As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 22, 1999
                                                   Registration No. 333-
================================================================================
                   SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                            Washington, D. C. 20549

                                  Form S-8

                      REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER
                        THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                           AVID TECHNOLOGY, INC.
             (Exact name of issuer as specified in its charter)


              Delaware                                04-2977748
   (State or other jurisdiction of                  (I.R.S. Employer
    incorporation or organization)               Identification Number)


   Avid Technology Park, One Park West, Tewksbury, MA          01876
        (Address of Principal Executive Offices)             (Zip Code)

                           1997 STOCK INCENTIVE PLAN
                            (Full title of the Plan)

                                William J. Miller
                             Chief Executive Officer
                              Avid Technology, Inc.
                       Avid Technology Park, One Park West
                              Tewksbury, MA  01876
                     (Name and address of agent for service)

                                 (978) 640-6789
          (Telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)



================================================================================
Title of                      Proposed maximum   Proposed maximum    Amount of
securities to     Amount to    offering price   aggregate offering  registration
be registered   Be Registered    per share            price             fee
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        
Common Stock      500,000
$.01 par value    shares         $22.9375(1)        $11,468,750        $3,188.32
================================================================================


(1)      Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the  registration  fee,
         and based  upon the  average  of the high and low  prices of the Common
         Stock on the Nasdaq National Market on September 17, 1999 in accordance
         with Rules 457(c) and 457(h) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.



STATEMENT OF INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE This Registration Statement on Form S-8 incorporates by reference the contents of the Registration Statement on Form S-8 (File No. 333-30367) filed by the Registrant on June 30, 1997, relating to the Registrant's 1997 Stock Incentive Plan.

SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Tewksbury, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, on the 1st day of September, 1999. AVID TECHNOLOGY, INC. By: /s/William J. Miller ------------------------- William J. Miller Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board

POWER OF ATTORNEY We, the undersigned officers and directors of Avid Technology, Inc., hereby severally constitute William J. Miller, William L. Flaherty and Ethan E. Jacks, and each of them singly, our true and lawful attorneys with full power to them, and each of them singly, to sign for us and in our names in the capacities indicated below, the Registration Statement on Form S-8 filed herewith and any and all subsequent amendments to said Registration Statement, and generally to do all such things in our names and behalf in our capacities as officers and directors to enable Avid Technology, Inc. to comply with all requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission, hereby ratifying and confirming our signatures as they may be signed by said attorneys, or any of them, to said Registration Statement and any and all amendments thereto. Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated. Signature Title Date - ---------- ------ ----- /s/William J. Miller Chief Executive Officer September 1, 1999 William J. Miller and Chairman of the Board (Principal Executive Officer) /s/William L. Flaherty Senior Vice President of Finance September 3, 1999 William L. Flaherty and Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer) /s/Charles T. Brumback Director September 7, 1999 Charles T. Brumback /s/Peter C. Gotcher Director September 1, 1999 Peter C. Gotcher /s/Robert M. Halperin Director September 3, 1999 Robert M. Halperin /s/Nancy Hawthorne Director September 2, 1999 Nancy Hawthorne /s/Roger J. Heinen Director September 3, 1999 Roger J. Heinen, Jr /s/Daniel Langlois Director September 3, 1999 Daniel Langlois /s/Lucille S. Salhany Director September 7, 1999 Lucille S. Salhany /s/William J. Warner Director September 3, 1999 William J. Warner

Exhibit Index ------------- Exhibit Number Description - -------- ----------- 4.1(1) Third Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Registrant. 4.2(2) Amended and Restated By-Laws of the Registrant. 4.3(3) Certificate of Designation establishing Series A Junior Participating Preferred Stock and Certificate of Correction. 4.4(4) Rights Agreement, dated as of February 29, 1996 between the Registrant and BankBoston, as Rights Agent. 5 Opinion of Hale and Dorr LLP. 23.1 Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. 23.2 Consent of Hale and Dorr LLP (included in Exhibit 5). 24 Power of Attorney (included on the signature page of this Registration Statement). - ------------------- (1) Incorporated herein by reference from Exhibits 3.1 and 3.2 to the Registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 1995. (2) Incorporated herein by reference from the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 33-57796) as declared effective by the Commission on March 11, 1993. (3) Incorporated herein by reference from Exhibits 3.4 and 3.5 to the Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1995 as filed with the Commission on April 1, 1996. (4) Incorporated herein by reference from the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K, as filed with the Commission on March 8, 1996.


                                                                       Exhibit 5


                                Hale and Dorr LLP
                               Counsellors at Law
                  60 State Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02109
                         617-526-6000 * FAX 617-526-5000


                               September 22, 1999


Avid Technology, Inc.
Metropolitan Technology Park
One Park West
Tewksbury, MA 01876

         Re:      Registration Statement on Form S-8
                  ----------------------------------

Ladies and Gentlemen:

         This  opinion is  furnished to you in  connection  with a  Registration
Statement on Form S-8 (the  "Registration  Statement") filed with the Securities
and Exchange  Commission (the "Commission") under the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended (the "Securities Act"), for the registration of 500,000 shares of Common
Stock,  $.01 par value per share (the  "Shares"),  of Avid  Technology,  Inc., a
Delaware  corporation (the  "Company"),  issuable under the Company's 1997 Stock
Incentive Plan (the "Plan").

         We have examined the  Certificate of  Incorporation  and By-Laws of the
Company,  each as  amended  and  restated  to date,  and  originals,  or  copies
certified to our  satisfaction,  of all pertinent records of the meetings of the
directors and stockholders of the Company,  the Registration  Statement and such
other  documents  relating  to the Company as we have  deemed  material  for the
purposes of this opinion.

         In  examination  of  the  foregoing  documents,  we  have  assumed  the
genuineness of all signatures, the authenticity of all documents submitted to us
as originals, the conformity to original documents of all documents submitted to
us as copies, the authenticity of the originals of such latter documents and the
legal competence of all signatories to such documents.

         We  express  no  opinion  herein  as  to  the  laws  of  any  state  or
jurisdiction other than the state laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the
Delaware  General  Corporation  Law statute  and the federal  laws of the United
States of America.



Avid Technology, Inc. September 22, 1999 Page 2 Based upon and subject to the foregoing, we are of the opinion that the Shares have been duly authorized for issuance and the Shares, when issued and paid for in accordance with the terms of the Plan, will be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable. It is understood that this opinion is to be used only in connection with the offer and sale of the Shares while the Registration Statement is in effect. Please note that we are opining only as to the matters expressly set forth herein, and no opinion should be inferred as to any other matters. We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion with the Commission as an exhibit to the Registration Statement in accordance with the requirements of Item 601(b)(5) of Regulation S-K under the Securities Act. In giving such consent, we do not hereby admit that we are in the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Securities Act or the rules and regulations of the Commission. Very truly yours, /s/Hale and Dorr LLP HALE AND DORR LLP


                                                                    Exhibit 23.1




                       CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS


We  hereby  consent  to the  incorporation  by  reference  in this  Registration
Statement  on Form S-8 of our report  dated  February  3, 1999  relating  to the
financial  statements  and financial  statement  schedule,  which appears in the
Annual Report on Form 10-K of Avid Technology,  Inc. for the year ended December
31, 1998.



/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Boston, Massachusetts
September 20, 1999