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The Ultimate Hailuo AI Prompts Guide: From Beginner to Pro

Sumia Rafique
Sumia Rafique updated Aug 01, 25

Hailuo AI, the powerful text-to-video model from Minimax, has opened up a new frontier for creators, allowing anyone to generate stunning video clips from simple text descriptions. However, unlocking its full potential requires more than just a single sentence. The art and science of "prompt engineering"—crafting detailed, specific instructions—is the key to transforming your creative vision into a cinematic reality.

This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about writing effective Hailuo AI prompts, from foundational formulas to advanced cinematic techniques.

In this article

Why is it important to Write Prompts?

Think of Hailuo AI as an incredibly talented but very literal film crew. If you give vague instructions like "a man walking," you'll get a generic, often uninspired result. The AI has to fill in countless details on its own: Who is the man? Where is he walking? What time of day is it? What is the mood?

Well-crafted prompts are the director's vision. They eliminate ambiguity and provide precise instructions. The impact is immediate and significant:

  • Higher Quality: Detailed prompts lead to richer textures, better lighting, and more believable environments.
  • Greater Control: You can dictate camera angles, character actions, and atmospheric mood, ensuring the output matches your intent.
  • Coherent Storytelling: For a sequence of clips, precise prompting is the only way to maintain consistency in character appearance, setting, and tone.
  • Fewer Re-rolls: A good prompt gets you closer to your desired output on the first try, saving you time and credits.

In short, the prompt is the single most important variable in AI video generation. Mastering it is the difference between creating random clips and directing a masterpiece.

Best Prompts Formulas for Hailuo AI

While you can be creative, top-tier results from Hailuo AI often follow a structured formula. Decomposing your idea into key components gives the AI a clear blueprint to follow. The most effective formula combines several elements in a logical order.

The Core Hailuo AI Prompt Formula

hailuo ai prompts guide

[Camera Shot + Motion] + [Subject + Description] + [Action] + [Scene + Description] + [Lighting] + [Style/Mood]

Here is a breakdown of each component:

Components Description Examples
Camera Shot + Motion Defines the virtual camera's position and movement. This should often come first to set the scene's perspective. Medium shot, slow panning right, extreme close-up, dolly zoom, drone shot flying over, POV shot
Subject + Description The main character or object of focus. Be as specific as possible to guide the AI's design. A grizzled old sailor with a white beard; A sleek, futuristic silver car; A young woman with long red hair wearing a green cloak
Action What the subject is doing. Use vivid, descriptive verbs. Staring intently at a compass; Speeding down a neon-lit highway; Casting a magical spell with glowing hands
Scene + Description The environment or background. Details here create a sense of place and depth. On the deck of a wooden ship during a storm; In a dense, foggy forest at night; Inside a bustling cyberpunk marketplace.
Lighting Describes the light source and quality. This has a massive impact on the video's mood. Golden hour sunlight; harsh fluorescent overhead lighting; dramatic Rembrandt lighting; soft moonlight
Style/Mood The overall aesthetic and emotional tone. This is your final instruction on the "feel" of the video. Cinematic movie style; hyper-realistic, 8k, photorealistic; somber and melancholic mood; epic fantasy style
promptsPro Tip: Using Weights for Emphasis

If a specific element is crucial, you can add "weight" to it by enclosing it in double parentheses

(( )). For example, A beautiful woman, ((wearing a red dress)) tells the AI to prioritize the red dress.

Best Examples of Hailuo AI Prompts

Let's apply the formula to create some powerful Minimax prompt examples. Below are a few prompts followed by video examples from the community that showcase what's possible with Hailuo AI.

Example 1: Romantic Meet

Source: Hailuo AI
prompts Prompts:

Inside the cozy morning light of FIORE24 SHOP, the camera slowly pans from left to right at a 30-degree angle, revealing a vintage-style cafe filled with flowers and soft warm lighting. Annie, a young woman in a pink dress, gently opens the front door. The bell rings softly as she walks in naturally.

K, the barista in a clean apron, looks up from the counter. Their eyes meet, and they exchange warm smiles. Annie walks toward the counter, and they begin a friendly, light-hearted conversation. Soft background music plays, with a hint of birds chirping outside.

K nods and begins preparing her coffee. The camera shifts slightly to show his hands skillfully pouring the coffee. He then serves the cup with care, placing it on the counter in front of Annie with a gentle smile. She thanks him, and they continue chatting casually, enjoying the quiet morning mood. The atmosphere is peaceful, filled with soft light filtering through the windows and flower decorations all around.

Example 2: Cinematic Scene

Source: Hailuo AI
prompts Prompts:

POV Camera: a Black BMW car escaping from the police car, high speed, and the car is destroyed in an impact, resulting in trashing. cinematic scene.

