---
url: https://superduperai.co/library/camera-movement-vocabulary/
title: Camera movement vocabulary that video models understand
description: The 14 camera moves that generation models respond to reliably, with the phrasing that works and the phrasing that produces a wobbling mess.
category: generation
platforms: [any]
works_with: [veo, sora, kling, runway]
tags: [camera, text-to-video, image-to-video, veo, kling, runway, sora, cheatsheet]
difficulty: beginner
verified: false
created: 2026-11-01
---

# Camera movement vocabulary that video models understand

The 14 camera moves that generation models respond to reliably, with the phrasing that works and the phrasing that produces a wobbling mess.

## Prompt

```text
Use ONE of these per shot, written exactly like this:

static shot, locked-off camera
slow dolly in toward {subject}
slow dolly out revealing {setting}
slow push in on {detail}
tracking shot following {subject} from behind
tracking shot alongside {subject}, same speed
handheld follow, slight natural shake
slow pan left to right across {scene}
tilt up from {ground detail} to {face / sky}
slow orbit around {subject}, 90 degrees
crane shot rising above {scene}
drone shot, high altitude, slow forward
rack focus from {foreground} to {background}
whip pan to {new subject}

Avoid: 'dynamic camera', 'epic movement', 'cinematic camera work', combined moves ('dolly in while orbiting and tilting').
```

## Steps

1. Pick one move per clip. Combined moves are the single most common cause of warped geometry.
2. Prefix with 'slow' unless you want speed; models default to too fast.
3. Say where the move ends ('toward her face', 'revealing the harbour'): a move with a destination is drawn more steadily.

## Tips

- A static locked-off shot plus subject motion is the most reliable output of every current model. Use it for anything that must look clean.
- For image-to-video, camera moves that reveal what was outside the frame (dolly out, pan) force the model to invent pixels; dolly in and rack focus keep it inside what it has.

## Works with

- Veo: Google text-to-video / image-to-video prompts.
- Sora: OpenAI video generation prompts.
- Kling: Kling text/image-to-video prompts.
- Runway: Runway Gen prompts and camera controls.