As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 20, 2000
                                                      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)

                   1993 DIRECTOR STOCK OPTION PLAN, AS AMENDED
                            (Full title of the Plan)

                                 David A. Krall
                      President and 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)



===============================================================================================================
                                                     Proposed maximum       Proposed maximum        Amount of
Title of securities                Amount to          Offering price       aggregate offering      registration
 to be registered                Be Registered          per share                price                fee
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                       
Common Stock $.01 par value      250,000 shares        $13.3125 (1)          $3,328,125            $878.63
===============================================================================================================


(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 October 18, 2000 in accordance  with Rules
      457(c) and 457(h) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.



                                       1

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. 333-08825) filed by the Registrant on July 25, 1996, relating to the Registrant's 1993 Director Stock Option Plan, as amended. 2

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 13th day of October, 2000. AVID TECHNOLOGY, INC. By: /s/David A. Krall ---------------------- David A. Krall President and Chief Executive Officer 3

POWER OF ATTORNEY We, the undersigned officers and directors of Avid Technology, Inc., hereby severally constitute David A. Krall, Ethan E. Jacks and Carol E. Kazmer, 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/David A. Krall President and Chief Executive October 13, 2000 - ---------------------- Officer of the Board David A. Krall (Principal Financial Officer) /s/Ethan E. Jacks Senior Vice President and Acting October 18, 2000 - ---------------------- Chief Financial Officer Ethan E. Jacks (Principal Financial Officer) /s/Carol L. Reid Vice President and Corporate October 11, 2000 - ---------------------- Controller Carol L. Reid (Principal Accounting Officer) /s/Charles T. Brumback Director October 10, 2000 - ---------------------- Charles T. Brumback /s/Peter C. Gotcher Director October 08, 2000 - ---------------------- Peter C. Gotcher /s/Robert M. Halperin Director October 11, 2000 - ---------------------- Robert M. Halperin /s/Nancy Hawthorne Director October 09, 2000 - ---------------------- Nancy Hawthorne /s/Roger J. Heinen, Jr. Director October 09, 2000 - ---------------------- Roger J. Heinen, Jr. /s/William J. Warner Director October 06, 2000 - ---------------------- William J. Warner 4

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. 5


                                                                      Exhibit 5


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


                                October 20, 2000

Avid Technology, Inc.
Avid 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 250,000 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 1993 Director
Stock Option Plan, as amended (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.



                                       6

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 7



                                                                   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  2, 2000  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, 1999.


/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Boston, Massachusetts
October 19, 2000



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