After performing integer-pel motion estimation to select the best integer-pel location, half-pel (or other fractional-pel) motion estimation is performed by estimating the distortion values for all of the surrounding half-pel locations by linearly interpolating using the distortion value for the best integer-pel location and the distortion values available from the integer-pel motion estimation analysis corresponding to the surrounding integer-pel locations. A subset of those half-pel locations is then selected as candidate half-pel locations (e.g., based on lowest estimated distortion values) and true distortion values are then generated for those candidate locations. The best half-pel location is then selected based on the distortion values for the candidate half-pel locations and the best integer-pel location. This best half-pel location may then be used to perform the motion-compensated inter-frame differencing step of a video coding scheme.