The Universal Baseline
This short list fixes the most common failure modes across every content type. Start here before adding anything scene-specific:
- morphing — objects melting into each other mid-clip
- warping — background geometry bending unnaturally
- distorted face — features drifting or smearing
- extra fingers / extra limbs — the classic anatomy failure
- blurry — global softness, usually from fast motion
- flickering — brightness or texture strobing between frames
- low quality — general fidelity floor
When Negative Prompts Backfire
Negatives are subtractive instructions, not magic. Two rules keep them safe: don't exclude things your prompt needs (adding 'cartoon' to negatives while prompting anime style will fight itself), and don't stack dozens of terms — over-long negative lists dilute every entry and can flatten overall quality.
Our rule of thumb: baseline seven terms plus at most three scene-specific exclusions.
Beyond Negatives: Fixing the Root Cause
Some artifacts trace back to the positive prompt, not missing negatives: face distortion usually comes from extreme camera moves; flickering often comes from conflicting motion instructions. If a specific artifact survives a targeted negative, simplify your camera language first — then reach for longer exclusion lists.