How to write a video prompt

A video prompt for Claude Code works best in five parts: FORMAT (canvas, frame rate and length), SCENES (what happens when, in seconds), STYLE (colors, fonts, sizes and the safe area), SOUND (which sound at which second, how loud) and RENDER (check, look at snapshots, fix, render, report). Each part removes a guess, and guesses are where generic-looking videos come from.

This is the structure behind the "5-button combo" in Motion Cheat Code, explained here so you can write your own.

The five parts

A complete example

A seven-second tip reel, written in full:

Make this with HyperFrames. The brief is complete: build it straight away, no interview.

FORMAT
- 1080x1920, 30 fps, 7.0 s. Project: tip-steps/ (npx hyperframes init tip-steps --non-interactive --resolution portrait).

SCENES
- 0.0 to 0.4 s: plain light background.
- 0.4 s: title "3 STEPS TO A CLEAN DESK" rises 40 px into place at y 420 (0.5 s, power3.out).
- 1.4 s: step 1 "Clear everything" slides in from the left at y 760 (0.35 s, power3.out).
- 2.2 s: step 2 "Keep three things" slides in at y 900 the same way.
- 3.0 s: step 3 "Reset every evening" slides in at y 1040.
- 3.5 to 5.8 s: hold. A yellow highlighter swipes behind "every evening" at 3.8 s (0.3 s).
- 5.8 s: everything fades out in 0.2 s. Hold the empty frame to the end.
- Variables: the title and the three steps, with these texts as defaults.

STYLE
- Background #F4F1E8, text #0A0A0B, highlight #FFE600.
- Headline font from a local file, 96 px; steps 56 px. All text inside x 60 to 940, y 250 to 1440.

SOUND
- sfx/swish.wav on each step at 1.4, 2.2 and 3.0 s, volume 0.3.
- sfx/pop.wav at 0.4 s, volume 0.4.

RENDER
- Run npx hyperframes check and fix every error. Snapshot 1.0, 3.2 and 5.0 s and look at them.
- Render to renders/tip-steps.mp4. Report the path, the length and what you fixed.

Write SCENES in seconds

The SCENES part is where most prompts are weak. Give every beat a time, a position and a movement with an ease and a duration. These timing rules keep motion readable on a phone:

• Entrances take 0.25 to 0.6 s with an ease-out; exits are faster, 0.15 to 0.3 s.
• No more than three things start at the same moment. Stagger the rest by 0.04 to 0.12 s.
• Reading time: about 0.3 s per word, and at least 1.2 s per screen.
• No dead air: nothing should sit still for more than about 0.6 s, except the final hold.
• Hold the last frame 0.8 to 1.2 s so the loop or the cut feels clean.

If you are not sure of a value, describe it in words ("a quick, bouncy pop") and let Claude Code pick numbers; then adjust the result.

STYLE, SOUND and RENDER

STYLE works best with exact values: hex colors, font files, sizes in pixels and the safe box for the format (see Reels safe zones). Fonts should come from local files, not a web link, so the render does not depend on a download.

SOUND names the file, the second and the volume. Hits go where the motion lands; whooshes start a little before. See adding sound effects on the beat.

RENDER is the line people skip, and the one that makes results reliable. Asking Claude Code to run the checks, look at its own snapshots and fix what is off means problems get caught before you see the video.

Six common mistakes

1. No times. "Animate the title" lets Claude Code guess when and how fast.
2. Text in the danger zone. The bottom 480 px, the right 140 px and the top 250 px get covered by the app.
3. Everything at once. More than three things moving at the same moment reads as noise.
4. No time to read. Viewers cannot pause a hook. Give each line its reading time.
5. Sound on everything. One sound per real event; about two per second at most.
6. Made-up proof. Invented numbers, prices or reviews. Put your real ones in the prompt.

Short prompts, once a template exists

The long form is for building something new. Once a design is a template with variables, a one-line prompt is enough: "Use t09. Count to 12,480 and label it NEW MEMBERS. Render." The structure is still there; the template supplies the parts you did not write.

Every build prompt in Motion Cheat Code uses these five parts, and the free starter kit includes three of them to copy and change.