MAJORFailure Reference

Seedance (ByteDance) Prompt Adherence Failure — Refund Guide

Technical Classification

Cross-Attention Prompt Drop

Cross-Attention Prompt Drop on Seedance is a known limitation of ByteDance's diffusion model. The model uses a cross-attention text encoder to condition generation on the prompt; under specific prompt structures (long prompts, prompts with multiple subjects, or prompts mixing concrete + abstract concepts) the cross-attention can drop entire prompt clauses. The output then reflects only a subset of the prompt with the rest silently ignored.

How to identify this failure

✕Output shows wrong subject (asked for cat, got dog)
✕Setting completely different from prompt (asked for beach, got forest)
✕Multiple-subject prompts produce only one subject
✕Action verb ignored (asked for running, got standing)

Real generation examples

Prompt used

"A red panda and a fox playing chess at a wooden table in a forest"

Failure observed @ 0:00 → 0:05

Output shows a single red panda alone at a table — fox and chess board absent

Documentation strength

If you need to escalate

HIGH — ByteDance Seedance support refunds prompt-adherence failures on paid output with the prompt and output evidence.

AVA is a pre-purchase prevention tool, not a post-purchase recovery tool. Platforms generally do not guarantee credit refunds for output-quality failures; goodwill credits are at each platform's discretion. The strength rating reflects how well-formed your support ticket can be, not a promised outcome.

Prevention + documentation steps

01
Score your prompt before you generate
Run your prompt through AVA's pre-flight scoring against the Cross-Attention Prompt Drop pattern. Green light = generate. Yellow/red = rewrite using the suggested fix before you commit credits.
02
Capture Generation ID + timestamp if it failed anyway
Find the Generation ID in the URL or share link. Note the exact time when the Cross-Attention Prompt Drop first appears (e.g. "failure first visible at 1.2s"). Timestamped evidence is significantly stronger than a general complaint.
03
Use the correct technical term in your support ticket
Describe this failure as "Cross-Attention Prompt Drop". This term maps to a recognised internal workflow in the support system and routes the ticket to the right team.
04
Submit via the correct support channel
Runway has no direct email intake. Pro+ plan: open the in-app AI Assistant (help widget bottom-right of app.runwayml.com), describe the failure with the technical term, attach evidence. Free/Standard plan: human support isn't available — your channel is Discord #community-help with @On Call - Moderators.

Frequently asked questions

Does Seedance refund credits for ignored prompts?

Yes — prompt-adherence failures on paid Seedance output are refundable. Cite "Cross-Attention Prompt Drop" with the prompt and the failing clip.

Why does Seedance ignore parts of the prompt?

The cross-attention text encoder can drop entire prompt clauses under long or compositionally complex prompts. There is no signal in the output that this happened.

How do I improve Seedance prompt adherence?

Keep prompts short and single-subject. Put the most important element FIRST. Avoid mixing abstract and concrete concepts in the same prompt. AVA pre-flights compositional risk.

Score your prompt

Score your prompt against this failure mode in 30 seconds

Paste your prompt and the platform you intend to use. AVA returns a red/yellow/green score against this specific failure mode plus a concrete rewrite if the risk is high.

Install free All 105 failure modes

AVA Pro · founders' round

$50 for 6 months of unlimited scoring across all failure modes + personal failure-history dashboard. Locks in $13/mo grandfathered after.

Claim $50 founders