When creating molecular animations, researchers and educators often want to visualize how specific regions of a molecule or molecular system behave over time. However, a common frustration is trying to keep the camera focused on a particular region without having the camera itself move through space. Changing the camera position during an animation can result in a disorienting experience for viewers and makes it harder to track subtle conformational changes in the system. This is especially problematic when preparing presentations or exploring simulation trajectories interactively.
The Look at atoms animation in SAMSON offers a solution to this issue by allowing you to keep your camera fixed in space while dynamically adjusting its direction to continuously face a group of selected atoms. Unlike the Follow atoms animation, which involves moving the entire camera, the Look at atoms effect modifies only the camera target — the point at which the camera is looking — and not the camera’s position. The result is a stable but attentive camera that maintains viewer context while emphasizing movement in the molecular structure.
Maintaining Focus in a Dynamic World
To use this animation, start by selecting the atoms you want to remain in focus. Then orient your view — position the camera exactly where you want it to stay. With your atoms selected and your view ready, open the Animator in SAMSON, go to the desired start frame in the Animator’s Track view, and double-click on Look at atoms in the Animation panel.
The animation will track the geometric center of the selected atoms over time, automatically adjusting the camera’s target point from a start to an end frame, using your current camera angle and position as the start. The camera will effectively “look at” the moving atoms, without actually moving from its initial position.
Customization Options
Once applied, you can tailor the animation further:
- If multiple cameras are present, you can choose whether the animation applies to the active camera or another one by inspecting the animation’s properties.
- The Keep camera upwards setting controls whether the camera maintains a strict upward orientation, depending on whether the grid is enabled.
- You can reposition the camera manually using animation controllers — this won’t affect the tracking of the target point, which remains locked to the selected atoms.
These features make the animation particularly helpful when presenting motions such as domain movements, binding events, or local rearrangements. Since the viewer’s spatial context remains constant, subtle transitions and conformational shifts become easier to perceive.
Compared to conventional camera movements which follow or orbit around atoms, this approach minimizes motion-induced visual complexity and is ideal for highlighting changes in the structure without introducing confusing spatial shifts.
For more details, visit the complete documentation page here: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/look-at-atoms/
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net