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- Veo 3 VFX Prompts that Look Like $100K Ads
Welcome back to The Signal, a weekly letter where I share stories, trends, strategies and insights to help you level up as an entrepreneur and win on the internet.
Today’s we’ll be talking about 10 helpful prompts you should have in your arsenal.
If you’re coming from my latest Instagram Post, you’re probably looking for the insane text-to-video VFX prompts.
Many of the prompts below are structured as JSON, which is a way to control every detail of a video, like scene, camera, lighting, character, and audio, to get more precise and consistent results.
You can simply copy and paste into your text-to-video model of choice. The best-in-class is of course Google’s VEO 3. I generally use the model through Freepik, but it’s also available on Krea and of course Google Flow.
IKEA bedroom explosion ad
Original prompt structure by Salma Aboukarr
Prompt:
metadata:
prompt_name: "IKEA Empty Room Assembly"
base_style: "cinematic, photorealistic, 4K"
aspect_ratio: "16:9"
room_description: "An empty, large, sunlit Scandinavian room with white walls and light wood floors."
camera_setup: "A single, fixed, wide-angle shot. The camera does not move for the entire 8-second duration."
key_elements:
- "A sealed IKEA box with logo visible"
assembled_elements:
- "bed with white duvet"
- "yellow IKEA throw blanket"
- "bedside tables"
- "lamps"
- "wardrobe"
- "shelves"
- "mirror"
- "art"
- "rug"
- "curtains"
- "potted plants"
negative_prompts: ["no people", "no text overlays", "no distracting music"]
timeline:
- sequence: 1
timestamp: "00:00-00:01"
action: "In the center of the otherwise empty room, a sealed IKEA box sits on the floor and begins to tremble gently."
audio: "Low, subtle rumbling sound. The echo of a large, empty room."
- sequence: 2
timestamp: "00:01-00:02"
action: "The box seams burst open with a puff of cardboard dust."
audio: "A sharp 'POP' sound, followed by tearing cardboard."
- sequence: 3
timestamp: "00:02-00:06"
action: "Hyper-lapse: From the fixed wide perspective, furniture pieces fly out of the box and assemble themselves, creating all the items from the 'assembled_elements' list."
audio: "A cascade of satisfying, fast-paced ASMR sounds: whirring, clicking, wood snapping into place."
- sequence: 4
timestamp: "00:06-00:08"
action: "The final piece—the yellow throw blanket—gracefully lands on the newly formed bed. The room is now perfectly furnished and serene. All motion ceases."
audio: "All chaotic sounds stop. A single, soft 'fwoomp' as the blanket lands. The sound of a furnished, quiet room."
Jeep Unboxed Advertisement
Original prompt structure by Guillermo Castellanos
{ "description": "Epic cinematic shot in a wild, remote landscape. A rugged, mechanical expedition crate splits open, its panels unfolding to reveal a fully-equipped Jeep Wrangler Rubicon at the center of an adventure-ready basecamp at sunset.", "style": "cinematic, gritty, realistic, epic", "camera": "medium wide shot, steady, with a slow push-in as the vehicle is revealed", "lighting": "dramatic golden hour, long shadows, lens flare, warm functional light from the camp gear", "location": "Moab desert canyon at sunset", "elements": [ "Jeep Wrangler Rubicon (dirty, mud-splattered)", "mechanical unfolding crate with Jeep logo", "rooftop tent (already deployed)", "glowing LED camp lights", "a few solar panels", "durable camping chairs", "dust and grit in the air" ], "motion": "The crate's panels mechanically unlock and fold outward with audible clicks, revealing the Jeep within. Dust gently swirls from the movement.", "ending": "A stunning, adventure-ready scene with the rugged Jeep as the hero, ready for exploration.", "text": "none", "keywords": [ "4k", "hyperrealistic", "Jeep", "reveal", "adventure", "off-road", "basecamp", "rugged", "golden hour", "cinematic", "no people", "unfolding crate" ] }
Tesla Lab Assembly
Original prompt structure by Michael Luo
{ "description": "Cinematic shot of a minimalist Tesla-branded crate magically opening to reveal a fully formed Tesla vehicle and an instantly assembled, sleek Tesla-themed showroom around it. No text.", "style": "cinematic", "camera": "fixed wide angle, with subtle zooms on key transformations", "lighting": "controlled, high-tech, transitioning from dim to bright and clean", "room": "empty futuristic space transforming into a minimalist Tesla showroom", "elements": [ "Tesla-branded crate (glowing seams)", "Tesla vehicle (e.g., Model 3/Y/Cybertruck)", "charging station", "minimalist display panels", "sleek showroom furniture", "ambient lighting elements" ], "motion": "crate panels retract smoothly and silently, car revealed, showroom elements rise/unfold precisely and rapidly", "ending": "pristine, inviting Tesla showroom with car as centerpiece", "text": "none", "keywords": [ "16:9", "Tesla", "magic assembly", "showroom", "innovation", "futuristic", "no text", "clean design", "reveal" ] }
Apple Advertisement
