Veo 3.1 is Google's flagship video model and one of the strongest all-around choices for cinematic output. Its default look sits close to high-end stock footage, it handles fabric, hair and water physics convincingly, and it is the model where structured prompting pays off most: separate scene, camera, lighting and audio into distinct blocks.
How to prompt Veo 3.1 with JSON
Paste the JSON directly as your text prompt. Veo treats each block as a constraint. The highest-leverage blocks are lighting, where a named light source and quality affect realism, and audio, which is rendered natively and synchronized. Keep clips to one camera movement; stacked moves often produce unintended cuts.
Where to run it
Free tier: the Gemini app includes Veo generations with a daily cap, enough to test templates before committing. For serious volume use Flow or the Vertex AI / fal.ai APIs. Treat 8-second clips as the safest production default because 1080p, 4K and reference-image workflows require 8 seconds.
Limits to design around
Veo durations are 4, 6 or 8 seconds, with 8 seconds required for 1080p, 4K and reference images. Write templates as single shots, not scenes, and chain shots with a locked style block for continuity. Veo also refuses recognizable public figures and copyrighted characters; write archetypes instead ("a late-night host in his 60s", not a name).
Prompting rules for Veo 3.1
Veo 3.1 follows structured prompts unusually well: lock camera, lighting and audio as separate JSON fields.
Native audio: describe dialogue, ambient sound and music directly in the audio field.
Durations are 4, 6 or 8 seconds — but 1080p, 4K and reference images all require 8s, and extensions render at 720p only.
Use reference images for products, people or style frames where visual consistency matters.
Example template, Veo 3.1-shaped
The Veo 3.1 tab shows this site's block order for the model. Browse all 438 templates.
Google · duration 4s, 6s, or 8s (8s required for 1080p, 4K, or reference images) · 720p, 1080p, or 4K · audio native · verified 2026-07-11 - click any value to edit
{
"scene": "Downtown street at golden hour, soft haze",
"subject": "Young woman with brown hair and denim jacket",
"action": "Walks toward camera through light traffic",
"camera": {
"movement": "dolly_in"
},
"style": "Cinematic, natural light, gentle contrast",
"technical": {
"aspect_ratio": "16:9",
"duration_seconds": 8,
"negative_prompt": "extra people, text overlays, hands"
}
}
{
"scene": "Downtown street at golden hour, soft haze",
"subject": "Young woman with brown hair and denim jacket",
"action": "Walks toward camera through light traffic",
"camera": {
"lens_mm": 35,
"movement": "dolly_in",
"movement_speed": "slow"
},
"style": "Cinematic, natural light, gentle contrast",
"audio": "Soft indie guitar",
"technical": {
"aspect_ratio": "16:9",
"seed": 137421,
"lock_identity": true,
"lock_style": true,
"negative_prompt": "extra people, text overlays, hands",
"duration_seconds": 8,
"fps": 24,
"creativity": 0.4
}
}
{
"scene": "Downtown street at golden hour, soft haze",
"subject": "Young woman with brown hair and denim jacket",
"action": "Walks toward camera through light traffic",
"camera": {
"lens_mm": 35,
"movement": "dolly_in",
"movement_speed": "slow"
},
"style": "Cinematic, natural light, gentle contrast",
"audio": "Soft indie guitar",
"technical": {
"aspect_ratio": "16:9",
"seed": 137421,
"lock_identity": true,
"lock_style": true,
"negative_prompt": "extra people, text overlays, hands",
"duration_seconds": 8,
"fps": 24,
"creativity": 0.4
},
"production_notes": {
"prompt_level": "advanced",
"operator_checklist": "Confirm reference inputs, brand/logo handling, duration, audio support, and aspect ratio inside the target model before rendering."
}
}
Veo 3.1 follows structured prompts unusually well: lock camera, lighting and audio as separate JSON fields.
Native audio: describe dialogue, ambient sound and music directly in the audio field.
