Vegas!...I Hate That Name!

Ken Kendall wrote on 7/20/2007, 11:24 PM

I have been a Vegas user since Vegas 4(after jumping ship with Premier) and have had many hours of productive use and very much like the program. But...I still feel that the the NLE name "Vegas" was a mistake.
A product name is extremely important. A product name denotes direction, intention, attributes, purpose etc. A name helps to create an image in your mind and you tend to treat/relate to the object based on the name. Think about the NLE name Final...Cut...Pro. Although you may not know what it is, you have the feeling that it is serious/importamt. Look at the name Avid which means "dedicated or enthusiastic" or Premier-enough said! Now say the word Vegas-what comes to mind?? If you could name an NLE would you call it Vegas??. I believe that when Vegas moves to 10 bit color space and improves the titler and a few other things the NLE should be changed to "Vegas Pro!!" -Hmm...I like the sound of that!. I discussed this with another editor who thought I was "off base" about the importance of names and he said " Ahhh... names dont matter-I never look at names -I look at what the programs do". I knew he had a new born baby on the way and I said to him -Well.. if I am so crazy & off base with the importance of names why dont you just name your new born baby SATAN! -Well that subject never came up again!- what do you editors think??

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Comments

Videoguy 16x9 wrote on 7/22/2007, 11:35 AM

SHEESHHH! Okay, so you do have too much time on your hands - but Sony Vegas is actually a much more clever name than you think. An "old hand" from the Sonic Foundry days told me that Vegas stands for Video Editing, Graphics And Sound = VEGAS. Besides, as a company that didn't want to drop 10k for AVID products that do no better than Vegas and was so much happier to leave Premiere Pro, I don't care if Sony calls their software Vegas, Reno, Sheboyan or what - as long as they keep developing and supporting the editing platform my company has chosen to embrace. Just MHO

Robert Petersen,
Director, All Pro Media, LLC

Spot|DSE wrote on 7/22/2007, 11:46 AM

The name has nothing to do with Video Editing, Graphics, And Sound.
It was a code word for the work-in-progress audio app, was never initially seen as a video app. ACID's name came from the exact same story; code word for the project that everyone got married to.
Sound Forge was named about the same time it was authored, but following that, the first app that ever had a "market-friendly" name was Video Factory, named by Rob Uhurina, who was a marketing manager for Sonic Foundry.
Either way, name doesn't matter much, but it's interesting to read folks complaining about the name of a product vs bugs, instability, workflow, or missing features. :-)

vitalforce wrote on 7/22/2007, 2:06 PM

They should have named it Brain. Then everybody would want one.

Sarcasm aside, maybe this is a good time for a naming contest. I nominate "Intuition."

I always end up telling curious people how intuitive Vegas is. That's the key distinction from other NLEs.
.

Quryous wrote on 7/22/2007, 7:58 PM

Hmm! I vote for Vegamatic!

vicmilt wrote on 7/22/2007, 8:07 PM

Schmegas!

dibbkd wrote on 7/22/2007, 8:27 PM

The name has nothing to do with Video Editing, Graphics, And Sound.

Ah Spot, you had to go and ruin it.

I was starting to like that VEGAS was an acronym.

Chienworks wrote on 7/23/2007, 3:29 AM

And just because the justification came out years after the item it's justifying, does that make it any less satisfying? So who cares if the justification was invalid at the time the item first came into being. The item has evolved, so why not the history surrounding it too?

Eh, it's just a name. And come to think of it ... how much free press is Vegas getting from people talking about that name? I'll bet there's no where near as much activity of people discussing "Final Cut Pro! I Hate That Name!"

FuTz wrote on 7/23/2007, 9:06 AM

.. I second Schmic ...

-over-

JJKizak wrote on 7/23/2007, 9:26 AM

Perhaps a non-associative name like "Ocean" or "306 East" or "Strings" or "Wow".
JJK

Ecquillii wrote on 7/23/2007, 10:05 AM

How about TakeFive: Helps you to finish before all the others have started!

Tim

dand9959 wrote on 7/23/2007, 10:52 AM

Most don't know this, but Pinnacle also had an acronym-based name, based on:

Create, Render, And Post

but for some reason they stuck with "Pinnacle"

John_Cline wrote on 7/23/2007, 12:00 PM

dand9959, that was hilarious! Thanks for the laugh.

auggybendoggy wrote on 7/23/2007, 9:44 PM

I have to agree with the name does have some affect on people.

It's like if you go to best buy to buy a pc and there are 2 on the shelf.
1 comes in a brown box with "made in china" and all kinds of oriental letters you cant read
1 comes in a 4 color HP image of a family around the pc having fun

most people will buy the 4 color job just for the appeal of the box which has NOTHING to do with the good inside.

Now the pc may be a bit more for the 4 color job but people pay the money.

Advertising makes a huge difference and we all (in the video business) can appreciate that. So names too can have an impact on selling a product.

I think a name like

balls to the wall video 2.0 would be just perfect LOL!!!!!

seriously I do agree that a name change would be a good marketing tool.

Aug

Spot|DSE wrote on 7/23/2007, 9:47 PM

I'm with John. Your post is great!

Dimes wrote on 7/24/2007, 12:19 PM

dand9959

PRICELESS !

Read your post yesterday, only stopped laughing today.

I'am now able to type a reply.

Steve Mann wrote on 7/24/2007, 8:06 PM

Grazie had the best response.....

Subtle, but true.

bgc wrote on 7/24/2007, 9:08 PM

I was in the studio earlier this year doing some film soundtrack work - I was actually sitting in for some ADR (dialog overdubs).

One of the studio assistants asked me what apps I used to compose and record the music:

"Do you use Logic? Reason?"
"No, I use Acid & Vegas."

One of the actors freaked out: "You drop acid in Vegas to create your music!!!???" It was sooo funny to see the actors reaction.

Logic? Reason? No Acid!!! :-0

B.

Jessariah67 wrote on 7/24/2007, 9:57 PM

My two cents (which aren't worth a penny after taxes...)

You could call Vegas whatever you want. Doesn't do a thing to change what it can/can't do. Money might flock to a great name and/or promise once, but it won't follow if the results fall short.

I've worked with Premiere (briefly) and I have FC on an iMac which sits there in case I actually HAVE to use FC to cut my next movie...

Vegas does it. Period. Even those who are adept at multiple NLEs - I'd wager that two out of three would work in Vegas exclusively if they had the choice. Just as movies are migrating from the studio model, editing is migrating from the "old school model." Battlling the "old school" is never easy, but it ends nicely if you have the goods. Vegas has the goods (IMO).

KH