As of 2025, Sora is available to Premium users of ChatGPT, joining similar tools like Adobe Firefly and RunwayML.

Sora was released as part of OpenAI's 12 Days of OpenAI, a scheduled release of 12 new features, tools, and initiatives that launched just before Christmas 2024.

While Sora can only produce short-form videos, the quality that it produces has been hailed by its users, especially in the form of lifelike videos and creative animations.

So, let's take a look at how to use Sora's AI video Generator, what makes it different from other AI video creators, and how to use it.

Table of Contents

• What is Sora?
• How to Sign Up for Sora
• Is Sora Free? What Are the Account Limitations?
• How to Use Sora AI Video Generator
• Sora AI Video Generator Limitations
• How Do You Edit Your Sora Videos?

What is Sora?

Originally conceived as part of OpenAI's broader research into generative AI, Sora has been in development for several years, evolving through multiple iterations to enhance its capabilities and ethical safeguards.

Now that it's open to the public, Sora allows users to transform text prompts into engaging short video clips, up to 20 seconds long, without audio. Like ChatGPT, Sora focuses on accessibility and a user-friendly design, making it easier for people who are not deeply technical to use the platform. 

How to Sign Up for Sora

To use Sora, you’ll need to be a ChatGPT Plus or Pro subscriber. Here are the steps to get started:

1. Log in to your ChatGPT account.
2. Visit the Sora platform.
3. Agree to Sora’s Terms and Conditions.

Sora's login page is through OpenAI, so if you've used OpenAI, it'll look very familiar. However, it's worth noting that you are creating a Sora account by using your OpenAI account. While they share the same login system, they're different utilities.

Is Sora Free? What Are the Account Limitations?

Sora is included with paid ChatGPT Plus and Pro plans, which also offer a range of additional features alongside the video generator.

Before subscribing, consider whether the plan aligns with your broader AI needs. You can always explore Sora with a Plus plan before deciding to upgrade to Pro.

The cost differential is significant. ChatGPT Plus is only $20 a month vs Pro, which is $200 a month.

Adding to this, Sora operates on a credit system. Each subscription tier comes with a monthly usage allowance — for example, the ChatGPT Plus plan ($20 per month) includes up to 50 videos each month.

The ChatGPT Plus version can generate up to two videos at a time, with a maximum length of 10 seconds per clip and 720p.

The ChatGPT Pro version can generate up to four videos at a time, with a maximum length of 20 seconds per clip and 1080p. When generating your video, you may notice some options are grayed out. These are ChatGPT Pro features.

How to Use Sora AI Video Generator

Once you've logged into the platform, creating videos with Sora is incredibly easy.

Step 1) Write Your Prompt

First, write your prompt in the text box at the bottom of the screen.

Your prompt can range from a general description ("a balloon floating into space") to a more robust description ("It is a black and white, cinematic scene. We see a bright sky with clouds. A single balloon appears at the bottom of the screen and then ascends into the sky."), depending on how specific you want your video to be.

Pro Tip: you can ask ChatGPT to write your prompt for you. You can either use the ChatGPT utility or click the "Storyboard" button to turn a quick, brief snippet into a more detailed video description.

Step 2) Direct Your Video Through Six Options

Before you generate your video, six options will appear below the text prompt. From left to right, the options allow you to: add media, presets, aspect ratio, resolution, length, and variations.

Option 1: Add Media

You can upload an image or video, or use Sora's Media Gallery, to generate a starting frame for your video.

Sora's Media Gallery contains everything you've uploaded so far alongside videos you've generated in the past.

The image or video you select will be used to help direct the rest of the new video that is being produced.

This tool is particularly powerful for advertising and marketing teams looking to produce highly specific visuals that replicate a specific image or video.

In this case, selecting a photo of a house sets the first frame for a real estate-style flyover video, such as one for a property listing. This is usually what Sora will do — your image will become the first frame of the video or the central aspect of the video.

Option 2: Presets

You can select from five stylistic presets, such as Balloon World, Stop Motion, and Film Noir.

Selecting a preset can dramatically change your video, as it applies a very specific style and theme to the project.

• Balloon World: Your video will contain large, floating balloons in whimsical colors.
• Stop Motion: Your video will be rendered like a stop motion video, with pauses between frames.
• Archival: Your video will be rendered in a vintage style, with little flickers and artifacts of older video, and reduced color saturation.
• Film Noir: Your video will be rendered as a dramatic, black-and-white video.
• Cardboard & Papercraft: Your video will be rendered with cardboard components, like a collage.

Option 3: Aspect Ratio

Sora AI allows you to choose from three aspect ratios: 16:9, 1:1, or 9:16.

For this section, you may want to look into some of the popular aspect ratios on social media to ensure your generated images automatically fit on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, BlueSky, Lemon8, and YouTube.

Option 4: Resolution

You can choose from three resolution options: 480p, 720p, or 1080p (ChatGPT Pro only)

The higher resolution you select, the longer Sora takes to generate your video.

Option 5: Video Length

You can choose from five short-form video lengths that include five seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, (ChatGPT Pro), and 20 seconds (ChatGPT Pro).

Pro Tip: From our tests, we found that the longer the video was, the more likely it was to have unusual AI artifacts.

Option 6: Variations

This option provides multiple variations of the same video: one, two, or four videos (for Premium users). These variations allow you to review a small batch of videos and choose the one that best fits your project.

