Sora: OpenAI's New Video Tool - Worth the Hype for Real Estate?

Hey hey!

I've just spent a minute or two trying to make videos with OpenAI's Sora.

Like many of you, I've watched others play with it for the last week, itching to try it myself.

The one thing holding me back was signing up for a new ChatGPT subscription since my team account wouldn't do the job (see below).

As you know, I love shiny new things, so I’ll give you my honest opinion on whether it’s worth running to the front or the back of the room to get your hands on it. But you also know I’ll only do that if you can take advantage of a brilliant real estate use case. It’s not all AI for AI’s sake over here.

If you just want to get to the verdict on Sora, scroll to the bottom.

If you’re interested in the shiny new things, read on… (just note anything you see here is a gif representation of a video generation; you’ll have to click for the actual video - because we can do all this AI stuff but still can’t embed video in emails…!!)

What is Sora?

Sora is OpenAI's AI model for generating videos from text prompts or images.

What does it cost?

You can access Sora through a paid ChatGPT account, but not a teams account.

• The $20/month plan allows up to 50 videos per month at 720p - which is what I have.

• The $200/month Pro plan provides 500 videos, unlimited relaxed (slower) generations, up to 1080p resolution, 20-second max duration, five concurrent generations, and the ability to download videos without watermarks.

• As I write this, access may be restricted in certain countries, such as the UK and the European Union, due to AI-related legalities.

What can you do?

Well, Sora has a friendly user interface, so you can chat to it just like any other LLM, which is great.

Here are some of the other things you can do:

• You can upload and animate images

• You can generate in various aspect ratios and durations (5-20 seconds)

• And there is the capability for a bunch of custom presets for video styles, creating storyboard, remixing videos and more.

And the reviews from the experts?

From what I have read, many people find Sora promising, but there are some general concerns about its usability and value for money.

As Sora matures, its quality, speed, and user experience will likely improve, as has been the case with all the AI tools we’ve experienced in the last couple of years.

So What Is It Good For (As A Real Estate Agent!)

I initially thought that the most suitable and capable source to answer this question would be ChatGPT.

what are some real life use cases for Sora right now if you are a real estate agent?

ChatGPT started telling me all the things, like virtual property walkthroughs, lifestyle marketing videos, before-and-after visualisations, marketing off the plan, customised videos for client engagement, personalised videos sent to prospective clients showcasing homes tailored to their preferences, creating engaging, cinematic videos for social media to stand out in property marketing campaigns, highlighting neighbourhood amenities, and the list goes on.

As you can see from the above generation, which doesn’t look like Broadbeach at all, ChatGPT has way overstated Sora’s current capabilities.

Here are some of my other experiments

Create a high-quality animated video showing a 3D digital map of a neighbourhood, focusing on a featured home in the centre. The animation begins with a flat, minimalistic map view that gradually transforms into a dynamic, living environment. Key local amenities pop up in a playful, visually engaging way as the map comes to life.

1. Neighbourhood map

Create a high-quality animated video showing a 3D digital map of a neighbourhood, focusing on a featured home in the centre. The animation begins with a flat, minimalistic map view that gradually transforms into a dynamic, living environment. Key local amenities pop up in a playful, visually engaging way as the map comes to life

This could have been cool if the feature in the centre was actually a home. To me, it looks like the central feature is actually a bus.

2. Home tour

Create a high-quality, visually engaging video of a home tour presented entirely from unique and unexpected perspectives. Start with a small drone-like view that enters the property through an open window, smoothly transitioning into a slow-motion perspective as it glides through the living spaces.

Reality Check!

The best use case in real estate that I can see for right now is B Roll, so don’t fire your videographer just yet.

In real estate, it’s not ready to replace the real thing - not yet, anyway.

The real winner in this experiment was Lexi. I think you’ll agree that the ability to make a video from a static image of my cat is pretty cute. (But she does not bounce like that!!)

That’s it for today -
Happy Hunting 🚀