Prompt Library

AI Video Prompts

30 copy-paste prompts

Thirty copy-paste prompts for Sora, Runway, Veo, Kling, Pika and Luma — every one specifies scene, motion, camera move, lighting and pacing so you get usable footage on the first try.

In short: This page contains 30 copy-paste ready prompts, organized into 6 categories with a description and pro tip for each. The first 5 prompts are free instantly, no signup needed. Hand-curated and tested by the AI Academy team.

Louis Corneloup
By Louis Corneloup · Founder, Techpresso
Last updated ·Hand-curated & tested by the AI Academy team

Cinematic Scenes

5 prompts

Golden-Hour Coastal Drone Shot

1/30

✨ What it does

Produces a sweeping, film-grade aerial establishing shot with warm cinematic grading.

Cinematic aerial drone shot flying low over crashing turquoise waves toward a rugged cliffside at golden hour. Camera glides forward and slowly tilts up to reveal a lone lighthouse silhouetted against a warm orange sky. Soft volumetric sunlight, lens flare, gentle sea mist. Shot on anamorphic lens, shallow depth of field, 24fps, color-graded like a Denis Villeneuve film. Slow, steady pacing.

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Pro tip: Swap the lighthouse and time of day to instantly reskin the same camera move for a new mood.

Rainy Neon City Tracking Shot

2/30

✨ What it does

Creates a moody Blade Runner-style tracking shot with reflective neon-soaked streets.

A slow tracking shot following a woman in a translucent raincoat walking through a neon-lit Tokyo alley at night. Reflections of pink and cyan signage shimmer in the wet pavement. Camera tracks behind her at walking pace, slight handheld sway. Rain falls in sharp streaks lit by the signs. Moody cyberpunk atmosphere, deep shadows, 35mm look, cinematic teal-and-magenta grade.

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Pro tip: Increase the rain intensity and add steam vents for a grittier, denser atmosphere.

Epic Mountain Reveal Crane Shot

3/30

✨ What it does

Delivers a dramatic scale-reveal that opens intimate and pulls back to a grand vista.

A crane shot that begins tight on a hiker's boots crunching through fresh snow, then rises and pulls back dramatically to reveal a vast snow-capped mountain range under a dramatic cloudy sky. Cold blue morning light, faint sun breaking through clouds, drifting snow particles. Epic scale, slow and majestic camera motion, cinematic 2.39:1 aspect ratio, orchestral-trailer feel.

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Pro tip: Start the camera even tighter — on an eye or a single object — for a stronger reveal payoff.

Slow Push Into Candlelit Interior

4/30

✨ What it does

Generates an intimate, atmospheric interior with warm flickering light and a slow dolly-in.

A slow, smooth dolly push into a candlelit medieval library at night. Hundreds of leather books line the walls, dust motes float in warm flickering candlelight, a single robed figure reads at a wooden table. Shallow depth of field, warm amber tones, soft shadows dancing on the walls. Quiet, contemplative pacing, shot on vintage prime lens, gentle film grain.

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Pro tip: Add a draft so the candle flames flicker harder, which makes the AI animate believable light shifts.

Desert Chase Wide Action Shot

5/30

✨ What it does

Produces a fast, kinetic desert action shot with a parallel high-speed tracking move.

A high-energy wide tracking shot of a vintage motorcycle racing across cracked desert flats, kicking up a long trail of dust. Camera moves parallel to the rider at high speed, sun low and harsh casting a long shadow. Heat-haze shimmer on the horizon, dust particles catching the light. Fast, kinetic pacing, sharp action grade, slight motion blur, 30fps.

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Pro tip: Cut the dust trail and add a second rider to turn the solo chase into a head-to-head race.

Image-to-Video Animation

5 prompts

Bring a Portrait to Life

6/30

✨ What it does

Turns a still portrait into a quietly living shot without distorting the face.

Animate [UPLOADED IMAGE]: keep the subject and composition identical, then add subtle natural motion — gentle breathing, a slow blink, a faint smile forming, hair drifting slightly in a soft breeze. Keep the camera nearly static with a barely perceptible push-in. Preserve original lighting and color exactly. Photorealistic, calm and subtle pacing, no warping of facial features.

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Pro tip: Specify which feature should move first (eyes, then mouth) to keep the animation feeling natural.

Animate a Landscape Photo

7/30

✨ What it does

Adds believable ambient motion and parallax depth to a static landscape image.

Animate [UPLOADED IMAGE]: this is a landscape photo. Add living motion to the natural elements only — drifting clouds, swaying grass, rippling water, leaves trembling in wind — while keeping all solid structures perfectly still. Add a slow, smooth parallax push-in to create depth. Match the original lighting and color grade. Peaceful, ambient pacing, photorealistic.

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Pro tip: Mention the wind direction so clouds and grass move consistently rather than chaotically.