Sometimes, an AI-generated video might not turn out as expected. Creating multiple variations is a smart way to hedge your bets and increase the likelihood of getting a result that matches your expectations.

Step 3 (Optional): Storyboard Your Video

For advanced control over the creation of your video, you can use Sora's "Storyboard" feature.

A Storyboard allows you to build a detailed narrative for the video frame by frame, giving you control of each small scene within the larger video.

Each Storyboard card describes an individual scene while the timeline at the bottom previews how the scenes are ordered. To create an individual Storyboard scene, simply click "Create".

Let's look at the first card of a storyboard for a "real estate video about a house". The storyboard represents a single scene, which would occur at 00.00 of our timeline.

Press the Expand caption button (beneath each card) to let AI further describe the scene. Providing a detailed scene description increases the chances of achieving the desired overall video outcome, as it helps clarify your vision and guides the creative process effectively.

Of course, sometimes, Sora's AI will misinterpret your prompt. You can edit the Storyboard by clicking on the card and manually editing the text.

In the card above, I added "The car is red" to clarify what type of car I wanted. You also have the option to delete individual Storyboard cards, create new cards, or reorder the cards by clicking and dragging the card to the left or right.

Storyboards give you granular control over the video generation process although you can skip the process entirely, if you'd prefer.

Pro Tips:

• Try to generate your prompt without a storyboard first. You may not need to use one.
• If your prompt doesn't generate the way you'd like, try again with a Storyboard prompt. Use the Storyboard to correct anything you didn't like. For example, perhaps Sora rendered a scene in full color, but you wanted it in black and white. In the Storyboard, you can specify "a black and white scene."
• Use Storyboards when you're trying to generate longer videos that need to have a through-line between scenes.

Step 4: Generate Your Video

Once you click to Generate your video (from the prompt window) or Create your video (from the storyboard window), your video will go into Sora's queue. In the upper right corner of your screen, you'll see a notification.

Your video won’t be available immediately after generating it. It will be added to the "Sora queue," which typically takes a few minutes to process.

You can either wait for a notification that your video is done or go to find your video in your queue.

Step 5: Find Your Video

To find your video, navigate to Library > All videos on the left-hand panel.

A video loading screen will appear like the screenshot above until the process is complete. Once complete, the number of variations you selected will be displayed.

Step 6 (Optional): Edit Your Video

On the video page, Sora provides settings that let you modify your video if needed.

Here, you can:

• Edit Prompt: Edit your initial prompt and generate a new video.
• View story: View your Storyboard, so you can edit your Storyboard and generate a new video.
• Re-cut: Trim from the start or finish of a video.
• Remix: Regenerate the video with specific directions, such as "turn that balloon blue."
• Blend: Merge one video into another generated video.
• Loop: Select a section of the video to infinitely loop.

Each of Sora's video editing tools gives you the ability to make quick, simple edits to your video and to regenerate parts of your video with AI. But for more advanced editing (such as adding audio), you'll need a third-party editing studio such as Kapwing.

Step 7: Download Your Video

Click on any generated Sora video to download it. The option to download is an arrow in the upper right corner. You also have the option to favorite your video or the option to share it.

Sora will generate a video that you can then download and use (although, it will be watermarked in the lower right corner).

Here is an example we created; a balloon floating into space, perfect for a music video or tone setting in an advertisement:

We also generated a video of a mother cat with some ducklings, perfect for a commercial, or social media sharing:

Sora AI Video Generator Limitations

Sora has its limitations to ensure ethical and appropriate use:

• Human Depictions: There are some restrictions on creating videos with human figures to prevent misuse; you're not going to be able to generate any violent Gladiator battles with Sora, but you can generate people standing around.
• Content Moderation: Sora blocks inappropriate or harmful prompts, such as those involving nudity or illegal activities, like drug use; it's perhaps one of the most locked-down tools.

There are also some limitations to the tool itself:

• Video Length: Longer projects may require alternative tools, as Sora limits videos to 20 seconds.
• Video Sound: Sora doesn't generate sound, only video.

But imagine that you want some quick video thumbnails for a website you’re developing. Sora could fit in quite brilliantly.

How Do You Edit Your Sora Videos?

Sora isn't a video editor, it's just a video generator. It doesn't have any easy tools for trimming your videos, changing their resolution, or even stitching them together.

That's where Kapwing can come in.

Let’s say I wanted to stitch together these two AI videos. I can’t do this in Sora, but I can do this with Kapwing’s video merge tool.

After I log into Kapwing, I can upload both videos:

As long as I select both videos to upload, Kapwing automatically generates a single video with both videos on the timeline:

I don't need to change a thing, although I could if I wanted to: I could trim, split, and cut the videos to suit my needs.

Next, I can use Kapwing’s audio tool to add some audio to my video, another feature that Sora doesn’t have.

Kapwing has a selection of music and sound effects that you can add to videos without having to source them yourself. This is especially important as creating content on platforms such as YouTube without audio copyright claims can be quite tricky.

Finally, I can export my project as a small MP4: perfect sharing across newsletters, to clients, embedding on websites, or posting on social media.

Because of its ease of use and popular exposure, Sora has the capabilities to revolutionize and normalize AI-driven video creation. However, only when combined with a video editing tool such as Kapwing can you truly create original content that can be repurposed across projects.