When you’re visualizing molecular dynamics, it’s common to focus on a specific region of your system—maybe a crucial ligand, or a flexible protein loop. But as the simulation unfolds, that region often drifts out of view. You’re left constantly adjusting the camera just to keep up with your structure. It’s distracting, inefficient, and it interrupts your workflow.
If that sounds familiar, you’ll likely benefit from the Follow atoms animation in SAMSON. This tool automatically makes the camera follow one or more selected atoms throughout an animation. It keeps the atoms at the center of your view while maintaining a constant distance from them—no manual tracking needed. 🎯
How it works
Once you’ve selected the atoms you want to track, and oriented the camera to your liking, you can set up a Follow atoms animation as follows:
- Select the atoms you want to follow.
- Orient the view the way you want it to start.
- In the Animator’s Track view, choose the start frame.
- Double-click on the Follow atoms animation in the Animation panel.
- Adjust the end frame as needed to match the duration of the event you want to capture.
Between the keyframes, both the camera’s position and target will move so that your selected atoms stay at the center of the view. Importantly, the distance between the camera and your atoms stays constant—so the movement looks smooth and natural.
When is this useful?
Consider a protein-ligand binding simulation. You may want to track the ligand as it navigates the protein environment. Or in a flexible molecular assembly, you might want to keep the camera centered on a mobile domain, without recentering manually every few frames. This is exactly where Follow atoms shines.
Animation is not just about aesthetic appeal. For users doing presentations, recording videos, or simply reviewing output, this camera behavior can help communicate results clearly and keep the focus on key parts of the system.
Additional options
The animation can be tweaked in a few helpful ways:
- If you switch between cameras or want the effect applied to a specific one, you can inspect the animation and change the Apply to active camera setting.
- If your camera’s upright direction depends on the viewing grid, you can ensure consistency by toggling the Keep camera upwards option.
- You may also adjust the camera position individually while keeping the target point locked on the center of the selected atoms. Learn more here.
This feature is easy to miss, but once discovered, it often becomes a go-to tool for anyone working with fluctuating systems or creating visual output that requires clarity and focus.
To learn more and explore the full documentation, visit the Follow atoms documentation page.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.