Creating smooth animations of complex molecular systems can be both powerful and time-consuming. One common challenge molecular modelers face is how to create clean, precise vertical camera motions—especially when communicating structural changes or navigating vertically extended biomolecular assemblies. Whether exploring membrane proteins, supramolecular complexes, or vertical displacement in material layers, it's hard to position the camera just right—for both aesthetic and scientific clarity.
SAMSON’s Pedestal camera animation simplifies this task by allowing you to move both the camera and its target point vertically—in parallel—between two keyframes. This lets you maintain focus on your structure while performing a clean upward or downward movement of your camera’s view, ideal for presentation-quality animations or walkthroughs of your molecular setup.
Why Use the Pedestal Camera Animation?
Unlike rotating or zooming, vertical translations of the camera that preserve the frame’s center and viewing direction are hard to execute manually. This is particularly noticeable when you want to show layer-by-layer inspection of structures or compare vertical components in simulations.
The pedestal camera animation automates this vertical shift, preserving your view center while lifting or lowering the entire camera setup—like mounting your virtual camera on an elevator. Unlike the Truck camera, which moves horizontally, the Pedestal camera lets you perform controlled vertical panning, crucial for comparative visualization or storytelling.
Step-by-step Setup
- In the Animator's Track view, set your starting frame. Adjust your view to where you want the animation to begin.
- Open the Animation panel in the Animator and double-click on the Pedestal camera effect to add it.
- The current camera position and target point are recorded. SAMSON then shifts both of them vertically for the end keyframe.
- Move to your desired end frame and adjust the vertical position as needed.
You can interactively adjust the resulting camera path using animation controllers, though pedestal animations restrict how target points and positions can be edited to preserve the vertical motion logic.
Customization Options
- Apply to active camera: You can choose to apply the animation to any camera in your document.
- Keep camera upwards: Depending on whether the grid is active, this influences vertical axis direction.
- Easing curve: Control how quickly or slowly the movement happens between frames—linear, slow in/out, etc.
Visual Example
Here’s what a Pedestal camera animation can look like in action:
With just a few clicks, you can transform your molecular presentation into a clear, professional-grade animation that emphasizes vertical features without distracting shifts in viewpoint.
To dive deeper, visit the full documentation on the Pedestal camera animation.
Note: SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.