When several molecules or meshes occupy the same region of a structure, it can be difficult to show what is present and how the pieces relate. Moving objects apart may help, but doing it by hand can take time—and a static rearrangement may hide where the parts started. The Undock animation in SAMSON offers a presentation-friendly way to show that separation over time.
Undock animates groups of atoms or meshes away from their current, docked positions. The final positions are computed automatically when you create the animation. This makes it useful when you want viewers to see an assembled scene first, then watch selected components move apart.
Set up the selection with intention
Before adding the animation, select at least two structural nodes or meshes in the document. The first selected node serves as the static receptor; the other selected nodes are animated. In practical terms, think about which part of the scene should stay in place as the reference, and which parts you want to move.
If several nodes should make up the receptor, group them in a folder and select that folder first. This gives SAMSON a single first selection to use as the static reference. If nothing is selected, SAMSON will try to determine which nodes the animation should affect. For a presentation where the roles of the parts matter, making the selection explicitly is a useful way to keep control of the setup.
Create the movement, then adjust its timing
Open the Animation panel in the Animator and double-click the Undock animation effect. The selected nodes will move between the animation’s two keyframes. You can reposition those keyframes to change when the separation begins and ends in your presentation.
The movement amplitude is computed automatically when the animation is created. If the resulting separation is not right for your view, inspect the animation and adjust its amplitude in the Inspector. This is helpful when you want enough space to distinguish components without sending them farther apart than the scene needs.
You can also change how animation parameters are interpolated between frames by modifying the easing curve. Keyframe placement controls the timing; the easing curve controls how the transition progresses between those frames. Adjusting both can make the movement fit the pace of your explanation.
Use the animation as a visual explanation
Undock can help make a complex view easier to follow: keep the reference component still, then let the selected parts separate so viewers can inspect them. It also lets you present the docked arrangement and the separated arrangement as stages of one animated view, rather than relying only on a static image.
One important distinction: this is an animation for presenting a molecular scene. The visual separation should not, by itself, be interpreted as evidence that a molecular complex dissociates in reality or that a physical process has been simulated. Use it to clarify the structure and guide attention, while keeping scientific conclusions grounded in the appropriate analysis.
For step-by-step details, see the Undock animation documentation.
Note: SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get SAMSON.