Understanding complex molecular assemblies often requires more than just rotating a 3D model. Scientists, educators, and students frequently encounter a common problem: how to clearly communicate the internal organization or substructure of intricate molecular systems. When proteins interact or form multiprotein complexes, visualizing their individual components without losing context can be challenging.
This is where the Disassemble animation in SAMSON can be especially helpful. Designed specifically for the SAMSON platform, the Disassemble animation allows you to separate selected parts of a molecule in a visually expressive—but reversible—way. Whether you’re preparing a presentation, making instructional material, or just trying to understand the layout of your own model, disassembly can help you present clarity—without modifying the model itself.
Visualizing Without Altering
The most important feature of the Disassemble animation is that it doesn’t actually modify your molecular system. It adds an animation effect that temporarily pulls components apart for visual inspection. As such, you retain full control and can always return to the original native configuration of the structure.
This is particularly useful for large structural complexes, such as membrane protein assemblies or viral capsids, where internal contacts and interfaces may otherwise remain hidden. Because the displacements are computed automatically away from the initial positions, users save time and effort compared to manually repositioning components (and trying to put them back later).
How to Use the Disassemble Animation
Here’s how you can apply the Disassemble animation in your SAMSON session:
- Select a group of nodes or meshes that you want to disassemble. If you don’t make a selection, SAMSON will attempt to infer which nodes to move.
- Double-click the Disassemble animation effect in the Animation panel inside the Animator.
- The effect will apply between two keyframes. You can adjust their positions along the timeline to match your preferences.
- To customize how far elements move, inspect the animation and adjust the amplitude as needed.
Because the position offsets are automatically assigned, even novice users can use this animation right after installation. More experienced users can dig deeper by modifying the Easing curve to get different interpolation effects between frames (e.g., smooth-in, bounce, or linear).
Use Cases and Teaching Applications
The Disassemble effect is useful in many scenarios:
- Research presentations where you need to quickly highlight different subunits or entries into a binding pocket.
- Lectures on structural biology, where temporarily pulling apart domains shows their relative positions and interactions.
- Hypothesis illustration, such as possible domain movements during conformational change.
The short preparation time and built-in automation mean you’re more likely to use this feature even on short deadlines.
If you’d like to explore further and view examples of presentations that use animations—including Assemble and Disassemble—you can find them on SAMSON Connect – Documents.
To learn more about the Disassemble animation and how to adjust its properties—including amplitude and interpolation—please visit the official documentation page: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/disassemble/.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.