The Anatomy of a Claude Motion Prompt

Claude Motion, in beta on Claude Team and Enterprise plans since October 8, 2026, turns your text, charts, and images into animated explainers. It writes code to animate your content, so every word, number, and timing stays editable. A clear prompt gets you most of the way there on the first try.

Motion animates what you hand it. Your prompt decides what appears and in what order.

Name what the animation is for and the one message viewers should remember.

Goal: show the board that three new products drove Q3 revenue growth.

Say who will watch and where it will play, such as a meeting, a website, or a social feed.

Audience: our board, watching on a large screen in a meeting.

Attach the report, spreadsheet, chart, logo, or screenshots, and tell Motion to use nothing else.

Use only the numbers from the attached Q3 chart.

Aspect ratio

16:9 for screens, 9:16 for Reels and Shorts, and 1:1 for feeds

Length

15 to 60 seconds for most explainers

Format: 16:9, roughly 30 seconds.

Spell out what to reveal, in sequence. This is the most important part of the prompt.

Scene 1: title. Scene 2: revenue up 18%. Scene 3: the three products behind it. Scene 4: one takeaway.

• Brand colors, by name or hex code
• Fonts or font style
• Background
• Amount of text on screen

Style: navy background, white and teal accents, bold sans-serif headings, and minimal text.

• Pace: calm or energetic
• Entrances: fade, slide, grow, or type on
• Easing: a smooth ease-in and ease-out
• Holds: how long to pause on key moments

Motion: calm pace, elements slide up with a smooth ease-out, and each number holds for two seconds.

Choose the close: a takeaway, a call to action, or a logo, plus how long the last frame holds.

End: “Three products, one strong quarter.” Hold the final frame for three seconds.

Create a 30-second, 16:9 animated explainer for our board meeting, using the attached Q3 chart. Goal: show that revenue grew 18% because of three new products. Scenes: 1) title, 2) revenue climbing to +18%, 3) the three products and their share, 4) takeaway. Style: navy background, white and teal, bold sans-serif, minimal text. Motion: calm, smooth ease-out, two-second hold on each number. End: “Three products, one strong quarter,” held for three seconds. Use only the numbers from the chart.

• “Slow scene 2 down.”
• “Change 18% to 19% on the final chart.”
• “Make the title bigger and bold.”
• “Swap the logo for this file.”
• “Hold the last frame two seconds longer.”

Change one detail, and everything else stays as it was.

Chart story

Turn this chart into a [length] animation that shows [first], then [second], and lands on [takeaway]

Process explainer

Animate these [number] steps as a [length] explainer, with one step per scene and simple icons

Social clip

Build a 15-second 9:16 clip from this tip: a hook line, three quick points, and a call to action

• No clear scene order
• Too much text on screen
• Requests for footage or realistic people, which Motion does not generate
• No length or format given
• Numbers left unchecked against the source