On Monday, OpenAI finally launched Sora, a text-to-video AI model, to the public, affording creators, tinkerers, and aspiring armchair directors a high-quality tool to bring their visions to life.
With its ability to produce imaginative, detailed, and cinematic visuals, Sora opens the doors to a future where producing compelling video content is as accessible as a free Gmail account. Well, almost.
While Sora's potential is sky-high, for those looking to take AI video generation seriously, so is its biggest hurdle: its premium pricing.
Lights, camera... Credit card!
It's enough to set the mind ablaze with possibilities. However, the dreams of donning my director's beret and dusting off my megaphone to dictate my way through the Galaxy Quest sequel I've always longed for have already been unceremoniously dashed.
Even if OpenAI's Sora puts the power of a film studio at my fingertips, I'll need an expendable income far beyond that of an aspiring film student to take full advantage of it.
Due to the demanding task of video generation, there are no free tiers of access for Sora, like its cousin-model ChatGPT offers. Instead, Sora sits behind the ChatGPT subscriber paywall.
ChatGPT Plus subscribers ($20/month) are granted 1,000 Sora credits each month, which equates to 50 priority, watermarked, 5-second videos at 480p resolution (with 720p resolution videos costing more credits).
However, those with the hubris to believe themselves to be the next AI-powered Kubrick can take advantage of OpenAI's new ChatGPT Pro subscription tier for a monthly stipend of 10,000 credits — enough to render 500 priority 20-second videos at FHD (1080p) resolution without a watermark. Unlike ChatGPT Plus subscribers, ChatGPT Pro subscribers can continue making videos even after their credits have been spent, albeit at a slower rate.
With this pricing, Sora feels less like an open invitation to unleash your inner cinematographer and more like a walled garden for those with cash to burn and an eye for toppling the video stock footage empire. That said, OpenAI has stated that it's working on tailored pricing for different types of users that should be available early next year.
Are tools like Sora a threat to Hollywood? Que Sora, Sora.
OpenAI's Sora might be a fascinating AI tool with heaps of potential, but it's not quite ready to start usurping Christopher Nolan from his Hollywood hot seat just yet.
Despite an industry-wide unease surrounding the involvement of AI in the arts, Sora is still getting to grips with the physics of fabrics and fur, occasionally resulting in videos that are a little more avant-garde than you might have intended to create.
It's still far too early in this model's life to expect a $200 subscription to produce something comparable to Paddington in Peru, but you'll have a grand old time if you set your expectations a little lower. Paddington in Portland, maybe.
For now, Sora is most likely the perfect tool for social media creators who wish to add a little more storytelling flair to their content. In the future? Who knows. As tools like Sora advance, making video production an easier and more widely accessible experience, we may have to re-evaluate everything we know about film and TV production. Until then, que Sora, Sora.
