CHAPTER Working with Video 7 7.1 WOrKIng WIth VIDeO: IMPOrtIng MOVIeS In DIgItAl FOrMAt One of the many advantages of composing and orchestrating with an advanced audio/MIDI sequencer is that you can easily work with video material without resorting to complicated synchronization tech- niques or mysterious synchronization protocols such as SMPTE (a technique I will describe later in this chapter). In order to understand how to work and synchronize video to your digital audio workstation (DAW) it is important to be familiar with the concept of linear and nonlinear devices. A linear device stores the information (digital or analog) in a linear way. A typical example of such a device is a tape recorder, where the information is stored sequentially on tape. In order to reach a specific location you will have to physically fast-forward and advance to that location. A nonlinear device stores the informa- tion in a random-access way. An example would be a compact disc (CD) or a hard disk (HD). With such a device you can instantly reach any data on the media by simply jumping to the desired location. Linear