Visualizing atom motion is one of the most informative aspects of molecular modeling, but accurately keeping track of atomic positions across a custom animation or simulation can be tedious or error-prone. If you’ve ever tried to illustrate a docking process, a conformational change, or a long molecular simulation — only to wonder whether your atoms really followed the right path — we hear you.
Fortunately, the Record path animation in SAMSON is here to make those moments smoother. Let’s explore how this tool can help you efficiently record and reuse the actual movement of atoms during animations, saving you both time and uncertainty.
Why Record a Path?
Many molecular presentations involve atom movement: docking, assembling, custom manipulations, or physical simulations. The challenge? Once the movement is done, it’s hard to reuse it precisely or analyze it further. That’s where Record path comes in. It lets you capture the actual trajectory of atoms, regardless of how their positions are being manipulated.
The result: a reusable, inspectable path that reflects every frame of atomic movement.
Adding the Animation
To start recording, double-click Record path from the Animation panel. This will add a keyframe to the Animator. Timing is key, so make sure you place the animation after the ones that move atoms. Remember: the Animator executes animations top-down. If you record first and move later, the recording will miss the movement.
As you play your presentation, the Record path track will update: green segments mean positions were successfully recorded. Red ones mean frames are either missing or invalid. This real-time feedback is useful for identifying incomplete recordings before you try to reuse or export the path.
Fine-Tuning Performance
Recording paths does require tracking every atomic position at each frame, which can affect performance on long or detailed presentations. SAMSON lets you toggle recording at any time.
- Right-click the Record path animation in the Animator to enable or disable recording.
- Alternatively, use the Inspector to control recording state.
When recording is paused, the animation’s visual appearance in the Animator will be dimmed — a subtle but clear status reminder.
Exporting the Recorded Path
Once the path is complete (all segments green), you can export it as a Path node. This turns your animation into a persistent object in your molecular document — great for reusing in simulations, visualizations, or just saving your work.
To export:
- Click Create path in the Inspector of the Record path animation.
- Or, right-click the animation in the Animator and choose Create path.
Conclusion
If your workflow includes animating atom movement, Record path can help you work more precisely and reuse your work more effectively. Beyond the visuals that presentations offer, recording trajectories gives you deeper control and opens the door to mix-and-match animation pieces across projects.
Learn more and see all features on the official documentation page: Record path documentation.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.