CRITICALFailure Reference

Google Veo Anatomy Artifact — Pre-Generation Risk Reference

Technical Classification

Anatomical Topology & Coherence Failure

Veo's diffusion denoiser can produce non-manifold mesh geometry for human anatomy — supernumerary fingers, elbows that hinge in the wrong direction, and limbs that pass through each other. The failure mode is consistent across Veo 2 and Veo 3 and is most severe in close-up shots of hands, articulated motion, and multi-character interactions where occlusion-handling breaks down.

How to identify this failure

✕Six or more fingers on a single hand
✕Elbow or knee articulating backwards
✕Arm phasing through torso during motion
✕Fingers fusing into a paddle shape
✕Limb length changing between frames

Real generation examples

Prompt used

"Close-up of a chef chopping vegetables, natural light"

Failure observed @ 0:02

Right hand grew a seventh finger at 0:02; thumb articulated backwards at 0:04

Prompt used

"Two people shaking hands in an office lobby"

Failure observed @ 1:08

Hands fused into a single 9-finger mass during the handshake at 1:08

Documentation strength

If you need to escalate

VERY HIGH — Google support treats anatomical artifacts as a recognised critical failure; include the Generation ID and a timestamped failure point.

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 Anatomical Topology & Coherence Failure 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 Anatomical Topology & Coherence Failure 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 "Anatomical Topology & Coherence Failure". 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 Google Veo refund credits for anatomy artifacts?

Yes. Anatomy failures are recognised as a known critical mode. Submit a support request through your Google AI Studio billing page with the Generation ID, the technical term "Anatomical Topology & Coherence Failure", and a timestamp.

Why does Veo generate extra fingers?

Diffusion video models trained on millions of internet videos still struggle with hand topology — there is no explicit skeletal prior in the model, so finger count is statistical rather than enforced. AVA's L1 hand-risk classifier flags prompts most likely to fail before you spend credits.

Which Veo prompts are highest risk for anatomy artifacts?

Close-up hands, finger-detail tasks (typing, playing instruments, signing), multi-character handshakes/hugs, sports, and dance. Avoid these or pre-flight with AVA.

Score your prompt

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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.

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