01 The Core Formula
HappyHorse 1.1 understands structured direction: who, what they do, how the camera moves, where, and in what style. This chapter breaks a good prompt into five reusable parts, then walks through HappyHorse's two signature weapons — nine aspect ratios and seed control. Get the skeleton right and every later chapter is just an extension of it.
1.1 The Basic Prompt Formula
Everything starts with one sentence: subject plus motion are the two required parts; camera, environment, and style stack on as needed. Shoot the clip in your head first, then write it down following the formula. Duration is a continuous 3–15 second dial — plan exactly as much action as the seconds you pick. A second action crammed in usually means both play badly.
[Subject] + [Motion] + optional [Camera] [Environment] [Style]
Subject
The star of the frame — a person, animal, or product. The more specific, the better.
Motion
What the subject does, with body parts and pace spelled out; slow, continuous small motions are the safest.
Camera
Framing and camera movement: close-up, push-in, dolly — one move per shot.
Environment
Setting and mood: place, time of day, lighting, weather.
Style
Art direction and image quality: color palette, texture, clarity.
A Caravan on the Dunes
Prompt
A desert at dusk. A camel caravan moves slowly along the ridge of a dune, the packs on the camels' backs swaying with each step, the leader in a russet cloak walking at the front. The camera dollies slowly from a low side angle as the setting sun stretches the shadows of people and camels across the sand, fine grains streaming along the ground. Cinematic quality, warm golden palette, rich detail.
Two sentences for subject + motion, one each for camera and environment, then a style word to close — that's a solid basic HappyHorse prompt. Suggested: 1080p, 21:9.
1.2 Choosing Among 9 Aspect Ratios
HappyHorse 1.1 offers nine aspect ratios — the most on Molyin: 16:9, 9:16, 1:1, 4:3, 3:4, 4:5, 5:4, 21:9, and 9:21. There's only one rule for choosing — work backwards from where you'll publish: 16:9 for widescreen video, 9:16 for vertical mobile feeds, 4:5 or 1:1 for feed posts, 21:9 for a cinematic widescreen look, 9:21 for ultra-tall visual experiments. Decide the ratio before generating; cropping afterwards just throws away quality.
A Solo in the Rehearsal Studio
Prompt
A rehearsal studio bathed in morning light. A contemporary dancer in black practice clothes stretches her arms across the wooden floor, then rises onto pointe and spins once, her skirt flaring with the turn before she lands in a still, controlled pose. Static medium shot; morning light slants in through tall windows, fine dust drifting in the beams.
Pre-filled with 9:16 vertical — the standard frame for mobile feeds, and a full-body figure fills it perfectly.
1.3 Reproduce and Iterate with Seed
The seed is HappyHorse 1.1's random seed — and one of the abilities that sets it apart. Lock the seed and the same prompt reproduces a highly similar result: change one word and you can see exactly what that word does. Swap the seed and the same prompt becomes a fresh batch of variations. Two habits worth building: write down the seed when a result clicks, and freeze the seed while A/B-testing wording. Note that generation is probabilistic — the same seed doesn't guarantee pixel-identical output, but composition and subject stay far more stable than a random roll.
A Red Fox in the Snowy Woods
Prompt
A red fox pads through a snow-covered birch forest. It stops suddenly, ears pricked, listening — then dives headfirst into a snowdrift, sending powder flying. The camera tracks it smoothly in a medium shot; winter sunlight slants through the trunks and its breath condenses into white puffs in the cold air.
Pre-filled with seed 42 — change the wording, keep the seed, and compare exactly what each tweak does.
02 Image to Video
One first-frame image plus one sentence about motion, and HappyHorse 1.1 brings the picture to life — the focus of your prompt shifts from describing the scene to describing the movement, because the scene already exists. One hard rule to remember: image-to-video output automatically follows the first frame's aspect ratio, with no ratio selector. Want a 9:16 result? Upload a 9:16 image. Compositional control stays in your hands.
2.1 Bringing a Photo to Life
An image-to-video prompt covers only three things: what moves, how it moves, and whether the camera moves. Don't force in things that aren't in the image — instead, "wake up" what's already there: a fluttering hem, flowing water, a swaying lantern are all high-hit-rate small motions. Add one line like "preserve the original texture" and the art style won't drift.
A Canoe on a Morning Lake
Prompt
Bring this photo to life: thin mist drifts slowly across the lake, the canoe rises and falls gently on small ripples, the lantern hanging at its bow sways slightly, and a waterbird lifts off from the distant reeds and skims across the water toward the right of the frame. Keep the camera static, preserving the photo's cool-toned film look throughout.
Requires 1 first-frame image. Describe only the motion, not the scene — "preserving the original look" holds the style; the output ratio automatically follows the first frame.
