Stanford - The Original Authority on Motion Capture

Leland Stanford and Eadweard Muybridge met in 1873 when Muybridge began to photograph Stanford's horses in motion. At this time, photographers often built their own equipment and mixed their own chemicals. Exposure time was usually measured in seconds rather than one-hundredths of a second like it is today.

By 1877, Muybridge and Stanford's engineering staff were able to photograph movement with a shutter speed of 1/2000th of a second. The images provided conclusive proof that horses have all four hooves off the ground when galloping. Before then, no photographer had been able to capture events too fast to be seen by the naked eye.