Product Photo to Rotating Showcase

8/30

✨ What it does

Converts a flat product photo into a clean rotating studio showcase clip.

Animate [UPLOADED IMAGE] of a product: keep the product, lighting and background exactly as shown, then add a slow, smooth 360-degree turntable rotation revealing all sides. Maintain crisp focus and clean studio lighting throughout. Add a subtle soft reflection on the surface below. Premium commercial feel, steady controlled pacing, no shape distortion.

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Pro tip: Limit it to a 180-degree rotation if the back of the product is unbranded or unfinished.

Old Photo to Living Memory

9/30

✨ What it does

Animates a vintage photo into a tender, period-accurate moving memory.

Animate [UPLOADED IMAGE], an old family photograph: gently bring it to life with soft natural motion — subtle smiles, slow blinks, light head turns — while fully preserving the period clothing, grain and faded colors. Add a slow, emotional push-in. Warm nostalgic tone, gentle film flicker, respectful and subtle pacing, no modern over-sharpening.

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Pro tip: Keep the motion minimal — overdoing it breaks the nostalgic, archival feel.

Artwork to Animated Illustration

10/30

✨ What it does

Animates a 2D illustration while preserving its exact art style and palette.

Animate [UPLOADED IMAGE], a piece of digital illustration: bring the scene to life in its own art style — flowing hair, drifting clouds, shimmering light, blinking characters — while keeping line work, palette and style perfectly consistent. Add a gentle parallax between foreground and background layers. Smooth, dreamy pacing, loopable motion, no realism added.

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Pro tip: Ask for a seamless loop so the clip can run continuously as a background or banner.

Product & Ad Videos

5 prompts

Sleek Tech Product Hero Shot

11/30

✨ What it does

Generates a high-end Apple-style product hero shot with a reveal moment.

A premium product commercial shot of a sleek wireless earbud case rotating slowly on a reflective black surface. Dramatic studio lighting with a soft key light and rim light tracing the edges. Camera slowly orbits the product as the lid opens to reveal the earbuds inside. Macro detail, glossy reflections, minimalist dark background, polished Apple-style pacing, crisp focus.

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Pro tip: Replace the earbud case with [UPLOADED IMAGE] of your own product for a custom branded version.

Cosmetic Splash Beauty Shot

12/30

✨ What it does

Produces a luxurious slow-motion liquid-splash shot for beauty or skincare products.

A slow-motion beauty commercial of a glass serum bottle as a wave of golden liquid splashes elegantly around it. Soft diffused lighting, dewy droplets suspended in air, warm luxurious tones. Camera holds steady with a subtle push-in as the splash crowns and falls. 120fps slow motion, ultra-clean macro detail, premium skincare aesthetic, smooth refined pacing.

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Pro tip: Match the splash color to your brand palette for instant on-brand visuals.

Food Steam and Pour Shot

13/30

✨ What it does

Creates a warm, appetizing food shot with believable steam and pouring motion.

An appetizing food commercial of fresh espresso being poured into a white ceramic cup, with steam curling upward in soft window light. Camera at a low table-level angle, slow push-in as the rich crema forms on top. Warm cozy cafe tones, shallow depth of field, glistening surface detail. Inviting, unhurried pacing, mouth-watering macro realism.

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Pro tip: Swap the pour for a sauce drizzle or cheese pull to fit other food categories.

App UI Lifestyle Mockup

14/30

✨ What it does

Generates a relatable lifestyle ad clip that draws focus toward a phone screen.

A lifestyle ad shot of a person sitting in a bright cafe holding a smartphone, smiling as they use an app. Camera starts on their face then smoothly racks focus and pushes toward the phone screen. Warm natural daylight, soft bokeh background, candid authentic feel. Modern startup ad aesthetic, upbeat but smooth pacing, clean and aspirational.

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Pro tip: Leave the screen content generic and composite your real UI in afterward for a sharp result.

Unboxing Reveal Top-Down

15/30

✨ What it does

Produces a clean overhead unboxing reveal with a premium tactile feel.

A satisfying top-down unboxing shot: two hands lift the lid off a premium matte box to reveal a product nestled in clean packaging. Soft even overhead lighting, crisp shadows, neutral minimalist background. Camera locked overhead, slow deliberate hand movements, subtle push-in on the reveal. Tactile premium feel, calm satisfying pacing, sharp focus throughout.

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Pro tip: Keep hands moving slowly — fast motion makes AI hands warp and look unnatural.

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Social & Viral Short-Form

5 prompts

POV Morning Routine

16/30

✨ What it does

Creates a vertical, scroll-friendly POV lifestyle clip in trendy vlog style.

