Communicating complex molecular design work often involves more than just stunning visuals—it requires guiding the viewer’s attention to the right elements at the right time. In presentations or scientific animations, one common challenge is how to reveal certain molecular structures exactly when they become relevant, without overwhelming the viewer too early. This is especially important in simulations involving protein folding, molecular docking, or reaction mechanisms where timing matters as much as structure.
SAMSON’s Show animation tackles precisely this challenge. It lets you control visibility over time by making selected nodes appear at a chosen keyframe and remain visible until the end of your animation. Let’s explore how this works and how you can implement it in your own molecular storytelling.
Why Show Instead of Fade?
While many animation tools use transparency effects (like fade in/out transitions) to introduce elements, SAMSON takes a more efficient and direct approach. The Show animation changes the visibility state of objects in your scene, rather than altering color or opacity. The result is a snappier, intentional appearance of structures, ideal for scientific visual communication where clarity is key.
How the Show Animation Works
The Show animation follows a simple but powerful timeline model with three keyframes:
- Keyframe 1 to 2: Nodes are hidden.
- Keyframe 2: Nodes become visible.
- Keyframe 2 to 3: Nodes remain visible.
This structure gives you full control over when objects are introduced in your animation. For instance, you can highlight when a ligand first enters a binding pocket, or show different components of a complex reaction one after another.
Getting Started: Adding the Effect
- Select the nodes you want to make visible during the animation.
- Open the Animation panel in the Animator.
- Double-click on the Show animation effect.
- Adjust the timing by moving the keyframes as needed to sync with your story.
If you’ve used the older Animation menu in previous versions of SAMSON, note that it has been replaced entirely by the Animation panel within the Animator, where all presentation actions are centralized.
Customization with Easing Curves
By default, visibility changes are instantaneous. However, if you need a smoother transition into visibility, SAMSON lets you adjust the easing curve to control how animation parameters are interpolated across frames and create custom timing effects.
Use Cases That Benefit from Show
- Step-by-step Mechanisms: Reveal substrates and enzymatic residues in sync with chemical steps.
- Focus Areas: Keep the background minimal until central structures need to appear.
- Educational Tutorials: Gradually unveil components to help students follow complex assemblies or interactions.
Here’s how it looks in action:
To explore this feature in more detail, visit the full documentation page: Show Animation Documentation.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.