When preparing molecular animations, one recurrent challenge is showing the spatial organization of complex structures in a way that’s both informative and visually engaging. Static images often aren’t enough, and even straightforward linear animations can fail to capture the depth and geometry of large biomolecular assemblies or materials. This is where the Orbit camera animation in SAMSON becomes particularly helpful.
Unlike simple camera translations, the Orbit camera revolves around a central point—often the molecular structure itself—offering a continuous view from every angle. This is an ideal solution when you want to:
- Showcase the overall 3D architecture of a molecule or assembly
- Present non-symmetric structures from multiple perspectives
- Create smooth, looping animations for presentation or publication
When and Why to Use Orbit Camera
Imagine you’re working on a large protein-ligand complex, a supramolecular framework, or a porous material. Flat screenshots show individual snapshots nicely, but they don’t convey the spatial structure very well. In such cases, orbiting the camera around a central point—while keeping the molecule in the center of the view—can make the geometry immediately clear to your audience.
Using the Orbit camera in SAMSON is quite straightforward. It’s available in the Animation panel of the Animator, and applying it involves just a few steps:
- Orient your view to the plane you want to rotate in
- Open the Animator and double-click Orbit camera in the Animation panel
- Set the desired end frame number to define the duration of the orbit
Adjust and Refine
Once added, the Orbit camera animation can be adjusted through specialized camera controllers. These let you precisely define:
- Target point: where the camera orbits around
- Orbit plane: the plane in which the camera circles
This fine control is important, particularly when you’re trying to focus on a specific subunit or pocket within a large structure. You can move the target point, change the orientation of the rotation, and edit camera angles to get exactly the framing you need.
When editing these parameters, SAMSON will even show frame thumbnails at the bottom of the viewer to help you keep track of how your animation looks over time.
Helpful Notes
Camera animations in SAMSON are applied by default to the active camera. If you’d like to apply it to another camera, simply inspect the animation and uncheck the “Apply to active camera” option.
Furthermore, the behavior of your orbit depends on whether the grid is active or not. When the grid is off, the rotation plane passes through the horizontal center of the view and target. When the grid is on, the plane aligns parallel to the grid. You can always adjust this via the Keep camera upwards option in the animation inspector.
For smoother animations, tweak the interpolation method by selecting an appropriate easing curve. This controls how the camera transitions between frames—for example, accelerating or decelerating at the beginning and end of the motion.
Try It Yourself
Need inspiration? You can view ready-made examples that use the Orbit camera effect on SAMSON Connect – Documents, like:
If you’re preparing a presentation or video for publication, or simply want to share your work visually, the Orbit camera animation can be a very effective tool to better contextualize your molecules in 3D.
To learn more and explore all the options in detail, visit the Orbit camera documentation page.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get SAMSON at www.samson-connect.net.