---
title: Animated and illustrated styles — HeyGen Video 1.0 | Runware Docs
url: https://runware.ai/docs/models/heygen-video-1-0/guides/visual-styles
description: "How to take HeyGen Video 1.0 out of live action by naming a production process: stop-motion, cel animation, marker renderings, watercolor, oil paint and screen print."
---
### [Introduction](https://runware.ai/docs/models/heygen-video-1-0/guides/visual-styles#introduction)

HeyGen Video 1.0 defaults to live action, but **the look is a prompt decision** like any other. The same model renders plasticine stop-motion, hand-painted cel animation, marker renderings, watercolor and screen print, and it does so from a description of **how the image was physically made**.

That is the whole technique. A style named as a vibe ("anime style", "painterly") gets a smooth digital approximation. A style named as a **production process**, down to the materials and the marks they leave, gets something that looks made by hand.

[Watch video](https://runware.ai/docs/assets/output-hero.BEq6cQDV.mp4)

*A delivery-app explainer shot as plasticine stop-motion. Play it with audio on.*

> **Prompt**: Plasticine stop-motion animation, shot frame by frame at twelve frames per second on a miniature tabletop set with a 50mm macro lens, locked off. A clay courier figure in a mustard-yellow jacket and a round teal helmet pedals a clay bicycle along a street of cardboard buildings with cut-paper windows, a small brown parcel strapped to the rear rack. The wheels turn in small visible steps, and the figure's legs move with the slight stutter of hand-posed animation. Visible fingerprints and tool marks in the clay, slightly uneven edges, and a soft felt sky behind the buildings. A limited palette of mustard, teal, terracotta and cream. Warm, soft key light from the left, as on a real animation stage. No smooth digital rendering, no CGI gloss, no motion blur. No logos, brand names or printed words anywhere in frame. Audio: a light, bouncy ukulele and glockenspiel tune, the soft tick of the bicycle chain, and a tiny bell ring as the courier passes the camera.

This guide covers the pattern every style prompt follows, a set of styles matched to the jobs they suit, and how to hold one style across a campaign of clips.

### [The request](https://runware.ai/docs/models/heygen-video-1-0/guides/visual-styles#the-request)

There is **no style parameter**. The look lives entirely in `positivePrompt`, so a stylized clip is an ordinary text-to-video request.

**TypeScript**:

```typescript
import { createClient } from '@runware/sdk'

const client = await createClient({ apiKey: process.env.RUNWARE_API_KEY })
await client.connect()

const [result] = await client.run({
  model: 'heygen:video@1.0',
  positivePrompt: 'Plasticine stop-motion animation, shot frame by frame at twelve frames per second on a miniature tabletop set with a 50mm macro lens, locked off. A clay courier figure in a mustard-yellow jacket and a round teal helmet pedals a clay bicycle along a street of cardboard buildings with cut-paper windows, a small brown parcel strapped to the rear rack. The wheels turn in small visible steps, and the figure\'s legs move with the slight stutter of hand-posed animation. Visible fingerprints and tool marks in the clay, slightly uneven edges, and a soft felt sky behind the buildings. A limited palette of mustard, teal, terracotta and cream. Warm, soft key light from the left, as on a real animation stage. No smooth digital rendering, no CGI gloss, no motion blur. No logos, brand names or printed words anywhere in frame. Audio: a light, bouncy ukulele and glockenspiel tune, the soft tick of the bicycle chain, and a tiny bell ring as the courier passes the camera.',
  width: 1344,
  height: 768,
  duration: 8
})
```

**Python**:

```python
import asyncio
import os

from runware import Runware

async def main():
    async with Runware(api_key=os.environ["RUNWARE_API_KEY"]) as client:
        results = await client.run({
            "model": "heygen:video@1.0",
            "positivePrompt": "Plasticine stop-motion animation, shot frame by frame at twelve frames per second on a miniature tabletop set with a 50mm macro lens, locked off. A clay courier figure in a mustard-yellow jacket and a round teal helmet pedals a clay bicycle along a street of cardboard buildings with cut-paper windows, a small brown parcel strapped to the rear rack. The wheels turn in small visible steps, and the figure's legs move with the slight stutter of hand-posed animation. Visible fingerprints and tool marks in the clay, slightly uneven edges, and a soft felt sky behind the buildings. A limited palette of mustard, teal, terracotta and cream. Warm, soft key light from the left, as on a real animation stage. No smooth digital rendering, no CGI gloss, no motion blur. No logos, brand names or printed words anywhere in frame. Audio: a light, bouncy ukulele and glockenspiel tune, the soft tick of the bicycle chain, and a tiny bell ring as the courier passes the camera.",
            "width": 1344,
            "height": 768,
            "duration": 8
        })

asyncio.run(main())
```

