Most people prompt an AI video tool like they’re ordering from a menu: “Make me a 30-second UGC video for this product. Make it feel real.” Then they wonder why the face changes, the product looks off, and the room is different in every clip. A Reddit post in r/PromptEngineering points at the real problem. The famous one-line request isn’t the prompt. The context that comes before it is.
The Key Idea
The author (u/HVMVSN) made a short tutorial with Claude Code and OpenArt’s MCP. The line “Make me a 30-second UGC video” is the last thing they type. Before that, they load a character sheet, a location image, and product photos.
So the short request can point back at things that already exist. You aren’t describing a new face and a new setting from scratch. You’re saying “use that person, in that place, with that product.” Think of it like handing a freelance editor a folder of assets instead of reading them a description over the phone. The editor stops guessing, and you stop paying for guesses.
Old Way vs. New Way
The old way: Write one long, descriptive prompt. Describe the person, the kitchen, the lighting, the product, the vibe. Generate. Get a different person next time. Rewrite the description. Repeat. Each pass feels like progress, but you’re really rolling dice with slightly different wording every time.
The reference-first way: Build the inputs once. Give each one a clear job. Keep the instruction short and let it refer to those jobs. When you want a second video next week, you reuse the same folder and change only the script.
The difference is where identity lives. In the old way, it lives in your words, and words drift. In the new way, it lives in files the model can look at again. That also makes the work easier to hand off. A teammate can pick up your folder and get the same person in the same kitchen without reading a page of prompt history.
The Brief You Can Steal
The author shared an expanded version of the direction. Here it is, lightly trimmed:
“Use the attached character sheet for identity, the location image for the setting and the product photos for its appearance. Ask about missing details before inventing them. Propose the shot sequence and dialogue for a 30-second UGC video. For each shot, state the action, camera movement and reference roles. Show the generation model and credit quote, then wait for approval before generating.”
A few things make this work:
- 🎭 Reference roles. Each file has one job: identity, setting, or product appearance. Nothing is left for the model to guess. If the product photo also shows a person, the brief tells the model to ignore that person and take only the product.
- ❓ Ask before inventing. The model has to surface gaps instead of filling them with made-up details. One commenter said this part alone saves a lot of back-and-forth later, and that matches how this kind of workflow tends to go. Typical gaps include the product’s size, what the person is allowed to claim, and whether the tone is casual or excited.
- 🎬 Plan before pixels. You get a shot list, dialogue, and camera moves to review first. Reading a plan takes a minute. Regenerating a bad clip takes much longer.
- 💳 Approval gate. The model name and credit quote come up before anything is generated, so you don’t burn credits on a bad plan.
Practical Steps
- Make a character sheet. One clear reference for who is on screen. Use the same sheet every time, and include a front view plus a side angle if you can.
- Pick one location image. This anchors the setting so it doesn’t change between shots. Choose a space with simple, steady lighting so it’s easy to keep consistent.
- Gather product photos. Several angles help the model get shape, label, and color right. Add one shot with the product in a hand so the scale looks believable.
- Paste the brief. Adapt the wording to your product. You can use the structure without copying the author’s characters or scenes.
- Answer its questions. If it asks about tone, script length, or product claims, answer. Don’t skip this.
- Review the shot plan. Check the action, camera movement, and which reference applies to each shot. Cut any line of dialogue you wouldn’t say out loud to a friend.
- Approve, then generate. Only after you’ve seen the model and the credit cost.
- Inspect the output. Look at faces, product details, hands, and motion before you use anything. Pause on the label frame by frame, since that’s where warping hides.
A Fair Caveat
The author is upfront about this. The template expands the direction shown in their Reel. It is not a controlled comparison, and it isn’t a guarantee of consistent output. Generated video can still get hands wrong or warp a product label. Treat the brief as a better starting structure, then check the results yourself. If a clip fails, fix the reference that caused it, such as a sharper product photo, instead of piling more adjectives into the prompt.
Try It Today
Take the brief above and swap in your own character sheet, location, and product. Run one video through it and compare it with what your old one-liner gave you. If the plan step catches even one wrong assumption before you spend credits, it has paid for itself. The author’s demo, including the generation interface, is linked in the original Reddit post if you want to watch the flow end to end!
The reference context behind “make me a 30-second UGC video”
by u/HVMVSN in PromptEngineering