How to Get Clean Text in Veo 3 Videos

8/11/2025

Getting Clean Text in Your Veo 3 Videos: A Deep Dive into Fixing AI Gibberish

So, you’ve been playing around with Google’s Veo 3, and honestly, it’s pretty mind-blowing. The cinematic quality, the realistic motion, the way it can whip up a scene from just a few words is nothing short of magic. But then you try to get it to put some simple text on a sign, a t-shirt, or a storefront, & that’s when the magic sometimes turns into a bit of a mess.

You’re not alone. One of the current frontiers for AI video generation is getting text right. The models are trained on a massive amount of visual data, but understanding the precise, structured nature of letters & words is a different beast altogether. It’s a common hiccup across many AI video platforms, not just Veo 3. The AI can create a stunningly realistic city street but then slap what looks like an alien language on a street sign.

Here’s the thing, it’s not a hopeless cause. There are ways to wrestle with the AI & come out on top with clean, readable text. It’s a combination of being clever with your prompts & having a good post-production workflow. I’ve been in the trenches with this stuff, so let me walk you through what I’ve learned.

Why AI Struggles with Text: A Quick Peek Under the Hood

Before we get into the fixes, it helps to understand why this is a problem in the first place. AI video generators like Veo 3 don't "think" like we do. They work with patterns, pixels, & probabilities. When they’ve seen millions of images of storefronts, they know a storefront should have something that looks like text on it. But they don't necessarily understand the grammatical & spelling rules of a language.

This can lead to what we call "hallucinations," where the AI generates text that looks plausible at a glance but is actually just a jumble of nonsensical characters. It’s a bit like dreaming – the details can be fuzzy & not quite right. The AI is essentially dreaming up what text should look like in a given scene, rather than rendering it with the precision of a graphic designer.

On top of that, maintaining consistency frame-by-frame in a video is a huge technical challenge for these models. So, even if the text looks okay in one frame, it might warp or change in the next, creating a distracting, unprofessional look.

The First Line of Defense: Better Prompting

Your first & best chance to get good text is right at the beginning, with your prompt. A well-crafted prompt can be the difference between getting something usable & a complete mess. Here are some of the best practices I've picked up:

Be Incredibly Specific

This is the golden rule of prompting for anything in AI, but it's CRUCIAL for text. Don't just say "a sign that says 'Open'." Get detailed.

Bad Prompt: "A coffee shop with a sign."
Good Prompt: "A close-up shot of a rustic wooden sign hanging in a coffee shop window. The sign should have the word 'OPEN' written on it in clean, white, sans-serif font."

See the difference? We’re giving the AI a lot more to work with. We're specifying the material of the sign, its location, the exact text, the color, & even the font style. The more specific you are, the less the AI has to guess, & the better your results will be.

Keep it Simple & Short

While being specific is key, you also don't want to overload the AI with a novel. This is especially true for the text itself. AI models tend to do better with shorter words or phrases. If you need a longer sentence, you might have better luck generating it in parts or planning to add it in post-production.

Frame the Shot Strategically

Think like a director. How can you frame the shot to make the text easier for the AI to handle?

Close-ups are your friend: A tight shot on the text element gives the AI fewer other details to worry about, allowing it to focus its processing power on getting the letters right.
Flat surfaces work best: Text on a flat, head-on surface (like a wall or a sign) is much more likely to render correctly than text on a curved or wrinkled surface (like a t-shirt or a crumpled piece of paper).
Static shots over moving shots: A camera pan or a moving subject can increase the chances of text warping. If the text is critical, try to keep the shot as stable as possible.

Use Quotation Marks

This is a simple but surprisingly effective trick. When you put the desired text in quotation marks in your prompt, it can help signal to the AI that this is a specific, literal string of characters you want it to render. For example:

a protestor holding a sign that says "Peace Now"

Iterate, Iterate, Iterate

Don't expect to get it perfect on the first try. Generating AI video is a process of trial & error. If the first result isn't quite right, tweak your prompt & try again. Change the wording, adjust the framing, or try a different font style. Each attempt gives you more information about what works & what doesn't.

The Ultimate Fix: Post-Production Power

Let's be realistic: even with the best prompting, there will be times when the AI just can't nail the text. Maybe it's a complex logo, a long sentence, or you just can't get it to look right. In these cases, your best bet is to fix it in post-production. This might sound intimidating, but there are some amazing tools out there that make it easier than you think.

The Magic of Text-Based Video Editing

One of the most revolutionary developments in video editing is the rise of text-based editors like Descript. These tools are an absolute game-changer. Here’s how they work: you upload your video, & the software automatically transcribes the audio. You can then edit the video simply by editing the text transcript.

But it gets even better. Many of these platforms also allow you to add or correct on-screen text with incredible ease. So, if your Veo 3 video has some wonky text, you can simply remove that section of the video or overlay it with clean, professionally designed text within the editor. Some of these tools even have AI features that can help you generate titles & descriptions.

Traditional Video Editing Software

If you're comfortable with traditional video editing software like Adobe Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve, you have even more power at your fingertips. You can use these tools to:

Overlay new text: This is the simplest solution. Just create a new text layer over the video & type in whatever you want. You have complete control over the font, color, size, & animation.
Motion tracking: This is a more advanced technique, but it's incredibly powerful. If you need the text to look like it's part of the scene (e.g., on a moving car), you can use motion tracking to "stick" your new text layer to the moving object.
Masking & replacement: For a really seamless fix, you can mask out the garbled text from the original video & replace it with your new text. This takes a bit more skill, but the results can be flawless.

Leveraging AI for Explanations & Engagement

Sometimes, the best way to deal with the limitations of AI text generation is to rethink your approach. Instead of trying to force the AI to create complex on-screen text, why not use other tools to get your message across?

This is where a platform like Arsturn can be incredibly useful. Let's say you're creating a product demo with Veo 3, but you're struggling to get the feature callouts to look right. Instead of fighting with the AI, you could embed that video on your website & use an Arsturn chatbot to provide interactive explanations. As the video plays, the chatbot could pop up with additional information, answer user questions in real-time, & even guide them to a purchase. It's a way of turning a limitation into an opportunity for deeper engagement. Arsturn helps businesses create custom AI chatbots trained on their own data that provide instant customer support, answer questions, & engage with website visitors 24/7. It's a pretty cool way to add a layer of interactivity to your AI-generated videos.

A Few Final Thoughts

The world of AI video generation is moving at a breakneck pace. What's a challenge today might be a solved problem tomorrow. But for now, getting perfect text in your Veo 3 videos requires a bit of strategy & a willingness to get your hands a little dirty.

By combining smart prompting with a solid post-production workflow, you can overcome the current limitations & create stunning videos that look professional & polished. And remember, sometimes the best solution is to think outside the box & use other tools, like an AI chatbot from a platform like Arsturn, to complement your video content & create a more engaging experience for your audience.

I hope this was helpful! The key is to experiment, learn what works for you, & not be afraid to mix & match different techniques. Let me know what you think, & I'd love to hear about any other tips or tricks you've discovered.