1. A method for content based video database formation, the method comprising: segmenting selected video frames utilizing selected active frame areas into a plurality of regions, each region delineated by computed contours, wherein the active video frame areas are selected based on video filtering and temporal statistic collection of a video sequence; tracing the computed contours to produce a vector of contiguous spatial coordinates for each region; processing each vector of contiguous spatial coordinates to provide a contour pixel gradient vector orientation and magnitude for selected contours; generating for each of the selected contours a signature based on the contour pixel gradient vector orientation and magnitude; and forming a content based video database to hold the signatures.