{ "description": "An elegant, high-end animated sequence on a seamless soft white background. At the center, a minimalist Apple-branded iPhone box (logo embossed subtly). The box levitates gently, opens with a slow, graceful motion. Products—latest iPhone (edge lighting glowing softly), AirPods Pro (case opening with fluid animation), MagSafe charger (magnetically snapping into place), and a sleek Apple Watch band (unfurling delicately)—float into formation with precision. Silver, space gray, and ceramic white tones dominate, creating a refined, sophisticated mood. No hard cuts—only smooth, continuous movement. Text: 'iPhone – Innovation Refined.'", "style": "cinematic, premium minimalism, Apple aesthetic", "camera": "starts ultra close on embossed Apple logo, gentle dolly out with floating camera motion, subtle parallax for depth", "lighting": "soft, diffused illumination with delicate reflections and shadows, evoking a calm premium feel", "room": "infinite seamless white environment—no walls, no floor—just soft gradients and floating products", "elements": [ "Apple-branded iPhone box (subtle emboss, matte finish)", "latest iPhone with subtle edge glow animation", "AirPods Pro case with smooth lid animation", "MagSafe charger snapping into place magnetically", "Apple Watch band unfurling in slow motion", "no extra decor—pure focus on the products" ], "motion": "Box levitates gently, opens in a slow, elegant lift. Products float up, rotate gracefully, align themselves into a symmetrical formation with seamless, natural motion—no sharp cuts.", "ending": "Perfectly balanced Apple product display in a soft white space. 'iPhone – Innovation Refined' text fades in with delicate typography.", "text": "iPhone – Innovation Refined", "keywords": [ "16:9", "Apple", "iPhone", "minimalistic", "premium aesthetic", "silver, white, space gray", "fluid assembly", "elegant motion", "soft lighting", "no hard cuts", "calm luxury" ] }
Transformer-like Transitions
Original prompt structure by Kevin Olivieri
{ "description": "The scene opens on a smooth, metallic silver egg resting in the center of a vast, gritty industrial hangar. Suddenly, glowing seams etch across its surface, and the egg doesn't unfold—it fractures. With a surge of energy, armored plates unlock and pull back, revealing a complex mechanical skeleton within. In a rapid, violent, and intricate sequence, components shift, rotate, and telescope outwards. Two massive legs slam down onto the concrete floor, followed by a powerful tail whipping out for balance. The main body expands upwards as a monstrous head, filled with razor-sharp metallic teeth, constructs itself piece by piece, all originating from the initial egg's mass.", "style": "Hyper-detailed, industrial mecha CGI. The aesthetic is inspired by 'Transformers' and 'Pacific Rim,' focusing on complex, hard-surface mechanics, intricate moving parts, and a sense of immense weight and power.", "camera": "A single, dynamic continuous shot. Starts as a close-up on the egg, then pulls back and orbits the transformation, dipping low to the ground as the legs impact and craning up to reveal the final, massive scale of the fully formed T-Rex. The camera shakes slightly with the impacts.", "lighting": "Begins with stark, top-down industrial lighting on the egg. As the transformation begins, a glowing blue power core ignites within the chest, casting internal light through the gaps in the armor. Sparks fly from grinding metal parts. The final lighting is dominated by the T-Rex's own glowing red optical sensors.", "setting": "A vast, dark, and gritty industrial hangar with a weathered concrete floor and visible support beams in the background, adding to the sense of scale.", "elements": [ "smooth metallic silver egg", "glowing energy seams", "shifting armor plates", "exposed pistons, gears, and hydraulics", "a glowing internal power core", "powerful robotic legs and claws", "telescoping tail", "razor-sharp metallic teeth", "piercing red optical sensors (eyes)" ], "motion": "A violent, multi-layered mechanical reconfiguration. The motion is not fluid but clunky and purposeful, defined by panels sliding, parts rotating 180 degrees, and pistons firing to lock limbs into place. It's a symphony of grinding gears, hissing pneumatics, and heavy, metallic 'clunks' as each component finds its final position. The transformation should feel engineered and explosive.", "ending": "The fully constructed robotic T-Rex stands in a low, predatory stance. It throws its head back, and its optical sensors flare to life with a piercing red glow as it lets out a deafening, synthesized metallic roar that echoes through the hangar.", "text": "As the final transformation completes, steam erupts from vents on its neck and shoulders.", "keywords": [ "mecha", "robot", "T-Rex", "transformer", "transformation", "mechanical", "industrial", "hard surface modeling", "CGI", "sci-fi", "complex", "panel shifting", "robot dinosaur", "cybernetic", "explosive" ] }
