Tutorial · 6 min
How to Write Seedance Mini Prompts for Better AI Video
Learning to write Seedance Mini prompts is the single biggest thing you can do to improve your results. The model is capable, but it can only render what you describe clearly. A vague prompt gives you a generic clip; a specific one gives you the shot you pictured.
This guide breaks down a repeatable structure, shows you exactly what words to add, and points out the common mistakes that waste credits. By the end you will be able to write a prompt that lands a usable clip on the first or second try.
The five-part prompt structure
Strong prompts follow a pattern: subject, action, setting, camera, and style. Name the subject precisely ("a silver tabby cat" beats "a cat"). State one clear action ("slowly stretches and yawns"). Ground it in a setting ("on a sunlit wooden windowsill"). Then direct the camera ("slow push-in") and set the look ("warm morning light, shallow depth of field").
Put the most important element first. The model weights the front of your prompt more heavily, so lead with the subject and its action, then layer the scene and the camera. Keep it to one or two sentences. Cramming five actions into one prompt usually produces a muddy clip where nothing reads clearly.
Words that direct the camera and light
Camera terms are your steering wheel. Useful ones include push-in, pull-back, slow pan left, tilt up, dolly, tracking shot, aerial, and handheld. Pick one per clip. Two competing moves in a 5 second window tend to fight each other and look unstable.
Lighting words set the mood instantly. Try golden hour, soft window light, neon glow, overcast, candlelit, or high-key studio lighting. Pair lighting with a lens cue like shallow depth of field or wide-angle to control how cinematic the frame feels. These few phrases do more for the result than any amount of extra adjectives.
Two example prompts you can adapt
Cinematic nature: "A lone red fox walks across fresh snow at dawn, breath visible in cold air, slow tracking shot from the side, soft golden light, shallow depth of field, cinematic." Notice the single subject, one action, one camera move, and a clear light.
Product hero: "A glass perfume bottle rotates slowly on a dark reflective surface, soft rim lighting catches the edges, slow push-in, minimalist, high-end commercial look." Same skeleton, different content. Reuse this structure and swap the nouns and verbs for almost any idea.
Do and don't
Do be concrete about one subject and one action. Do name the camera move and the lighting. Do match your aspect ratio to where the clip will live. Do iterate: change one variable at a time so you learn what each word does.
Don't stack multiple scenes into one prompt, since a single clip is 5 to 10 seconds and cannot hold a storyboard. Don't ask for on-screen text or readable logos, which AI video renders unreliably. Don't request sound, dialogue, or lip-sync; the model makes visuals only. And don't pile on ten adjectives hoping one sticks, because conflicting cues blur the output.
Frequently asked questions
- How long should a Seedance Mini prompt be?
- One to two clear sentences. Lead with the subject and action, then add setting, camera move, and style. Short, specific prompts beat long, cluttered ones.
- Why does my clip ignore part of my prompt?
- Usually because you asked for too much at once. A 5 to 10 second clip can show one main action well. Trim secondary actions and put the key element first.
- Can I put text or a logo in the video through the prompt?
- AI video renders readable text and logos unreliably. For clean branding, generate the motion clip and add text or your logo in an editor afterward.
- How do I get a more cinematic look?
- Add one camera move and one lighting cue, for example slow push-in with golden hour light and shallow depth of field. Those phrases drive the cinematic feel more than extra adjectives.