Cox says he prefers to go out of house for online, film transfer, and the like. His clients, who are at the higher end of the ad business, are used to working "a la carte." They prefer picking and choosing who they want to work on each phase of their jobs, as opposed to lumping it all together in one place.
Outback moved last year and built out the space in its new building, and there are no plans for new technology or upgrades to existing equipment for the near future. Cox works with Avid and says that he will eventually add System 7. He feels it was a matter of luck when he brought in his current configuration since Avid was just converting its platform, using Media Composer and PCI systems (as opposed to NuBuss), which he believes will hold him in good stead for a while. Cox sticks to proven hardware and software and says he would never be the first person to jump on a new technology since it's such a big gamble every time new systems are purchased.
Acting as production coordinator for many clients, Cox is familiar with all the latest technology and knows what it can do, but he still prefers to shepherd work through to the "experts" for each step of the production process, and let them do their magic. He believes this is the key to getting the best work, finding the talent, not the gear, and that consolidating everything under one roof may save money, but may not result in the best finished product. "It used to be equipment drove the business," he points out, "but it's now driven more by individual talent since everyone has the same [tools]. Technology has leveled the playing field."