A vertical 9:16 POV shot of a cozy morning routine: first-person view pouring coffee, opening curtains to soft sunlight, journaling at a wooden desk. Quick gentle cuts between moments, warm aesthetic tones, soft natural light, slight handheld feel. Trendy lifestyle vlog style, calm but engaging pacing, dreamy and aspirational mood, optimized for TikTok and Reels.

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Pro tip: Keep each beat under two seconds so it cuts cleanly to a trending audio track.

Oddly Satisfying Loop

17/30

✨ What it does

Generates a hypnotic, loopable satisfying clip built for high retention.

A vertical 9:16 oddly-satisfying loop of a knife slicing cleanly through a bar of pastel kinetic sand, the cut faces falling apart in perfect crumbles. Bright even lighting, hyper-clean macro detail, soft pastel color palette. Camera locked close and steady. Seamless loop, smooth hypnotic pacing, ASMR-ready satisfying texture, designed to stop the scroll.

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Pro tip: Ask explicitly for a seamless loop so the end frame matches the start for endless replay.

Before-and-After Transformation

18/30

✨ What it does

Produces a punchy before-and-after transformation with a whip-pan transition.

A vertical 9:16 transformation reveal: a messy cluttered desk in dull lighting, then a fast whip-pan transition to the same desk perfectly organized in bright warm light. Snappy energetic cut on the whip-pan, satisfying payoff on the after shot. Trendy social transformation style, punchy upbeat pacing, clean and aspirational, built for Reels and Shorts.

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Pro tip: Time the whip-pan to land exactly on the beat drop of your chosen audio.

Talking-Head Hook Opener

19/30

✨ What it does

Creates an authentic UGC-style talking-head opener built to hook viewers fast.

A vertical 9:16 close-up of an energetic young creator looking straight into the camera mid-sentence, gesturing with their hands, in a bright modern room with soft bokeh. Slight subtle zoom-in to add energy, natural expressive face. Authentic UGC creator aesthetic, fast confident pacing, well-lit and high-contrast, designed as a scroll-stopping hook opener.

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Pro tip: Generate it silent and dub your own hook line so the message stays on-brand.

Trend Outfit Spin

20/30

✨ What it does

Generates a vibrant vertical outfit-reveal spin built for fashion social content.

A vertical 9:16 fashion clip of a stylish person spinning once so their outfit flares out, captured in a sunlit urban setting with soft lens flare. Camera tracks the spin smoothly then settles on a confident pose. Vibrant punchy colors, slight slow-motion on the flare, trendy streetwear aesthetic, upbeat rhythmic pacing, optimized for vertical social feeds.

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Pro tip: Add slight slow-motion only on the spin so the flare reads clearly before snapping back to speed.

Camera Motion & VFX Shots

5 prompts

Bullet-Time Frozen Orbit

21/30

✨ What it does

Produces a dramatic frozen-time orbit reveal in classic bullet-time style.

A bullet-time VFX shot where action freezes mid-motion — a dancer suspended in a leap, water droplets hanging in the air — while the camera orbits a full 180 degrees around the frozen moment. Dramatic rim lighting, dark background, droplets sparkling as the camera moves. Sharp focus, cinematic Matrix-style effect, slow controlled orbit, time resumes at the end.

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Pro tip: Pick a subject with mid-air elements (water, debris, fabric) so the freeze reads clearly.

Seamless Morph Transition

22/30

✨ What it does

Creates a fluid, continuous morph between multiple objects with no cuts.

A seamless morph transition VFX shot: a blooming red rose smoothly transforms into a flickering candle flame, then into a soaring bird, each shape flowing organically into the next. Continuous fluid motion, dark moody background, soft dramatic lighting tracing each form. Dreamlike surreal tone, smooth hypnotic pacing, no hard cuts, fully continuous transformation.

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Pro tip: Chain objects that share a silhouette so the morph stays smooth and believable.

FPV Drone Through-Shot

23/30

✨ What it does

Generates an immersive, high-speed FPV drone fly-through with dynamic terrain.

An aggressive FPV drone shot racing through a narrow forest gap, diving down a slope, then swooping up between tall pines into open sky. Fast continuous flowing motion, slight fisheye distortion, sharp detail, dappled sunlight flickering through the canopy. High-energy first-person drone aesthetic, fast immersive pacing, motion blur on the dive.

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Pro tip: Give the flight path clear waypoints (through, down, up) so the motion stays purposeful.

Dolly Zoom Vertigo Effect

24/30

✨ What it does

Produces the unsettling Hitchcock dolly-zoom effect with a stable subject and warping background.

A dolly zoom (Vertigo) effect on a person standing alone at the end of a long hallway: the subject stays the same size in frame while the background warps and stretches dramatically behind them. Tense unsettling mood, cool desaturated tones, hard directional lighting. Slow building dolly-zoom, cinematic suspense pacing, sharp focus locked on the subject.

