked. Veo 3’s key advantage is native audio generation, including dialogue, sound effects, and ambient sound. But if you don’t guide audio in your prompt, it’ll either generate silent videos or random sound effects that don’t match the visuals.

Try a few times and you’ll find that prompts with audio guidance produce videos with much higher completion quality and “finished” feel.

The 5-Element Veo 3 Prompt Formula

Alright, problem identified—now for the solution. Based on Google’s official guidelines and my practice, I’ve developed a 5-element formula. Following this formula dramatically improves success rate.

Complete Formula:

[Camera Technique] + [Subject Description] + [Action] + [Environment] + [Style & Mood]

Sounds simple, right? But each element has nuances. Let’s break them down.

Element 1: Camera Technique (Camera Work)

This tells Veo 3 what lens, angle, and camera movement to use. Like a real shoot, you first determine the cinematography plan.

Shot Types:

• Close-up: Captures details, like facial expressions or hand movements
• Medium shot: Shows subject from waist up or full body
• Wide shot: Captures large scenes, showing environment
• Aerial shot: Bird’s eye view from above

Camera Movement:

• Dolly in/out: Camera moves forward or backward
• Tracking shot: Camera follows the subject
• Pan: Camera swings left/right or up/down
• Crane shot: Camera moves vertically
• Static shot: Camera doesn’t move

Examples:

• “Close-up slowly pushing in” → Gradually moves from medium to facial close-up
• “Tracking shot following from side” → Camera follows subject from the side
• “Aerial shot slowly descending” → Bird’s eye view gradually lowering

Key point: Without specifying camera movement, Veo 3 defaults to static shots. For dynamic effects, be explicit.

Element 2: Subject Description

The subject is the video’s focal point—usually a person, animal, or object. More specific descriptions yield more consistent characters.

Character Description Points:

• Age and gender: “Asian female around 25”
• Clothing: “Wearing beige trench coat, flowing long hair”
• Expression: “Smiling,” “gentle gaze”
• Body features: “Slender figure,” “elegant posture”

Examples:

• ❌ Simple: “a girl”
• ✅ Detailed: “An Asian female around 30, wearing white shirt, long hair flowing, gentle gaze, smiling”

Pro tip: To maintain character consistency across multiple generations, save this character description and use it each time. Veo 3 generates similar characters for similar prompts.

Element 3: Action

A subject alone isn’t enough—it needs to move. Action descriptions should be specific enough to visualize the scene.

Action Description Layers:

• Generic: “walking” → Specific: “leisurely strolling”
• Generic: “looking” → Specific: “gazing up into the distance”
• Generic: “laughing” → Specific: “smiling gently, eyes crinkling”

Add speed and details:

• “She slowly turns her head, wind lifting her hair”
• “He quickly waves goodbye, turns to leave”
• “Cat tilts head, suddenly pounces on toy”

The more vivid the action description, the more life the video has.

Element 4: Environment

Environment determines the video’s atmosphere. Describe location, time, weather, lighting.

Complete Environment Description Includes:

• Location: Beach, cafe, city street, forest…
• Time: Sunrise, noon, dusk, night
• Weather: Sunny, cloudy, rainy, foggy
• Lighting: Warm sunlight, soft top light, dramatic side light
• Environmental details: Waves lapping shore, leaves rustling, bustling traffic

Example:
“Golden beach, setting sun, warm orange light on the sand, waves gently lapping shore, distant seagulls flying.”

Good environment descriptions fill videos with atmosphere.

Element 5: Style & Mood

This final part defines the video’s overall style and emotion. Determines whether it’s cinematic, documentary style, or animated.

Visual Styles:

• Cinematic: Movie-like quality and composition
• Documentary: Natural, realistic shooting style
• Animated: Cartoon animation style
• Stop-motion: Like “Fantastic Mr. Fox”

Mood Atmosphere:

• Romantic, calm, tense, mysterious, inspirational, warm…

Image Texture:

• “4K high quality,” “cinematic color grading,” “warm tones,” “cool tones,” “high contrast,” “shallow depth of field”

Complete example:
“Cinematic quality, romantic atmosphere, warm tones, shallow depth of field, soft natural light.”

