Visual Prompt Engineering

Text-to-image and text-to-video systems require a different approach to prompt engineering that considers both content and stylistic elements. Effective visual prompts often specify:

Subject matter: The primary subject and any secondary elements

Style and artistic influence: Specific artistic styles, periods, or named artists whose work should influence the output

Technical parameters: Aspect ratio, camera angle, lighting conditions (e.g., "golden hour lighting", "dramatic side lighting"), depth of field, and rendering quality (e.g., "photorealistic", "8K resolution", "detailed textures")

Composition: How elements should be arranged (e.g., "close-up", "aerial view", "rule of thirds composition")

Mood and atmosphere: The emotional tone or atmosphere (e.g., "serene", "dystopian", "whimsical")

For example, instead of "mountains", an effective visual prompt might be: "Majestic snow-capped mountains at sunrise, dramatic alpenglow, ultra-wide angle, 8K landscape photography, volumetric golden hour lighting, crisp details, aspect ratio 16:9"

Text-to-video prompts typically include additional temporal elements like camera movement (e.g., "slow pan from left to right"), scene transitions, and action descriptions.