Prompt Engineering Skill

This skill provides patterns and techniques for crafting effective prompts for AI content generation.

Core Philosophy: Performance-First

The recommended approach is Performance-First (hallucination-based):

mermaid

graph LR
    A[Generate with vague prompt] --> B[Listen/Watch outputs]
    B --> C[Choose best performance]
    C --> D[Write precise prompt to match]
    D --> E[Refine if needed]

This works better than writing detailed prompts upfront because:

•AI often produces surprising creative results
•You can match prompt to what sounds/looks good
•Iteration is faster than perfecting prompts blind

Music Prompt Patterns

Structure Tag Format (MiniMax/Suno/Udio)

code

[Genre/Style]
[Instrumentation Tags]
[Production Quality Tags]
Descriptive mood sentence

Weighted Prompt Format (Lyria)

code

Primary style description, secondary element, tertiary element

Lyria interprets natural language; avoid square brackets.

Effective Keywords by Genre

Genre	Keywords
Jazz	walking bass, brushed drums, Rhodes piano, swing feel
Blues	delta, slide guitar, 12-bar, raw, vintage amplifier
Cinematic	orchestral, sweeping strings, timpani, film score
Electronic	synthesizer, 808, sidechain, drop, build-up
Lo-fi	vinyl crackle, dusty, tape saturation, mellow

Video Prompt Patterns

Scene Description Formula

code

[Subject] [Action] [Setting]
[Lighting Condition]
[Camera Movement]
[Visual Style]

Example Breakdown

code

A solitary astronaut floats in a space station     # Subject + Action + Setting
soft Earth-glow lighting, reflective visor          # Lighting
slow push-in camera movement                        # Camera
Interstellar inspired, 4K film grain               # Style

Camera Keywords Cheat Sheet

Movement	Effect
push-in / dolly in	Building tension
pull-out / dolly out	Reveal context
tracking / follow	Dynamic connection
pan / tilt	Survey scene
crane / jib	Dramatic scale
handheld	Documentary feel
steadicam	Smooth following
static / locked	Contemplative

Lighting Keywords

•golden hour: Warm, directional
•blue hour: Cool, moody
•rim light: Subject definition
•soft box: Studio quality
•natural: Documentary authentic
•neon: Cyberpunk aesthetic
•volumetric: Atmospheric fog/rays

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

❌ Over-specification

code

# Too rigid - AI has no creative room
"Exactly 4 violins playing C major chord at 120dB"

❌ Conflicting instructions

code

# Contradictory styles
"Upbeat melancholy fast-paced relaxing track"

❌ Negative prompts (usually don't work)

code

# Avoid negatives
"No drums, no bass, no guitars"

✅ Better approach

code

# Clear positive direction
"Solo piano, minimalist, sparse arrangement, ambient"

Iteration Strategy

•Start broad: "Jazz piano trio"
•Add specifics: "Cool jazz piano trio, late night feel"
•Add production: "Cool jazz piano trio, late night, vinyl warmth, Rudy Van Gelder style"
•Lock winning elements: Keep what works, vary what doesn't

Provider-Specific Tips

Lyria

•Shorter prompts often work better
•Temperature controls variation (higher = more creative)
•BPM is respected accurately

MiniMax

•Structure tags [Verse], [Chorus] work well
•Reference audio URL provides style transfer
•Longer prompts with detail work fine

Veo

•Cinematic keywords improve quality
•Aspect ratio affects composition framing
•Action verbs produce better motion

Kling

•Highly detailed prompts work best
•Longer generations (10s) often better than 5s
•Camera movement keywords are respected