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Pro tip: Keep the subject centered and still so the warping background reads as the focal effect.

Magical Particle Materialization

25/30

✨ What it does

Creates a fantasy materialization effect where particles assemble into a figure.

A VFX shot of a glowing figure materializing from swirling golden particles: thousands of luminous specks rush together and assemble into a person, light trailing as the form solidifies. Dark atmospheric background, volumetric glow, sparks drifting. Fantasy blockbuster aesthetic, dramatic building pacing, the figure fully forms and the particles settle by the end.

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Pro tip: Reverse the prompt — figure dissolving into particles — for a matching exit shot.

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Stylized & Anime

5 prompts

Studio Ghibli Countryside

26/30

✨ What it does

Generates a warm, hand-drawn Ghibli-style countryside scene with gentle 2D motion.

A hand-drawn Studio Ghibli-style anime scene: a girl in a red dress runs through a sunlit green meadow as wind ripples the grass and white clouds drift overhead. Soft painterly backgrounds, warm nostalgic color palette, gentle 2D character animation. Whimsical peaceful mood, smooth flowing pacing, watercolor textures, classic Japanese animation aesthetic.

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Pro tip: Add a small companion creature to lean further into the Ghibli storytelling feel.

Cyberpunk Anime Action

27/30

✨ What it does

Produces a fast, neon-soaked cel-shaded cyberpunk anime action clip.

A high-energy cyberpunk anime action shot: a hooded hacker sprints across a neon rooftop as holographic glitches flicker around them, rain pouring down. Bold cel-shaded style, saturated pink-and-cyan lighting, dynamic speed lines, dramatic camera following the sprint. Intense kinetic pacing, modern anime aesthetic, sharp linework, glowing rim light.

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Pro tip: Add speed lines and motion streaks explicitly to amplify the anime sense of velocity.

Claymation Stop-Motion Scene

28/30

✨ What it does

Creates a tactile, handcrafted claymation clip with authentic stop-motion cadence.

A charming claymation stop-motion scene of a small clay character waddling across a cozy handmade kitchen, picking up a tiny clay teapot. Visible fingerprint textures, slightly jerky stop-motion frame rate, warm soft tabletop lighting, miniature handcrafted props. Whimsical playful mood, deliberate stop-motion pacing, tactile Aardman-style aesthetic.

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Pro tip: Ask for a slightly lower, choppy frame rate so it reads as real stop-motion rather than smooth CG.

Watercolor Painting Come Alive

29/30

✨ What it does

Animates a watercolor painting while preserving its paper texture and brushstroke edges.

A watercolor painting coming to life: a quiet harbor scene where painted boats gently bob, brushstroke waves ripple and soft pigment clouds drift across paper-textured sky. Visible paper grain, bleeding watercolor edges, muted artistic palette. Dreamy meditative mood, slow flowing pacing, hand-painted aesthetic, the image stays clearly a living painting.

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Pro tip: Emphasize visible paper grain so the motion never tips into looking like 3D render.

Retro 80s Anime Cityscape

30/30

✨ What it does

Generates a nostalgic 80s anime city-pop scene with VHS grain and synthwave tones.

A retro 1980s anime cityscape at dusk: a vintage sports car cruises down a palm-lined boulevard under a purple-pink gradient sky with a huge setting sun. Grainy VHS texture, neon signage glow, hand-drawn 80s anime linework, lens halation. Nostalgic synthwave mood, smooth cruising pacing, warm retro color grade, classic city-pop aesthetic.

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Pro tip: Add subtle VHS scanlines and chromatic aberration to sell the authentic retro feel.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Every prompt is written in plain descriptive language that all major text-to-video and image-to-video models understand, so you can paste the same prompt into Sora, Runway, Google Veo, Kling, Pika or Luma and get comparable results. You may need to trim length for models with shorter prompt limits.
A strong video prompt specifies five things: the subject and what it does, the camera movement, the lighting, the style or grade, and the pacing. Vague prompts like 'a cool city video' produce mushy results, while a prompt that names a slow dolly push, golden-hour light and a 24fps cinematic grade gives the model the structure it needs.
Upload your own still image to the model's image-to-video mode, then paste the prompt that contains the [UPLOADED IMAGE] placeholder. The instructions tell the model to keep your image intact and add specific motion — breathing, parallax, rotation — rather than regenerating the scene from scratch.
Most models generate clips between 4 and 10 seconds per prompt, with some extending to longer durations. For finished videos, generate several short clips with these prompts and stitch them together in an editor — that approach gives you far more control than trying to prompt one long take.
Warping usually comes from asking for too much fast motion, complex hand movements, or unclear camera direction. Slow the action down, keep camera moves simple and deliberate, and give the model one clear motion to focus on. The tips on each prompt point out the specific moves that tend to distort.

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