Combining the 5 Elements

Now string these 5 elements together for a complete Veo 3 prompt:

[Close-up slowly pushing in] + [Asian female around 25, wearing white shirt, smiling] + [Gently brushing hair from face, looking up at camera] + [Cafe, afternoon sunlight through window on her face] + [Cinematic quality, shallow depth of field, warm tones, romantic atmosphere]

Connected:

“Close-up slowly pushing in, Asian female around 25, wearing white shirt, gentle gaze, smiling and gently brushing hair from face, looking up at camera. Background is warm cafe lighting, afternoon sunlight through window on her face. Cinematic quality, shallow depth of field, warm tones, romantic atmosphere.”

See, a complete prompt emerges. Try this formula—you’ll find video quality improves dramatically.

3 Key Audio Prompt Techniques

Now for audio. Veo 3’s biggest differentiator from other AI video tools is native audio generation. Other tools require you to add voiceover and sound effects after generating video; Veo 3 does it all in one step. But you must explicitly guide audio in your prompt.

According to Google DeepMind’s official guide, audio prompts have three forms: dialogue, sound effects, ambient sound. Let’s go through each.

Technique 1: Dialogue Guidance (Use Quotation Marks)

If you want characters to speak in the video, the format is simple: wrap dialogue in quotation marks.

Standard Format:

Character says: "Specific dialogue"

Examples:

• Woman says: “The scenery here is beautiful”
• Man says: “We should go”
• She whispers: “Thank you”

Important reminder: Dialogue can’t be too long. Official recommendation is to keep it within 8 seconds of speaking time, about 20-30 words. If dialogue is too long, Veo 3 speeds up character speech, making it sound unnatural.

Too long:
❌ “The weather is really nice today, sunny and breezy, makes me feel so happy, I really want to stay here forever and enjoy this wonderful time”

Shortened:
✅ “The weather is so nice today, I’d love to stay here forever”

Technique 2: Sound Effects Guidance (Use SFX Tag)

SFX stands for Sound Effects. This describes sounds in the scene.

Standard Format:

SFX: Specific sound description

Examples:

• SFX: Waves lapping shore, distant seagulls calling
• SFX: Coffee cup gently placed on table
• SFX: Footsteps rustling through fallen leaves
• SFX: Car engine roaring to life

When describing sound effects, add these dimensions:

• Volume: Soft, loud
• Distance: Distant, nearby
• Sound characteristics: Crisp, deep, sharp

Technique 3: Ambient Sound Guidance (Use Ambient Tag)

Ambient sound creates overall atmosphere. Unlike sound effects, ambient sound isn’t a specific sound but the entire scene’s soundscape.

Standard Format:

Ambient: Background atmosphere sound

Examples:

• Ambient: Peaceful evening beach atmosphere, gentle breeze
• Ambient: Soft jazz and murmurs in cafe
• Ambient: Morning forest birds chirping, wind through leaves
• Ambient: City street bustle, traffic and pedestrians interweaving

Ambient sound makes videos feel “immersive.” Try adding ambient sound to prompts—you’ll find the video comes alive.

Combining All Three Audio Types

A complete prompt can include dialogue, sound effects, and ambient sound simultaneously:

Close-up, young woman sitting by cafe window, lifting coffee cup for a gentle sip, smiling and looking outside. Warm afternoon sunlight on her face. Cinematic quality, shallow depth of field, cozy atmosphere.

She says: "An afternoon like this is so nice."
SFX: Coffee cup gently placed back on table
Ambient: Soft music and murmurs in cafe

Videos generated this way have visuals, dialogue, sound effects, and atmosphere all present—very high completion quality.

10 Ready-to-Use Prompt Templates

Theory covered—now for the most practical part: 10 templates you can use directly. Each template follows the 5-element structure; modify details for your needs.

Template 1: Character Close-up Emotional Shot

Suitable for character emotions, vlog intros, character interviews.

Close-up slowly pushing in, Asian female around 25, wearing white shirt, gentle gaze, smiling and looking up at camera, gently brushing hair from face. Background is warm cafe lighting, afternoon sunlight through window on her face. Cinematic quality, shallow depth of field, warm tones, romantic atmosphere. She says: "This is my favorite time." Ambient: Soft jazz and murmurs in cafe.

Modification suggestions:

• Replace character traits: age, gender, clothing
• Adjust environment: cafe can become park, bookstore, home
• Change dialogue and mood

Template 2: Product Showcase Video

Suitable for e-commerce, product promotion, unboxing reviews.

