You have found a useful close-up of a binding site, but now you need to inspect the whole molecule. After zooming out and rotating, the close-up is gone—and recreating it later can be fiddly. A practical way to avoid repeatedly rebuilding views is to keep more than one camera in the same SAMSON document.
In SAMSON, a camera determines the 3D view of the visualizable objects in a document. Each document has at least one camera, and its camera data is saved with the document in .sam or .samx format. You can add cameras for different viewpoints and switch between them, while only one camera is active at a time.
Make a small set of views for a task
Think of each camera as a different way to look at the same molecular scene. For example, you might want a broad view of the entire document and a separate close-up for examining a selected region. Rather than trying to preserve one framing while navigating to another, create another camera for the alternative view.
To add one, choose Visualization > Camera. The new camera starts at a default position, so it may not immediately show the view you want. Navigate the view to arrange the scene, then use the camera controls to refine its position and other properties. The Moving around guide explains how to control the active camera.
When you want to return to another view, activate its camera: double-click it in the Document view, or right-click it and choose Set as active camera. This simple habit can make it easier to move between overview and detail while keeping both views available in the same document.
Use the camera menu to fix common framing problems
If a view feels off-center, you do not necessarily need to start over. Right-click a camera in the Document view to access actions such as centering it on the current selection or on the whole document. Centering on a selection is useful when you want a local feature to become the focus; centering on the document gives you a broader frame.
The same menu provides options to set a camera as active, move it, enable inertia for movement, and switch to orthographic projection. Orthographic projection can be useful when viewing crystals. These are camera settings, so choose them according to the kind of view you need rather than changing the molecular structure itself.
Inspect exact camera properties
For more control, select a camera and open the Inspector. It exposes camera properties such as position, projection, and inertia, letting you inspect or modify them directly. This is helpful when a view needs adjustment beyond the basic centering and activation actions in the context menu.
A useful workflow is to create cameras for the views you return to often, use the context menu to center or adjust them, and switch between them as your question changes. Since camera information is stored with the document, those views remain part of the saved SAMSON work rather than a mental note about how to recreate a particular angle.
For details on camera controls, properties, and stereo viewing, see the SAMSON camera documentation.
Note: SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get SAMSON.