Slow Motion Physics Test: Ceramic Vase Shatter
Trigger Gemini Omni's physics engine with realistic fragment dynamics — verified pattern from Medium's Gemini Omni Prompt Playbook.
Prompt
A ceramic vase tips off a wooden shelf and shatters on impact with a polished marble floor. Show the shards scattering with realistic momentum and ceramic fragment physics, with the larger pieces tumbling further than the smaller pieces. 1:1 shot, slow motion at the moment of impact, 6 seconds.
Why this prompt
Adapted directly from Medium’s Gemini Omni Prompt Playbook, which lists this as one of 10 verified-working examples. The playbook author tested it on Omni Flash and reported the output successfully rendered the fragment weight distribution and realistic angular momentum.
This prompt is a physics stress test — it showcases Gemini Omni’s strongest claim (per Google’s announcement):
“It combines an intuitive understanding of physics with Gemini’s knowledge of history, science and cultural context.”
Source tier: 🟡 Community playbook (medium confidence — author tested, output not public)
The physics trigger words
Per the Medium Playbook, these specific phrases activate Omni’s physics handling:
- “realistic momentum”
- “fragment weight distribution”
- “right angular momentum”
- “larger pieces tumbling further than smaller pieces”
Generic phrases like “looks real” or “physically accurate” are too vague — Omni responds better to explicit physical relationships.
Other physics-friendly subjects to try
The playbook documents these patterns working:
- Liquid: pouring, splashing, dripping (slow-mo coffee, wine, milk)
- Solid impact: shatter, crumble, compress (vase, bread crust, glass dome)
- Cloth/fabric: sweep, fold, billow (curtains, dress, flag)
- Particles: dust, smoke, embers (campfire, demolition, magic effect)
Avoid:
- Multi-body collisions (3+ objects interacting — Omni drifts)
- Long timescales (slow-mo + extended duration > 8s loses focus)
How to tweak
- Object: vase → crystal goblet / clay pot / glass dome / lightbulb
- Surface: marble → concrete / wood / sand (changes shatter behavior)
- Camera: locked 1:1 → 9:16 portrait / 16:9 wide
- Trigger moment: shatter on impact → mid-flight collision / vacuum pop / freeze-fracture
Alternative: slow-motion food (the popular but generic version)
Ultra-slow-motion video, 1000fps look. A barista's hand pours a steady stream of dark
espresso from a tilted portafilter into a small white ceramic cup. Rich golden crema
forms and swirls hypnotically. Tight close-up, shallow depth of field, warm morning
sunlight from the left.— Coffee pour is the most overdone food-slowmo prompt in 2026; works but doesn’t showcase Omni’s differentiation. Use shatter for portfolio, coffee for client work.
Common failure modes
- Text rendering: any overlay text breaks at slow-mo speeds (per PixVerse review)
- Hand interactions: pouring shots involving fingers can morph badly — frame to crop hands
- Duration > 8s: slow-mo prompts past 8 seconds tend to slow further or distort time
Notes
- 6 seconds is the sweet spot for impact-moment slow-mo
- 1:1 aspect ratio works best for product / commerce Instagram use
- Specifying “1000fps look” gives Omni a frame-rate cue without needing post-processing
Sources
- Playbook source: Medium — Gemini Omni Prompt Playbook
- Google’s physics claim: Introducing Gemini Omni
- Text rendering limitations: PixVerse Gemini Omni Review