Avid Technology, Inc. is an American technology and multimedia company that develops digital non-linear editing (NLE) systems, video editing software, audio editing software, music notation software and management and distribution services. It is based in Burlington, Massachusetts, and was founded in August 1987 by Bill Warner.^[2][3]

Quick Facts Company type, Traded as ...

Avid Technology, Inc.

Company type	Private
Traded as	Nasdaq: AVID
Industry	Computer software, Technology, Multimedia
Founded	August 1987; 36 years ago (1987-08)
Founder	Bill Warner
Headquarters	Burlington, Massachusetts, United States
Key people	Jeff Rosica (president &​ CEO)
Products	Pro Tools, Media Composer, Sibelius, Avid Play Avid VENUE, Avid NEXIS, MediaCentral, FastServe, MBOX Studio, Pro Tools Carbon, Pro Tools MTRX, Airspeed, Avid Maestro Graphics.
Revenue	US$417 million (2022)
Operating income	US$53.9 million (2022)
Net income	US$55.2 million (2022)
Total assets	US$287 million (2022)
Total equity	−US$119 million (2022)
Owner	Symphony Technology Group
Number of employees	1,485 (2022)
Website	avid.com
Footnotes / references [1]

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Avid products are used in the television and video industry to create television shows, feature films, and commercials. Media Composer, a professional non-linear editing system, is Avid's flagship product.^[4]

Avid was founded by Bill Warner, a former marketing manager from Apollo Computer. A prototype of their first non-linear editing system, the Avid/1 Media Composer, was shown at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in April 1988. The Avid/1 was based on an Apple Macintosh II computer, with special hardware and software of Avid's design installed. The Avid/1 was "the biggest shake-up in editing since Melies played with time and sequences in the early 1900s".^[5] By the early 1990s, Avid products began to replace such tools as the Moviola, Steenbeck, and KEM flatbed editors, allowing editors to handle their film creations with greater ease. The first feature film edited using the Avid was Let's Kill All the Lawyers in 1992, directed by Ron Senkowski. The film was edited at a 30fps NTSC rate, then used Avid MediaMatch to generate a negative cutlist from the EDL.^[6][7] The first feature film edited natively at 24fps with what was to become the Avid Film Composer was Emerson Park. The first studio film to be edited at 24fps was Lost in Yonkers, directed by Martha Coolidge. By 1994 only three feature films used the new digital editing system. By 1995 dozens had switched to Avid, and it signaled the beginning of the end of cutting celluloid. In 1996 Walter Murch accepted the Academy Award for editing The English Patient (which also won best picture), which he cut on the Avid. This was the first Editing Oscar awarded to a digitally edited film (although the final print was still created with traditional negative cutting).^[8]

In 1994 Avid introduced Open Media Framework (OMF) as an open standard file format for sharing media and related metadata.

In the past, Avid released Avid Free DV, a free edition of Media Composer with limited functionality; Xpress DV, a consumer edition of Media Composer; and Xpress Pro, a prosumer edition of Media Composer. These editions were discontinued in 2008 as the flagship Media Composer was lowered in price.

On March 29, 1999, Avid Technology, Inc. adjusted the amount originally allocated to IPR&D and restated its third-quarter 1998 consolidated financial statements accordingly, considering the SEC's views.^[9]

In February 2018, Avid appointed Jeff Rosica as CEO, after terminating Louis Hernandez Jr, who was accused of workplace misconduct.^[10]

In May 2023, Reuters reported that Avid was exploring selling the company.^[11]

In August 2023, Avid Technology entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of STG for $1.4 billion,^[12] which was finalized three months later.^[13]

• List of music software
• List of video editing software
• List of scorewriters