Models / Veo / Image to video

Veo image to video prompting guide

How to prompt Veo in image-to-video (start frame) mode. Every point links its source; community tips are marked. Your agent gets the same guide through the Atlas MCP (get_guide).

Prompt structure

camera→action→audio→style ambiance

• Five-part formula: [Cinematography] + [Subject] + [Action] + [Context] + [Style & Ambiance]; cinematography is the most powerful element for tone. source ↗

What the text should describe

• image = initial image to animate; Veo 3.1 has stronger prompt adherence and audio when turning images into videos. source ↗

Camera vocabulary

• Movement: dolly, tracking, crane, aerial, slow pan, POV. Composition: wide, close-up, extreme close-up, low angle, two-shot. Lens: shallow depth of field, wide-angle, soft focus, macro, deep focus. source ↗

Responds well to

• Audio: dialogue in quotes (A woman says, "..."), 'SFX: ...', 'Ambient noise: ...'. source ↗

Duration and limits

• Text input limit 1,024 tokens. durationSeconds 4, 6 or 8; must be 8 with reference images, extension, or 1080p/4k. Aspect 16:9 or 9:16. Extension: +7 s up to 20 times, up to 148 s total, 720p only, Veo-generated input only. source ↗

Multi-shot

• Timestamp prompting: [00:00-00:02] shot one ... [00:02-00:04] shot two, each with camera, action, SFX or emotion. source ↗

Avoid and failure modes

• Phrase exclusions positively: 'a desolate landscape with no buildings or roads' rather than 'no man-made structures'. source ↗
• Creators report an unwanted slow-motion feel on Veo 3.1; state real-time speed explicitly (community report, unverified). community source ↗

Negative prompt

Supported via negativePrompt. source ↗

Real prompts, credited

POV shot of a person riding a bicycle through the ancient Indian Kosala kingdom, dusty stone road leading toward a grand fortified city of Kosala, traditional Mauryan era architecture, carved sandstone gates, ancient temples and marketplaces on both sides, people in dhotis and sarees, bullock carts and horses passing by

Next

Sources

• ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/veo
• cloud.google.com/blog/products/ai-machine-learning/ultimate-prompting-guide-for-veo-3-1
• x.com/IamNiccoloRizzo/status/2100524532658544932