Use these six fixes when a generated video comes out blurry, soft, or low in detail.
Ask for sharpness positively: include "sharp focus, crisp detail" in the video prompt — this works even on video models without a negative prompt field.
Use the negative prompt where supported. A negative prompt is a separate input field, available on some video models, where you list what you do not want to see. For blur, use: "blurry, out of focus, low resolution, jpeg artifacts, noise, grainy."
Check whether the blur is intentional. "Shallow depth of field," "dreamy," "soft," and "cinematic haze" in your video prompt all request blur — remove them if you want everything sharp.
Fast motion causes motion blur. If the subject smears during movement, slow the action ("walks slowly") or reduce how much happens in the video clip.
For image-to-video: check your source image first. A soft or low-resolution input image produces soft video — the video model cannot add detail that isn't there.
Generate at the highest available quality setting for final renders, if the video model offers resolution tiers.