2.2 Product Showcase
For e-commerce product clips, write two things clearly: how the product moves (rotate, levitate, push in) and how the camera plays along. Add "product appearance stays consistent with the image" to lock the details, then specify lighting and backdrop — "studio lighting, clean frame" is the all-purpose closing line for product videos.
A Celadon Vase in the Round
Prompt
The celadon vase in the image sits before a light-gray seamless backdrop and rotates slowly at a constant speed through a full turn, its crackled glaze shifting under soft studio light. The camera pushes in slowly from a medium shot to a close-up of the shoulder, revealing the fine gloss of the glaze. Product appearance stays consistent with the image. Studio-grade lighting, clean and premium.
Requires 1 product image. "Full rotation + push-in close-up" is the standard product-showcase combo — pair it with a portrait-oriented product photo.
03 Reference to Video
When words can't pin down a face — a character, a product, a mascot — hand it to reference images. HappyHorse 1.1's reference-to-video accepts images only, 1–9 of them, cited in upload order as "Image 1", "Image 2". The model locks the appearance from your images while scene and action come entirely from your text. The division of labor with image-to-video is simple: a reference image isn't the first frame — it's the character sheet.
3.1 The Character Reference Formula
A reference-to-video prompt is a three-part structure: bring the material on stage with "Image N", describe what happens in the new scene, then close with one line of "stay consistent". Upload order is the numbering order — the first image is Image 1, the second is Image 2. Multi-angle shots of the same character work best: the model builds a complete "character sheet" and the face survives any scene change.
[References: Image 1…] + [Scene description] + keep [subject] consistent
References
Images only, 1–9, cited as "Image N" in upload order.
Scene description
What happens in the new scene: action, environment, camera — the picture is generated from scratch, all driven by your words.
Consistency
One line of "stay consistent with the reference" reinforces the appearance lock.
An Astronaut's Daily Life in Orbit
Prompt
The tuxedo cat from Image 1, wearing a white spacesuit, floats slowly inside a space station module. Curious, it reaches out a paw to touch a drifting water droplet, while the blue Earth turns slowly outside the porthole. The camera orbits halfway around it. The cat's and the suit's appearance stay consistent with the reference image. 3D animation quality, rich detail.
Requires 1 or more reference images. "Image 1" refers to your uploaded character image; the closing "stay consistent" is the standard appearance-locking phrase.
3.2 Combining Multiple Images
Each image gets one job: one for the character, one for the prop, one for the outfit. Assign each role in upload order — "Image 1", "Image 2" — and the model won't mix them up. The more important the material, the earlier it should appear in the prompt: the lead always comes before the props.
The Bouquet Toss
Prompt
The bride from Image 1 stands on ivy-covered stone steps and, laughing, tosses the white peony bouquet from Image 2 over her shoulder; several bridesmaids reach for it with smiles as petals scatter in the air. Low-angle shot looking up, afternoon sunlight filtering through leaves, warm and natural. The appearances of the people and the bouquet stay consistent with the reference images.
Requires 2 or more reference images. Name each role explicitly — people as Image 1, the prop as Image 2 — so nothing gets crossed.
04 Video Editing
Rewrite a video with plain language — that's HappyHorse Video Edit's turf. Upload a 3–15 second source clip and state one plain instruction: change the style, change the outfit, change the prop; everything else stays untouched. Output duration and aspect ratio automatically follow the source video — there are no duration or ratio selectors. You can also attach up to 5 reference images to show the model what to change things into.
4.1 Style Transfer
Give the whole clip a new artistic skin: ink wash, claymation, pixel art, neon — one sentence is enough. Name three traits of the target style — brushwork, texture, palette — then add "keep the camera movement and pacing unchanged", and the model touches only the look, never the storytelling.
Turn a Street Scene into Ink Wash
Prompt
Transform this video into a Chinese ink-wash painting style: bleeding ink brushstrokes, rice-paper texture, generous negative space, with the outlines of people and buildings rendered in freehand brushwork. Keep the camera movement and pacing of the original unchanged.
Requires 1 source video of 3–15 seconds; this example switches to Video Edit automatically, and duration and ratio follow the source. Naming "brushwork + texture + composition" is the most reliable trio.
4.2 Element Replacement
Swap clothes, props, or products without touching the rest of the footage: state clearly what to replace with what, then close with "everything else stays unchanged". For replacements, one reference image nails the new look — "the beige cardigan in Image 1" beats a hundred adjectives.
Swap the Jacket for a Cardigan
Prompt
Replace the person's jacket in the video with the beige knit cardigan from Image 1. The fabric should crease naturally with the movement, and the texture and lighting direction should match the original footage. Everything else stays unchanged.
Requires a source video, plus up to 5 reference images. "Replace A with B + everything else stays unchanged" is the most reliable replacement phrasing.