"What’s a PPU ?" MTN has a new piece of equipment - with an unusual nickname. This new acquisition, with lots of capabilities and amazing versatility, is acting as replacement for our MX-12 portable switcher. This P.P.U. (Portable Production Unit) is really a portable digital three-camera studio. It's very compact due to the size of the cameras and the monitors. Staff member Art Roy has assembled the unit. He will be offering workshops in how to both set-up and operate the P.P.U. You must have both Basic Studio AND Advanced Digital camera certification to sign up for the class. The unit features 3 SONY VX-2000 cameras in a single Anvil case, with another Anvil case packed with a Videonics switcher and mini LCD monitors to view the inputs. The cameras are much like the Sony PD-150s, with a few minor differences. We are either requiring a crew list of assistants or more than one certified person per checkout since this unit needs virtually four qualified people to run the system properly. We have a digital deck assigned with the package, and a new digitizer called a “FireStore” as another option. This piece of equipment can directly prepare the video signal for hard-drive storage. This can save you the time-consuming process of capturing your video from tape. With the P.P.U., you can cover theatrical, musical, spiritual, recreational and community events from three perspectives simultaneously. Watch for notification on upcoming workshops with Art Roy to get trained on this unit. -Doug Cain

Supernova MTN engineer Jim Derks recently rebuilt the Supernova edit suite. It is now a digital A/B roll system with DVCAM source and record decks. You can make deck to deck edits with firewire clarity, or go through the studio switcher to add dissolves or synch roll edits. For a limited time only, MTN members with AmiLink certification can take this class for free. A free upgrade class will be held on Thursday, December 18th at 6:30 p.m. Sign up for this class on the sign-up sheet on the edit suite door. Look for more classes  in the winter class schedule. Final Cut Pro 4 MTN has a new Final Cut Pro system running on Mac OS X. This system is running the new version 4 of Final Cut Pro. Find out more about the advanced tools of this software upgrade at a Free Upgrade class at MTN. MTN members who are currently certified Final Cut Pro edit users can sign up for a free class on the following dates: Thursday, December 4th at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, December 9th at 11 a.m., or Friday, December 19th at 5 p.m. Sign up for a class on the sign-up sheet on the edit suite door. Additional classes will be offered in January. Check the MTN website, www.mtn.org, for more information. -John Akre