**cURL**:

```bash
curl https://api.runware.ai/v1 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $RUNWARE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '[
    {
      "taskType": "videoInference",
      "taskUUID": "c4f7a2e9-1b58-4d36-9a07-e5b3d8c61f24",
      "model": "heygen:video@1.0",
      "positivePrompt": "Plasticine stop-motion animation, shot frame by frame at twelve frames per second on a miniature tabletop set with a 50mm macro lens, locked off. A clay courier figure in a mustard-yellow jacket and a round teal helmet pedals a clay bicycle along a street of cardboard buildings with cut-paper windows, a small brown parcel strapped to the rear rack. The wheels turn in small visible steps, and the figure's legs move with the slight stutter of hand-posed animation. Visible fingerprints and tool marks in the clay, slightly uneven edges, and a soft felt sky behind the buildings. A limited palette of mustard, teal, terracotta and cream. Warm, soft key light from the left, as on a real animation stage. No smooth digital rendering, no CGI gloss, no motion blur. No logos, brand names or printed words anywhere in frame. Audio: a light, bouncy ukulele and glockenspiel tune, the soft tick of the bicycle chain, and a tiny bell ring as the courier passes the camera.",
      "width": 1344,
      "height": 768,
      "duration": 8
    }
  ]'
```

**CLI**:

```bash
runware run heygen:video@1.0 \
  positivePrompt="Plasticine stop-motion animation, shot frame by frame at twelve frames per second on a miniature tabletop set with a 50mm macro lens, locked off. A clay courier figure in a mustard-yellow jacket and a round teal helmet pedals a clay bicycle along a street of cardboard buildings with cut-paper windows, a small brown parcel strapped to the rear rack. The wheels turn in small visible steps, and the figure's legs move with the slight stutter of hand-posed animation. Visible fingerprints and tool marks in the clay, slightly uneven edges, and a soft felt sky behind the buildings. A limited palette of mustard, teal, terracotta and cream. Warm, soft key light from the left, as on a real animation stage. No smooth digital rendering, no CGI gloss, no motion blur. No logos, brand names or printed words anywhere in frame. Audio: a light, bouncy ukulele and glockenspiel tune, the soft tick of the bicycle chain, and a tiny bell ring as the courier passes the camera." \
  width=1344 \
  height=768 \
  duration=8
```

**JSON**:

```json
{
  "taskType": "videoInference",
  "taskUUID": "c4f7a2e9-1b58-4d36-9a07-e5b3d8c61f24",
  "model": "heygen:video@1.0",
  "positivePrompt": "Plasticine stop-motion animation, shot frame by frame at twelve frames per second on a miniature tabletop set with a 50mm macro lens, locked off. A clay courier figure in a mustard-yellow jacket and a round teal helmet pedals a clay bicycle along a street of cardboard buildings with cut-paper windows, a small brown parcel strapped to the rear rack. The wheels turn in small visible steps, and the figure's legs move with the slight stutter of hand-posed animation. Visible fingerprints and tool marks in the clay, slightly uneven edges, and a soft felt sky behind the buildings. A limited palette of mustard, teal, terracotta and cream. Warm, soft key light from the left, as on a real animation stage. No smooth digital rendering, no CGI gloss, no motion blur. No logos, brand names or printed words anywhere in frame. Audio: a light, bouncy ukulele and glockenspiel tune, the soft tick of the bicycle chain, and a tiny bell ring as the courier passes the camera.",
  "width": 1344,
  "height": 768,
  "duration": 8
}
```

Everything in the [prompting guide](https://runware.ai/docs/models/heygen-video-1-0/guides/prompting) still applies. A stylized prompt is a full brief like any other, with **the style block in the place the camera clause holds** in live action.

### [Naming the process](https://runware.ai/docs/models/heygen-video-1-0/guides/visual-styles#naming-the-process)

A style prompt has four parts: **the medium and how it was made**, the physical marks that process leaves, a restricted palette, and an exclusion that rules out the smooth digital finish the model would otherwise fall back to.

The pair below is one subject, a student studying at night for a language-app social ad. The first prompt says "anime style". The second describes the process.

