Extracting key frame candidates from video clip

A method of analyzing a digital video clip to determine candidate frames for subsequent key frame selection including performing a global motion estimate on the video clip that indicates translation of the scene or camera, or scaling of the scene; forming a plurality of video segments based on the global motion estimate and labeling each segment in accordance with a predetermined series of camera motion classes; extracting key frame candidates from the labeled segments and computing a confidence score for each candidate by using rules corresponding to each camera motion class and a rule corresponding to object motion.