Runway's published prompting guides are written for Gen-4 Image and Gen-4 Video. This sheet quotes them; they are the vendor's current guidance for its models.
- Start simple. Runway: “The Gen-4 model thrives on prompt simplicity.”
- Build up one element at a time: subject motion, camera motion, scene motion, style.
- Positive phrasing only. Runway: “Negative phrasing is not supported and may produce unpredictable or even opposite results.”
- For images, write sentences. Runway: “Use full sentences with natural language for more control over elements”
- One scene per clip. Gen-4.5 clips run 2 to 10 seconds: Runway lists “Supported durations 2 - 10 seconds” at “12 credits per second”.Runway, Creating with Gen-4.5, read at source 22 Sep 2026.First-hand: until 22 Sep 2026 this line quoted the Gen-4 guide, “Gen-4 generates videos in 5 and 10 second clips”, as if it applied to Gen-4.5.
Every price here was correct when this site last checked it, on 22 Sep 2026. Prices change often and this site no longer updates them, so check the vendor’s own page before you rely on one: Runway pricing.
Every rule on this sheet is quoted from the vendor's own published documentation, linked where it is used.
The formula
Runway, Gen-4 Video prompting guide, read at source 16 Sep 2026: “we recommend beginning your session with a simple prompt, and iterating by adding more details as needed.”
Template:
[the one essential motion]. Then add, one per round: [how the subject moves] → [how the camera moves] → [how the scene moves] → [style]
Worked example:
A ceramicist draws a ball of clay upward on the wheel. The camera slowly pushes in on her hands. Dust drifts through the window light. Muted earth palette, documentary realism.
Breakdown — what each part does
Essential motion
Runway: begin with “a foundational prompt that captures only the most essential motion to the scene”.
Subject motion
How the subject moves. Plain and physical.
Camera motion
How the camera moves — or that it does not. Runway's example: “Locked camera. The camera remains still.”
Scene motion
What moves around the subject: weather, dust, crowds.
Style descriptors
Look and mood, added last. Runway: “Adding one new element at a time will help you identify which additions improve your video”.
Does it take a negative prompt?
Runway, Gen-4 Image prompting guide, read at source 16 Sep 2026: “Including a negative prompt may result in the opposite happening.” Gen-4 Video prompting guide: “Negative phrasing is not supported and may produce unpredictable or even opposite results.”
Runway's own rewrites show the fix: not “No camera movement.” but “Locked camera. The camera remains still.” Not “a man with no hair” but “a bald man”.
On Runway, say what is there, never what is not — and add one thing per round.
What not to do
Runway's image guide includes keyword collections for style and composition — for example “[subject] in center frame.” An earlier version of this sheet said bracket formats cut against Runway's parsing; Runway's own keyword examples use brackets, so that claim was removed. It also said negatives "backfire" claims are usually wrong on other models; that had no source and was removed.
On Runway’s developer platform, Gen-3 Alpha Turbo and Gen-4 Aleph “are no longer available on Runway Dev”, and requests naming them fail. Runway points Gen-3 Alpha Turbo users to Gen-4.5 or Gen-4 Turbo, and Gen-4 Aleph users to Aleph 2.0.Runway, API changelog, entry of 30 Jul 2026, read at source 22 Sep 2026: “Requests that use these model identifiers will fail.”
Free or paid? What the free plan allows, who owns the output, and when you need to pay: free vs paid AI image, video and music tools.
Where this model sits among the others: which models take a negative prompt, and what each vendor publishes as its formula.
How it compares on price and limits is on the video model comparison.
The checklist
Before you send it:
Runway, Gen-4 Video prompting guide · Runway, Gen-4 Image prompting guide All read at source on 16 Sep 2026. Added 22 Sep 2026: Runway, Creating with Gen-4.5 and API changelog.
Model versions and vendor documentation both move. Re-read the source before relying on a specific number.
Every other sheet in this set: all model cheat sheets.