Skip to main content
Firefly Video Guide
Adobe Firefly

Firefly Video Guide

Unlock your full creative potential with the Firefly Video Model — cinematic videos with elevated realism, intuitive controls, and commercially safe outputs.

Unlock your full creative potential with Firefly.

Adobe Firefly gives you an all-in-one creative space for AI-assisted content ideation, creation, and production. This guide focuses on the Adobe Firefly Video model, which delivers cinematic videos with elevated realism, intuitive scene controls, and flexible workflows. Firefly models are trained only on content Adobe has permission to use — including Adobe Stock, public domain, and licensed material — so you can always create confidently.

Tips for selecting your subject.

Choose anything from a single person or animal, an object, architecture, an abstract background, a landscape, and more. The best results come from images of a single subject performing simple actions.

Abstract background★★★★★
Seasonal background★★★★★
Landscapes & Nature★★★★★
Single object / food★★★★★
Aerial shots★★★★★
Single animal★★★★
Single human portrait★★★★
Simple text rendering★★★
Medium group of humans★★

Understanding Firefly Video features.

Recommended

Image to Video

Start with a reference image to guide the visual direction of your project. Upload a stylized portrait as the first frame and a new pose or background as the second — Firefly generates a short video that naturally transitions between the two scenes.

Flexible

Text to Video

Create dynamic video content using only a written prompt. Especially useful when no reference image is available — for instance, when generating B-roll to transition between scenes or experimenting with open-ended, imaginative ideas.

Presenter

Text to Avatar

Convert written scripts into avatar-led videos without filming. Useful for creating tutorials, explainers, and presenter-style content directly from text while maintaining a consistent visual style across videos.

Editor

Firefly Video Editor

Transform generated clips into engaging visual stories within a simple, browser-based timeline editor. Generate video clips, voiceovers, and music, then bring them together seamlessly in one place.

Pro tip: Provide the model with a first frame reference (or both first and last) to improve quality and enhance coherence.

Prompting: Communicating your vision.

Prompting is how you communicate your creative vision to the AI model. Firefly Video model takes your words literally, so the clearer and more specific your prompt, the better the results. You're not just telling it what to show, but how to show it — like setting the stage for a film.

General Guidelines

Be clear and descriptive

Be specific about lighting, action, location, mood, and tone. Prompts should be well-structured, detailed, and at least eight words long. They can extend up to 1,800 characters.

It's not a conversation

Firefly outputs a video based on a single prompt. Each new generation starts from scratch — you can't carry over edits or instructions from a previous prompt.

Guide the model

Leverage the controls available so the model gives you exactly what you pictured. Upload your own images and videos to use as reference.

Iterate and refine

Working with Firefly Video model is an iterative process. Further refine your video by bringing it into Express, Premiere, or After Effects.

Pro tip: Use dynamic affirmative verbs and descriptive adjectives. Words like cute or gentle can create a soothing video, while strong or uplifting can create an inspiring one.

Prompting Formula

Include as many of these elements as possible for more precise results.

[Visual Style]Realistic, animated, artistic, cinematic. [Shot Size]Close-up shot, medium shot, long shot. [Camera Angle]Aerial, eye-level, shot from above. [Camera Motion]Zoom in, tilt down, static, handheld. [Subject]An animal, a person, a building — describe features, emotions, clothes, size, etc. [Lighting]Golden hour, studio light, cooler tones, dramatic lighting. [Action]Running, jumping, flying, swimming quickly, pacing slowly. [Location]In the mountains, on a roller coaster, across rugged terrain, on the beach. [Aesthetic]Serene, mysterious, realistic, abstract.

Enhance Prompt

Selecting the Enhance prompt option in the prompt bar automatically improves your original prompt, making it clearer, more detailed, and more effective. This is especially useful when you're first learning to prompt for video. You can also edit the enhanced prompt to better align with your vision.

Keyframe Cropping

Instead of relying on automatic center cropping, manually adjust the crop area using Keyframe Cropping. You can adjust the visible area of your video over time with a live preview, allowing precise composition adjustments without leaving the platform.

Prompt Examples

Nature

Artistic video of a foggy alpine meadow at dawn, where deer graze quietly among wildflowers and low-hanging mist. The background features snow-capped peaks and soft morning light filtering through the haze, creating a muted, painterly effect. Captured in a long shot from a top-down drone perspective, the camera glides slowly across the landscape, revealing the peaceful rhythm of the natural world. The overall tone is meditative and impressionistic, with desaturated tones and soft textures that highlight the stillness of the scene.

B-Roll

Animated video of a surreal desert landscape at twilight, where glowing sand particles swirl gently in the wind, as the sky shifts from burnt orange to deep indigo. The background reveals distant rock formations and a crescent moon rising, softly stylized to enhance the dreamlike quality. Captured in a medium shot from a low-angle perspective, the camera tilts upward slowly, emphasizing the vastness of the sky. The overall tone is mystical and atmospheric, with glowing highlights and a soft, pastel palette.

Animal

Realistic video of a snow leopard cub climbing over rocky terrain in a high-altitude mountain pass. The cub's fur shifts with each movement as it navigates the uneven ground, occasionally pausing to look around. The background features jagged cliffs and a pale, overcast sky, casting cool shadows across the rocks. Captured in a medium shot from a high-angle perspective, the camera tracks the cub's movement from behind. The overall tone is raw and intimate, with crisp textures and a cool, natural palette.

