AI Video Prompt Engineering in Practice: A Complete Guide to Image-to-Video Techniques and Model Advantage Scenarios

In the previous two articles, we covered the basic formula and advanced techniques for text-to-video. But more often than not, you already have a good image in hand — it might be a Midjourney-generated illustration, or a real-life photograph — and you want to bring it to life.

This is the image-to-video scenario. This article will cover how to write prompts for image-to-video, as well as the four major advantage scenarios where Hailuo AI excels, helping you apply your prompts where they matter most.

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I. Image-to-Video Tutorial

The biggest difference between image-to-video and text-to-video is that the image appears as the first frame of the video, which already defines the subject's appearance and the basic aesthetic style. Therefore, the prompt for image-to-video can appropriately reduce the amount of information — you no longer need to describe "what it looks like," you only need to describe "what happens next."

1. Basic Formula for Image-to-Video

Basic Formula = Main subject in the first frame + Motion/Change

Since the model can accurately recognize visual information such as people and objects in the image, you only need to describe "what happens next."

Examples:

• "The little dog in the image, with blue light glowing in its eyes, and the messy clothes in front of the little dog also glow blue and slowly float up, then automatically fold neatly in the air and land in front of the little dog, after which the blue light in the little dog's eyes disappears."
• "The blue furry creature in the image keeps stirring the soup pot in front of it, with steam rising from the pot, after which the blue monster blows at the pot in front of it, and the soup bowl in front freezes into ice."

Note the way these two prompts are written: both first identify "the XX in the image" (telling the model to reference the subject in the image), then describe a series of actions and changes. Words like "after which" and "then" are used to string together the timeline, giving the actions a sequence.

2. Precise Formula for Image-to-Video

By adding camera and atmosphere information to the basic formula, you can generate videos with stronger dynamics or more obvious stylization:

Precise Formula = Main subject in the first frame + Motion/Change + Camera movement + Aesthetic atmosphere change

• Camera movement: Writing with the information in the image as a reference point can yield more precise results.
• Aesthetic atmosphere change: Although the first frame has already established the opening atmosphere, the model can still adjust the aesthetics.

Examples:

• "The cat in the image runs quickly toward the camera, with white electric light bursting from its eyes, then its entire body is surrounded by electric light, running faster and faster, with the scenery on both sides flying backward rapidly, and the scenes on both sides producing dynamic blur to form a space-time tunnel emitting white light."
• "Pull-back shot, a man runs toward the camera. The shadow behind him quickly catches up and grows huge. As the shadow closes in, it can be seen to be a humanoid creature with a goat's face, its face illuminated by a yellowish light, and the image's color tone becomes eerie, filled with a terrifying atmosphere."

Note in the second example, "the image's color tone becomes eerie" — this is an active rewrite of the first frame's atmosphere, showing that image-to-video also supports atmosphere transformation. You can turn a cozy image into a horror video, as long as you specify the direction of atmosphere change in the prompt.

Image-to-Video vs Text-to-Video Prompt Comparison

Dimension	Text-to-Video	Image-to-Video
Subject description	Needs detailed description	Already locked by image, brief description is enough
Scene description	Needs detailed description	Already locked by image, brief description is enough
Motion/Change	Must write	Must write
Camera movement	Optional	Optional, can reference elements in the image
Atmosphere control	Optional	Optional, can actively rewrite the first frame's atmosphere

One-sentence summary: Image-to-video prompts are lighter because you don't need to repeat information already present in the image — focus your energy on "what moves" and "how it moves."

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II. Model Advantage Performance

Understanding what the model excels at is the only way to apply prompts where they matter most. Hailuo AI performs outstandingly in the following four directions:

1. Vivid Emotional Expression

First-tier facial expression capability, able to output diverse and vivid expressions based on emotion-type prompts, precisely control the intensity of a single expression, and achieve smooth transitions between multiple expressions.

Example prompts:

• "In a café, a girl is listening to the boy across from her, her expression goes from happy, to suddenly surprised, and then becomes sad" — a single prompt contains smooth transitions among three emotions.
• "A woman walks toward the camera crying, behind her is the ruined city" — the combination of emotion and environment.
• "A blonde little boy looks at his exam paper in confusion, frowning, and then closes his eyes and cries in sorrow, while the classmates around him turn to look at him one after another" — individual emotion triggering a group reaction.