Kuaishou · duration expanded limits; exact caps vary by mode · mode-dependent · audio native audio-visual output · verified 2026-07-11 - click any value to edit
{
"subject": "Young woman with brown hair and denim jacket",
"action": "Walks toward camera through light traffic",
"scene": "Downtown street at golden hour, soft haze",
"camera": {
"movement": "dolly_in"
},
"style": "Cinematic, natural light, gentle contrast",
"technical": {
"aspect_ratio": "16:9",
"duration_seconds": 8,
"negative_prompt": "extra people, text overlays, hands"
}
}
{
"subject": "Young woman with brown hair and denim jacket",
"action": "Walks toward camera through light traffic",
"scene": "Downtown street at golden hour, soft haze",
"camera": {
"lens_mm": 35,
"movement": "dolly_in",
"movement_speed": "slow"
},
"style": "Cinematic, natural light, gentle contrast",
"audio": "Soft indie guitar",
"technical": {
"aspect_ratio": "16:9",
"seed": 137421,
"lock_identity": true,
"lock_style": true,
"negative_prompt": "extra people, text overlays, hands",
"duration_seconds": 8,
"fps": 24,
"creativity": 0.4
}
}
{
"subject": "Young woman with brown hair and denim jacket",
"action": "Walks toward camera through light traffic",
"scene": "Downtown street at golden hour, soft haze",
"camera": {
"lens_mm": 35,
"movement": "dolly_in",
"movement_speed": "slow"
},
"style": "Cinematic, natural light, gentle contrast",
"audio": "Soft indie guitar",
"technical": {
"aspect_ratio": "16:9",
"seed": 137421,
"lock_identity": true,
"lock_style": true,
"negative_prompt": "extra people, text overlays, hands",
"duration_seconds": 8,
"fps": 24,
"creativity": 0.4
},
"production_notes": {
"prompt_level": "advanced",
"operator_checklist": "Confirm reference inputs, brand/logo handling, duration, audio support, and aspect ratio inside the target model before rendering."
}
}
Kling prompt guidance emphasizes Subject, Movement, Scene, Camera Language and Lighting.
Write the action field as a shot note, not a keyword list.
ByteDance · duration 4-15s · 480p, 720p, 1080p, 4K ratios in Runway API · audio native synchronized audio on supported hosts · verified 2026-07-11 - click any value to edit
{
"camera": {
"movement": "dolly_in"
},
"subject": "Young woman with brown hair and denim jacket",
"action": "Walks toward camera through light traffic",
"scene": "Downtown street at golden hour, soft haze",
"style": "Cinematic, natural light, gentle contrast",
"technical": {
"aspect_ratio": "16:9",
"duration_seconds": 8,
"negative_prompt": "extra people, text overlays, hands"
}
}
{
"camera": {
"lens_mm": 35,
"movement": "dolly_in",
"movement_speed": "slow"
},
"subject": "Young woman with brown hair and denim jacket",
"action": "Walks toward camera through light traffic",
"scene": "Downtown street at golden hour, soft haze",
"style": "Cinematic, natural light, gentle contrast",
"audio": "Soft indie guitar",
"technical": {
"aspect_ratio": "16:9",
"seed": 137421,
"lock_identity": true,
"lock_style": true,
"negative_prompt": "extra people, text overlays, hands",
"duration_seconds": 8,
"fps": 24,
"creativity": 0.4
}
}
{
"camera": {
"lens_mm": 35,
"movement": "dolly_in",
"movement_speed": "slow"
},
"subject": "Young woman with brown hair and denim jacket",
"action": "Walks toward camera through light traffic",
"scene": "Downtown street at golden hour, soft haze",
"style": "Cinematic, natural light, gentle contrast",
"audio": "Soft indie guitar",
"technical": {
"aspect_ratio": "16:9",
"seed": 137421,
"lock_identity": true,
"lock_style": true,
"negative_prompt": "extra people, text overlays, hands",
"duration_seconds": 8,
"fps": 24,
"creativity": 0.4
},
"production_notes": {
"prompt_level": "advanced",
"operator_checklist": "Confirm reference inputs, brand/logo handling, duration, audio support, and aspect ratio inside the target model before rendering."
}
}
Use a strict block order: CAMERA -> SUBJECT -> ACTION -> ENVIRONMENT -> LIGHTING -> STYLE.
Keep the camera block to a shot type plus one movement; stacking moves degrades output.