Example 3: AI ASMR Videos

Source: Hailuo AI
prompts Prompts:

A hyper-realistic, vertical slow-motion video in 9:16 aspect ratio showing a translucent glass pineapple placed upright on a sleek metal platform under a heavy industrial hydraulic press. The pineapple has a golden-yellow glass body with a diamond-cut texture and spiky green glass leaves on top. As the press slowly descends, the glass pineapple cracks and shatters dramatically into brilliant shards, with amber-colored glass fragments and glitter-like particles flying outward. The scene is lit with dramatic cinematic lighting that enhances the reflections and textures of the glass. The background is a dark workshop or industrial setting, with soft ambient glow highlighting the press and shattered remains. Emphasize a clean close-up shot of the crushing moment with intense detail and satisfying ASMR-style realism.

Tips for Writing Good Hailuo AI Video Prompts

hai luo ai prompts writing tips

Going from good to great requires a few advanced strategies. Here are some AI video prompt tips to elevate your creations.

1. Master Cinematic Language

Learn the terms used by directors and cinematographers. Using words like dolly zoom, dutch angle, establishing shot, match cut, and rack focus can produce sophisticated and advanced camera motions AI prompts.

2. The Challenge of Consistent Characters

Achieving consistent character AI video generation across multiple clips is a known challenge. To improve your chances:

  • Be Hyper-Specific: Don't just say "a man." Describe him in extreme detail: A 40-year-old man named Alex, with short brown hair, a small scar above his left eyebrow, wearing a worn brown leather jacket and blue jeans.
  • Use the Same Description: Copy and paste the exact character description into every prompt for that character.
  • Fix a Key Feature: Anchor the character with a unique, unchangeable feature, like ((a woman with a silver locket necklace)) to give the AI a consistent element to latch onto.

3. Build a Narrative with Shot Sequencing

To create a story, plan your clips like a film scene.

  • Shot 1 (Establishing): Wide shot of a medieval castle at dusk.
  • Shot 2 (Medium): Medium shot of a queen looking out a castle window.
  • Shot 3 (Close-up): Close-up on the queen's hand as she nervously twists a ring.

4. Avoid the "Cartoon" Look

If your renders look too animated, add specific style commands to your prompt to ground them in reality.

  • Add terms like: photorealistic, hyper-detailed, shot on Arri Alexa, 8k, cinematic movie style.
  • Specify lighting: natural lighting, soft light.
  • Use negative prompts if the feature is available: -prompt cartoon, anime, illustration.

How to Use Hailuo AI Image to Video Generator?

Hailuo also offers a powerful image-to-video feature, allowing you to animate still images. This is a great way to add motion to your art or photos.

  1. Upload Your Image: Start by selecting the image you want to animate. High-resolution, clear images work best.
    upload an image to hailuo ai
  2. Write a Motion Prompt: Instead of describing a full scene, your prompt should focus on the desired action. Describe what you want to happen in the image. For example, if you upload a picture of a calm lake, your prompt could be: "The water ripples gently, and clouds drift slowly across the sky."
    add prompts to hailuo ai image to video generator
  3. Control the Motion: Many tools, including Hailuo, offer parameters to control the intensity and direction of the motion. Experiment with these settings to get the perfect effect.
  4. Generate and Refine: Generate the video. If the motion isn't quite right, adjust your prompt or the motion parameters and try again.
    generate videos on hailuo ai

Without Writing Prompts: Turn Images into Stunning Videos with AI Templates

While mastering prompt engineering is rewarding, it can be complex and time-consuming. For creators who want professional results quickly and easily, there's a powerful alternative.

We recommend Wondershare Filmora, which offers an intuitive AI Image to Video generator perfect for users who prefer a more guided experience. Instead of writing complex prompts from scratch, Filmora leverages AI with user-friendly templates such as Earth Zoom effects, AI Explosion, AI flying, and more.

How Filmora Simplifies Video Creation?

  1. Download and install Filmora on your phone or computer.
    Try It Free Try It Free
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    Scan to get the Filmora App
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    Get it for Mac, PC, AndroidiOS
  2. Tap on Image to Video to activate the feature.
    activate image to video
  3. Tap on More Templates to explore all preset AI templates in the Filmora app. Upload an image and tap on Generate to start.
    tap on more video templates
  4. Pick a template and tap on it.
    pick an ai template
  5. Click on Generate to upload a photo.
    generate ai videos from templates
  6. Preview, edit, and save the video if you are satisfied.
    save the result

In addition to picking preset AI templates, you can also add your own prompts to customize the motion if you like. Our VEO3 image-to-video can create high-quality videos according to your texts and reference picture. Let's check the most popular prompts for VEO3 image to video generator.

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Conclusion

Hailuo AI puts the power of a film studio at your fingertips, but it's your prompts that act as the director. By understanding the core formula, studying examples, and applying advanced tips for cinematic control and character consistency, you can elevate your creations from simple clips to compelling visual stories.

Whether you choose to become a master prompter or leverage the streamlined power of template-based tools like Filmora, the future of video creation is here. Start experimenting, be specific, and bring your unique vision to life.

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