If you’ve ever tried to illustrate a molecular motion — a protein conformational change, a nanotube twist, or a docking transition — chances are you’ve faced the challenge of producing a smooth, realistic animation. You may have asked yourself: how can atoms follow a guided path within a presentation? How do I manage the timing and dynamics of transitions without recalculating physics-based trajectories?
This is where keyframes — and the Move atoms animation in SAMSON — become particularly useful.
Why keyframes matter
Rather than computing trajectories physically, SAMSON allows you to directly define atomic configurations at specific points in time (keyframes). The platform then interpolates between these states. This offers a compelling solution when you’re building molecular animations that are meant to be illustrative or explanatory, without relying on force fields or dynamics.
This blog post walks you through the essential use and control of keyframes in the Move atoms animation tool — useful whether you’re presenting nanoscale transitions or simply highlighting key conformational rearrangements.
Adding a new keyframe
Creating a new keyframe is surprisingly straightforward in SAMSON. Once you’ve applied the Move atoms animation effect to selected atoms, just click in the animation track at the desired frame and reposition the atoms. SAMSON will automatically store this configuration as a new keyframe.
This workflow makes it easy to construct step-by-step animations with precise structural control:
- Click on the timeline where you want to add a keyframe.
- Move the atoms using animation controllers or your preferred editor (such as the Twister).
- Watch as SAMSON interpolates between frames to produce smooth transitions.
Editing and removing keyframes
Animations often require fine-tuning. SAMSON offers several practical controls:
- You can move existing keyframes along the timeline for better timing.
- To remove a keyframe, simply right-click on it in the Animator’s Track view and choose Remove keyframe.
These controls make it easy to iterate and refine your animations — and help ensure they remain synchronized with your narrative or presentation flow.
Going beyond: using editors for transformations
One versatile feature of SAMSON is that you’re not limited to using animation controllers. You can hide them and use other editors — like the Move editors or the Twister — to apply complex transformations.
After each transformation, you simply add a new keyframe. This granular level of control makes it possible to create intricate animations without simulations.
Tips and flexibility
You can enhance your animations further by tuning the properties of each transition. For instance, SAMSON lets you apply different easing curves to control the acceleration of atomic movement. You can also smooth transitions for a more organic motion.
Through these features, SAMSON bridges precise molecular manipulation with presentation flexibility — useful for both education and research illustration.
Conclusion
Managing molecular presentations becomes much easier once you understand how to work with keyframes. SAMSON’s Move atoms animation gives you direct, interactive control over your narrative timelines, so you can focus on telling the molecular story effectively.
To learn more, visit the full documentation at https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/animations/move-atoms/.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.