When preparing molecular animations for presentations or scientific communication, molecular modelers often face a recurring challenge: how to present the structure dynamically without altering its real position? Sometimes, rotating or moving the molecule can be misleading or distracting—especially when showing docking results, simulations, or very large systems. This is where camera animations in SAMSON come in handy. Instead of endlessly tweaking molecular positions, you can just animate the camera.
SAMSON provides a range of camera-based animations that let you create engaging visual sequences without modifying molecular data. These animations adjust the viewpoint dynamically while keeping your structures fixed and accurate—an ideal solution for tutorials, lectures, and video abstracts.
What exactly is a camera animation?
Camera animations simulate the viewer’s movement around the molecular scene. Instead of moving molecular objects, the software moves the virtual camera, mimicking the feeling of walking, orbiting, zooming, or even flying through complex systems. Some of the available options in SAMSON include:
- Orbit camera: Revolves around selected objects, providing a 360° understanding of spatial arrangements.
- Dolly camera: Moves forward or backward along the viewing direction—useful for dramatic zoom-ins or contextual pull-outs.
- Pedestal camera: Moves up or down vertically, keeping the molecular scene centered and stabilizing the animation experience.
- Play path / Play reverse path: Follow a user-defined camera trajectory—great for storytelling through molecular environments.
- Zoom camera: Smooth zoom into key regions of interest.
Why it matters
Imagine you want to illustrate how a ligand binds to a protein, but rotating or moving the protein causes confusion or overlaps in the visualization. By animating the camera, you can emphasize the binding event without distorting molecular positions. This separation between presentation and structural content increases clarity and professionalism in communication.
Quick tips for effective use
- Use Orbit camera to highlight the 3D nature of macromolecular complexes like ribosomes or membrane-bound proteins.
- Combine Dolly or Zoom with Highlighting effects to guide the audience’s eye to key regions.
- Record path animations if you want repeatable and controlled camera moves, especially for scripted videos.
Animation panel access
Camera animations are accessible via the Animator in SAMSON. Please note: the older “Animation” menu shown in some tutorials has been replaced. Now, everything is handled through the Animation panel and Animator controls.
To try out camera animations, open the Animator, select a Camera Animation type, then define the target and the motion parameters. Play the timeline to see the effect and refine it until it fits your narrative.
If you’re curious about how it looks in practice, check out the video tutorial How to create molecular animations in SAMSON, even though some UI elements have changed.
To explore the full list of animations available in SAMSON, including those for camera and more, visit the documentation page: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.