When creating animations of molecular systems, you’re often focused on illustrating detailed transitions—like conformational changes, ligand docking, or energy minimizations. But there’s a subtle issue that many researchers encounter: the camera viewpoint can drift between frames unintentionally, especially if no explicit camera animations are defined. This can undermine the consistency and clarity of animation sequences, leading to a confusing viewer experience.
To address this, SAMSON, the integrative molecular design platform, offers the Hold camera animation effect. This feature allows you to ‘lock’ the camera parameters—position, rotation, zoom—between specified frames, ensuring a stable and reproducible viewpoint throughout your animation.
When and why to use Hold camera
Using the Hold camera animation is helpful whenever you:
- Want to preserve a specific point of view throughout part of an animation, even if you’re not animating the camera explicitly.
- Are preparing sequential scenes where only molecular movement changes, not the perspective.
- Need consistent views when collaborating with colleagues to avoid misinterpretation caused by camera shifts.
It’s especially vital after editing molecules, adjusting scenes interactively, or switching between animation tasks. These operations can modify the camera without you even realizing it—introducing inconsistencies in your animations.
How to apply the Hold camera effect
Here’s how to use Hold camera in SAMSON:
- Open the Animator and go to the Track view.
- Choose the start frame where you want to hold the camera.
- Manually adjust the view—rotate, zoom, or move the camera—to your desired perspective.
- In the Animation panel, double-click on the Hold camera animation effect.
- Set the end frame during which the camera should remain fixed.
You can always adjust the start and end positions after placing the animation, giving you full control.
Important tips for use
- Use Hold camera to ‘reset’ camera behavior between other camera transitions to prevent unexpected motion.
- The view you set at the start frame becomes the preserved view across the defined frame interval.
- Remember that the old Animation menu has been replaced. You can now access the Hold camera effect directly via the Animation panel of the Animator (Ctrl+7 on Windows/Linux or Cmd+7 on macOS).
Here’s an example of how the Hold camera effect keeps a viewpoint steady across frames, even during molecular transformations:
Adding this simple effect can significantly improve the clarity and polish of your scientific animations.
To learn more, see the original documentation page:
https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/hold-camera/
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.