Human Portrait

Artistic video of a young man with vitiligo, standing in a sunlit greenhouse filled with tropical plants. He wears a loose, earth-toned linen outfit that moves gently with the breeze, as sunlight filters through the glass ceiling, casting patterned shadows across his face. The background is lush and softly blurred, filled with green and amber tones. Captured in a medium close-up from a side profile angle, the camera slowly dollies inward. The overall tone is organic and introspective, with warm highlights and a soft, natural color palette.

Product

Hyper-realistic video of a bottle of perfume sitting on a dark pedestal. A hand briefly enters the frame, opening the cap before pulling away. The background shows a dramatic, dimly-lit studio with ruby red walls. Captured in a close-up from a slightly elevated angle, the camera remains steady, focusing on the perfume bottle. The overall tone is cinematic and dynamic, with crisp edges, controlled lighting, and rich red surfaces that emphasize a refined, high-end luxury feel.

Abstract Background

Stylized animation of a floating geometric cityscape made of translucent glass shapes, where glowing orbs pulse rhythmically through the structures. The background is a gradient of deep purples and blues with scattered light particles, creating a futuristic, ambient glow. Captured in a medium shot from a rotating aerial perspective, the camera orbits slowly around the scene. The overall tone is abstract and futuristic, with high contrast, glowing edges, and a smooth, digital finish.

Controls: Fine-tuning the outputs.

Leverage controls to reinforce the intention you described in your prompt, add visual references, and select a specific style or composition.

Style Presets

Quickly apply a specific artistic style to your generated videos using predefined visual themes.

2D 3D Anime Black & White Cinematic Claymation Fantasy Line Art Stop Motion Vector Art
Pro tip: For the best results, make sure that the video controls and the prompt are aligned to avoid sending the model mixed signals.

Example: Cinematic Portrait

Composition Reference

Provide a reference video to preserve original structure and layout while generating new content guided by your prompt. Supports 16:9, 9:16, and 1:1.

Camera Motion

Use presets like pan, tilt, or zoom for standard moves. Or upload a reference video to match exact movement from your own footage with a particular speed or feel.

Camera Angle & Shot Size

Shift perspective with angles (aerial, eye-level, high/low angle, top-down). Control framing with shot sizes from extreme close-up to extreme long shot.

Layered Elements

Generate standalone video elements — characters, objects, and visual effects — with a transparent or keyable background. This gives you flexibility in post-production for compositing over existing footage in Premiere or After Effects. Great for adding snow, fog, sparkles, or animated stickers.

Pro tip: For best results, choose foreground-focused prompts and simple motion to ensure clean edges and smooth compositing.

Advanced tips.

1

Frame-by-frame method: Start with an initial frame and generate the next one based on it to create longer videos. Repeat the process, treating each new frame as the starting point for the next.

2

Seamless loops: Upload the first and last frames of your sequence to create a seamless video loop. Check that they share similar composition, then generate in-between frames to smoothly bridge the gap.

3

Composition Reference for depth: Use a Composition Reference to extract edge and depth information from your target image, then combine it with a new prompt to guide video generation.

4

Start with Image Model 4: Create your desired image first, then transition to the Image to Video tool for a more refined and visually consistent video.

5

Work in 1080p: If your final output needs high resolution, work directly in 1080p.

6

Use seeds for consistency: A seed is a numerical value that acts as a starting point. Using the same prompt, settings, model, and seed will produce similar results; changing the seed produces new variations.

Pro tip: Use Express or Premiere to crop or adjust each frame as needed before generating the next to ensure visual consistency. You can also import generated B-roll into your Premiere timeline as temporary placeholders.

Generate audio.

Firefly offers tools to create custom audio for video content — from sound effects and full soundtracks to expressive voiceovers — all royalty-free and tailored to your project.

Sound Effects

Create custom sound effects by combining text prompts and audio hints. Instantly generate royalty-free effects like glass shattering or thunder clapping, tailored to your project.

Soundtrack

Generate an original, royalty-free soundtrack that adapts to your video's pacing, mood, and style. Firefly produces up to four variations that match your video's duration.

Speech

Transform written text into natural, expressive voiceovers. Apply emotions, refine pronunciation, and ensure clarity with simple text adjustments for realistic narration.

Sound Effects: Prompting Guidelines

Describe the sound clearly

Provide clear, concise, direct text descriptions. Examples: "lion roaring," "heavy rain on a metal roof," or "crackling campfire."

Use descriptive adjectives & verbs

Include adjectives to describe qualities and verbs for action. Example: "very loud explosion" vs "soft explosion."

One sound at a time

Generate one sound at a time for maximum quality. Layer multiple sounds using separate audio tracks for complex soundscapes.

General descriptions for ambiences

Use broad descriptions for ambient soundscapes. Example: "forest ambience" or "traffic in a busy city."

Soundtrack Use Cases

Social Media & Vlogs Podcasts Marketing Gaming & AR Educational Videos Lifestyle
Pro tip: If your soundtrack isn't producing expected results, you may have conflicting inputs. Pairing a calm Vibe with a heavy-metal Style can create unpredictable mixes. Align the Vibe with your mood first, then refine the Style.

Generate Speech Tips

Emotion

Apply emotions to full sentences rather than individual words for smoother delivery.

Narration

Use character narration for nuance: He said with joy, "That's amazing!"

Numbers

Spell out numbers, currencies, or dates if pronunciation doesn't match. "€20" → "twenty euros."

Acronyms

Uppercase for individual letters: "POC" → "Pee-Oh-See." Lowercase for words: "poc" → "pock."

Language

Match the language in your prompt to your selected voice language for best results.

Punctuation

Avoid using brackets — any text placed inside them won't be spoken.

Ready to create?

Try the Firefly Video model and start generating cinematic videos today.

Try Firefly Video →