1. A method for motion estimation using adaptive patterns in a video sequence compression system, comprising the steps of: (a) determining an initial search pattern located at a center of a search window in a block of a video frame; (b) searching a location of a minimum block distortion measure (BDM) in the initial search pattern; (c) determining a horizontal search pattern for functioning on the search window in the horizontal direction to search a location of a minimum BDM in the horizontal search pattern; (d) determining a vertical search pattern for operating on the search window in the vertical direction to search a location of a minimum BDM in the vertical search pattern; (e) designating the location of the minimum BDM in the initial search pattern to be a motion vector; (f) designating the location of the minimum BDM in the horizontal search pattern to be a motion vector; (g) designating the location of the minimum BDM in the vertical search pattern to be a motion vector; (h) determining a search pattern to be used in a subsequent searching stage based on the location of the minimum BDM in the initial search pattern; (i) determining a search pattern to be used in a subsequent searching stage based on the location of the minimum BDM in the horizontal search pattern; and (j) determining a search pattern to be used in a subsequent searching stage based on the location of the minimum BDM in the vertical search pattern.