Alibaba · duration workflow-dependent · 720p open-weights TI2V · audio none in base text/image-to-video pipeline · verified 2026-07-11 - click any value to edit
{
"subject": "Young woman with brown hair and denim jacket",
"action": "Walks toward camera through light traffic",
"scene": "Downtown street at golden hour, soft haze",
"camera": {
"movement": "dolly_in"
},
"style": "Cinematic, natural light, gentle contrast",
"technical": {
"aspect_ratio": "16:9",
"duration_seconds": 8,
"negative_prompt": "extra people, text overlays, hands"
}
}
{
"subject": "Young woman with brown hair and denim jacket",
"action": "Walks toward camera through light traffic",
"scene": "Downtown street at golden hour, soft haze",
"camera": {
"lens_mm": 35,
"movement": "dolly_in",
"movement_speed": "slow"
},
"style": "Cinematic, natural light, gentle contrast",
"technical": {
"aspect_ratio": "16:9",
"seed": 137421,
"lock_identity": true,
"lock_style": true,
"negative_prompt": "extra people, text overlays, hands",
"duration_seconds": 8,
"fps": 24,
"creativity": 0.4
}
}
{
"subject": "Young woman with brown hair and denim jacket",
"action": "Walks toward camera through light traffic",
"scene": "Downtown street at golden hour, soft haze",
"camera": {
"lens_mm": 35,
"movement": "dolly_in",
"movement_speed": "slow"
},
"style": "Cinematic, natural light, gentle contrast",
"technical": {
"aspect_ratio": "16:9",
"seed": 137421,
"lock_identity": true,
"lock_style": true,
"negative_prompt": "extra people, text overlays, hands",
"duration_seconds": 8,
"fps": 24,
"creativity": 0.4
},
"production_notes": {
"prompt_level": "advanced",
"operator_checklist": "Confirm reference inputs, brand/logo handling, duration, audio support, and aspect ratio inside the target model before rendering."
}
}
Wan 2.2 is the latest version with genuinely open, downloadable weights.
Open-weights Wan 2.2 has no native audio track in the base text/image-to-video pipeline.
Runway · duration 2-10s · 720p; output dimensions vary by aspect ratio · audio none in video generation · verified 2026-07-11 - click any value to edit
{
"subject": "Young woman with brown hair and denim jacket",
"action": "Walks toward camera through light traffic",
"camera": {
"movement": "dolly_in"
},
"scene": "Downtown street at golden hour, soft haze",
"style": "Cinematic, natural light, gentle contrast",
"technical": {
"aspect_ratio": "16:9",
"duration_seconds": 8,
"negative_prompt": "extra people, text overlays, hands"
}
}
{
"subject": "Young woman with brown hair and denim jacket",
"action": "Walks toward camera through light traffic",
"camera": {
"lens_mm": 35,
"movement": "dolly_in",
"movement_speed": "slow"
},
"scene": "Downtown street at golden hour, soft haze",
"style": "Cinematic, natural light, gentle contrast",
"technical": {
"aspect_ratio": "16:9",
"seed": 137421,
"lock_identity": true,
"lock_style": true,
"negative_prompt": "extra people, text overlays, hands",
"duration_seconds": 8,
"fps": 24,
"creativity": 0.4
}
}
{
"subject": "Young woman with brown hair and denim jacket",
"action": "Walks toward camera through light traffic",
"camera": {
"lens_mm": 35,
"movement": "dolly_in",
"movement_speed": "slow"
},
"scene": "Downtown street at golden hour, soft haze",
"style": "Cinematic, natural light, gentle contrast",
"technical": {
"aspect_ratio": "16:9",
"seed": 137421,
"lock_identity": true,
"lock_style": true,
"negative_prompt": "extra people, text overlays, hands",
"duration_seconds": 8,
"fps": 24,
"creativity": 0.4
},
"production_notes": {
"prompt_level": "advanced",
"operator_checklist": "Confirm reference inputs, brand/logo handling, duration, audio support, and aspect ratio inside the target model before rendering."
}
}
Runway recommends clear, direct language; text-to-video should describe both visual elements and motion.
Image-to-video prompts should focus on describing the motion of the scene.