When examining a molecular model, a useful view can be surprisingly easy to lose. You might be inspecting a close-up, then need to see where that region sits in the whole structure—or want to compare the same model from another angle. Repeatedly zooming, rotating, and recentering takes attention away from the science.
In SAMSON, one way to make these changes of perspective easier is to use more than one camera in the same document. Each camera provides a 3D view of the document, and you can switch which one is active. This lets you keep distinct views available instead of rebuilding each framing every time.
Think of cameras as saved viewpoints
A camera controls what you see in the viewport: its position and orientation, how closely it frames the model, and other view properties. A SAMSON document has at least one camera, and cameras are saved with the document in .sam and .samx formats.
If you often move between a detailed view and a broader overview, adding another camera can give each view its own place in the document. For example, you could keep one camera aimed at a region of interest and another centered on the entire document. These are just practical ways to use the feature; choose viewpoints that suit the question you are investigating.
Add and switch cameras
To add a camera, choose Visualization > Camera. The new camera starts at a default position. There can be multiple cameras in a document, but only one is active at a time.
To make a different camera active, double-click it in the Document view. Alternatively, right-click the camera and choose Set as active camera. A simple habit can help prevent unnecessary reframing: before changing the current view substantially, consider whether you may want to return to it. If so, switch to another camera or add one for the new viewpoint.
Use camera actions to set up a view
Right-click a camera in the Document view to open its context menu. From there, you can center the camera on your selection or on the whole document, activate camera inertia, choose orthographic projection, set the camera as active, or move it.
Centering on the selection is useful when you want the current area of interest to become the focus of the view. Centering on the whole document provides a way to return attention to the overall structure. Orthographic projection can be useful for viewing crystals. If you want to inspect or adjust camera properties such as position, projection, or inertia, select the camera and open the Inspector.
A small workflow for repeated inspection
- Set up a view that helps you inspect the current region, using selection-centering or camera movement as needed.
- Add another camera when you want to preserve that viewpoint before changing the framing.
- Use the second view for a different purpose, such as seeing the whole document or using orthographic projection for a crystal.
- Switch between cameras from the Document view rather than recreating each perspective from memory.
This approach is especially helpful when your work involves frequent transitions between close inspection and structural context. The cameras belong to the document, so the viewpoints are included when the document is saved in a SAMSON format.
If you use special glasses for stereo viewing, stereo can also be activated from the Visualization menu.
For the complete camera controls and related navigation guidance, see the SAMSON camera documentation.
Note: SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get SAMSON.