When working with complex molecular systems, visual communication becomes key—especially when creating presentations or recording animations for colleagues or publications. A common need for molecular modelers is to pan the view horizontally without altering the orientation or zoom level of the camera. Whether you’re walking an audience through a large biomolecular complex or just analyzing a domain of a protein, being able to pan smoothly across space while preserving viewpoint logic is a practical necessity.
This is where the Truck camera animation in SAMSON becomes especially useful. Designed to move the camera’s position and target horizontally in a synchronized manner, the Truck camera animation helps generate intuitive horizontal transitions between two keyframes. It’s a simple yet powerful tool for modelers aiming to present their systems clearly and effectively.
What Does the Truck Camera Do?
Unlike other camera transitions that might rotate, zoom, or otherwise reorient the view, the Truck camera keeps everything as it is and moves the whole viewpoint sideways—in the camera’s reference frame. This means the entire field of view slides consistently to the left or right, preserving spatial relationships in your model.
It’s particularly helpful when you want to:
- Follow a molecular chain across a long structure
- Focus sequentially on regions of interest along a horizontal axis
- Compare different binding sites without jumping between camera angles
Setting It Up
Here’s a quick overview of how to apply the Truck camera animation in SAMSON:
- Go to the Animator and open the Animation panel.
- Choose your start frame in the Track view, and orient the camera as needed.
- Double-click on Truck camera to add it. SAMSON will use the camera’s current position and target point for the starting keyframe.
- Set the end frame. The animation will shift the camera horizontally by a fixed distance, moving both the position and the target point in parallel.
Want a vertical panning motion instead? Try the Pedestal camera animation—it works the same way, just vertically.
Customizing the Animation
You can customize how the movement behaves in a few important ways:
- Active camera targeting: By default, animations apply to the active camera. To change this, inspect the animation and adjust the Apply to active camera option.
- Behavior with grid: If the grid is on (from the first look panel), and Keep camera upwards is checked, the animation direction and stability may be influenced by the grid’s orientation.
- Smoothness: You can define how the camera transitions between frames by adjusting the easing curve. This controls the acceleration or deceleration of movement, leading to more polished animations.
Adjusting After Recording
The Truck camera also includes animation controllers that allow you to fine-tune the start and end camera positions even after initial setup. This is helpful if you want to make minute adjustments after viewing the result. However, keep in mind that adjustments are subject to some limitations based on how the animation calculates coordinated movement between the camera and its target point.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve ever found yourself struggling to film horizontally sliding views in 3D molecular scenes, try adding the Truck camera to your animation toolkit. It’s a precise way to guide your audience through molecular space, one pan at a time.
To learn more, visit the official Truck camera animation documentation.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.