Direct the camera and the motion in a shot

About this lesson

A video model moves the camera whether you ask it to or not. This lesson shows how to choose the move yourself: from one first frame of a sunny living room with a cat, you write a Seedance 2.5 prompt that names one camera move, says what else moves, and test it as a cheap 480p draft. Then you see nine camera moves made from the same frame by changing only the camera words. The models and prices in this lesson are as of November 2026.

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Name one camera move as a film term and one subject action with an end state, per clip.
When choreography must be exact, give the model a driving video instead of more words.
Test the move as a cheap 480p draft, then finish the take you like at 1080p without generating it again.

Step by step with an agent, through the Scenario MCP (6 steps)Hide the steps

Connect the Scenario MCP
Connect your agent and sign in once at mcp.scenario.com. Then tell it which Scenario team and project to use, so every file lands there.
Give the agent the first frame
The approved first frame, in the target aspect ratio: here the sunlit living room with the woman on the sofa and the cat on the rug. Upload it with upload_asset or give its asset ID.

Brief the agent: the draft

Prompt

Make a 5-second clip with Seedance 2.5 (model_bytedance-seedance-2-5): the first frame as its first-frame image, no last frame, aspect ratio following the first frame, audio on, MP4, and its draft mode on for a cheaper 480p test (read model_schema_get for the parameter names). Quote the cost with a dry run first and wait for my go.

Prompt, word for word:
Slow push-in toward the orange tabby cat on the rug: the camera glides straight forward, low over the floor, from the wide view of the room to a medium shot of the cat, and ends at its closest point. The camera only moves forward. The cat finishes its stretch and sits down, looking toward the woman. The woman keeps reading. Dust drifts through the sunbeams. The room, the windows, the shelves and the furniture stay unchanged, in the same stylized 3D look as the first frame. One continuous camera move, no cuts, steady speed. Sound: quiet room tone, soft birdsong outside the windows. No music, no voices.

Check and redo
Accept when the camera makes the one move named, at a steady speed, and stops where the prompt says; the cat sits, the woman keeps reading, and the room and style match the first frame, with no cuts. Reject a second move, a cut, a jerk, an unfinished action or a changed room.
Prompt
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Wait for the job with jobs_wait and show me the draft. Tell me which camera move you see from start to end, whether it changes speed, and whether anything moves that the prompt didn't ask for. If it fails, make only the move words more exact and quote a new draft.
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Finalize the take you keep

Prompt

Finalize the approved draft in 1080p with Seedance 2.5 Draft Complete (find its model id with models_list, and read model_schema_get for its draft video input), with the draft's asset ID. Quote it first and wait for my go.

File and report

Prompt

Create a collection for this shot with the first frame, the drafts and the 1080p take, and report the models, the settings and every asset ID.

Step by step in the web app (6 steps)Hide the steps

Start with a first frame
Create › Videos › Seedance 2.5. Add the approved frame, made in the target aspect ratio, to First Frame and leave Last Frame empty: the move decides where the shot ends.
Name one camera move
Write the move first, as a film term, then how it moves and how fast, then where it starts and ends, and rule out other moves: "The camera only moves forward."

Say what else moves

Give the subject an end state, say what stays still, and end with "One continuous camera move, no cuts", a steady speed and the sound.

Prompt

Slow push-in toward the orange tabby cat on the rug: the camera glides straight forward, low over the floor, from the wide view of the room to a medium shot of the cat, and ends at its closest point. The camera only moves forward. The cat finishes its stretch and sits down, looking toward the woman. The woman keeps reading. Dust drifts through the sunbeams. The room, the windows, the shelves and the furniture stay unchanged, in the same stylized 3D look as the first frame. One continuous camera move, no cuts, steady speed. Sound: quiet room tone, soft birdsong outside the windows. No music, no voices.

Test it as a draft
Settings: Duration 5s, Resolution 480p, Aspect Ratio Auto, Generate Audio on, Output Format MP4, Draft on for a cheaper 480p test. Check the price on Generate, then click it.
Check the move
Watch the whole draft, not just the ends. Accept one named move at a steady speed that stops where you said, with the cat sitting and the room unchanged; reject a second move, a cut, a jerk or a changed room, and sharpen the move words.
Finalize the take you keep
Click Finalize in 1080p in the banner above the draft: it opens Seedance 2.5 Draft Complete with the draft under Draft Video. Click Generate for the 1080p MOV of the same take, within 7 days of the draft.

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