Controlling the visibility of molecular structures during animated presentations is useful — and sometimes essential — in molecular modeling and communication. One common challenge modelers face is creating a smooth visual transition to hide parts of a complex system without abruptly removing them. The Disappear animation in SAMSON provides a straightforward way to gradually fade out molecular entities by manipulating their transparency. It is particularly helpful in guiding attention where it matters most during educational videos, scientific presentations, or demonstrations.
Unlike a sudden hide effect, the Disappear animation lets users smoothly increase the transparency of visual elements, making them progressively vanish from view. This can be more visually informative, creating space in a scene and helping audiences better perceive spatial relationships without the jarring feel of elements being instantly removed.
When to Use Disappear Instead of Hide
The Disappear animation is relevant when you’re dealing with nodes in SAMSON that support transparency, such as:
- Structural models
- Visual models
- Meshes
- Labels
For entities without a transparency attribute (e.g., individual atoms or bonds), Disappear mimics the behavior of the simpler Hide animation, making those objects vanish immediately. If you want to fade atoms or bonds, apply the animation to the structural model they belong to.
How It Works
To apply the Disappear effect, open the Animator and locate the Animation panel. Then, simply double-click the Disappear animation after selecting the nodes you want to fade out. The animation uses four keyframes:
- Keyframes 1 – 2: Nodes remain fully visible (opaque).
- Keyframes 2 – 3: Transparency increases — nodes begin to disappear.
- Keyframes 3 – 4: Nodes are fully transparent (invisible).
These keyframes are adjustable, providing fine control over the timing of the fade-out sequence. You can move them to align with other events in your animation or shorten the transition duration for a quicker effect.
Fine-Tuning the Transition
If you’re looking for more dynamic transitions, adjust the Easing curve for the animation. This controls how transparency changes between frames — whether it starts slow and ends fast, or follows another pattern. Customizing the easing curve allows you to match the fade-out effect to the storytelling rhythm of your animation.
Example: Disappear in Action
Here’s a visual example showing how the Appear and Disappear animations can be combined effectively:
In this case, various parts of the molecular structure are made transparent over time, offering a clean, progressive way to declutter the scene without visual interruption.
To learn more and explore the full documentation for Disappear, visit the official documentation page at https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/disappear/.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.