H.264/AVC　was　the　outstanding　and　significant　video　compression　standard　developed　by　ITU-T/ISO/IEC　Joint　Video　Team.　It　achieved　excellent　encoding　perfor-　mance　of　at　the　cost　of　increased　computational　complexity　and　falling　encoding　speed.　In　order　to　overcome　poor　real-time　encoding　performance　of　the　important　and　time　consuming　motion　estimation　technology　in　H.264/AVC　standard,　aiming　at　computing　redundancy　of　UMHexagonS　algorithm　which　was　selected　by　H.264/AVC　latterly,　with　special　considerations　on　visual　perception,　using　macro-block＇s　motion　characteristics,　formulated　the　adaptive　motion　estimation　strategies　and　search　points　distribution　rule.　A　low-complexity　motion　estimation　scheme　is　proposed　in　this　paper　to　improve　the　video　coding　performance　significantly.　The　simulation　results　show　that　the　proposed　motion　estimation　scheme　achieve　reduction　of　23.11on　average　compared　with　UMHexagonS　algorithm,　in　the　premise　of　effectively　improving　the　encoding　speed,　keep　the　low　bit　rate　and　high　quality　of　encoding　advantage　for　H.264/AVC　compared　with　full　search　algorithm.　©　2011　ISSN　2073-4212.