# Common prompt mistakes

> The mistakes that most often lead to a film you did not expect, and how to fix each one before you pay.

Most surprises come from a handful of habits. **Revise** is one press that pays and makes, so catch these before you press it — reading your prompt once from the top takes a minute.

## Describing a feeling instead of a picture

"Better", "cooler", "more professional", "cinematic" mean something different to everyone. Describe what you would see: colours, materials, light, shapes.

## Asking for a new story

"Make them start dancing", "have the car drive away" changes what happens in the shot. Optic keeps the story and changes how things look, so it says *"This changes what happens in the shot, so it is made anew rather than revised."* and your credits come back. To change the story, use the chat — it makes those moments anew around what happens now: see [Making video in the chat](https://routix.studio/help/chat/making-video-in-the-chat).

## Changing only the camera or only the sound

Optic keeps your clip's framing, camera movement and sound. A request about the camera alone or the sound alone is not something it makes.

## A picture that shows more than you want

Everything a picture shows of the subject comes into your film. A picture of a person in a red dress brings the red dress with her — the beach behind her and its light do not: the place and the light stay your video's. If you do not want the dress, use a picture that shows her as you want her seen, or say so: *"…the woman in @Image 1, in a plain black coat instead of the red dress"*.

## Leaving Optic to guess which one

With two people, two cars or a crowd, "the man" or "the car" can mean more than one. Optic does not pick one behind your back: if it cannot tell, it makes nothing and your credits come back. Mark the one you mean with [Focus](https://routix.studio/help/focus/what-is-focus) and type `#` to mention it by its name — or say which one in words.

## Contradicting yourself

"Make her coat black" and later "keep her outfit as it is" pull in two directions. Read your prompt once from the top before you press **Revise**.

## Listing everything that should stay

You do not need to. Everything you do not name already stays — the camera, the light, every movement and event, the sound — and so does the performance: a new subject's eyes, lips and expressions follow the original, and whatever happens to the old subject happens to the new one at the same moments. Mention only what sits close to a change and might drift — the scarf next to the coat you are changing.

## Pointing at a picture or focus that is not there

`@Image 3` with two pictures, or `#Focus 4` after you deleted it, points at nothing. Use `@` and `#` in the words box to choose from what exists.

## Pressing before you are ready

**Revise** starts the work at once. If you notice something right after you press, **Stop** is beside the progress until the making starts; the page then tells you exactly what was charged and what came back. Change what you need and press **Revise** again.

Source: https://routix.studio/help/prompts/common-mistakes · Updated 2026-10-24