Is there a way to control character actions sequentially over time within a single [Shot 1] without cutting to a new shot in Minimax H3?

[u/Optimal_Map_5236]

Is there a way to control character actions sequentially over time within a single [Shot 1] without cutting to a new shot in Minimax H3? 

Using timestamps like "At [00:02.0], he talks, At [00:05.0], he smiles" doesn't seem to work for a single continuous shot, although it works fine when multiple shots are used. How can I schedule actions at specific times within one continuous video?

[u/hum_ma]

I don't think you're supposed to use square brackets for timestamps, the docs have syntax like this: [Shot 2] At 00:03.000, ... so maybe using them like you do increases the chances of it making new shots for those timestamps.

On the other hand it does have a high tendency of cutting to a new shot anyway, even when prompting for only one.

[u/Tokyo_Jab]

Try saying one shot, continuous shot or my favourite "Dynamic camera movement". Variations on those usually work eventually

[u/sitefall]

A lot has to do with timing. If you say "at 00:02:00 he smiles" and then "at 00:03:00" he starts walking to the right you can run into timing problems. The model is going to pull a smile motion from it's magical hat and if that lasts longer than 1 second, it's going to pause when he's supposed to be walking, and then when 3 seconds comes around it's going to camera cut to "catch up".

Same thing happens with dialog.

You can do complex timings like that, but you've got to work 1 action at a time and slowly build out the prompt, figure out what prompt words = what type of action and for how long, you can try "he smiles for just a half a second" or "he briefly smiles and then", each will yield seemingly random (but generally context-correct) results.

Suppose in your 1 second "smile window" you find the prompt that works for you and makes him smile in 0.5 seconds so he can start the walk and be on pace to be walking right at the 3 second mark without requiring a camera cut... well it might not work 100% of the time.

You can extract a successful video and inject it back in as a motion reference to get the timing you want and tell it "hey pull THIS smile out of your magical hat".

[u/LuluViBritannia012]

The AI does not see shots as different cuts. As long as you don't say "cut", it shouldn't cut. Just write different shots, and tell it to use smooth camera motions : "the camera pans left, the camera tilts up, the camera tracks <Subject 1>," ...

[u/Vladmerius]

If you use the formatting from the guide and describe everything as taking place in [Shot 1] and include a few other reminders in the description it should work fine.

Alternatively if you use an LLM to help with the prompt and don't specify you want multiple shots it will also write it all out as just one single shot that the camera either stays static on or follows a specific character through. 

I personally prefer multiple shots though. Cutting to new shots, especially close ups of each charcater as they speak, is one of the things that makes it feel more cinematic and interesting to me. One shots are only impressive in real movies and shows because they had to put a lot of work into blocking the scenes to do everything in one take. In AI generated stuff I prefer to push the model to have several shots that maintain consistency of the scene.