Turn reference-video color and texture into usable AI prompts

1. Separate four things that can look like one style

A warm, rough-looking image might contain a brown object, a textured material, orange illumination, or grain added across the whole image. Keep those observations separate. Otherwise, a request for a warm texture leaves it unclear whether the model should change the object, the light, or the entire frame.

In this workflow, color-and-texture extraction means making a descriptive prompt card. It does not recover a source LUT, identify a material with certainty, or measure the original lighting setup. When you cannot tell how a look was made, describe its visible result.

Google DeepMind's Veo prompt guide treats visual style and lighting as separate creative choices. Use that distinction here: describe the surface first, then the light falling on it.

2. Inspect the beginning, middle, and end of one shot

Choose a short, continuous shot where the subject is visible. Pause near its beginning, middle, and end. If there is a cut to a new setup, make a separate card using the scene-by-scene workflow. A color that appears only during a transition is a poor anchor for the whole scene.

1. Assign color roles. Name the dominant background, the subject color, and one accent. Attach each to an object or area instead of listing disconnected color names.
2. Describe surfaces in plain language. Start with matte or glossy, smooth or rough, and any distinctive weave, speckle, scratch, or edge. If the material is uncertain, write what it looks like rather than insisting on a material name.
3. Track what changes. Does a bright patch slide across a surface while the object turns? Record that separately from a painted stripe that stays attached to it. Mark ambiguous details as uncertain.
4. Choose two invariants. For example: the mug stays rust red, and its fine speckles remain visible. These become your acceptance criteria for the next generation.

Check another frame before calling an isolated block or smear a texture. Do not build a detailed surface instruction around a feature you cannot see consistently. If a camera move changes the view, record that move separately with the camera movement guide.

3. Build a reusable color and texture card

Keep observation notes separate from the final prompt. A note can contain uncertainty; the prompt should contain only the visual decisions you want in the new scene. Replace the reference subject or setting with your own idea while carrying over selected color relationships and surface qualities.

Subject and setting: [your original scene]
Palette: [color + object or region for each role]
Surfaces: [object + visible texture + finish]
Lighting: [direction + visible effect on the surfaces]
Image treatment: [optional grain or other frame-wide look]
Motion: [one subject action and one camera behavior]
Keep consistent: [two visible properties to inspect]

Runway's text-to-video prompting guide recommends starting with the important visual and motion details, then refining as needed. Treat the card as a planning aid: your final prompt can be a few clear sentences, and optional fields can stay empty.

4. Write a prompt with something specific to check

These are original illustrative prompts, not reports of tested generations. They show three different decisions to inspect. Adapt them to your generator and compare actual outputs; the wording does not guarantee a matching result.

For an advertisement, add the product action only after its surfaces are described. The product ad templates can help you choose a shot idea; keep this card focused on how the product should look.

5. Compare the result before adding more adjectives

Review the generated clip at the same three stages: beginning, middle, and end. Score the two invariants as matched, partly matched, or missing. Keep the subject, action, and generation settings as steady as your tool allows while changing one description at a time. This is an iteration log, not a controlled performance benchmark.

• Color spreads to the wrong object: repeat the object-color pairing and remove any broad instruction that makes the whole scene the accent color.
• A surface changes during motion: simplify the movement for the next attempt and explicitly state which finish or pattern should persist.
• Everything looks gritty: remove frame-wide grain while checking the material texture. Reintroduce image treatment only after the object reads clearly.
• The palette matches but the shot feels wrong: compare framing, light direction, and motion separately. A color description cannot specify the entire shot.

Color and texture prompting FAQ