Hierarchical segmentation and quality measurement for video editing

Methods for organizing media data by automatically segmenting media data into hierarchical layers of scenes are described. The media data may include metadata and content having still image, video or audio data. The metadata may be content-based (e.g., differences between neighboring frames, exposure data, key frame identification data, motion data, or face detection data) or non-content-based (e.g., exposure, focus, location, time) and used to prioritize and/or classify portions of video. The metadata may be generated at the time of image capture or during post-processing. Prioritization information, such as a score for various portions of the image data may be based on the metadata and/or image data. Classification information such as the type or quality of a scene may be determined based on the metadata and/or image data. The classification and prioritization information may be metadata and may be used to organize the media data.