When creating molecular animations, clarity of movement can often make or break your visualizations. A common challenge faced by molecular modelers and educators is how to move both the camera and its focal point vertically through a scene without distorting the viewpoint. Traditional methods might involve manually editing keyframes or using object-based transformations, which can be time-consuming and imprecise.
This is where the Pedestal camera animation effect in SAMSON offers a streamlined solution. It allows you to move the camera and its target point vertically together—maintaining a consistent distance and orientation—producing a clean upward or downward motion through your molecular system.
When should you use the Pedestal camera?
If you’re showing elongated structures like nanotubes, DNA helices, or large protein complexes, you likely need a way to move vertically through the object while keeping the same perspective. The Pedestal camera effect is designed exactly for that: to move both the viewpoint and the focal center of your camera upward or downward in a parallel way.
How to add a Pedestal camera animation
Setting up this animation is straightforward:
- Choose a starting frame in the Animator’s Track view.
- Orient your camera to the desired start position.
- Double-click the Pedestal camera animation effect in the Animation panel.
- Set the desired end frame. The camera’s position and target point will shift vertically by the same amount from the start to the end frame.
You can always tweak the positions using animation controllers, though keep in mind that Pedestal camera animations have limitations on how the target and viewing point can be adjusted independently.
Animation Mode and Properties
By default, the animation is applied to the currently active camera. To customize this behavior, inspect the animation and modify the Apply to active camera checkbox.
The Pedestal effect is influenced by whether the scene’s grid is enabled. If the Keep camera upwards option is active, the animation will adapt based on the state of the grid. This gives you additional control over the behavior, especially useful if your model orientation relies on grid settings.
Another useful enhancement is the ability to modify the Easing curve, which defines how the camera interpolates between keyframes. Whether you’re aiming for a smooth glide or a linear shift, this customization can greatly improve the feel of movement.
Visual Example
Here’s what the Pedestal animation looks like in action. Notice how the camera moves upward while keeping its center consistently on the molecule of interest:
The Takeaway
The Pedestal camera provides a reliable, simple way to create vertical camera motions that track your molecular scene with accuracy. It removes the hassle of manual keyframe edits and creates consistent motion for storytelling, research presentations, or tutorial videos.
To explore more about how this animation works, visit the official documentation page.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.