**Style as a vibe**:

[Watch video](https://runware.ai/docs/assets/output-anime-vibe.DTjx_4ts.mp4)

*"Anime style": a digital approximation*

> **Prompt**: Anime style. A high-school student in a navy school blazer sits at a desk by her bedroom window late at night, studying with a notebook open and wireless headphones on. Outside the window, the lights of the city glow. She taps her pen twice on the notebook, looks up at the city and smiles. No logos, brand names or printed words anywhere in frame. Audio: the soft scratch of her pen, a distant train, and quiet night ambience. No music, no dialogue.

**Style as a process**:

[Watch video](https://runware.ai/docs/assets/output-anime-process.DARjyyF2.mp4)

*Cel animation named as a process*

> **Prompt**: Hand-painted 2D cel animation: clean ink outlines of even weight, flat cel shading with a single hard-edged shadow tone per color, and a hand-painted watercolor background behind the character. A high-school student in a navy school blazer sits at a desk by her bedroom window late at night, studying with a notebook open and wireless headphones on. Outside the window, the lights of the city glow. She taps her pen twice on the notebook, looks up at the city and smiles. A palette of deep navy, warm lamp amber and soft violet city light. Animated on twos, with held poses between movements. No 3D rendering, no smooth digital gradients, no glossy highlights. No logos, brand names or printed words anywhere in frame. Audio: the soft scratch of her pen, a distant train, and quiet night ambience. No music, no dialogue.

The vibe prompt lands on **a smooth, softly shaded approximation** of the look. The process prompt gets even ink lines, one hard shadow tone per color and a painted background, because each of those is a physical fact about how cel animation is made. "Animated on twos" goes further and sets the **timing** of the motion, not just the look of the frames.

Hover the segments of the process prompt to see the four parts:

**[Medium]** Hand-painted 2D cel animation, **[Marks]** clean ink outlines of even weight, flat cel shading with a single hard-edged shadow tone per color, and a hand-painted watercolor background behind the character, **[Subject]** A high-school student in a navy school blazer sits at a desk by her bedroom window late at night, studying with a notebook open and wireless headphones on, **[Palette]** A palette of deep navy, warm lamp amber and soft violet city light, **[Timing]** Animated on twos, with held poses between movements, **[Exclusions]** No 3D rendering, no smooth digital gradients, no glossy highlights

The exclusion is what keeps the result from drifting back toward the default. **Name the finish you don't want** in the terms that describe it: 3D rendering, digital gradients, glossy highlights, photorealism.

### [Styles by job](https://runware.ai/docs/models/heygen-video-1-0/guides/visual-styles#styles-by-job)

Each style below is matched to the kind of content it suits. The subject changes with the job, and the prompt pattern stays the same.

#### [Explainers and product concepts](https://runware.ai/docs/models/heygen-video-1-0/guides/visual-styles#explainers-and-product-concepts)

**Plasticine** reads as warm and handmade, which suits explainers and onboarding content where a live-action shot would feel too literal. The hero at the top of this guide is a delivery app's explainer. The same material works for **physical product concepts**, where a clay model shows form and color without implying a finished product.

[Watch video](https://runware.ai/docs/assets/output-clay-model.9fuqqGBc.mp4)

*A product concept as a clay model, on a turntable*

> **Prompt**: A plasticine concept model of a compact countertop blender, sculpted by hand from matte clay: a pale sage body, a jar sculpted from translucent pale-blue clay, and a single round dial in terracotta. The model sits on a turntable on a seamless white sweep and turns a slow quarter turn over the clip. Visible thumb marks, slightly soft corners and faint tool lines where the parts join. Shot on a 90mm macro lens, locked off, under soft diffused studio light from above. No smooth digital rendering, no chrome, no glossy highlights. No logos, brand names or printed words anywhere in frame. Audio: the faint whir of the turntable motor and quiet studio room tone. No music, no dialogue.

The thumb marks and soft corners are what tell a stakeholder **this is a concept, not a render**. A turntable is also the kind of contained, single-action motion the model handles best.

#### [Storyboards and design concepts](https://runware.ai/docs/models/heygen-video-1-0/guides/visual-styles#storyboards-and-design-concepts)

Drawn styles suit work that has to look **deliberately unfinished**: a storyboard for a shoot that has not happened, or an industrial designer's concept of a product that does not exist yet. For both, name the drawing tools and restrict the refinement, so the model does not polish the sketch into an illustration.

