Avid DS (which was called Avid DS Nitris until early 2008) is a high-end offline and finishing system comprising a non-linear editing system and visual effects software. It was developed by Softimage in Montreal. Softimage was owned by Microsoft at the time of the launch of DS v1.0 and the company was acquired by Avid Technology Inc shortly thereafter.DS was discontinued on September 30, 2013 with support ending on September 30, 2014.