Seedance Prompt Forge

Seedance Prompt Forge

Turn an idea, draft prompt, reference set, or failed generation into a copy-ready Seedance 2.5 prompt. Prompts are flexible natural language built from optional components; every reference material gets an explicit role.

Sources: the Dreamina Seedance 2.5 Prompt Writing Guide and its official BytePlus release. Do not apply these templates to other Seedance versions without checking that version's own guidance. Platform behaviours described here are documented for Dreamina or for the surfaces the guide explicitly names; verify the controls available on the user's product or API.

Pick a route

Routes B and C both end by re-entering Route A step 3.

Core structure

Components, in priority order:

Subject + Action/Event + Scene/Environment + Visual Style + Camera Movement/Cut + Audio

• Lead with what you want generated: the subject and its primary action or event.
• Add only the components that matter; omit the rest.
• Keep generation parameters (duration, aspect ratio, resolution, audio toggle) out of the prompt. They are set on the generation page or through the API.

<Subject> performs <primary action or event> in <scene and environment>.
The visuals feature <visual style>.
Use <shot size, camera angle, camera movement, or cuts>.
Audio includes <dialogue, ambience, sound effects, or music>.

Worked examples of complete briefs turned into finished prompts: references/core-and-examples.md.

Running without code execution

scripts/lint_prompt.py is optional. Where it cannot run — a chat-only assistant, a Custom GPT without Code Interpreter, a project with no shell — do not skip the checks; perform them by reading. In order, on the drafted prompt:

1. List every @Image/@Video/@Audio number in the body. Each one must appear in a role line. Any that does not is an error.
2. Numbers of each kind must run 1, 2, 3… with no gaps.
3. No collective binding ("@Images 1 through 4 define four characters respectively").
4. No <angle-bracket placeholder> left unfilled.
5. Time ranges consecutive, non-overlapping, each moving forward. No frequency demands.
6. On editing / extension / first-last-frame tasks: no aspect ratio, duration, or resolution request anywhere in the prompt.
7. Scene and environment references carry an exclusion or an "only …" scope.
8. Replacement edits state an exact target count and a [Timeline Inheritance] block.
9. {} and 【】 balanced; non-Chinese dialogue preceded by a stated language.

State which checks were run by reading rather than by running, so the user knows.

Route A — Author

A1. Identify the task type and load guidance

Read the matching reference file(s) before drafting. More than one may apply.

A2. Collect the brief — ask only about blockers

Two classes of missing information. Treat them differently.

Blocking — you cannot write a correct prompt without it. Ask.

• Which reference material corresponds to which character, prop, or scene.
• Edit target and edit scope, for an editing task.
• Extension direction (forward or backward), for an extension task.
• Keyframe order and which image is first/last, for keyframe tasks.
• Which video is before-transition and which is after, for a transition task.
• The primary action or event, if no action is stated at all.

Non-blocking — choose a sensible default, label it, and move on. Do not ask.

• Visual style, lighting, colour, mood.
• Shot sizes and camera movement.
• Ambience, sound effects, music.
• Stage count and pacing for a long video.

Ask at most one round of questions, batched. Then draft. Every default you chose appears in an Assumptions list under the prompt so the user can overturn it in one line. A prompt with labelled assumptions is more useful than a question.

A3. Draft

Follow the template for the task type. Universal rules:

• Name and bind every distinct character, product, and prop to its reference material individually. Never write "@Images 1 through 4 define four characters respectively" — that states no mapping.
• State what each reference provides and what to exclude ("Do not use the image background", "Do not use the person's identity, clothing, or scene from the video").
• When a reference video already defines motion, camera, or sequence, state only which attributes to inherit; do not restate the full action.
• Put non-Chinese dialogue in {} and state the language (plus accent and delivery) before the line.
• Pair abstract emotions and uncommon camera terms with directly visible or audible results.
• Use stages with end states for multi-event videos; treat timestamps as time budgets, not frame-accurate edit points.
• Keep subject count, clothing, prop ownership, spatial relationships, and audio relationships consistent across stages and scenes.
• Leave no <angle-bracket placeholder> unfilled in the delivered prompt.

A4. Check

Where code execution is available, run the linter for the mechanical checks:

python3 scripts/lint_prompt.py draft.txt --task edit

Where it is not, work the nine manual checks above instead.

Then run the judgement checks in references/checklist.md, applying only the blocks that match the task type. Fix what the linter flags before delivering; if a flag is a false positive, say why in one line rather than silently ignoring it.

A5. Deliver

Return the copy-ready prompt in a single code block, then:

• Parameters to set yourself: duration, ratio, resolution, audio toggle — and which of them are locked by this task type and cannot be set.
• Material order: list the intended order of materials so @Image 1 resolves to the material the prompt calls @Image 1. Present this as the order to supply them in, not as a documented platform rule — the source guide does not specify how numbering is assigned.
• Assumptions: every non-blocking default you chose, one line each.

Do not add unrequested variants. When iterating, change one major variable at a time and keep unrelated confirmed requirements intact.

Route B — Diagnose a failed generation

Ask for the prompt if it was not supplied, and for what the output did wrong in observable terms ("two lamps appeared", not "it looked off"). Map the symptom to the smallest prompt change, apply that one change, and return the revised prompt with the change marked. Changing several things at once destroys the signal about which fix worked.

Some failures are not prompt failures. If the request needs exact subtitle text, legible formulas, product specifications, or frame-accurate timing, say so and point to prepared references plus post-production rather than iterating the prompt further.

Route C — Audit an existing prompt

Run scripts/lint_prompt.py, then the applicable references/checklist.md blocks. Report findings as a short list ordered by severity, each with the specific rewrite. Do not rewrite the whole prompt unless asked — the user may have deliberate choices you would erase.