When presenting complex molecular mechanisms, clarity and pacing matter. Introducing a new structure, showcasing an interaction, or highlighting a conformational change requires timing that matches your narrative—especially when explaining concepts to students, collaborators, or during scientific talks.
That’s where the Stop animation in SAMSON can really help.
What is the Stop animation?
The Stop animation pauses your molecular presentation at a specific frame. This gives you a moment to explain, emphasize, or wait for your audience to catch up. It’s especially useful when you’re building a presentation made of independent scenes—effectively creating slides with animations that pause exactly where you need them to.
Resuming is seamless: just press the Space bar or click the Play button in the Animator controls to move on.
Why use Stop instead of Pause?
Although SAMSON also provides a Pause animation, the Stop animation has a clear advantage for presentations: it freezes your sequence indefinitely until someone actively resumes it. This is perfect for live demos or teaching sessions where you need to be in control of timing.
How do I add it?
Adding a Stop animation is very simple:
- Open the Animation Panel of the Animator.
- Double-click on the Stop animation effect.
- A keyframe will be inserted at your current frame; move it as needed to the desired point in your timeline.
Note
You can always move the keyframes of the animation. This flexibility makes it easy to align the Stop effect with the exact transition or visual moment you want to highlight.
Use case: Building slide-like animations
If you’re creating a molecular presentation similar to a slideshow, each segment can focus on a different conformation, interaction, or region. By using Stop animations in between, you can guide your audience step-by-step. It becomes easier to tell a structured story, answer questions while paused, and ensure each concept is grasped before continuing.
For example, you might build the animation as follows:
- Frame 0–50: Protein undergoes conformational transition
- Insert Stop animation at frame 50
- Explain the implications of this change
- Resume to frame 100 where a ligand binds
- Insert another Stop to discuss docking
Your molecular movie becomes an interactive, teachable experience.
Learn more in the full documentation here: https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/stop/
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get SAMSON here.