If you’re building molecular animations to explain mechanisms, present your results, or simply create more engaging scientific visualizations, one simple but often overlooked detail can make a big difference: properly timed pauses 🎬.
In SAMSON, the integrative molecular design platform, animations are composed of keyframes that define how molecules move, transform, or appear over time. But what happens when your viewers need a moment to absorb a complex conformation change or focus on a key interaction?
This is where the Pause animation comes in.
When and Why to Use a Pause
Imagine you’re showing a molecular pathway where a ligand binds to a receptor. The binding moment might be visually obvious to you, but your audience might need an extra second to process what has changed. Without a pause, the moment flies by. By adding a Pause at the binding frame, you give your viewers time to analyze.
Pauses are particularly useful when:
- Highlighting structural conformations
- Focusing on a key interaction or clash
- Letting text overlays or annotations be read
- Creating rhythmic pacing in tutorial videos
In short, a brief pause makes your animations less about playing frames and more about telling a story.
How to Add a Pause in SAMSON
Adding a pause is simple, and it gives you precise control over where and for how long your animation should stop. Here’s how:
- Open the Animation panel inside the Animator.
- Double-click on the Pause animation effect.
- A keyframe will be added at the current frame. You can always move this keyframe later as needed.
Note: You can move the Pause keyframe just like any other animation effect. Simply drag it along the timeline.
Setting the Duration
The Pause effect comes with a customizable duration, so you can define how long the animation should freeze at that moment.
To change the pause duration:
- Select the Pause animation node in the Document view.
- Open the Inspector.
- Set the duration in seconds according to your needs.
Even a 2–3 second pause can help your audience understand the subject better. This also makes your presentations feel more professional and intentional.
Putting It All Together
Pauses are a small but powerful part of molecular storytelling. Especially when working with dense structural biology content or communicating to non-experts, a well-timed freeze frame can make the difference between confusion and clarity.
If you’re building educational material, presenting to colleagues, or preparing a conference presentation with SAMSON, try using Pause animations to guide your audience’s attention.
You can view the full documentation on the Pause animation here: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/pause/
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.