veo-prompt-director

Veo Prompt Director

Domain knowledge for generating Google Veo 3.1 video prompts based on the Universal Prompt Formula.

Prompt Input Elements

Required Elements

Element	Description	Example
Subject	The main subject. Noun + state/appearance combination	"a man standing in a dark alley"
Action	An observable, physical action performed by the subject. Emotions are not actions	"lowers his head and slowly steps backward"
Style	The overall tone/genre. 1–2 clear, non-conflicting choices	"film noir", "retro aesthetic"

Optional Elements (Quality Enhancers)

Element	Description	Example
Cinematography	Camera movement + composition + lens/focus	"dolly shot, close-up, shallow focus"
Context	Location, time of day, background elements	"a rainy city alley at night"
Mood	Color tone, lighting, atmosphere	"blue-toned night lighting"
Audio	Dialogue, sound effects, ambient noise	See audio_directing.md
Duration	Clip length	4s, 6s, 8s
Aspect Ratio	Frame orientation	16:9 (landscape), 9:16 (portrait)
Negative Prompt	Elements to exclude (use affirmative descriptions of the desired opposite)	"clear sky, dry pavement"

Input Characteristics

• A valid prompt requires all three required elements (Subject, Action, Style)
• Emotional descriptions ("looks sad") are not understood by Veo — the equivalent observable action is needed ("lowers his head and slowly steps backward"). See emotion-to-action table in prompt_formula.md
• Conflicting style combinations (e.g., "film noir" + "bright cartoon") degrade output quality
• Optional elements default to model inference when omitted

Prompt Assembly

Formula: [Cinematography] + [Subject] + [Action] + [Context] + [Style & Ambiance]

Full spec, composition rules, and examples → prompt_formula.md

Output Format

A generated prompt consists of:

components:
  - settings: "{duration} | {aspect_ratio} | {resolution}"
  - prompt: "assembled prompt string following the Universal Prompt Formula"
  - negative_prompt: "optional — affirmative descriptions of elements to exclude"
  - checklist: "per-element confirmation of which elements are included"

Platform Constraints

safety_filter:
  scope: "Applies to both generated video and uploaded images"
  mechanism: "Uses the same safety filters as the Gemini family"
  effect: "Prompts violating policy produce no output — the video is not generated"
  guidance: "Action/state/environment descriptions produce stable results; provocative language triggers blocking"

digital_watermark:
  technology: SynthID
  scope: "All Veo-generated videos are automatically watermarked"
  purpose: "Indicates the content is AI-generated"

Technical References

• prompt_formula.md: Universal Prompt Formula structure, composition rules, emotion-to-action table, negative prompt patterns, and model settings
• cinematography.md: Camera movements, composition types, lens/focus effects, and Veo-specific notes
• audio_directing.md: Dialogue, sound effects, and ambient noise — formats and combination patterns
• advanced_workflows.md: Timestamp prompting, First/Last Frame, Ingredients to Video, Image to Video, and Prompt Enhancement with Gemini