360-degree rotating shot, silver smartwatch placed on black velvet display, slowly rotating to show all angles, screen lights up showing time and heart rate data. Background is pure black gradient, top lighting creates premium feel. 4K quality, product photography style, high contrast, tech atmosphere. SFX: Subtle mechanical rotation sound, screen activation tone.

Modification suggestions:

• Replace product: phone, cosmetics, shoes, any product
• Adjust background color and lighting
• Change rotation method (360 degrees, specific angle display)

Template 3: Natural Landscape Shot

Suitable for travel vlogs, nature documentaries, environment showcases.

Aerial shot slowly descending, misty mountain peaks, morning light piercing clouds into valley, distant waterfall cascading down, lush forest. Camera from high aerial view gradually descending to mid-mountain. Early morning 6 AM soft light, misty atmosphere. Cinematic quality, epic feel, cool tones, serene atmosphere. Ambient: Mountain breeze, distant waterfall flow, bird calls.

Modification suggestions:

• Replace landscape: beach, desert, city, lake
• Adjust time: sunrise, dusk, night
• Change camera movement direction

Template 4: Sports Scene Shot

Suitable for fitness vlogs, sports brand promotion, inspirational short videos.

Tracking shot following from side, athlete jogging on beach sand at dawn, figure becoming clear in morning light, light and powerful steps, even breathing, sweat glistening in sunlight. Background is brightening sky and calm ocean, sunrise moment. Slow motion (0.5x speed), cinematic quality, inspirational atmosphere, warm tones. SFX: Footsteps on sand, wave sounds, breathing.

Modification suggestions:

• Replace sport type: cycling, swimming, yoga, basketball
• Adjust scene: gym, park, street
• Change speed: normal or slow motion

Template 5: Food Preparation Process

Suitable for food bloggers, restaurant promotion, cooking tutorials.

Overhead close-up fixed camera, professional chef's hands placing ingredients on exquisite white plate, elegant and precise movements, adding final garnish. Kitchen counter clean and tidy, soft top lighting. Camera focuses on hand movements and ingredients. Food photography style, 4K quality, warm tones, professional atmosphere. SFX: Subtle dish clinking, food placement sounds.

Modification suggestions:

• Replace preparation process: chopping, stir-frying, baking, bartending
• Adjust angle: side view, 45 degrees, close-up
• Change food type

Template 6: City Timelapse Shot

Suitable for city promotional videos, documentary intros, transition shots.

Wide angle fixed camera timelapse, city skyline changing from dusk to night, building lights gradually illuminating, traffic forming light trails on streets, sky transitioning from orange to deep blue. Shooting time from 7 PM to 9 PM. Cinematic quality, epic feel, high contrast, modern urban atmosphere. Ambient: City bustle gradually replaced by nighttime atmosphere.

Modification suggestions:

• Replace time period: sunrise, noon to dusk
• Adjust city type: modern metropolis, ancient city, coastal city
• Change weather: sunny, rainy, foggy

Template 7: Adorable Pet Moment

Suitable for pet bloggers, animal-themed content, heartwarming short videos.

Eye-level close-up, golden retriever sitting on grass, tilting head looking at camera with innocent eyes, suddenly sticks out tongue, tail wagging. Background is park's green grass and blurred trees, sunny afternoon. Shallow depth of field, cinematic quality, warm atmosphere, bright tones. SFX: Dog panting, tail thumping grass.

Modification suggestions:

• Replace pet: cat, rabbit, birds, etc.
• Adjust action: playing, sleeping, running
• Change scene: home, pet store, outdoors

Template 8: Tech UI Demo

Suitable for app promotion, tech product showcases, future concept videos.

Screen recording perspective, holographic projection interface unfolds in dark background, blue light outlining data charts and 3D models, finger swiping in virtual space, data flowing and changing. Pure black background, high-tech holographic effect. Future tech style, high contrast, blue cool tones, sci-fi atmosphere. SFX: Tech-feel interface sounds, data flow sounds.

Modification suggestions:

• Replace interface type: map, dashboard, data visualization
• Adjust color theme: green, purple, multicolor
• Change interaction method

Template 9: Dance Performance Shot

Suitable for dance videos, artistic performances, music MV content.

