A digital video capture system for capturing a digital video sequence and for producing a corresponding video summary, comprising: an image sensor; an optical system; a processor, a softcopy display and a means for providing a user with an option to view either a stored digital video sequence or a video summary on the softcopy display. The processor performs the steps of: capturing a digital video sequence; automatically analyzing the digital video sequence at the time the digital video sequence is captured to determine one or more feature values; compressing the digital video sequence; storing the compressed digital video sequence; automatically analyzing the feature values to identify one or more key video snippets, assembling the key video snippets to form a video summary; and storing a representation of the video summary.