[Watch video](https://runware.ai/docs/assets/output-pencil-storyboard.C8FuiOAK.mp4)

*A pencil-test storyboard for a car commercial*

> **Prompt**: A loose graphite pencil storyboard sketch on off-white drawing paper, animated as a rough pencil test: sketchy construction lines, quick hatching for shadows, visible eraser smudges and paper grain. An electric hatchback pulls up to the curb outside a glass-fronted office building and stops, and the driver's door starts to open. The drawing stays monochrome gray graphite with no color and no fill. The lines redraw slightly from frame to frame, as in a hand-drawn pencil test, and the camera does not move. No clean vector lines, no digital shading, no color. No logos, brand names or printed words anywhere in frame. Audio: the low electric hum of the car slowing, tires on asphalt, and a door latch clicking. No music, no dialogue.

[Watch video](https://runware.ai/docs/assets/output-marker-rendering.Dz2nBrgY.mp4)

*A marker rendering of a product concept*

> **Prompt**: An industrial-design marker rendering on white layout paper of a pair of wireless earbuds in their charging case: bold fineliner contour lines, cool gray alcohol-marker shading laid down in visible parallel strokes, one coral accent color on the case lid, and crisp white gouache highlights along the edges. The case lid swings slowly open and the two earbuds rise slightly from their slots. Loose construction lines and a soft drop shadow drawn in gray marker beneath the case. The paper stays flat and white around the drawing, and the view does not move. No photorealism, no 3D rendering, no smooth digital gradients. No logos, brand names or printed words anywhere in frame. Audio: a soft magnetic click as the lid opens and quiet room tone. No music, no dialogue.

The storyboard keeps its construction lines because the prompt says **the lines redraw from frame to frame**, which is how a pencil test actually looks. The marker rendering holds its single accent color because the palette is restricted to gray plus **one named accent**.

#### [Wellness and travel](https://runware.ai/docs/models/heygen-video-1-0/guides/visual-styles#wellness-and-travel)

**Watercolor** gives soft, open imagery that suits wellness and travel brands. The risk is detail: ask for too much and the washes firm up into an illustration. Tell the model to **keep details as washes** and to leave untouched paper.

[Watch video](https://runware.ai/docs/assets/output-watercolor.DMKohkOm.mp4)

*A wellness app's morning-routine clip in watercolor*

> **Prompt**: A loose watercolor wash painting on cold-press paper, animated gently: soft wet-in-wet edges, pigment pooling at the edges of each shape, visible paper texture and small areas of untouched white paper. A woman in a loose cream linen shirt stands on a small apartment balcony among potted plants at sunrise and raises both arms overhead in a slow morning stretch, then lowers them. Details stay simplified into washes rather than drawn in, and only her silhouette and the plant pots carry darker accents. A palette of pale peach, sage green and soft sky blue. The camera does not move. No hard outlines, no digital gradients, no photorealism. No logos, brand names or printed words anywhere in frame. Audio: early-morning birdsong, a light breeze, and a distant city waking up. No music, no dialogue.

#### [Luxury and heritage](https://runware.ai/docs/models/heygen-video-1-0/guides/visual-styles#luxury-and-heritage)

**Impasto oil** carries weight and age, which suits luxury goods and heritage storytelling. The texture is the point, so describe the paint as a physical material: ridges, knife marks, canvas showing through.

[Watch video](https://runware.ai/docs/assets/output-impasto.DEcmNkgL.mp4)

*A leather-goods campaign clip as impasto oil*

> **Prompt**: An impasto oil painting brought to life: thick, directional brushstrokes with visible ridges of paint, palette-knife texture in the background, and canvas weave showing through the thinner passages. A structured tan leather handbag with a gold clasp stands on a dark green marble plinth in a dim gallery, and a slow shaft of warm light moves across it from left to right, catching the paint ridges on the leather and the clasp. A palette of deep bottle green, burnt umber, ochre and warm gold. The camera does not move. No smooth digital painting, no photorealism, no airbrushed gradients. No logos, brand names or printed words anywhere in frame. Audio: the hush of an empty gallery and faint, slow footsteps far away. No music, no dialogue.

The only motion is **light moving across a still subject**. In a painted style that is the safest way to animate a product, because the paint texture stays stable while the light shows it off.

### [Holding one style across a series](https://runware.ai/docs/models/heygen-video-1-0/guides/visual-styles#holding-one-style-across-a-series)

A campaign needs every clip to look like it came from the same hand. The way to get there is to **write the style block once and reuse it verbatim**, changing only the subject and the sound after it.

