Hailuo 3 Max on eroq (formerly Hailuo 02): cinematic physics and dramatic light from Hobby

Hailuo 3 Max is MiniMax's fast Hailuo tier, and on eroq it took the place of Hailuo 02 (old links and API ids land on it). It is one of the engines the Hobby plan, the $15 tier, unlocks. Its reputation is for cinematic physics and dramatic light — things that fall, splash, swing and collide, lit hard. It renders 5 to 15 seconds at 480p or 768p, silent, and it is moderated upstream by its provider. This guide is about pointing it at the shots it is good at.

The numbers

• Length: 5 to 15 seconds, any whole second.
• Resolution: 480p or 768p (the default).
• Sound: none. Add music, voice and effects in the Editor.
• Price: 34 credits / second at 768p: 170 credits for a 5-second clip, 340 for a 10-second one — about $1.70 and $3.40 at the entry pack, where a credit is roughly a cent. 480p bills less per second.
• Formats: 21:9, 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 3:4, 9:16.
• Frames: a first frame, a last frame or both. It reads no reference pictures, so a cast rides as text.
• Plan: Hobby ($15, 1,800 credits) and every plan above it.
• Content: moderated upstream by the provider; a refused prompt returns content_blocked and costs nothing. When the provider refuses, Motion One, eroq's own uncensored engine on every account, is the alternative.

A Hobby month, spent entirely on 10-second Hailuo 3 Max clips, is 5 of them. Failed renders refund automatically, plan credits roll over, and Hobby's 15-second clip cap matches the engine's own ceiling.

What "cinematic physics" buys you

An engine with good physics renders cause and effect. Something pushes; something moves in response, with the right weight and timing. That is a narrower strength than it sounds, and it points at specific shots:

• Liquids. A pour, a spill, a wave hitting a wall.
• Cloth and hair under force. Wind, a turn, a fall.
• Impacts. A punch on a bag, a ball off a wall, a door slammed.
• Smoke, dust, sparks. Things that respond to air.
• Weight. A heavy object set down, a body landing.

The trick is to write the force into the prompt, not just the result. "A glass shatters" is a result. "A glass tips off the edge of the counter and shatters across the tiles" has a cause, a fall and an impact — three things the engine can render in sequence. Five seconds is enough for one physical event; ten seconds fits a cause and its consequence.

Dramatic light — use the rack

The second half of Hailuo's reputation is light, and the Video tool's Settings panel has two picks built for it, folded into your prompt server-side:

• Lighting: Silhouette, Practicals, Window light, Overhead fall, Contre-jour, Soft cross, Neon glow.
• Palette: Neon noir, Blood & gold, Industrial fog, Monochrome, Bleach bypass, Twilight and others.

In a Cinema film, the full Director's rack in the Look panel adds two more:

• Film type: Film noir and Horror are the two that lean hardest on shadow.
• Tempo: Tense or Chaotic, when the physics should feel dangerous.

For Hailuo, pick one hard light source and name it in the prose too — "a single overhead lamp", "contre-jour from one window". One source gives the engine a clear shadow direction; three soft sources give it nothing to work with.

Prompting Hailuo

The register is the same one every engine on eroq prefers: one flowing paragraph, subject, motion, camera, light, mood, 30–80 words. For this engine specifically:

1. Name the force. Wind, gravity, a hand, a hit. The cause should be in the first sentence.
2. Name the material. Glass, silk, chalk dust, wet concrete. Physics is material-specific and so is the render.
3. One light source, named. Then let the rack set the palette.
4. Keep the camera simple. Static, Close-up, Handheld and Slow pan from the 24 camera moves suit physics shots; the motion should come from the subject, not the rig. Write the move into the prompt ("static low angle") or insert it from the Syntax menu under the composer.
5. Pick 5 seconds by default. Go to 10 only when there is a consequence to show.

Rough draft? Enhance rewrites it into a director-grade prompt for free, and "Surprise me" invents one if you are testing the engine cold.

Example prompts

A 10-second, 16:9 shot with a cause and a consequence:

A glass of red wine tips off the edge of a marble counter in slow motion, the liquid stretching into a crimson sheet before it shatters across black tiles, droplets catching a single overhead lamp. Static low angle at counter height, macro lens, overhead fall lighting, blood and gold palette, tense and inevitable.

Settings: 10 s, 16:9, Lighting Overhead fall, Palette Blood & gold. The static camera, the macro lens and the tense mood are already in the prompt.

A 5-second, 9:16 impact shot:

A boxer in a dim gym drives a heavy bag with three hard hooks, chalk dust bursting from the leather on each hit, the chain above jerking and settling. Handheld close-up circling the bag, contre-jour from a single window behind him, industrial fog palette, tense and physical.

Settings: 5 s, 9:16, Lighting Contre-jour, Palette Industrial fog; the handheld move is in the prompt. This one is a natural fit for music visuals — three hits, one chain, done.

Hailuo versus Kling, and when to move up

Hailuo and Kling are the pair people compare most, and the split is clean: Kling 3.0 for people — fluid motion, faces, reference pictures, sound — and Hailuo 3 Max for silent physics and light at 768p. Both unlock from Hobby. If your shot is a performer, read /compare/kling-vs-hailuo before you spend. If it is a thing falling through hard light, you are already in the right place.

Move up when the job changes: Kling 3.0 when a face has to hold, Hailuo 3 on Creator for the same physics at 2K with sound, Seedance 2.5 or Wan 3.0 when a shot needs more than 15 seconds, Veo 3.1 Fast when the clip needs sound. Everything above Hobby is on /pricing, and the engine page at /models/hailuo-3-max keeps the current spec.

FAQ

Which plan do I need for Hailuo 3 Max on eroq?

Hobby ($15 a month, 1,800 credits) and up. Hobby also unlocks Veo 3.1 Fast, Kling 3.0, Seedance 2.0 Fast and Wan 3.0; Creator adds the rest of the roster, Hailuo 3 included. Hailuo 02 itself was retired: it now renders on Hailuo 3 Max.

How long and how sharp are Hailuo 3 Max clips?

5 to 15 seconds at 480p or 768p, in six formats from 21:9 to 9:16. For 1080p, Veo 3.1 Fast and Wan 3.0 render it on the same Hobby plan; Hailuo 3 on Creator renders 2K.

What does a Hailuo 3 Max clip cost?

34 credits / second at 768p: a 5-second clip is 170 credits and a 10-second one is 340, roughly $1.70 and $3.40 at the entry pack. The price is linear, seconds times the rate, and 480p costs less. Failed renders are refunded automatically.

Open the Video tool, pick Hailuo 3 Max and write the force into the first sentence — /studio/video.