In this paper, we describe our rate distortion optimization framework for H.264/AVC standard. We investigate that the R-D characteristics of H.264 video signal in traditional transform-based video coding systems should be modeled for the Texture and Header components separately. Based on the proposed model, a R-D cost estimation function is also proposed to give a more accurate R-Q model. Built upon the above ideas, a rate control (RC) algorithm is developed for the H.264 encoder under the constant bit rate constraint. It is shown by experimental results that the new scheme can achieve better results in control bit rate and R-D performance compared to previously proposed approaches.