When simulating molecular systems, it’s common to analyze dynamic regions that are central to your research – such as active sites, interface regions, or specific complexes. But as the system evolves over time, how can you always keep your eyes on these atoms without constantly adjusting the camera position?
SAMSON provides a simple, helpful solution: the Look at atoms animation. It allows you to make the camera watch a specific set of atoms throughout a trajectory without altering the camera position. This means you can maintain a consistent view of your scene while still following the relevant motion within the system.
Why is this useful?
One common challenge in molecular dynamics visualizations is keeping your focus on the part of the system that matters most. For example:
- Watching how an active site changes configuration without the molecule drifting out of view
- Tracking a ligand binding event without interrupting your presentation with manual camera adjustments
- Maintaining a clean, centered recording of a flexible domain’s motion
The Look at atoms animation solves all of these situations by automatically updating the camera’s target point to follow the geometric center of selected atoms, all while the camera itself stays in place.
How to set it up
- Select the atoms you’d like to follow.
- Set the camera and orientation to the position you’d like to keep fixed.
- In the Animator’s Track view, choose a starting frame.
- Double-click on the Look at atoms animation effect in the Animation panel.
- Choose an end frame. The selected atoms’ geometric center will be tracked between keyframes.
You can tweak start and end frames anytime, and if you want more control, you can also adjust the camera through animation controllers. The target, however, remains linked to your selection.
Other smart features
- If you want to use a different camera, you can inspect the animation and choose whether it should apply to the active one.
- When inspecting the animation, you can choose whether to keep the camera upwards, which may make a difference if the grid is turned on or off.
All of this gives you a stable, consistent way to stay focused on the atoms that matter most to your analysis — especially when creating reusable presentations or recording videos to share with colleagues and collaborators.
To learn more about using the Look at atoms animation, view the full documentation here: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/look-at-atoms/
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.