When working with complex molecular scenes, it’s not uncommon to end up with dozens of cameras—some saved automatically, others created manually for different renderings, comparisons, or animations. Identifying and managing the right camera can quickly become time-consuming and error-prone, especially when names are similar or your workspace has grown over time.
If you’re using the Node Specification Language (NSL) in SAMSON, there’s a simple and reliable way to query and control cameras cleanly using attribute filters in the camera attribute space.
Why camera management matters
Imagine you’ve set up several cameras to capture different conformations of a ligand binding to a protein. Each camera may be labeled in a slightly different way—Camera1, LigandCloseUp, CameraFinal—and half of them may no longer be relevant. Relying on visual inspection can slow you down and cause mistakes. That’s where NSL’s camera attribute space becomes particularly useful.
Filtering cameras by name
With NSL, you can search using partial or full name matches. The name attribute for cameras is accessible via ca.n (short for camera.name). For example:
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ca.n "*Final" |
This finds all camera nodes with names ending in “Final”. You can also use wildcards at the beginning or in the middle of the name:
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ca.n "Ligand*" |
…would return cameras whose names start with “Ligand” — useful if you systematically name your cameras by what they’re observing.
Quickly identify selected cameras
Sometimes you want to act only on selected cameras: delete them, change their settings, or save views. Just use:
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ca.selected |
That returns all camera nodes that are currently selected, letting you clearly separate active cameras from all others, even in dense models.
Want the opposite? Use the negation:
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not ca.selected |
Now you’re filtering for cameras not currently selected.
Filtering by selection flag
If you use selection flags to mark specific objects for scripting or batch operations, the selectionFlag attribute is your friend. Filter for cameras with the flag on using:
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ca.sf |
This is equivalent to ca.sf true. Filtering cameras out is just as easy:
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ca.sf false |
This will show only those cameras that are not currently marked with the selection flag.
Combining conditions
Power users can combine these conditions to zero-in on very specific camera nodes. For example:
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ca.n "Ligand*" and ca.sf |
This command finds all camera nodes whose names start with “Ligand” and which are marked with the selection flag.
Conclusion
Managing camera nodes using their attributes can save significant time and improve reproducibility in your modeling workflow. Whether you’re setting up renders, organizing presentations, or just trying to reduce model clutter, querying cameras with NSL helps you stay in control.
To learn more about the camera attribute space, including all options and examples, visit the official documentation: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/nsl/camera/.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.