A system and method for determining a preferred motion vector is provided, which may be used to estimate motion in a series of video image frames. The system may include a video encoder having a motion vector selector. The motion vector selector may include a first generator to generate a cost associated with motion vectors in a first direction, a selector to set a cross over point corresponding to a lowest cost motion vector in the first direction, a direction indicator to sample a set of motion vectors about the cross over point to select a preferred direction, and a second generator to generate a cost associated with the motion vectors in the preferred direction. The method may include determining a final motion vector having the lowest cost within a search window.