Low angle wide shot slowly circling, dancer performing modern dance in spacious industrial-style space, fluid and powerful movements, beautiful body lines, light and shadow projected on floor. Side lighting creates dramatic effect, gray concrete walls. Cinematic quality, artistic feel, high contrast, power and beauty coexist. Rhythmic background music, dance steps, breathing.

Modification suggestions:

• Replace dance type: ballet, street dance, ethnic dance
• Adjust scene: theater, outdoors, unique buildings
• Change lighting and atmosphere

Template 10: Emotional Story Shot

Suitable for micro-films, emotional shorts, brand story videos.

Shoulder-level medium shot slowly pushing in, elderly couple sitting on park bench, leaning into each other, old man gently holding old woman's hand, both quietly watching distant sunset. Background is park trees and orange-red sky, warm dusk light. Shallow depth of field, cinematic quality, nostalgic warm atmosphere, warm tones. Ambient: Park birds chirping, breeze rustling leaves.

Modification suggestions:

• Replace relationship: friends, father-son, mother-daughter
• Adjust emotion: joy, farewell, reunion
• Change scene and time

Usage Tips

After getting these templates, you don’t need to memorize them—just remember a few key points:

1. Replace details, keep structure: Don’t change the 5-element structure of templates, only replace specific content
2. Adjust based on video length: Veo 3 supports 4, 6, 8 seconds; use 8 for complex actions
3. Audio is optional: If no dialogue needed, keep only SFX or Ambient
4. Try multiple times to find feel: AI generation has some randomness; try several versions and pick the best

Pitfall Guide: 5 Common Mistakes and Solutions

With templates ready, you’ll still hit pitfalls in practice. Here are 5 problems I and community members often encounter, and how to solve them.

Mistake 1: Overly Simple Prompt, Insufficient Information

Problem manifestation: Wrote “a person running,” generated video far from imagination.

Root cause: Veo 3 needs enough information to understand your intent. Simple descriptions make it guess.

Solution:
Use the 5-element formula to complete. Minimum must include: shot type + subject description + action + scene + style.

❌ Wrong example:

a person running

✅ Correct example:

Tracking shot following from side, young male in black sportswear jogging on city streets at dawn, light and powerful steps, sunlight on body. Cinematic quality, inspirational atmosphere, warm tones. SFX: Running footsteps, morning city ambient sounds.

Mistake 2: Information Overload, Too Many Details

Problem manifestation: Wrote a long paragraph with dozens of visual elements, but generated video is messy—everything present but nothing stands out.

Root cause: Veo 3 can only showcase limited content in 8 seconds. Too much information prevents it from focusing.

Solution:
Focus on 3-5 core visual elements, control prompt to 20-40 words. Remember Google’s suggestion: 10-25 words optimal.

❌ Wrong example (overload):

Close-up, wide angle, aerial shot, young woman wearing red dress, hat, sunglasses, necklace, at seaside, beach, rocks, dock, walking, running, dancing, spinning, plus seagulls, waves, sunset, clouds, stars...

✅ Correct example (focused):

Close-up slowly pushing in, young woman in red dress strolling on beach, breeze lifting her hair. Dusk moment, warm sunset light. Cinematic quality, romantic atmosphere. SFX: Wave sounds, wind.

Mistake 3: Ignoring Camera Guidance, Letting Veo Decide

Problem manifestation: Didn’t specify shot movement, resulting in static shot lacking dynamism.

Root cause: Without specifying camera movement, Veo defaults to static shots.

Solution:
Every prompt must clearly specify shot type and movement method. For dynamic effects, be explicit.

Common camera movements:

• Push in/out: dolly in/out, slowly pushing forward
• Tracking: tracking shot, following
• Orbit: orbit around, circling
• Aerial descent: aerial shot descending
• Fixed (explicit): static shot, fixed camera

Mistake 4: Missing or Unclear Audio Guidance

Problem manifestation: Generated video has no sound, or sound effects don’t match visuals.

Root cause: No audio guidance in prompt, so Veo doesn’t know what sounds to generate.

Solution:
Include at least one audio element (dialogue/sound effects/ambient sound). Use standard format:

• Dialogue: Character says: "Line"
• Sound effects: SFX: Specific sound
• Ambient sound: Ambient: Atmosphere sound

Remember: Dialogue shouldn’t exceed 8 seconds of speaking time (about 20-30 words).

Mistake 5: Dialogue Lines Too Long, Unnatural Speech

Problem manifestation: Wrote long dialogue, resulting in character speaking very fast in video, like reading a script.

