A molecular animation can show atoms moving, but a visual presentation is not the same thing as a saved trajectory. If you need to preserve the positions produced by an animation sequence, the challenge is to record the right motion in the right order—and then turn that recording into a path you can use in your document.
SAMSON’s Record path animation is designed for this job. It records atom trajectories as a path during a presentation and can be combined with animations that change atomic positions, such as Assemble, Dock, Move atoms, or Simulate. Here is a practical workflow, with a few checks that help catch common setup issues.
Put the recorder after the motion
Add Record path by double-clicking its effect in the Animator’s Animation panel. Its keyframe is placed at the current frame; move it if you need recording to begin at a different point in the presentation.
The order of animations matters. The Animator executes animations from top to bottom, so place Record path after the animations whose changes you want to capture. For example, if a movement animation comes after the recorder, the recorder will not be in the intended position in the execution order to capture that movement. Check the order before playing the presentation.
Use the track as a progress check
The track gives you a quick visual indication of recording status. A green segment means positions have been recorded at that part of the presentation. A red segment means they have not yet been recorded or have become invalid. If your goal is to export the complete path, play the presentation and check that the Record path track is fully green before creating the path.
This check is especially useful after changing a presentation: rather than assuming an earlier recording is still complete, inspect the track for red sections. You can also move the animation’s keyframes if the recording needs to cover a different part of the timeline.
Record only when you need to
Path recording can be enabled or disabled in the animation’s Inspector, or by right-clicking the animation in the Animator and changing Enable recording. Disabling recording can help performance while you are still working on the presentation, or after the path has been recorded and you do not expect to change it. When recording is disabled, the animation controllers are darkened—another useful visual cue when checking the setup.
Create the Path node
Recording the animation and adding a Path node are separate steps. Once the presentation has been played and the recording is fully green, create the corresponding Path node in either of two ways:
- Open the Record path animation’s Inspector and click Create path.
- Right-click the Record path animation in the Animator and choose Create path.
In short: place the recorder after the animations that move atoms, play the presentation, confirm the track is green, and then create the Path node. That sequence helps distinguish a motion that merely appears in a presentation from a trajectory that has actually been recorded and added to the document.
For details, see the Record path documentation.
Note: SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get SAMSON.