Creating compelling molecular presentations is a challenge many modelers face. Whether you’re explaining a complex conformational change to a colleague or preparing a presentation for a broader scientific audience, showing atoms actually moving—not just flipping between static states—can make all the difference. But how do you add such animations easily while maintaining full control over your molecular system?
The Move atoms animation in SAMSON offers a simple yet flexible solution for this. By adding keyframes and positioning atoms freely, you can create smooth transitions between molecular states, such as folding, twisting, or translating parts of a molecule.
What Problem Does It Solve?
Often, molecular modelers need to illustrate how atoms or groups of atoms move as part of a simulation or conceptual explanation. Static images or even toggling between snapshots can be difficult to follow and less engaging. Instead, smooth animations using keyframes help make mechanisms intuitive. But these animations usually require advanced software skills or scripting. SAMSON’s Move atoms animation reduces this barrier.
How It Works
To apply this animation in SAMSON, you first select atoms and then double-click on the Move atoms effect in the Animation panel. This adds a starting keyframe. You can then move the animation playhead to another point in time, adjust atom positions again, and add another keyframe. SAMSON will interpolate atom positions between these frames to produce fluid motion.
If you prefer to use advanced transformation tools like the Twister editor or other Move editors, you can hide the Move atoms controllers in the Document view, perform your transformations, and then insert keyframes. This is useful for more complex movements like rotations around arbitrary axes.
Fine-Tuning the Animation
Not all motions occur at constant speed. To reflect this, SAMSON includes support for easing curves—you can smooth or adjust acceleration across frames through the animation easing settings. This gives your animations a more natural flow.
Tips to Remember
- You can reposition existing keyframes anytime by dragging them in the Animator’s timeline.
- To delete a keyframe, right-click on it and choose Remove keyframe.
- Multiple animations can be combined—for instance, using the Twister editor first, then switching to another transformation.
Whether you’re animating nanotube deformations or protein loop movements, this feature is a time-saver and makes your scientific storytelling more accessible and effective.
To learn more, visit the original documentation page: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/move-atoms/
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON here: https://www.samson-connect.net