Sora Is OpenAI's New Video Generation Tool. Here's Everything It Can Do

OpenAI continued 12 days of product announcements with a big event today: Sora, its video generation model, is now available to the public. Here's everything it can do.

Sora does a lot more than just create original videos on command

Sora was originally announced back in February, but it was initially only available to select researchers. Today, it became publicly available.

What is Sora? It's a video generation model that creates videos based on text you enter.

There are a lot of asterisks and limitations in this early version of Sora, but that's its core functionality.

This means you can create completely original videos just by typing a command, but there are plenty of other use cases that might be more practical.

Here's what Sora can do, according to the OpenAI site:

Remix: Replace, remove, or reimagine elements in your video with Remix (e.g. remove a spaceship, add a jungle)
Re-edit: Find and isolate the best shots, expanding them in any direction to complete a scene
Storyboard: Organize and edit a unique sequence of your videos on a personal timeline
Loop: Trim and create seamless looping videos with Loop
Blend: Combine two videos into one seamless clip
Style Presets: Create and share styles that capture your imagination with presets

As you can see from the list above, Sora can be an interesting tool for beginners to create original videos.

But its biggest advantage, at least for now, may be how it can help YouTubers and other filmmakers in the video editing process.

Who Can Use Sora and Its Current Limitations

Sora, unlike ChatGPT, is not available to free users. Instead, a subscription is required.

You can use Sora with a ChatGPT Plus subscription for $20 per month or the newly debuted ChatGPT Pro option for $200 per month.

Here are the limits for each:

ChatGPT Plus

Up to 50 priority videos (1,000 credits)
Up to 720p resolution and 5s duration

ChatGPT Pro

Up to 500 priority videos (10,000 credits)
Unlimited chill videos
Up to 1080p resolution, 20s duration, and 5 simultaneous generations
Download without a watermark

That last point is especially important, as it means that ChatGPT Plus users will get a watermark added to all their Sora experiences, whether they like it or not.

Despite the limitations, Sora is a particularly interesting new addition to the ChatGPT Plus subscription that could encourage users to sign up — especially with the new ChatGPT integration in iOS 18.2 just around the corner.

What do you think of Sora's capabilities? Will you be giving it a try? Let us know in the comments.