Root cause: Veo 3’s maximum video length is 8 seconds; long dialogue gets compressed into this duration.

Solution:
Control dialogue to 8 seconds of speaking time. Test method: read it yourself; if over 8 seconds, it’s too long.

❌ Lines too long:

She says: "The weather is really nice today, sunny and breezy, makes me feel so happy, I really want to stay here forever and enjoy this wonderful time."

✅ Simplified lines:

She says: "The weather is so nice today, I'd love to stay here forever."

Or split into multiple short sentences, generating different video clips separately.

Advanced Techniques: 3 Ways to Make Videos More Professional

After mastering basics, if you want to take videos to the next level, try these 3 advanced techniques.

Method 1: Using Negative Prompts

Negative prompts tell Veo “what not to generate.” Particularly useful for excluding unwanted elements.

Usage principle:
Don’t simply say “no XXX”; use specific descriptions to exclude.

Example:

❌ Not specific enough:

A desert, no buildings

✅ Specific description:

Desolate desert landscape, endless sand dunes, no buildings, no roads, no man-made objects, only pure natural environment.

Common application scenarios:

• Exclude subtitles: If generated video has unexpected subtitles, add “No subtitles”
• Exclude specific elements: Like no people, no text, no certain colors
• Emphasize clean background: Like product showcases emphasizing simple backgrounds

Method 2: Maintaining Character Consistency

If you want to create video series with the same character maintaining consistent appearance across different videos, Veo 3 has a trait: similar prompts generate similar characters.

Operation method:

1. Create “character card”: After first satisfactory character generation, save the character description separately.

Example character card:

Asian female around 28, shoulder-length hair, wearing white shirt and jeans, warm smile, slender figure

2. Use same description each time: In new prompts, keep this character description completely consistent, only change actions and scenes.

First video:

Close-up, Asian female around 28, shoulder-length hair, wearing white shirt and jeans, warm smile, reading in cafe...

Second video:

Tracking shot, Asian female around 28, shoulder-length hair, wearing white shirt and jeans, warm smile, walking in park...

As long as core description is consistent, generated character appearance will be very similar.

Method 3: Timestamp Precise Control (Advanced)

This advanced technique allows creating multi-shot sequences in single generation. Through timestamps, you can precisely control each shot’s duration and content.

Format:

[00:00-00:02] First shot description
[00:02-00:05] Second shot description
[00:05-00:08] Third shot description

Example:

[00:00-00:03] Wide angle shot, city street, traffic and pedestrians, morning sunlight
[00:03-00:06] Close-up pushing in, young woman walking on street, smiling
[00:06-00:08] Medium shot, she enters cafe, pushes door open

Cinematic quality, urban life atmosphere, warm tones
Ambient: City environmental sounds, traffic sounds, cafe door opening bell

Notes:

• Each shot duration suggested 2-3 seconds; too short feels rushed
• Total duration shouldn’t exceed Veo 3’s limit (maximum 8 seconds)
• Requires precise planning of each shot’s content and transitions

This technique is complex; recommend mastering basics first before trying.

Conclusion

After all that, let’s summarize.

The core of Veo 3 prompt writing is the 5-element formula: Camera Technique + Subject Description + Action + Environment + Style & Mood. Clearly articulate these 5 elements, and your prompt succeeds halfway.

Don’t forget audio guidance. Veo 3’s advantage is native audio generation—dialogue uses quotation marks, sound effects use SFX, ambient sound uses Ambient. Remember these three forms.

I’ve given you 10 templates—use them directly. No need to memorize; key is understanding structure, then replacing details for your needs.

Writing prompts is a skill requiring practice. Initially might feel cumbersome, but try a few times to find patterns. Start with templates, gradually develop your own style.

Most importantly, don’t fear failure. AI generation inherently has some randomness; same prompt might generate several versions. Try multiple times, pick the best. Failed attempts are also part of learning.

Try it now. Pick a template, modify details, generate your first Veo 3 video. When you see the cinematic results, the sense of achievement is truly amazing.

By the way, Veo 3 keeps updating—Google continuously optimizes the model and adds new features. Follow official updates; next update might bring even more powerful capabilities.

Good luck, looking forward to seeing your work!

Published on: Dec 4, 2025 · Modified on: Dec 15, 2025

Easton

AI & Intelligence