Writing tip: Use temporal words like "first... suddenly... then..." to string together emotional changes, giving the transitions a sense of rhythm. This is the core of emotion prompts — not just writing one expression, but writing an evolution of emotions.

2. Realistic Human Body Dynamics

Can accurately reproduce complex human body dynamics such as roller skating, weightlifting, and jumping, and also supports the movement of non-real characters such as mechanical bodies.

Example prompts:

• "Fast roller skating, pull-back follow"
• "Weightlifting, lifted overhead"
• "A mechanical humanoid jumps between suspended platforms in the city sky, the camera follows and pulls back, the mechanical humanoid lands on a suspended platform, then immediately jumps to the next platform, continuously approaching the frame."

Writing tip: Human body dynamics prompts should clearly describe the mechanical logic of the action — takeoff, airborne, landing, each stage must be present. Short prompts (such as "fast roller skating") are suitable for simple actions, while long prompts are suitable for continuous compound actions.

3. Cinematic Explosion Effects

Can conveniently produce film-grade explosion effects, including scenarios such as vehicles passing through explosions, mechanical dragons emerging from ruins, and explosives detonating inside warehouses.

Example prompts:

• "In an abandoned factory area illuminated by firelight, a white sedan shuttles through a massive explosion, with burning buildings and flying debris drawing brilliant trails of fire in the air. Low-angle shot, following the sedan through the explosion scene, capturing its thrilling speed and dazzling firelight."
• "Inside a dilapidated warehouse, dust is flying, and the air is filled with thick smoke and the smell of gunpowder. Suddenly, the explosives detonate, and violent firelight and thick smoke instantly engulf the entire frame, with flames dancing on the walls. Broken wooden boards and metal parts fly in all directions, the camera shakes violently in the explosion's tremors, and the surrounding light changes unpredictably with the flickering of the firelight."

Writing tip: Explosion scenes should be written in multiple layers — firelight, debris, camera shake, light changes, none can be missing. Especially don't forget "camera shake" — this detail can greatly enhance the realism of the explosion.

4. Concept Combination

Extremely strong generalization ability, able to arbitrarily combine multiple different material/feature concepts, freely creating the desired imagery.

Example prompts:

• "A feline creature with zebra stripes walking across a vast desert" — zebra stripes × feline × desert
• "A horse with leopard spots slowly walking in the snow" — leopard spots × horse × snow
• "A cute little rabbit with dragonfly wings, flying in the blue sky" — rabbit × dragonfly wings × sky
• "Close-up shot of a spider made of white crystal crawling on a child's palm, with brilliant crystal columns growing on the spider's back, reflecting colorful rays of light, surrounded by a dark cave" — crystal × spider × cave

Writing tip: The key to concept combination is "material substitution" and "feature grafting." Using the "B of A" structure (such as a cat with zebra stripes) can trigger the combination ability. First think of two unrelated concepts, then combine them with connecting words like "with," "made of," "striped," to create creatures that don't exist.

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III. Real-World Application Cases

This prompt methodology has been validated in multiple real-world projects:

• WAIC Artificial Intelligence Conference: Conference promotional video production
• Hailuo AI "Halloween Promotional Video": Holiday-themed commercial short film
• AI Short Drama "Kill that old man": Complete narrative short drama

These cases prove that after mastering prompt techniques, AI video is now capable of commercial-grade and narrative-grade content creation, no longer limited to simple special effects demonstrations.

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IV. Summary: Prompt Writing Cheat Sheet

Scenario	Formula	Core Points
Text-to-Video (free creation)	Subject + Scene + Motion/Change	Complete information is enough, leave room for the model's imagination
Text-to-Video (precise control)	Subject + Scene + Motion/Change + Camera + Atmosphere	Camera with timing, atmosphere sets the tone
Image-to-Video (basic)	First-frame subject + Motion/Change	Image already locks the subject, only write the dynamics
Image-to-Video (precise)	First-frame subject + Motion/Change + Camera + Atmosphere change	Can actively rewrite the first frame's atmosphere

Four Golden Rules:

• Precision over verbosity — every word must point to a visual
• Timing is the soul of the camera — use "first... then... finally..." to connect
• Color tone and saturation are the switches of emotion — warm/cold/dark determines the perception
• Keep camera complexity within 5-6 seconds — greed leads to loss

The threshold for AI video generation lies not in the model, but in the prompt. When you can think in words like a director — where the subject is, how the camera moves, what tone the atmosphere has — you have already grasped the essence of this new language.