Creating effective molecular animations often means more than just spinning a molecule or changing its size. Communicating a precise scientific idea might require revealing specific structures at key moments. But how do you do this without compromising visual clarity or resorting to abrupt scene changes?
This is where the Shown animation in SAMSON can be surprisingly helpful. The Shown animation allows you to reveal nodes—atoms, molecules, surfaces, or any other visual entity in SAMSON—at a specific point in time during an animation. Unlike adjusting transparency or fading visuals (which can require more tuning), the Shown animation switches visibility directly, helping you control what appears and when.
Why This Matters for Molecular Modelers
Many molecular modeling workflows involve building or editing complex scenes where you want to focus viewer attention on specific elements. You might want to:
- Reveal a ligand binding pocket after showing the global structure.
- Highlight an active site only after explaining the protein fold.
- Construct a sequence of conformation changes by showing/hiding states.
The challenge is doing this in a clean, reversible, and non-intrusive way. Jump cuts and multiple scene files break immersion. The Shown animation makes this process intuitive and flexible.
How It Works
To use the Shown animation in SAMSON:
- Select the nodes (atoms, molecules, surfaces, etc.) that you want to reveal during your animation.
- Go to the Animator interface and find the Animation panel.
- Double-click on the Shown animation effect.
- The animation will automatically create a keyframe at the current time, initiating the visibility change.
- You can then move the keyframes to define when the elements become visible.
This method relies on visibility toggling rather than transparency adjustment. It helps keep your renderings clean and avoids blending issues common with semi-transparent elements.
Tip: Combine with ‘Hidden’ for a Full Reveal Cycle
Want to switch visibility back? Just pair the Shown animation with the Hidden animation. This lets you alternate visibility for walkthroughs or storytelling sequences.
Customize Transitions with Easing Curves
You can also fine-tune how the visibility change feels over time. While visibility itself is binary, SAMSON lets you manage the pacing of transitions using easing curves. Position your Shown animation’s keyframes precisely along your presentation timeline, giving you full control.
Caution: Menu Changes in Latest Versions
Earlier versions of SAMSON featured an Animation menu, but this has now been consolidated. You can perform all animation steps directly from the Animator panel via shortcut Ctrl + 7 (on macOS, Cmd + 7).
Want to see how this looks in practice? The embedded example demonstrates toggling the visibility of molecular components using the Shown and Hidden animations. Try replicating it with your own molecular models to quickly build dynamic visual explanations—without needing video post-processing skills.
Learn more about the Shown animation here.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON here.