The three clips below are a transit app's campaign. Each prompt opens with the identical block:

```text
A mid-century screen-printed travel poster brought to life: flat shapes in three ink colors, tomato red, deep teal and warm cream, on off-white paper, a coarse halftone dot pattern in the shadows, slightly misregistered color layers, and grainy ink texture. Movement is minimal and graphic, as if the poster shapes shift in place. The frame is locked. No gradients, no photographic detail, no 3D rendering. No lettering, logos or printed words anywhere in frame.
```

[Watch video](https://runware.ai/docs/assets/output-series-bus.q31WNCjH.mp4)

*Bus*

> **Prompt**: A mid-century screen-printed travel poster brought to life: flat shapes in three ink colors, tomato red, deep teal and warm cream, on off-white paper, a coarse halftone dot pattern in the shadows, slightly misregistered color layers, and grainy ink texture. Movement is minimal and graphic, as if the poster shapes shift in place. The frame is locked. No gradients, no photographic detail, no 3D rendering. No lettering, logos or printed words anywhere in frame. A city bus pulls into a stop under a row of plane trees while two commuters wait on the curb. Audio: the hiss of the bus brakes, the doors folding open, and light street ambience. No music, no dialogue.

[Watch video](https://runware.ai/docs/assets/output-series-bike.BWNMezRO.mp4)

*Bike share*

> **Prompt**: A mid-century screen-printed travel poster brought to life: flat shapes in three ink colors, tomato red, deep teal and warm cream, on off-white paper, a coarse halftone dot pattern in the shadows, slightly misregistered color layers, and grainy ink texture. Movement is minimal and graphic, as if the poster shapes shift in place. The frame is locked. No gradients, no photographic detail, no 3D rendering. No lettering, logos or printed words anywhere in frame. A commuter rides a share bike away from a row of docked bikes along a quiet street at dawn. Audio: a bicycle freewheel ticking, a soft bell, and early-morning birdsong. No music, no dialogue.

[Watch video](https://runware.ai/docs/assets/output-series-subway.EGNB5GK6.mp4)

*Subway*

> **Prompt**: A mid-century screen-printed travel poster brought to life: flat shapes in three ink colors, tomato red, deep teal and warm cream, on off-white paper, a coarse halftone dot pattern in the shadows, slightly misregistered color layers, and grainy ink texture. Movement is minimal and graphic, as if the poster shapes shift in place. The frame is locked. No gradients, no photographic detail, no 3D rendering. No lettering, logos or printed words anywhere in frame. Commuters walk down a staircase into an unmarked subway entrance under a round station lamp at dusk, with no sign above the entrance. Audio: footsteps on stone stairs, the low rumble of a train arriving underground, and evening street ambience. No music, no dialogue.

The three clips share **the same three inks and the same halftone texture**, so they cut together as one campaign.

Two choices in the block make that hold. The palette is **named by exact colors** rather than a mood, and the block sits **at the start of every prompt**, before the subject has a chance to pull the look elsewhere.

The block also bans lettering, so **the campaign copy goes on in the edit**, over a text-free frame that works with any headline.

### [Tips](https://runware.ai/docs/models/heygen-video-1-0/guides/visual-styles#tips)

1. **Name the process, not the vibe.** "Hand-painted 2D cel animation" beats "anime style". "Plasticine stop-motion shot frame by frame" beats "claymation look".
    
2. **Describe the marks the process leaves.** Fingerprints in clay, hatching and eraser smudges in pencil, paint ridges in impasto, halftone dots in screen print. Those details are what separate a handmade look from a filter.
    
3. **Restrict the palette to named colors.** Three or four specific colors hold better than "warm tones", and they are what keeps a series consistent.
    
4. **Rule out the digital default.** End the style block with what it must not be: no 3D rendering, no smooth gradients, no glossy highlights, no photorealism.
    
5. **Set the timing for animated styles.** "Animated on twos" or "twelve frames per second" changes how the motion moves, not just how the frame looks.
    
6. **Keep the motion small.** Light moving across a still subject or a slow turntable keeps painted and drawn textures stable. Big camera moves are harder to hold in any style.
    
7. **Reuse the style block verbatim across a campaign.** Put it first in every prompt and change only what follows it.
    
8. **Keep campaign copy out of the frame.** Ban lettering in the style block and add real type afterward, so one clip works with any headline.